something to say about how characters with DID are almost never portrayed that way. something to say about how characters with DID are often mislabeled with other mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia.
personally i think it’s the ability to make fun of or mock the character, but it’s also because people often don’t want to acknowledge when a character is mentally ill like that— especially when taking it away makes it easier to water down the character, which fandom loves doing.
jean-paul valley has DID, but Azrael is often said to be a delusion/not treated seriously by the fandom. which is ironic because Azrael is also treated like a delusion and a ‘moral failing’ in canon.
moon knight has DID, but people call him “schizophrenic batman”. because schizophrenia is something that is seen as ‘okay’ to make fun of and make jokes about. moon knight’s alters and khonshu are also often said to be delusions and not real by the fandom. WHICH IS IRONIC, CONSIDERING THE ENTIRE COMIC RUN WHERE MARC IS TRAPPED IN AN ASYLUM BY AMMIT AND THEY TELL HIM THAT KHONSHU ISNT REAL, THAT BEING MOON KNIGHT IS A DELUSION, AND THEY USE ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY TO “FIX HIM”
the Hulk is a manifestation of Bruce’s anger issues, and not a protective alter formed to keep Bruce safe from his father’s abuse.
Two-Face is ‘just insane’, or just has OCD, or is delusional, instead of having DID.
Sentry does canonically have paranoid schizophrenia, but he also has DID. i’m gonna give you one guess as to what the fandom talks about (makes fun of) and what they ignore
do many, if not most of these characters fall into the “evil alter” stereotype? yes. but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to ignore them, or say their mental illness is something it’s not. DID is not something to be ignored, mocked, or denied, in fiction or in reality. learn more about characters with DID and learn about how you can be kind and respectful to people with DID!
it shouldn’t be okay to make fun of any mental illness or disorder, no matter how ‘silly’ or ‘weird’ you think it is. it’s not funny to water a character down to a mental illness (that they may or may not have) to make fun of them. think critically about characters with mental illnesses, why they may act the way they do (especially consider the writers!!), and try to be respectful towards people irl suffering from mental illnesses of all sorts.
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