‘Split’ isn’t degrading to mental illnesses (SPOILERS)
Ever since the first appearance of the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie, Split, people have been freaking out. The movie, starring James McAvoy, depicts a man dealing with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). His personalities turn violent, and he ends up kidnapping 3 girls and being violent towards them. Most people’s reactions to the premise of the movie were afraid that it was portraying DID in a harsh light, and that it wasn’t a fair representation of those actually dealing with DID. The problem with this is that most people criticising the movie haven’t actually watched it, and, if they had, I’m sure they would have different opinions.
The first half of the film does a fairly good job at depicting someone with DID. It follows the DSM-5 criteria to a tee. Bolded are the exact DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, and below, how the movie does a good job representing this.
A. Disruption of identity characterised by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession. The disruption in identity involves marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behaviour, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning. These signs and symptoms may be observed by others or reported by the individual.
While the DSM states that two or more distinct personality states must be present, the main character (who uses many different names, though his true name is Kevin, which I will be using throughout this piece) has an observed 23. Each state has a very distinct personality throughout the movie, with a different persona, way of dressing, list of interests, etc. These range from a violent, obsessive compulsive Dennis (the most prominent, who kidnaps the girls) to the state of a 9-year-old boy named Hedwig who loves Kanye West and dancing. While the criteria is two or more states, there is no limit, so it is entirely reasonable for Kevin to have this many.
B. Recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events that are inconsistent with ordinary forgetting.
This is so evident and heartbreaking in the movie when, near the end, Kevin reverts back to his true self. Upon seeing a dead body on the floor, he asks another character (Casey) who had hurt her. When he realises that it was him that had done it, he is devastated. He had no memory of it and asks if it is still a certain date in 2014, as that is the last that Kevin remembers being conscious on. The guilt even causes him to ask Casey to murder him with his own gun.
C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other import areas of functioning.
In identifying abnormal behaviour, distress is one of the things necessary to do so. This distress isn’t always clear to the individual acting out this abnormal behaviour but instead is sometimes very clear to others. Kevin’s many personalities treat these kidnapped girls in distressing ways and causes him to, at times, act socially impaired, but he does not realise it because of his disorder. Anyone else stumbling on this situation, including his therapist, Dr. Fletcher, certainly finds it abnormal.
D. The disturbance is not a normal part of a broadly accepted cultural or religious practice.
I think this is very clear, even with limited knowledge of the film. The setting is in America, and kidnapping and violence is not accepted there.
E. The symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition.
The only substance or other medical condition involved in this film is insulin, which one of Kevin’s personalities must take.
So, there we have it. Kevin has every single diagnostic criterion for DID. Even outside of the specific criteria, he displays many other commonly found features in those with DID. For example, 90% have had some sort of abuse early on in life. Kevin’s father left him (it is not clear why, and some have speculated that he didn’t leave, but actually died, though it is not confirmed) and his mother was abusive. This onset of abuse is typically when a first personality emerges, as is true with Kevin, as the personality of Dennis emerged to prevent his mother’s abuse. The personality is usually a way of protection against the self, and Dennis’ OCD and constant cleaning protected Kevin from many of the reasons for his mother’s abuse.
One of the movie’s biggest complaints is that it promotes the idea that those with mental illness are violent. It has been proven that those with a mental illness (aside from Antisocial Personality Disorder) are no more violent than those without mental illness, so this is not an unreasonable opinion. There is a 1.5% prevalence of DID among males, and among those with DID, more males are likely to become display criminal or violent behaviours (both of these statements are directly from the DSM-5). Because of this, it is completely believable that someone with DID could become violent to the point of Kevin’s personalities in the film. While it may not be a fair representation of anyone with a mental illness, it is still possible, and movies are constantly being made about unlikely events.
The second half of the movie does get a little silly. As soon as the character display’s a 24th personality, and has somewhat superhuman abilities, the typical characteristic’s of an M.Night Shyamalan movie come out. I will not argue that this is where the movie goes downhill. It turns out that the entire movie was a spin-off of one of M. Night’s earlier films, ‘Unbreakable’. Had this not have been the case, ‘Split would have been such a better film, at least in my opinion. This ending does not ruin the movie in any way, though; it just forces you to question the limits to what are possible.
My only reservations about the treatment of mental health in this film are some of the therapist’s actions. Being worried about Kevin and his future actions, she takes a cab to his residence. She goes into his home, unarmed, and without notifying anyone, even though she has reason to believe that he is about to become violent. This is very unprofessional for a therapist and is the reason that her character dies.
While I understand that it can be difficult to watch a movie depicting mental illness, especially if you suffer from one yourself, I strongly believe that ‘Split’ does not deserve the hate it has been getting. Before criticising it, please watch it before forming such a strong opinion. It is important to realise that every mental disorder is different, and every person dealing with a mental disorder experiences it in a different way.
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