Media Hooks
Someone asked me what I thought about this post the other day. Here is my response. http://actualsystemhelp.tumblr.com/post/182597316066/facts-about-splitglass
I saw it the other day blogged on tumblr and decided it was too long and too late to read. I think it sucks that they were targeted for their views on Split/Glass, that is totally not cool. In general I think that events such as Split/Glass can actually be a media hook to talk about DID/DDs and that the trick is to use the event as a hook rather than getting moralistic about seeing the movie or not.
After reading the post I still think that the director should have done more to partner with people with DDs and to provide some educational content around DDs in conjunction with the movies. That would be the thing to do from a standpoint of corporate responsibility. Whether its the directors intended it or not some people will come away from the movies with a stigmatizing message about DID because people are people and they are stigmatizing fuckwads. To prevent this a proactive educational message is needed.
I do think that had the director partnered with people with DID and committed to educational publicity on DDs surrounding the movie that we'd be in a very different situation right now. People may say that's unrealistic but things such as this are being done increasingly (e.g., one of the mad Max movies consulted Eve Ensler) and in a Me Too Hollywood I think it's a concept whose time has come. Media hooks should never be underestimated and I wish the DD community were doing more to use Split/Glass as an opportunity to educate people.
Without reaching out to people with DDs, the director is profiting off of the suffering of people with DDs whether that was his intent or not, because people are stigmatizing fuck wads and he's not putting out corrective educational content. Pointing this dynamic out has been used before to get powerful people such as directors to the table to talk about the effects of their product.
Sometimes effect does matters more than intent. In situations such as these, if people have good intent and are aware that the situation is complex then they can consult with the affected communities to discuss impact and ways that the impact might be positive rather than negative.
Yes this may mean giving up some creative license on the director's part but a good movie that actually helps educate people and that doesn't throw people under the bus (intentionally or not) could have been created. I think that is well-worth giving up some creative license for.