I want to talk about Dennis from Split.
So, I'm about to throw all this information at you but I need to get this out somehow!
There is this part in the movie where Dennis is acting as Barry (the second time I believe) he confirms that Dennis and Patricia are not allowed to have the light because they "are unstable". This makes me SO sad for many reasons. First of all, I fell like all the alters want to protect Kevin- especially Dennis. He says he was there from the beginning and his main purpose was to keep Kevin's mom from getting upset BUT he is also the strongest and the “biggest” (he says himself and we see multiple times how strong he is) I didn't understand why he needed to have OCD and be strong at the same time but it all made sense when he said he was there from the beginning.
I’m pretty positive that Dennis is the one who had to take on the physical punishments instead of Kevin. He mentions that Kevin is weak and I feel like he says this coming from someone who has had to step in for Kevin a lot. How would he know that unless he's had to take over and deal with the pain for him? It’s just a hunch but I feel like it makes sense. Dr. Fletcher knows that Dennis was there to keep their mother from getting upset only because Barry (and the other alters too probably) have told her that. He had a purpose at one point, but now because the mother is completely out of the picture and they are grown THEY DON’T NEED HIM ANYMORE SO HE WAS JUST CAST ASIDE AND THIS JUST MAKES ME SO SAD. So, he is considered unstable because of his irrational behavior but, it wasn't always so irrational.
Also, in Barry’s video diary he says that Dennis and Patricia are obsessed with “the ones who haven't suffered” and at first we assume it's everyone else (like the girls Dennis kidnaps) BUT what is they were talking about the rest of the alters?? Patricia and Dennis are the only ones who talk about the beast and I this connects to the idea that Dennis and Patrica have suffered somehow in the ways the other alters have not. The other alters are fairly happy and capable people (from what we have seen so far). This might prove that Dennis did deal with a lot of the abuse that Kevin did. He suffered in ways the other alters did not. They see more connected to the loss of Kevin’s father too. Dennis goes to get flowers, Patrica thanks him for it, they leave flowers at the train station.
I’m not entirely sure how Patrica might have suffered but I do feel like she is the mother figure Kevin never had. You know, with the hair brushing and lunch making etc (LOL Hedwig.) Mother figures probably have a deep hold of Dennis because of the abuse, Patrica even says “he listens to me”. Hedwig is a kid who isn’t accepted, they probably treat him like the runt of litter, but I haven't really considered his place amongst the other alters yet (probably and outcast because of his age) but I feel like he is representative of the childhood Kevin never got to have.
Even though it’s kind of a lot to assume off of nothing, I THINK DENNIS WAS THE ORIGNAL ALTER. It is really interesting to consider him from this perspective. Which is sad that the other alters kind of cast him aside.
SORRY I totally didn't mean to write a whole essay but I just got to thinking about Dennis and movie and I couldn't get it out of my head.
Tell me what you guys think!
