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Dissociative Identity Disorders In Split By M. Night Shyamalan

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The movie Split by M. Night Shyamalan is a must-see film. Suspenseful and will leave you pondering long after the film has ended. Was that a film about sexual assault or mental illnesses or was it a sequel to another movie altogether unknown. In Split setting the stage for Dissociative identity disorder (IDI) the main character Kevin played by (James McAvoy), “The broken are the more evolved.” (Split) We go on a dark and twisted dark tale into the mind of Kevin and his many personalities after he abducts three young girls. Throughout the film we, the Viewer are constantly speculating who will survive, and who will die, which personality is in control of Kevin and who is the 24th personality. In classic M. Night style always leaves the viewer …show more content…

We know that we are dealing with a man with dissociative identity disorder. “Kevin has 23 distinct personalities. The 24th is about to be unleased.” (Split Movie Cover) The stigma of mental illness is a fear element that M. Night used, very simple to play of man’s natural fear of mental disorders. The classic turn of the phrase we all have heard and are still afraid of, “because the voices told me to do it.” Kevin has 23 different personalities and we see these personalities through his therapist. Making us wonder how does she deal with these crazies. Making the viewer afraid by further pushing the expressing that if someone thinks of a “crazy person,” than a what moment are they going to turn around and attack someone. Again, relaying on a stigma to set the scene of fear by relying on mental illness set the actions for the villains. This is the second film in which Shyamalan has made the primary antagonists mentally …show more content…

But these two evil personalities turn the tables by enlisting a third personality, a nine-year-old boy who has the mysterious ability to seize control of the light. So, for 90% of the movie, we only see three personalities – the man and woman, and the kid. Anyway, it becomes clear that these girls have been kidnapped to serve as a sacrifice when the Beast emerges with these personates that have been banished from the light. It’s not till the end of the film where we see the twist within Kevin’s disorder and we learn how he became split. We find out that Kevin was abused by his mother and that is why these various personalities begin to emerge. They were protection against the abuse that he was suffering. It’s very much implied that this abuse was physical but also sexual. Again, throwing the classic M. Night twist on the

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