10 Ways 2017 Movies Definitely Made Us Dumber
7. Split Made You An ‘Expert’ On Mental Health
Now that you’ve seen M. Night Shyamalan’s hit psychological horror
Split you’re pretty clued up in dissociative identity disorder (DID), right? Prone
to violent crime people with DID can usually be found hanging around in the
basement of your local zoo, abducting teenage girls and committing murder and
cannibalism. They should probably be given as a wide a berth as possible.
At least that’s what you’d think given the behaviour of Kevin (James McAvoy), the protagonist of Split whose disorder has formed 24 different personalities and goes on a murderous rampage when his most powerful alter The Beast – a feral personality with superpowers like the ability to climb walls and deflect bullets – takes over.
In reality people suffering from DID are no more prone to violence than the general population and research shows they would be far more likely to hurt themselves than others. And contrary to what McAvoy’s performance would have you believe, it’s not always obvious to the casual observer when someone with DID is switching between personalities.
And they don’t have super powers either.