An analysis of the representation of Dissociative Identity
By Joely Johnson
Disorder in four Hollywood movies
Who D.I.D It?
Getting Started
Domain:
Methodology:
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There are 35 major films that feature a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder, but I decided to narrow my focus down to four distinct films, two that were based on true stories, and two that were fictional tales. I decided to do this because I wanted to get two very different sides of the spectrum: two movies that supposedly show the characters as they truly are in their disorder, and two movies that were suspense and horror based that were created for shock value and entertainment. These movies are:
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- The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
- Sybil (2007)
- Identity (2003)
- Split (2016)
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I picked films that showed both male and female people as having this disorder, showing that anyone can get this disorder, no matter their sex. These movies also depict characters through time, at the earliest stages of discovering Dissociative Identity Disorder, to more current movies that I suspected would represent the current knowledge that we know about DID. I hoped that having these two different time periods would show progression in the treatment over time. Sybil and Three Faces of Eve are two of the most well known cases of DID, and two of the most famous films depicting the disorder, so I thought they were perfect for this study.
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I picked movies that were easily accessible for people to watch. Sybil and The Three Faces of Eve are both available to watch for free on YouTube. And Identity and Split were both available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime or YouTube.
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To answer my research questions, I decided that a content analysis would be the best option. To begin my content analysis, I decided to create a few different categories of things that I would look for while watching the four films. These categories are:
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Treatment:
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- Whether patient becomes institutionalized
- Seeing a therapist/seeking help
- Therapy helpful vs not helpful
- Desire to get help vs no desire
Abuse/Trauma:
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- Background Info vs no background info on patient's life story
- Abused (mentally, emotionally, physically) vs not abused
- "Just crazy" or there is a reason for their disorder
- Childhood abuse vs abuse into adulthood
Lifestyle:
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- Living on own vs need help living
- Living normal life vs life of crime
- Job vs no job
- School vs no school
- Family and friends/no family and friends
- Relationship vs no relationship
Alters/Personalities:
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- How many
- Age differences
- Gender differences
- Aware of one another or no?
- Internal Monologue?
- How do they switch between alters?
- Alters meeting specific needs, having jobs
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I found that these four categories were easy to keep track of, and really interesting and fun to look out for when I watched the films. I also found that these four categories helped me to answer my research questions. These categories helped me to learn about each individual subject, learning all about each specific case of DID - and showed me how each movie had similarities and differences in how they represented the disorder.
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Theoretical Approach:
I decided to look into framing theory for my research, to see how each movie framed the lives of people with DID.
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According to Entman, Framing theory is "to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, casual interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described," (Entman, p. 52, 1993).
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I thought that this theory would be a great way to show how each film depicts the "problem" (DID), and how each depicts any solution (treatment).
