Individuals with DID, dissociative identity disorder, may adopt as many as 100 new identities, all simultaneously coexisting, the identities can be either complete or partially independent personalities. The media conditions viewers to view people with this disorder as maniacs and lunatics. Usually, this is not the case because the person isn’t consciously making decisions. Its as if someone else had taken control of their body. As a result of the media’s propaganda, I started to believe that individuals with DID were crazy. That was until I watched David Fincher’s Fight Club for the first time. The film is recited by the narrator, no name specified, as is shown through his point of view. For the duration of the film, the narrator exhibits characteristics of an individual with DID: “(a) disruption of identity
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The first being a “disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states” (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders). The first half of the film prevents hints that Tyler Durden is an extension of the narrator with the repeating of phrases like, “I know this because Tyler knows that” and “Tyler’s words coming right out of my mouth” (Fight Club). Eventually, it is made clear that Tyler is just an alternate ego of the narrator, with the narrator’s ego being the host. Tyler was created to serve as a model for the narrator. He is everything that the narrator wants to be. Something that I would argue is that Marla is also an alter of the narrator. This is supported by the fact that Marla and Tyler are never in the same room; you can’t be two people at the same time. It is not uncommon for a male to have a female alter. I speculate that Marla represents the guilt that the narrator feels everything time he lies. This is why he hates her, because her lie reflects his lies. Sadly, this is just a theory I
The first being a “disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states” (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders). The first half of the film prevents hints that Tyler Durden is an extension of the narrator with the repeating of phrases like, “I know this because Tyler knows that” and “Tyler’s words coming right out of my mouth” (Fight Club). Eventually, it is made clear that Tyler is just an alternate ego of the narrator, with the narrator’s ego being the host. Tyler was created to serve as a model for the narrator. He is everything that the narrator wants to be. Something that I would argue is that Marla is also an alter of the narrator. This is supported by the fact that Marla and Tyler are never in the same room; you can’t be two people at the same time. It is not uncommon for a male to have a female alter. I speculate that Marla represents the guilt that the narrator feels everything time he lies. This is why he hates her, because her lie reflects his lies. Sadly, this is just a theory I