The Movie Identity Analysis

The movie I chose to watch, “Identity,” is set in two different places. The first being in real life as Malcolm is being presented to the judge in charge of deciding his punishment for the murders of 6 people. The second, at the hotel in Nevada, is taking place completely in his mind. Malcolm has Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID for short. His DID was most likely the result of the stressful upbringing he had as a child. His mother was convicted for both drug use and for prostitution, with mention of his father having an anger problem. Malcolm was often left alone for extended periods of time while his mother would pursue her drug addiction or prostitution. These traumas and neglect can cause the developing child so much emotional turmoil that the brain begins to find ways to cope. The dissociating into …show more content…
I think the brain is a powerful organ which we do not fully comprehend. Its completely possible that when faced with tremendous trauma the brain can shut down certain pathways and essential create a safety net in order to protect the host’s subconscious, causing alters to form. Its very similar to when something traumatic happens to a person and they often will develop temporary amnesia and forget the occurrence, the mind is allowing the host to hide behind the protection of the alter to avoid continuous emotional stress. One of my friends in high school had DID, and I was very fortunate that she trusted me enough to tell me. She had been working on therapy for years where she was able to get to a point where her and her alters sort of coexisted. They would take over for short periods of time, but she (Rachel) was able to identify when she was no longer in control and work to regain her consciousness. Based on both me education on the subject and my personal experience with the disorder, I do believe DID is a valid psychological