I just got home from the theater after seeing M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, "SPLIT" and I'm mindblown.
Unlike most movie reactions, this article's purpose is not to reflect on the movie's plot but rather on the audience members' reactions. I'm not the type to write angry response articles but witnessing careless, apathetic reactions to the movie's themes of abduction and mental illness come from more than HALF of a packed State College, Pennsylvania movie theater really upset me.
Yes, I understand that this was only a movie and not a real life situation. But when about 100 people laugh so loud at the issues of abduction and mental illness that you would think they were watching a comedy, that, to me, suggests that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. So, in response, I have a few questions for the audience members who got a kick out of these horrifying issues:
Were you too ignorant to realize that "SPLIT" is not one of those 'comedy-horror' movies?
This was not a 'comedy-horror' film like "Scary Movie". It couldn't have been more clearly not that type of movie. The trailer alone was chilling enough to leave me with an uneasy and eerie feeling. Both the trailer and plot cover grave topics that range from verbal and physical abuse and assault to abduction and mental illness.
These issues were not portrayed overdramatically, comically, satirically or in any way that would have caused an audience to take them lightly. If you take a second to think about the reality of these issues, it's truly sad that people were laughing as a reaction these instances.
Were you too ignorant to realize that abduction is not a laughing matter?
The first laugh came from the audience during the all-too-realistic abduction of three innocent teenage girls. The exchange of glances, shown above, had roughly 100 audience members bursting with laughter. Not to mention, this moment happened after the abductor had left two girls unconscious in the back seat.
I'd like anyone who laughed to realize that abduction is a real problem, it just may not feel that real because it hasn't happened to them. But the families of approximately 800,000 children who go missing every year wouldn't laugh at this scene. Neither would the friends of thousands of those children who are never found.
Were you too ignorant to realize that the main character's mental illness actually exists?
Dissociative identity disorder, the mental illness one of the main characters suffers from, is real. Previously called multiple personality disorder, it is a medically diagnosed, "involuntary escape from reality through a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness, and memory." The escape is shown through separate identities the person takes on. The character's diverse identities and their actions were especially funny to the many immature audience members.
What I'd like anyone who laughed to keep in mind next time they decide to take this mental illness lightly is that in most cases the disorder arises after an extremely traumatic experience as a sort of coping mechanism. Those who have the disorder can sometimes be dangerous to others and themselves, as shown in the movie, and often experience depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
Or do you just not care about these issues?
A person's ignorance isn't always entirely their fault and doesn't always come from a bad place. People's parents' views, their exposure, their age, and their accessibility to information about certain issues vary given their life experience and level of education. So, hypothetically, people could laugh at instances of abduction and mental illness because they really just don't understand the issues. I get this. However, I only believe this to be an excuse to an extent.
The people in this audience were mostly 18 to 22-year-old State College, Pennsylvania residents, meaning they live in a school-minded college town that provides access to endless and often times free knowledge of these issues. They were old enough and close enough to resources to take it upon themselves to know at least enough about abduction and mental illness to understand that they're not funny. So their laughter tells me that they genuinely just don't care.
PLEASE STOP GOING THROUGH LIFE SO BLINDLY.
As I was leaving the theater surrounded by laughing audience members, I realized how unfortunate it was that so many of them were walking out with the same outlook on these issues as they had walking in. Instead of taking a mere minute of their own time and energy to process or even notice the important lesson that the movie told, they kept their minds turned off.
They let important information go in one ear and out the other because they didn't want to listen to things that oppose their beliefs or they took things so lightly that they missed out on opportunities become more aware. They're stuck, actively or passively, in their own comfortable little bubble. Unfortunately, these people are the type that holds society, as a whole, back from progressing toward understanding and acceptance, or at least a little empathy.
With that being said, I highly recommend watching "SPLIT". It's a great movie with an important lesson, so long as you are consciously aware of the issues that are implied.
