I’ve praised the production talents of Roger Corman, the exploitation film maestro who single-handedly invented the grindhouse genre, many times before on this blog. Well, I never thought I’d see him go so far as to make a sleazy film set in a mental hospital with ambitions well beyond its genre. This is one strangefilm. In fact, I can’t say I’ve seen many like it. Kathleen Quinlan, who would later become a character actress of quite some brilliance (in films such as Event Horizon andThe Hills Have Eyes remake) plays a girl named Deborah who by the looks of modern psychiatry, seems to suffer from a psychotic and dissociative disorder. She spends most of this film’s 90 minutes strapped to a bed in a mental institution, lost in a haze of delusion and suicidal ideation. Bibi Andersson, best known as Ingmar Bergman’s muse, is her sympathetic doctor (hilariously named Dr. Fried) and together they must help poor Deborah out of her psychoses. And honestly, that’s pretty much it.
First thing to say is, from a present-day perspective this is one seriously depraved affair. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was made by Corman as a quick cash-in on the heels of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and while that certainly is likely, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is an entirely different beast. While Forman’s film was concerned with the tragic nature of the McMurphy character and his battle with Nurse Ratched, director Page and Corman seem less concerned with narrative and more with histrionic art-house surrealism in the vein of Ken Russell. And boy, is this sordid tale trippy. The hallucinatory scenes are jarring and often-times overwhelming, calling to mind certain scenes from Dennis Hopper’s The Trip and Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t call attention to the bizarre casting. In supporting roles, we find Danny Elfman (!) leading some weird Monty Pythonesque knights haunting the protagonist, Mel Gibson and Dennis Quaid as baseball players in dream sequences, and Lorraine Gary (Mrs. Brody from Jaws)playing the main character’s self-absorbed mother. Oh, and Reni Santoni (RIP) as one of the most evil orderlies this side of Ben Stiller in Happy Gilmore.
Beyond the simplistic narrative, there’s a not-so-surprising amount of exploitation content in the film’s mental hospital setting, some of which is inappropriately played for laughs, but most of the rest is relegated to frankly disturbing scenes of human suffering. Most of the time, when Hollywood tackles subjects like severe mental illness and long-term hospitalizations, there is a certain artifice only possible when audience attention spans are in the forefront of the producer’s minds. Most viewers who view this will be stunned to find the lack of characterization and narrative more indicative of a documentary, the camera merely observational and the message being one of understanding and empathy.
The film this reminds me most of is Allan King’s docudrama Warrendale, which at ten years older, had the benefit of being a much more shocking experience. What Page and Corman bring to the catalog of suffering is more up-close-and-personal and exhausting than King, who brought a more detached filmmaking style. I think beyond the hysteria and shrill insanity that pervades most of this film’s runtime, there is something interesting going on here. I’m just not sure what it is. I did have a bit of a headache after finishing this, but that could have just been the copious amount of weed and vodka I had just consumed. Who knows.
Cyril recovers in anonymity for a week, relearning how to accept Esme’s presence even as their body relearns how to handle comfort. They spend long, lazy mornings in bed, twining first fingers with their fiancé, and then sometimes words, soft and slow and never quite winding around to where Cyril has been, what they have done, or what happened that day five years ago. Instead, they lean into Esme’s loose and ready words, pressing gently - gently is all it takes, with him - to hear what he has been up to since they’ve been gone.
His father’s business is flourishing. Esme is taking on more responsibility, being groomed to take over when Armani D'Angelo eventually - not soon, but inevitably - steps back from the forefront of operations. Cyril offers encouragement and interest, and Esme requires little prodding to continue to allow them to steer the conversation back to his life. Five years leave many tales untold, and Esme is - has always been - eager to share every moment with his love.
One pale evening as the dying light flares in a last attempt at silver-gold, Cyril tries for the first time to begin the monumental task of giving him their own five years. They haven’t spoken yet that day, trying to store up enough words to give Esme enough of a piece to feel like a beginning.
You know what breaks my heart? The fact that so many protectors in DID systems did downright heroic shit protecting the host as a child, but all the singlets want to see is an ol “evil split personality” stereotype.
Like… Of course I wish all of you lovely people didn’t have to be adults in like a 5 yo body just cause the outside world adults were monsters, but damn, man, I’ve seen so many protectors who bust their ass trying to keep the system together, and that deserves so much acknowledgment and praise.
“There is no logical or natural limit to how fragmented a dissociative patient can become. The more helpful question is What is the integrative capacity of the patient? The lower the capacity for the challenges the patient faced as a child and still faces in the present, the more dissociation will occur as an ongoing coping strategy.” – Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation
Splitting dissociated parts is a very complicated, confusing topic–it can be difficult to determine when, why, and how it happens. As such, it’s perfectly okay to be unsure of whether a new part has split or not. Some things to know:
Splitting is a coping mechanism in response to stress
Not all stress causes splits
The same stress that causes a split in one person might not cause a split in someone else
The same stress that didn’t cause a split in the past may cause a split later; it all depends on the current coping ability of active parts
Some splits happen quickly; some can take much longer
Keep in mind this infographic pertains to people who already have DID/OSDD (you can learn what causes DID/OSDD [here.])
Dissociated parts, just like the rest of their system.
Created by trauma, stress, overwhelming experiences, or the system’s inability to integrate new materials into existing alters/parts.
Centered around a “substitute belief” and can be based on characters and media that you have no strong attachment to or may not even like.
Worthy of the same care and support everyone in the system deserves.
Capable of growth beyond their source material.
Things Fictional Introjects are not:
The same thing as “kins” or “kinning” with something.
Createdjustby liking, identifying with, being strongly attached to, or being attracted to a character.
A completely different “type” of alter that should be treated differently than the rest of the system.
An exact copy of their source.
Incapable of growing beyond their source.
[ This post is about Fictional Introjects as experienced by people with DID and OSDD. Please keep reblogs and replies relevant to DID/OSDD and dissociative experiences. ]
that dissociation feel when your eyes unfocus, everything goes fuzzy and every sound your hear is muffled, distorted and changing frequencies and you don’t even know if you’re real anymore
lawful manic: organizing your entire house at 3 am neutral manic: spending five hours seriously researching going back to college even tho it was a disaster previously because you can totallydo it now and you’re gonna major in, like, ten things chaotic manic: how and why did you end up spending $600 on the forever 21 site and do you really need that many mom jeans?
lawful dissociated: when you look at the clock and realize you’ve been playing the sims for almost a full day neutral dissociated: that tumblr post that’s just like [dissociates while eating cereal] chaotic dissociated: Flashbacks™ but you’re also making jokes about them like it’s no big deal and your friends are low-key worried
lawful irritable: impulse-creating a Discourse Blog because you wanna fight neutral irritable: seeing straight couples within five feet of each other is suddenly giving you the urge to Punch chaotic irritable: finding that one middle school teacher you utterly hated on facebook and telling them in detail why they’re the reason your life is a trash heap now
