Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/786618
FEBRUARY 15-21, 2017 UCW 25 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM It must suck to be Shyamalan sometimes. His first wide release film was an instant classic and everyone loved it. To hit such a peak so early, and then put out critically panned, universally reviled, commercial failures like The Last Airbender and After Earth is enough to send anybody over a metaphorical edge. Shyamalan kept on trucking, though. And, as Split (117 minutes) demonstrates, seeds of greatness lie yet within him. Three teenagers, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), and Marcia (Jessica Sula) have such an awkward interaction with Claire's father that it is a relief when he gets bashed on the head and they get kidnapped by Kevin (James McAvoy). This is a PG-13 Shyamalan movie, so the father isn't killed, just knocked out. The girls awaken in a basement chamber, and things start getting weird. Via periodic flashbacks, we find out that Casey has been abused, and has subsequently developed an above average ability to take the emotional temperature of those around her. Combined with the fact that she is clearly the hero of the story, this means she probably has a better chance of surviving than either Claire or Marcia. This is not to say that Claire and Marcia contribute nothing. Dialogue establishes that Claire, at least, is facing a societal-level contradiction. At one point, full of self- condemnation, she wrings her hands and moans that the three of them combined should have been able to overcome their single attacker—but they did nothing because they were weak and scared of being hurt. You see, in our culture over the last fifty years, we have progressed from men should always protect women to women must be able to take care of themselves. By and large, this is a positive and empowering progression. But there are side effects, and this is one of them. The first reaction of girls, drugged into submission and abused is more often "Why didn't I do something to stop this from happening" as opposed to "Why did this person attack me." The former places the blame wrongly on the victim. In any case, strictly speaking, Kevin is not the one who kidnapped the girls. One of his personalities, "Dennis," did it. "Dennis" is but one of 23 separate personalities and the use of dissociative identity disorder is a source of controversy for the film. For one, many famous cases, the most famous probably being "Sybil," have been debunked. In other words, there is no longer a scientific consensus that D.I.D. ever existed. In fact, some go so far as to say that therapists and other specialists treating trauma victims often inadvertently induce the mental health symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of D.I.D. For another, at least one organization has condemned the film for its use of mental illness as a convenient plot point, which demonizes those who suffer from mental health issues as violent and unpredictable. Since this is a fantasy film, and it's entertaining, I can't get too heated up about the use of D.I.D., especially when an important plot point is that the disorder can give its sufferers superpowers. Yes. A theory advanced by Kevin's psychiatrist, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), suggests that each personality controls the physical body to some extent. For example, if one of Kevin's personalities is seven feet tall and a body builder, then Kevin's body will actually increase in size when that personality takes over. Overall, the signature Shyamalan twist that everyone expects based on his first two movies is that Split didn't suck. And, without any spoilers, the final scene suggests that we can look forward to at least one more story about superpowers. Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMAX. Classic Shyamalan Split (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910 484-6200. Expires 4/30/17 WITH THIS COUPON $i. 50 Drinks. $i. 50 Drinks. $i. 50 Drinks. $2.00 before 6:00 p.m. $3.00 after 6:00 p.m. $1.00 extra for 3D MOVIES Movie Monday: $1.50 All Day(Holiday or 3D movies excluded) Buy one get one free! Buy one get one free!