Dissociative Disorder In The Movie

Dissociative Disorder

In today’s society, people have live with different kind of people who has problems, and there is one type of people who with mental illness which call dissociative disorder. In the film M directed by Fritz Lang, it talked about many kids had been victims by child-murder who has a dissociative disorder, and cause indignation of the society. In the film, Lang uses Hans Beckert to prove as child-murder who are hateful and pitiful at the same time. Hans Beckert was the character who has one or more characters inside of him to take control in his head. More often the person with this illness is most likely have a rough childhood, for instance in children exposed to long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse, which make
them having a strong sense of self-protection. The person has a dissociative disorder is always tend to hurt self or someone and do something intent to protect himself. However, the saddest thing is the person doesn't have any controlled and without realize after hurt someone. This is the most miserable of conscience blame.

In reality, we can’t very tell who has a dissociative disorder, because there is no sign of it, and it is so hard to name them when they act like a normal person.
Why will people have this kind of illness? and What dissociative disorder characters is alike? In the film, the police officer had analyzed his handwriting and according to the preliminary evaluation, he could be an indolence or even lethargy person. Also through the letter of the display, they concluded him as a madness person. Following by the shot when he using the mirror, his face very looked like a person who is lethargy, and indolent. The way he smiles to the mirror is skittish, he uses two fingers to stretch out his lip, then open his eye widely and staring at himself. He could be controlling by the character inside of him already, and he doesn’t even realize that. It is one sad thing about the dissociative disorder patients. “Dissociative disorders are characterized by an involuntary escape from reality characterized by a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness and memory.” (National alliance on Mental Illness, 2016) In this quote clearly tells about how dissociative disorder patients will cause the consciousness of his inner pain activity or memory from the psychological solution, which shifts from another mode to protect themselves, but it also loses the wholeness of self. Those people are sensitive of distrustful and vulnerable of shame and humiliation. In addition, their face more
looks like inertia, madness, dull, and depressed.

In the film, every time when the Hans Beckert saw the kid smile or walk alone, he would stimulate by his old adversity memory, and then his internal character was shifting out from him and taking over of him to either revenge or protected himself.
In this uncontrolled self-behavior, it often tended to hurt someone to achieved the purpose of protection. There was one scene on the street, he saw a little girl alone in the window shop throughout the mirror reflection, then his facial expression was getting a change to lethargy, he placed his finger on his lip and smiled to the mirror, which we can infer his second character already took over his body and started whistling. It also reminded us when Elsie Beckmann got killed, the scenario somewhat were similar, and when he shifted to the another character, he would have a characteristic of
whistling.

In the other sense of the film, the murderer had discovered by the criminal in one of the building, during the processed of searching, he had locked himself in the storage room, and then his act very flustered. In his facial expression, he showed very nervously, his eyes widely open, his heart rate increased, and the face of cold sweat which acts like innocent and helpless. This is the biggest trouble what dissociative disorder can bring in. The real person in life has become a scapegoat of what the second character did and done. In the court that creates by the criminal, he acted even more innocent and helpless. Under all the witness and evidence, everything is pointing to him as the child-murderer. Under intimidate of all the people, he collapsed and kneel on the floor. Due to this time, the perpetrators had forced out from the inside of him finally. what he was done was abominable, but at the same time was very pathetic of his encounter.

At the time of disease, the patients would possibly create the injury or permanent hurt for someone. At the same time, it also creates a big piece of permanent conscience for self. For this murderer, Lang has added mental illness element to the murderer, which make this role more remarkable and vivid. More importantly, make the film more argumentative. In the case of cannot be convicted, what kind of results of this murderer will get? It is the main reason why Lang leave this question to the public, which definitely make this film even more argumentative, and make everyone to talks and discusses. This is one of success point and affects way for this film. For the murderer like this, my opinion that the murderer shouldn’t convict. Although his acts hurt for others, but in another perspective, he is also a victim. Because his unfortunate experience, which has caused such results, also I think he shouldn’t pay the price. The person who should pay for this result should be the one who suffered his childhood’s life which makes him become such person.