Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. Last Reviewed: 3.30.2000 by Sparrow of the Courts
Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers. Last Reviewed: 3.18.2000 by Sammi of the Courts
The Dark Half by Stephen King. Last Reviewed: 7.12.2000 by Jason
The Disappearance of Lyndsey Barratt by John Wilson. Last Reviewed: 3.25.2000 by Rebekka of the Courts
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. Last Reviewed: 7.9.2001 by Helena
Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers. Last Reviewed:
End of Days by Dennis Danvers. Last Reviewed:
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett. Last Reviewed:
Mockingbird by Sean Stewart. Last Reviewed: 3.20.2000 by Kyth of the Courts
"Not -every- single book. In the other times, they remain evil murderers and are gunned down like rabid dogs by the shiningly just and sickeningly sappy heroes."
~ Introduction by Lexa ~
The media is an interesting beast.
On the one hand, the general public is learning about the condition of multiplicity at a rate that is almost obscene. Books, movies, comics, video games--all make their foray into MPD with characters which range from token to heroic.
But there's one intriguing thing here.
In 99% of the cases, the heroes become integrated.
Otherwise, they stay as villains--or portrayed as insane, unstable, and essentially out of control.
Ah, but it continues to get more interesting. The bulk of the information about multiplicity that is being spread might be indeed textbook correct--but, as any casual researcher of MPD can point out, the textbooks themselves do not agree with one another. Many multiples themselves can disagree. The entire existence of multiplicity is the source of a raging debate among psychologists.
As a result, many multiple characters are portrayed with very two-dimensional views of their state of being. And, as information gets passed down to the consumers, the general public gets opinions of multiplicity that are based off of a limited or biased take of MPD. Multiples see these things and become confused about if they are 'really' multiple, or if they should be the insane freaks on TV.
This continues to cycle.
Even though multiplicity is inevitably portrayed as a small step short of insanity.
Multiplicity is not all fun and games. It has its good points, and some very pleasant advantages. But counterbalancing the highs are the lows, and they are very far down indeed. Other multiples we've talked to have inevitably said, with astonished eyes, "People would want to be like this?" For there is nothing better than being multiple--but there is nothing better than not being multiple. You can't take one side without the other.
But enough of this. We're not just here to lecture you about what multiplicity is or is not. This is here to explore how multiples are portrayed in the media. And, perhaps, to plead a tiny note against so many stereotypes:
We are not insane.
