MovieChat Forums > Hide and Seek (2005) Discussion > What would a kid know about... (SPOILERS...

What would a kid know about... (SPOILERS)

posted 8 years ago by little_dog
2 replies | jump to latest

...split personality? A few people here have asked why she didn't tell her father that Charlie was, in fact, him. I have an opposite question: How could she believe and accept that it was NOT him? That this scary man, no matter how different his voice, manner, facial expressions, etc. were from her father's, was actually a different person living in the same body? If it had been me when I was her age, I would have said something like, "Come on, Dad, stop pretending to be this bad guy, you are scaring me". Even if he had told her outright something like, "I am not your dad, I actually hate him and want to hurt him" - how can a child's mind process this without the special knowledge of dissociative identity disorder? I would have thought his behaviour was very weird and peculiar and not a little frightening, but that it was still him just putting on an act for whatever reason.

[–] ADBruno1985 (3580) 6 years ago

She probably did have some understanding though. Not enough where she's psychiatrist level herself, but since that's what her dad does, and she's clearly close with at least one of his colleagues. You hear and pick up stuff about your parents' professions, ya know?

[–] Faridah (1369) 6 years ago

Kids more than we are aware of. I was actually diagnosed with multiple personality disorder AKA DID over 12yrs ago or so. My kids were aware of some of the personalities. Not the names but they could definitely tell when I switched. All of my personalities were high functioning and able to live hidden and unknown by most if that even makes sense. My oldest daughter can to a few therapy sessions and I was surprised how much she knew. She could tell when I would switch and actually told me which personalities she liked. There of course was no evil personality like in this movie but there were two held onto anger.

I admit I felt like a failure as a parent because my daughter knew about this as I wanted to hide it all from my kids. But eventually some personalities merged I was able to stop going to therapy and live a normal life. My oldest actually majored in psychology because of my past and my struggles. She wants to help others so that is something positive that came out of my experience.

My point is though kids are tough and smart. They can adapt to situations even awful ones as seen in this movie. Also if you think of what it takes so cause someone to have multiple personalities you will that too is a way of coping.

I find this movie fascinating and disturbing. It’s tough to watch but I will say it definitely displays multiple personalities correctly. So does Sybil both versions.