KEVIN’S MENTAL DISORDER CAUSES : A PSYCHOANALYTIC

STUDY ON THE SPLIT MOVIE

Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement For Getting Bachelor

Degree of Education In English Department

By:
Aulia Galih Bimantara

A320170250

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

SCHOOL OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH SURAKARTA

2021
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 KEVIN’S MENTAL DISORDER CAUSES : A PSYCHOANALYTIC
STUDY ON THE SPLIT MOVIE

Abstrak
Gangguan jiwa merupakan salah satu gangguan yang dialami oleh sebagian orang
yang mengalami pengalaman unik dan berbeda dengan orang lain. Tujuan dari
penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis mengenai penyebab utama dari
Dissociative Identity Disorder yang dialami oleh tokoh utama dalam film “split”.
Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif untuk menganalisis instrumen
penelitian. Data diperoleh dengan mengumpulkan data dari dialog dan juga
beberapa adegan yang ditunjukkan pada film The Split. Data primer di dapatkan
dari pengumpulan data secara langsung dari film. Data sekunder diperoleh dari
penelitian sebelumnya yang digunakan sebagai pembantu penelitian.. Split (2016)
adalah film yang ditulis oleh M. Night Shyamalan yang menceritakan tentang
seorang pria yang memiliki gangguan kepribadian ganda, Kevin Wendell Crumb.
Ketika film berjalan, pembaca akan menemukan bahwa Kevin memiliki 24
kepribadian, meskipun hanya 5 kepribadian yang terlihat, yaitu Dennis, Patricia,
Hedwig, Barry, dan Beast. Film dimulai dengan penculikan 3 gadis remaja oleh
seorang pria sehingga mulai terungkap bahwa penculik memiliki gangguan
kepribadian ganda. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa gangguan jiwa yang
dialami Kevin adalah Gangguan Kepribadian Ganda atau Dissociative Identity
Disorder. Penyebab gangguan jiwa yang dialami Kevin adalah rasa traumatis yang
muncul dari hasil perlakuan kasar ibunya dalam menghukumnya. Berdasarkan teori
Freud, Id yang direfleksikan pada kondisi psikologi Kevin adalah keinginannya
untuk menghindari ketakutannya dari perlakuan kasar ibunya dan hidup dengan
nyaman seperti orang lain. Ego Kevin digambarkan dalam berbagai adegan, seperti
penampilan kepribadian Dennis untuk meredakan kecemasan Kevin. Interaksi ini
menjadi tidak seimbang karena superego tidak dapat mengatasi dominasi id dan
ego. Karena sejak kecil Kevin sudah diperlakukan buruk oleh ibunya sehingga tidak
bisa memiliki nilai moral yang tinggi.

Kata Kunci: Film, Moral

Abstract
Mental disorders are some of the disorders experienced by some people who
experience unique and different experiences from others. The purpose of this study
is to analyze the main causes of Dissociative Identity Disorder experienced by the
main character in the movie "The Split". This study uses qualitative methods to
analyze the research instrument. Researchers obtain the information needed by
descriptive analysis techniques to obtain data. Data is obtained by collecting data
from dialogues and also scenes that are shown in split films. Primary data were
obtained from data collected directly from split films. And for secondary data
obtained from previous studies that are used as research support. Split (2016) is a
film written by M. Night Shyamalan about a man with multiple personality

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disorder, Kevin Wendell Crumb. As the film progresses, readers will find that
Kevin has 24 personalities, although only 5 are visible, namely Dennis, Patricia,
Hedwig, Barry, and Beast. The film begins with the abduction of 3 teenage girls by
a man so that it begins to be revealed that the kidnapper has multiple personality
disorder. The results of this study indicate that Kevin's mental disorder is
Dissociative Identity Disorder. The cause of the mental disorder experienced by
Kevin is a traumatic feeling that arises as a result of the harsh treatment of his
mother in punishing him. Based on Freud's theory, Id which is reflected in Kevin's
psychological condition is his desire to avoid the fear of his mother's harsh
treatment and live comfortably like ordinary people. Kevin's ego is depicted in
various scenes, such as the appearance of Dennis's personality to relieve Kevin's
anxiety. This interaction becomes unbalanced because the superego cannot
overcome the dominance of the id and ego. Because since childhood Kevin has been
treated badly by his mother so that he can't have high moral values

Keywords: Film, Moral

1. INTRODUCTION
A mental disorder is a disorder or phenomenon that can be experienced by
everyone due to certain conditions that trigger abnormalities in their mental
condition. According to Mubasyaroh (2013), a mental disorder is a failure to
react to the adaptation mechanism of psychiatric functions so that there is a
disturbance in the psychological structure that causes mental disorders. Based
on the condition, everyone can potentially suffer from this disorder if they are
not mentally strong.
There are several reasons why mental disorders can occur, some of which are
due to internal and external factors. An example of an internal factor is when it
turns out that someone has a mental disorder caused by genetics or heredity so
that it is considered a congenital disorder. Regarding the example of external
factors are conditions that trigger this mental disorder such as acts of violence or
the existence of conditions that cannot be accepted because they are incomplete
conflict with what he wants.
Mental disorders can be described into various events, one of which is a fairly
rare phenomenon, namely Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity
Disorder. Generally, this kind of disorder is often referred to as multiple

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personalities. This disorder occurs when a person has two or more personalities
in one body.
Most people describe that multiple personalities like DID are the same as
Alter Ego, even though these two things are completely different even though
they have similarities. The location of the similarity in the formation of a new
character so that there is more than 1 character in the body. However, the
difference is the character-building process. If DID forms a character or
personality not consciously or accidentally, then Alter Ego is a process of
formation that is carried out consciously and deliberately by personality
primarily to have the personality it craves.
For cases like this DID, many theories say that the main factor that causes this
disorder is experienced by someone, namely due to severe trauma, violence, or
sexual harassment. Laura (2006) states that “the majority of people view DID as
a manifestation of the separation of the core personality into different
personalities as a creative way to solve the sufferer's severe problems”.
In describing a phenomenon like this, of course, it will be difficult to convey
when using factual data as the object. Therefore, researchers are interested in
using film as a medium to further investigate this phenomenon. The film is a
literary work that is conveyed visually and depicts an event that may occur in
society. Klarer (1998: 57) says that film is a drama genre that uses an expression
tool, namely actors, has strong visuals and requires a good presentation including
camera angles, editing, and is recorded in a voice that tells the story. Films are
also believed to contain several moral values and lessons that can be taken.
In this study, researchers used SPLIT Movie (2016) because it has a
correlation with the phenomenon of multiple personalities, or often referred to
as DID or MPD. The split movie is one of the media that can provide education
to the public about the importance of providing life worthiness to children to
prevent the emergence of multiple personality disorders in children. Split movie
is more focused on discussing multiple personality disorders as has been
represented by other films. But what makes this film interesting and can win
awards is because of an interesting and unusual thing. It is explained that the

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 main character in this film, Kevin Wendell Crumb has many personalities that
are not small. This film surprised the audience by presenting a character that has
24 personalities.
The split movie is a horror-thriller genre film that carries the nuances of
psychology in it. The film earned $ 278 million worldwide just by spending a
budget of $ 9 million. Of course, this film is interesting to be analyzed to see
how well-known the name of the film is, causing a lot of criticism and input from
a variety of different perspectives.
The point of this film shows that Kevin who has a dissociative identity. The
more days the personality of Kevin continues to grow to 24. Researchers use the
psychoanalysis theories by Freud to analyze Dissociative Idntity Disorders
experienced by Kevin as the main character in the Split Movie. Researchers used
qualitative research by applying analysis description techniques to obtain data
from the film either from scenes or scripts in the film. In using psychoanalysis
theory, researchers will divide the theory into 3 parts, namely id, ego, superego.
So this analysis is entitled: KEVIN’S MENTAL DISORDER CAUSES : A
PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY ON THE SPLIT MOVIE.
2. METHOD
In this study, researchers used a qualitative description type. The data used by
researchers do not contain numbers or statistics that can be analyzed, but there
is only data that can be explained and described based on data already available
by the data source. Data is obtained by collecting data from dialogues and also
scenes that are shown in split films. There are two data used in this research,
primary data and secondary data. Primary data obtained from data collection
directly from split films. And for secondary data obtained from previous studies
that are used as research support. Data collection techniques used in this study
are document and record. Researchers use this technique because the only data
objects that can be collected are films and the script through the recording or
documentation itself without the participation of other parties. In analyzing data,
the researcher uses the description analysis technique to analyze the data whether
primary data or secondary data that has been obtained.

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3. FINDING AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Character Analisis
The split film is a film that describes how a person can have several
personalities in one body and can be alternated. The main character of this
film is Kevin Wendell Crumb. Based on this film, Kevin has 24
personalities so it can be concluded that he suffers from multiple
personalities.
Readers will not be able to know directly about the number of Kevin's
personalities at the beginning of the story. This is because of the total
personality possessed, it turns out that there are only a few dominant
characters who take the most roles in the film. The scene in the minute
01.22.54 shows when Casey opened Kevin's computer and saw a list of
files in the form of videos with different names.
To analyze the character, the researcher will describe each dominant
personality that shows the data so that it can be examined. Some of them
are Kevin, Barry, Hedwig, Dennis, Patricia and The Beast. By attaching
each dialogue to every incident, readers can know every dominant
personality that Kevin has
3.1.1 Kevin
This film tells the story of a person named Kevin who has a mental
disorder that makes him has several personalities in one body. The
character with the real name Kevin Wendell Crumb is the original
personality who is the main owner of the body.
3.1.2 Mr. Dennis
This personality is a personality that appears for the first time when the
film begins. Although it is not stated directly, there are several
characteristics that the light from Kevin at that time was taken over by
this Personality, namely Mr. Dennis.
Overall, it can be concluded that Mr. Dennis is a personality that
describes someone mature, protective, dignified, assertive, and a

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 perfectionist. Perfectionism can be seen from his madness for neatness
and cleanliness.
3.1.3 Mrs. Patricia
Another personality that dominates Kevin's body is Mrs. Patricia. This
personality describes a woman as calm and normal in general. When this
personality takes over the light on Kevin's body, everything will turn
feminine, whether it's an attitude, speaking style, and even the same style
of dress as a woman.
3.1.4 Hedwig
This personality is one of the personalities in Kevin's body that is quite
dominating and also plays quite a part in the scene of the split movie.
Hedwig is a personality that shows a child who is carried in the body of
an adult so that it looks like a child who has the body of an adult.
3.1.5 The Beast
The presence of this beast's personality appears at the climax of the film.
Before his appearance, this personality was already described by other
personalities as a terrible personality. The Beast itself is a personality that
describes a wild monster who has extraordinary strength. Even this
personality can change the physical condition, Kevin. Some evidence is
when Dr. Fletcher tries to stab him but the knife breaks. Then the great
power of The Beast is visible when he can bend iron in the prison. This
is because the physical condition of Kevin has changed, making his skin
very hard.
3.1.6 Other personalities
At the end of the story, it has been revealed that Kevin's total personalities
are 24 personalities. For some of the most prominent personalities are
Mr. Dennis, Mrs. Patricia, Hedwig, Kevin, and The Beast. Other
personalities are not mentioned in detail, but some appear in the plot of
the film.

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 One of them is Barry. Barry is a fashion designer who sometimes shows
his concept to Dr. Fletcher. Barry is a personality who is indeed the power
over the light in Kevin, but this power turns out to be stolen by Hedwig.
Then several other personalities were shown when Casey accessed
Kevin's computer, when he was shown there were 24 videos on the
desktop computer. One of them is Orwell, based on his video, we can see
that he is like a historian who can remember and discuss major events in
the previous century. In the video Orwell recorded himself discussing the
events around 1192 and 1200.
Another personality shown in the video is Jade. Jade is a personality who
suffers from diabetes. Other personalities are not mentioned by name or
characteristics. But if you look at the video list on Kevin's computer, then
some of the personalities are Heinrich, Luke, Jalin, Norma, Bernice,
Rakel, Kat, Mary Reynolds, Goddard, Felida, B.T, Ian, Polly, Ansel,
Samuel, and Mr. Pritchard.
3.1.7 The second code is the code of conduct.
A man must have an aggressive attitude of courage and take risks even
though fear wants the opposite (Deborah David and Robert Brannon
(Nasir, 2007: 2). For the sake of his daughter, Lee Yong Go dares to take
risks even though he doesn't know what the consequences will be, which
he has done.

3.2 Dissociative Identity Disorder

Based on everything that happened to Kevin, it was clear that he had a
mental disorder. This is marked by so many mental clashes with Kevin
that it makes his mental state unstable and his personality can change. This
is indicated by:
3.2.1 Experiencing Memory Deviation
A person with DID disorder must have signs of memory lapses.
Examples of some of these irregularities include often forgetting
someone to remember an important date or event.

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3.2.2 Feeling Stranger With People Around Him
The second characteristic or sign when a person has multiple
personalities is the feeling of being alien to several people around him.
This is because he only knows a certain person in one of his personalities,
but when the other personality takes on the light, that personality will feel
alien to the person known by the previous personality.
3.2.3 Often use the term "we" to refer to themselves
People who have a normal mental will call themselves “I am”. However,
it turns out that there is a unique habit shown by patients with DID to call
themselves. He often refers to himself as "we" or "us" as a pronoun for
the subject himself. Even though "we" or "us" is a pronoun to represent
several people at once.

3.3 The Causes of Mental Disorders in Kevin

The certainty of multiple identity disorder in Kevin can be confirmed
by strengthening through some of the evidence above. That's why let's
assume that Kevin has the disorder. Then what is the trigger that makes
Kevin experience this disorder? Because mental disorders like this are very
few cases where a person can suffer from mental disorders naturally
without any cause.
That's why researchers are interested in analyzing the causes of mental
disorders in Kevin. What makes this case unique is that the number of
personalities in one body is too much, the total is 24 personalities. Whereas
in general, a person has two personalities if they have multiple
personalities.
However, there is no official statement that describes with certainty
what are the specific factors or causes when a person has this disorder.
However, according to the American Psychiatric Association, 90 percent
of people with identity disorders in the United States, Canada, and Europe
have experienced neglect or abuse in childhood.

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 After the researchers watched The Split movie from start to finish,
several indications can be used as the main points why Kevin suffers from
multiple identity disorder. One of the points that can be underlined is his
trauma as a child caused by his mother's rude treatment of Kevin.
There is some evidence in the film that supports this statement. The
evidence is divided into two data, namely based on dialogue and pictures.
A dialogue describing her mother's behavior towards Kevin is shown in
Scene 1.14.40
Dennis: I wanna talk about Kevin and what his mother did to him. I
remember it all. Kevin's mother had rather malevolent ways of punishing
a three-year-old.
We can conclude that the conversation shows that Kevin's mother has
a cruel way of punishing her 3-year-old child when her child makes a
mistake. Even though we know that there are limits to punishing someone
for committing a mistake, especially when a child who is 3 years old is
punished. To punish someone at such an age should not be done cruelly
but through reprimands.
Regarding how the punishment from Kevin's mother against him will
be illustrated in the scene in the film which allows us to predict what kind
of punishment he gave Kevin. By the evidence in the form of scene
snippets at 1.33.39
The scene shows a scene from under the mattress. The camera
represents Kevin's existence, which can be said what the camera shows is
what Kevin saw at that time. At that time, Kevin's mother saw her feet as
she called her name and said
"Kevin Wendell Crumb, you made a mess, come out here".
Then Kevin's mother said the same thing a second time while shouting
by looking down at Kevin and shouting at Kevin. He screamed while
carrying an object believed to be used to beat Kevin as punishment.
The reason why Kevin was hiding behind the mattress was most likely
due to his fear of facing punishment from his abusive mother. That's why

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 to avoid this he hides in a dark place where it is difficult to find. This is
certainly traumatic for a young child at 3 years old. So that this cause can
be used as an indication of why Kevin has multiple personalities.

3.4 The Id, Ego, and Superego Portray the Main Character
3.4.1 The Id
Based on the split movie, it is shown that Kevin is someone who suffers
from multiple identity disorder due to a traumatic experience he
experienced when he was three years old. It turned out that the traumatic
experience came from the closest person, namely his mother. Kevin's
mother often punished Kevin by using excessive force. That's why for him
it was so scary that he often hid behind his bed.
Id is the first element that is owned by humans in his life. If this id cannot
be realized, it can cause anxiety and restlessness. The id usually takes the
form of wants, needs, and satisfaction. Based on the many scenes
represented by several other personalities in Kevin, Kevin's id turns out to
be the great desire to fight the fear of his mother's treatment so that he
wants to avoid punishment from his mother.
3.4.2 The Ego
Kevin's id is his desire to be able to avoid the cruel punishment of his
mother. If it's normal, maybe some people will fight back physically.
However, this is not following the norms of society because a mother is a
person who must be respected by her child. That is why the Ego has the
responsibility to develop the Id and make it happen by action with
consideration.
The ego is the aspect that will be responsible for developing the id so
that their desires can be accepted through their act in social life. So that the
id can be fulfilled but cannot be instantaneous because the ego still has to
try to find a way to fulfill the id and certainly can be accepted by social
life.

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 Kevin's id is manifested through the ego by forming a new personality
according to his mother's wishes. Several scenes show scenes from Kevin's
childhood that got him punished for making mistakes. Dennis has made
clear the mistake of this. He said that the only way she could avoid her
mother's punishment was to keep everything clean and looking perfect. So
he didn’t feel anxiety because he can fulfill the id. Kevin’s ego also
reflected on The Beast personality that he want show the world how strong
he is and can not be humiliated by anyone.
3.4.3 The Superego
It turns out that the appearance of other personalities in Kevin doesn't just
stop at Dennis, as time goes by, new personalities emerge, making him
have a total personality of 24 personalities. According to Freud's theory,
the superego is a refinement of one's ego.
Kevin's ego is when a new personality is formed, but over time, other
personalities start to emerge so that it becomes out of control, especially
in determining who deserves the light. To overcome the condition that is
getting out of control, Kevin's superego thinks that there is an irregularity
in this matter that makes him have to do psychotherapy.
Reader maybe will though that his mother can’t give a good moral value
to Kevin. But Kevin has know that when he made a mess he will got a
punishment
4. CLOSING
Kevin as the main character in this film has a severe mental disorder when
compared to mental disorders in general. Based on several findings, it was shown
that Kevin suffered from a mental disorder, more specifically Dissociative
Identity Disorder. The total personality in Kevin's body is 24 personalities
including himself. As for the dominant personality that takes the light, there are
4 personalities. Kevin suffered from this mental disorder starting when he was
young. More precisely, it is the traumatic feeling that arises as a result of the
harsh treatment of his mother in punishing him. As Kevin's personality increases,
it turns out that some of these personalities arise due to several factors.

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 Environmental factors are one of the factors that influence Kevin's personality
development. This psychological problem experienced by Kevin is caused by an
imbalance in the interaction between the id, ego, and superego according to
Sigmund Freud's theory. Id which is reflected in Kevin's psychological condition
is his desire to avoid the fear of his mother's harsh treatment and live comfortably
like ordinary people. Kevin's ego is depicted in various scenes, such as the
appearance of Dennis's personality to relieve Kevin's anxiety. This interaction
becomes unbalanced because the superego cannot overcome the dominance of
the id and ego. Because since childhood Kevin has been treated badly by his
mother so that he can't have high moral values

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