Psychology of a Hero: MOON KNIGHT and Dissociative Identity Disorder

What did Marvel's Moon Knight get right about Dissociative Identity Disorder? Quite a bit, actually!

Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright dive into the psychology and mental health in this series, particularly with Oscar Isaac's portrayal of Marc Spector and Steven Grant. This show has amazing visual effects and action scenes, spectacular performances from Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, and May Calamawy, and an entire episode that's almost all about mental health and psychology! (In which Arthur Harrow is somehow actually a really good therapist/psychiatrist.) We talk about how DID is shown with a level of both compassion and accuracy that you don't typically see on screen. Ya know, aside from the superhero elements and ancient Egyptian gods. That's less real. We think...

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Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, and Alan Seawright
Edited by: Sophie Téllez
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis

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[Altmetalpunk]

The fact that Issac wasn't just handed every possible award for this performance is a crime

[morganegrey]

"You were just a child and it wasn´t your fault" is so important to hear 😭

[delaineyjohnson]

The mirror thing. The closest I've come to having a mirror situation as someone with DID was when I was looking in the mirror putting on my makeup getting ready to go to a party I didn't want to go to, and suddenly didn't recognize my face. I was having a depersonalization event and didn't really realize it until after it happened. My younger alter was coming into consciousness with me (co-con) and questioning "why does my face looks like that?" So, I heard her voice, but answered her with my own logic without fully understanding what was going on saying to myself -- "I guess I'm getting older. I guess this is what being 40 does to your face." And then the worst WORST bit of confusion I've ever felt came over me and I heard her again say something like "I'm 26. I'm not 40" Then derealization set in and I had no idea how old I was. I struggled to remember even turning 40 and had to pull myself away from the mirror entirely never probably finishing putting on my makeup, thinking holy shit I'm having a midlife crisis. haha The rest of the day was blank to me but I hear she drank and had a lot of fun. I don't tend to look in mirrors anymore because for some reason it's a trigger for the young one and she has body image issues. So yeah....the mirror thing . . .

[dannietea]

Hearing Steven tell Marc “You were just a child. It wasn’t your fault.” really hit hard and I think it was an important line for anyone dealing with childhood trauma. Especially for those who may never have heard those words out loud or had been triggered by what was shown earlier in the episode.

[endlessdidi]

My favourite part of the DID representation is that Marc specifically acknowledges that them being able to talk like that is explicitly unusual and implies that it’s a recent development.

[thepredatorgamer]

My cousin has DID. I've met several of her alters (she asked me to use that word) in her System. I especially enjoy spending time with the littles. When my cousin and her System watched Moonknight (each one watched it separately I watched with each of them, I love watching the differenting reactions), each one told me they never felt more understood

[clairejj]

The plottwist was amazing. The whole time you think, that Stephen is the "original" and Mark is there for protect him, because Mark does all this crazy fightning stuff. So it was really suprising to see, that Stephen emerged to protect Mark. And he does that with his kidness, hope and positivity. And that is just a super beautiful message. Because you not just helping people on the physical side, you also can help and save people on a emotional side

[dakotacollins]

What I loved the most about this show, is how they validate every single alter.

The body died. And BOTH Mark and Stephen had a spirit and a chance at an afterlife. Stephen wasn't made up. Stephen is as real as Mark in every possible way.

I'm not a system, but I love that messaging so much

[Fenyxfire]

I don't have D.I.D. but I relate HARD to Marc. My sister died and my mom blamed me. I ended up with PTSD instead. I think this is also good representation for mental health in general because while other heros clearly have mental health concerns...this show centers it. This is a superhero who openly has a mental health condition.

[excessivelyfangirlingbookw]

Just sth I want to point out: Jonathan, I love that you say "not to my knowledge".
Your professionalism and credibility skyrocket everytime you admit that you a) don't know sth, b) have made a mistake or c) are aware that some things might not be discovered yet/could be different in the future. Props to you for using your rolemodel-status to point out that even experts aren't perfect.

[the_ferris_system]

DID system here: personally, we think that the portrayal of DID in Moon Knight was incredibly respectful. It sounds like everyone working on the show tried their hardest to avoid the stigma and stereotypes around the disorder, and we're so glad that the main character, who has DID, is the hero, not the monster.

[TheMysticArcana]

We are a DID system. This series made us cry multiple times because it felt like seeing ourselves on a screen for the first time. We weren't portrayed as a monster or crazy, we were the hero.

[FortressWolf]

I'm glad you guys brought up Jake Lockley as the third personality, because he does serve a similar purpose for Mark, but in a different way. Jake acts a shield for Mark's guilt over the terrible things he's done, where as Steven is a shield for the terrible things being done to *Mark.* Both Jake and Steven are there to keep Mark from feeling the full force of his suffering.

[izumiis]

“You were just a child, it wasn’t your fault” is something one of my alters has said to me and watching that scene absolutely broke me into a sobbing mess. I felt so happy to see this portrayed and it made me feel like the things that happen in my head were normal. Thank you both for being so respectful and wonderful, my entire system thanks you <3

[qionne_]

as a person who does not experience DID and has little knowledge on it, i want to say a huge thank you to those of you in the comments for sharing your stories. this show was hands down one of my favorite marvel series, and it helped me realize i had a lot of unconscious bias against systems due to movies like split, like assuming that alters fought for dominance to “steal” the body from the “original” and other nonsense. this video and your stories inspired me to open my mind up to the fact that i had no idea what i was truly believing, and to actually educate myself instead of relying on the few examples i’d been presented. i wish you all the best, and hope it gives some comfort that you’ve enlightened a lot of us

[Zapporah]

The backstory episode was really hard for me. Watching someone's mother blame them for something that's not their fault, and that caused a mental disorder that they battle with into adulthood was waaaay too close to home.

[crispychrissy]

Oscar's body double was his actual brother, Mike, which I think allowed for a much deeper connection to the emotional relationship between Marc and Steven. In a way, Marc and Steven are brothers inside the same body, so who better to play opposite you than your own brother.
Also, as an Egyptology nerd, the significance of the Duat manifesting as a psychiatric hospital is often overlooked. The appearance of the Duat changes to fit the soul passing through, but it's usually out of comfort, as a way to ease the soul into their afterlife after their heart is weighed. Marc has always had issues with his DID and his guilt and self-deprecation over the death of his brother and the life he's led ever since didn't allow the Duat to offer comfort, it offered the same judgement Marc's felt his entire life. The Duat didn't appear as a psychiatric hospital because Marc perceived it as one, it appeared as a psychiatric hospital because Marc truly believes he deserved to be locked away in one. He never thought he deserved the peace and rest he so desperately wanted, so when he got to Aaru (The Field of Reeds) without Steven, he realized he was missing a piece of himself. He finally recognized Steven as a part of him, a part of his soul, and went back to be with him, just like how Steven had always been with him, too.

[your_local_nerd_robin]

As a teen we always thought we were a freak and broken, but the first ever comic we got to personally own was Moon knight because our therapist gave it to us in hope that we would be more comfortable in our body, our new world. And it worked so well. When I heard moonknight was getting a tv series I was more than thrilled that, not only is a great story being told, but that we were being heard as real people and not monsters.

[sabrinascarlet]

Important to note: Jake emerged earlier than thought. As a child, Marc transitioned to Steven as a relief from his abusive mother. But Steven never remembered any actual beatings. This is initially why Jake emerged, to absorb brute force. Later, we see who we think is Marc perform killings in a truck. I challenge that this too was actually Jake. And while we see Jake's sarcophagus in the mental ward seemingly sealed, Jake is actually the person with the injured nose. The accent and attitude change, although we are lead to believe it is Marc. Jake emerged to give and take brute force and to do the work too dirty for the others. Jake actually played a much bigger role in the show.

[benacing]

I love how the alternate personality is the protagonist of the show rather than having it be the original personality, or host, which is how it's usually potrayed in film and TV.