Villain Therapy: Gollum, Smeagol, and Dissociative Identity Disorder

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Can you overcome greed and selfishness? Can compassion help someone who's been through and done things like Gollum has?

Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright talk about some of the aspects of Gollum's personality and journey that could be seen as mental illness, what aspects are just choices he makes, and what may be caused by circumstances he finds himself in (or supernatural powers like the ring. I mean, the precious.) They talk about the differences between multiple personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder, our potential for greed and selfishness, how understanding leads to compassion and compassion leads to healing, and why the Lord of the Rings is one of their favorite trilogies of all time. They also do some pretty great Gollum impressions (and give serious props to Andy Serkis and the VFX team).

Jonathan's note: while the clinical information presented in this episode is accurate, there is more to the story. Since filming I have gained insight from several persons with dissociative identity disorder. In some cases it is not experienced as a core personality with alters to be integrated, but as a system of personalities living harmoniously. In these cases, there is nothing to "cure." There is more to cover on this subject and we look forward to doing so in future videos.

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Cinema Therapy is:
Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright & Alan Seawright
Edited by: David Sant
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis

cinematherapycinema therapymental health