Humanising Our Inner Demons in The Crowded Room

There’s something inherently terrifying about possession, perhaps because it reminds us that we aren’t as in control of ourselves as we like to believe. But for people suffering from dissociative identity disorder, that horror is simply how life is - and that frightening story is exactly what Akiva Goldsman’s The Crowded Room aims to tell. A fictionalized version of the non-fiction book The Minds of Billy Milligan, it share the story of the first man to be acquitted of a major crime due to dissociative identity disorder in the United States.

While the entire miniseries is both captivating and binge-worthy, the standout character is without a doubt Danny Sullivan - not his various identities or “alters”, but rather the terrified child that hides behind them all. While many stories about DID tend to make a spectacle out of the disorder, The Crowded Room gives ample space to the trauma before delving deeper into the illness, thereby creating a more robust and sympathetic character. So how exactly is the depiction of Danny Sullivan different from other depictions of DID in media - and is it better?

When we first see Danny, he’s on the verge of committing a crime. Despite this, it’s immediately obvious that something is wrong; he doesn’t seem prepared or resolute or even resigned. Instead, we see a greasy, tired looking kid, twitchy and unable to make eye contact. This is not somebody who's used to a life of crime - he just seems like a lost and scared kid. Already, we see that Danny is not, at his core, a frightening person. Nonetheless, though, when he fails to pull the trigger, his much more confident (if also rather twitchy) partner takes over and shoots the target for him.

Quickly thereafter, though, the scene shifts to a professor, played by Amanda Seyfried, begins to dig into Danny’s case. This is where the series starts to deviate from the typical narratives we see around mental illnesses like schizophrenia and DID. Take Split as a more typical example: in it, each personality is exaggerated and puts on a show for the audience, a choice which is admittedly effective in getting the audience’s interest, especially when we see more inhuman personalities. James McAvoy’s character’s trauma is given some screentime, it’s not the focus; what the movie really wants to show you is how creepy, terrifying, and dangerous this illness is. This makes for a heart-stopping story, but there are real life consequences to these choices. Dissociative identity disorder is an illness real people have to live with each and every day - showing it as inhuman and dangerous isn’t simply inaccurate, it also has a real impact on how DID patients are viewed by the rest of the world.

The Crowded Room's approach to Danny’s illness, on the other hand, is refreshing in how it focuses on the humanity behind the illness. Rather than highlighting his personalities and their eccentricities, the series takes its time to introduce them, first focusing on Danny’s life and how he became the person he did. With each episode we learn more about who Danny is, and it’s quite the tragic picture: he’s a lonely, abused kid who is desperate for someone to save him. It’s a heartbreakingly real depiction of how people who have experienced intense pain interact with the world. Danny has many chances to defend himself or place the blame for his crimes on others, but instead he remains honest and loyal. Having never gotten the love and protection he needed, he now has an almost pathological desire to help others. A lifetime of betrayal and fear has left him with rather black and white thinking, but it’s obvious that if Danny believes that you are a good person, he would cut his heart out for you the second you asked - and that’s exactly what makes you fall in love with the character. He may have done bad things, but the series makes it clear that his illness would never make him a monster the way Split shoes. Danny's DID only exists to protect him from the pain he has experienced, and even if he doesn't fully comprehend what happened to him, his only goal is to save others from the pain he experienced.

It’s true that in the end, the series didn’t entirely live up to its potential. Danny’s acceptance and recovery from his illness seems so fast and smooth as to be almost trivial and kind of downplays the realities of living with mental illness. It’s understandable for the genre, of course - given that it's a crime drama, the motivations, crime, and trial were always going to be the focus, and that’s what the story is built around. Still, after the care given to Danny’s personal history, the simplicity of his healing feels somewhat awkward and disjointed and makes it seem like simply confronting trauma is all that's needed to recover. Nonetheless, The Crowded Room tells a beautiful, human story and depicts mental illness with more care than I’ve seen in a long time, so even if it didn’t totally stick the landing, it’s worth the watch.

What films and shows do you think represent mental health well? Let me know down below!