Movie Review: Primal Fear - A case of Dissociative Identity Disorder

[Warning: Only read if you have watched the movie or do not mind reading spoilers!]

Primal Fear (1996) starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton is a thriller film about a top defense attorney, Martin Vail (Gere), that decides to defend an accused altar boy, Aaron Stampler (Norton), for the brutal murder of an Archbishop. It sounds like your average crime-courtroom thriller, but it is not, for Aaron Stampler is not your average 19-year-old boy. In fact, as the film progresses Vail and a psychiatrist believe that Aaron suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder as his other self, Roy, emerges. Eventually, Aaron is declared not guilty because of his disorder, but he later reveals to Vail that he was faking it the entire time. Edward Norton’s portrayal throughout the film of someone with dissociative identity disorder is truly praiseworthy and helps shine a light on those that are really suffering with such a disorder. So, what exactly is dissociative identity disorder and how was it portrayed in the film?

A general definition of dissociative identity disorder was provided by Vermetten et al. (2006) as “characterized by the presence of two or more identities or personality states, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and the self” and that “at least two of these identities recurrently take control of the person’s behavior… [and] is frequently accompanied by dissociative amnesia” (p. 1). Keeping this in mind, let’s take a further look at Aaron’s case.

Aaron Stampler is introduced to us as a timid teenager (coupled with a Southern accent and a stutter). He has a quiet and innocent demeanor, and yet a firm insistence that he did not commit the murder. After hearing Aaron’s story that he had seen the murderer and then blacked out, Vail becomes convinced that Aaron is indeed innocent, despite everyone else believing that he is guilty. The most noteworthy part of Aaron’s story is when he claims that he blacks out – and that it happens often – of which when he wakes up, has no recollection of what happened during that period.

A psychiatrist is brought in to talk to Aaron. After being asked too many personal questions, Aaron completely snaps. This other self that he has turned into is vicious and verbally aggressive – the complete opposite of the meek Aaron we have seen so far. He reveals himself as Roy, not Aaron. After that sudden outburst, Aaron returns and seems confused as to what just happened. This is the first of three instances in which Roy takes over.

The next instance occurs when Vail is confronting Aaron at prison. Roy comes to life and we can see that he is still extremely verbally aggressive. Not only that, but we see Roy become physically aggressive too during this scene. Roy explains that he takes over whenever Aaron is being too “weak”. He continues to pour insults on Aaron’s character of which he disapproves of greatly. The psychiatrist witnesses this scene and tells Vail later that Aaron has dissociative identity disorder. It is then suggested that Aaron created another “self”, Roy, as a sort of protective measure against his previously abusive father.

Vermetten et al. (2006) in their journal article studied the brains of those with the disorder and it was found that (as their hypothesis predicted) their amygdalar and hippocampal volume were significantly smaller compared to control individuals. It was explained that a probable reason behind the smaller amygdalar and hippocampal volumes is an overexposure of stressful events. This reasoning ties into the psychiatrist’s suggestion that Aaron has dissociative identity disorder because of early childhood trauma caused by his abusive father.

Similarly, Richard P. Kluft (1996) defines dissociative identity disorder as the occurrence of “separate identities”, “recurrent episodes of memory disruption… and/or amnesia” as well as some relation to “overwhelming childhood experiences” (p. 337). By this definition (along with Vermetten et al.’s above) of the symptoms, we can see that Aaron’s faked dissociative identity disorder is terribly by-the-book. Through the movie we meet “Roy” which is Aaron’s other identity, and we also see that Aaron claims to have absolutely no recollection of the events that happened while Roy had taken over nor of the things he had done. All of this matches the very definition of dissociative identity disorder, which reflects the disturbing way in which some people – specifically criminals in this case – may pretend to have a mental disorder if it means getting off the hook.

Now, what other important implications does this film draw upon that we should take note of during real life criminal trials? A key takeaway is that there is a slight possibility that people can fake a mental disorder and get away with a crime they are actually guilty of committing. Primal Fear draws glaring attention to how we should exercise the utmost caution when dealing with criminal cases, and especially those claiming to have a mental disorder. For one, the psychiatrist was too quick to claim in court that Aaron was suffering from multiple personality disorder. In fact, she admitted that she was not an expert in this disorder. Here, we can observe a major problem where a non-expert of a specific mental disorder has “diagnosed” a patient for that very disorder in which they do not possess the expert knowledge for. If this is exercised in real life trials, the consequences could potentially be of the most extreme severity.

Additionally, the diagnosis was purely based on Aaron’s behavior and the psychiatrist’s perception of that behavior. Oftentimes than not, sole observation of behavior will lead to incorrect conclusions – thus it is always best to also observe other aspects of a person such as physiological measures, patterns of brain activation, and so on. This way we are much more likely to obtain a clearer and more accurate picture of a person’s mental state, and we can be more confident in what we conclude.

The obtainability of true justice is boosted in a world where we are constantly vigilant, unbiased, and possess appropriate knowledge. We must not be quick to jump to conclusions without attempting to assess a situation from as many angles as possible. At the end of the day, we are dealing with human behavior, and humans are complex beings indeed.

REFERENCES:

1. Kluft, R. P. (1996). Dissociative Identity Disorder. Handbook of Dissociation, 337-366. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0310-5_16
2. Vermetten, E. (2006). Hippocampal and Amygdalar Volumes in Dissociative Identity Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry Am J Psychiatry, 163(4), 630. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.4.630