In the trivia section, it says:
"The book on which the movie is based is fiction. It is a deeply embellished account of a true case. The true subject did not have multiple personalities, as announced in 1998 at the American Psychological Association convention."
I find this statement to be extremely misleading as there is still much debate over whether or not the book was true.
I totally agree. There is no definitive evidence that it wasn't true and there is continued debate about that as well as the diagnosis of MPD or DID. Like much in psychology, it's a matter of opinion and interpretation. I think it's probably safe to say that there was some dramatic license taken in the book, but it's irresponsible to imply that it's a foregone conclusion that the book is fiction.
It's never too late to be who you might have been - George Eliot
How could the existance of a person with multiple personalities be disputed? Either she exists or she does not exist. Which is it?
Namaste, and good luck.
> How could the existance of a person with multiple personalities be disputed?
> Either she exists or she does not exist. Which is it?
The person existed. The dispute is whether she actually had multiple personalities, or somehow collaborated with her therapist to "fake" them in order to make money from the book and original film.
- Lefty
> by - EvilToady17 on Fri Jun 9 2006 10:27:41 In the trivia section, it says:
> "The book on which the movie is based is fiction. It is a deeply embellished
> account of a true case. The true subject did not have multiple personalities, as
> announced in 1998 at the American Psychological Association convention."
> I find this statement to be extremely misleading as there is still much debate
> over whether or not the book was true.
Agreed. I submitted a request to IMDb to remove this, and encourage you to do the same. This statement is totally what Wikipedia calls "POV" and has no business in the Trivia section of this site.
- Lefty
Yes, they either need to take that trivia off or reword it. This is from the Detroit Free Press: December 23, 1998....
"The true identity of Sybil, called the most famous psychiatric patient in history, has been revealed 20 years after her case was made famous in a best-selling book and made- for-tv movie starring actress Sally Field. In a book scheduled for release next year, psychiatric historian Peter Swales reportedly reveals that Sybil was Shirley Ardell Mason, who died in Lexington, Ky., in February at the age of 75. Mason had lived quietly in Lexington for over 20 years, painting and running an arts business out of her home.
Shirley Ardell Mason, known as Sybil, passed on Feb. 26 of this year, she was 75.
Rumors that Mason was Sybil have circulated in the Lexington area for years. Former neighbors said they started thinking the quiet and friendly woman might be Sybil when they noticed that Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, identified in the book as Sybil's psychiatrist, was a frequent visitor at Mason's home.
Wilbur, who was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Kentucky, died in 1992. "They were fast friends. When Dr. Wilbur wasn't there, Ms. Mason was at Dr. Wilbur's house," said Pat Cress, a former next-door neighbor of Mason. Cress was interviewed shortly after Mason's death.
Mason, who displayed her work on the walls of her Lexington home, was an assistant art professor at Rio Grande College in Ohio in 1969 and 1970, according to college yearbooks.
Neighbors said that both Mason and Wilbur had poodles. The book "Sybil" mentions Wilbur's and Sybil's poodles..."
Just a few too many coincidences for me. I think it's true.
Looks like they removed it now!
- Lefty
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Chris Sizemore was the real person on which Eve was based. She was a documented case of MPD, and the movie was basically a case study. What they didn't mention is that she continued to suffer with the disease for about 20 years after she was supposedly cured in the movie. Ultimately she presented with 20 personalities and they almost always came in groups of three. The movie only covered the first set of three. She's written a couple of books of her own on the subject. It seems like people that debate whether Sybil was a real case accept Eve as real, in part because it was before there was any kind of media attention to the subject, so she couldn't have been influenced to make it up. The logic in that argument escapes me. If she could have the disease, why couldn't others?
It's never too late to be who you might have been - George Eliot
I'm not sure everyone who believes Shirley's case wasn't real, believes DID (MPD) doesn't exist. Some just feel Shirley didn't suffer from this particular disorder but Chris did. I did hear from someone I consider a reliable source, that Shirley, herself believed the diagnosis was correct.
shareRight, that's my point. They accept the story of Eve, but reject Sybil. Part of the reason they feel that Shirley didn't suffer from it was because she read The Three Faces of Eve and saw the movie and they thought she might have been influenced to either make it up or go along with what the doctor was telling her based on her exposure to Eve's story. That wasn't any such media attention when Chris Sizemore was diagnosed. Had there been, would her diagnosis been called into question as well?
It's never too late to be who you might have been - George Eliot
I thought the controversy arose because of discrepancies between Wilbur's observations about the patient and that of other doctors.
shareMost of it did, but part of the argument against the diagnosis (as I recall, this was Spiegel's thought) was the fact that Shirley had been exposed to The Three Faces of Eve and he therefore hypothesized that she was eagerly going along with what the doctor had planted in her mind, essentially to win her approval.
It's never too late to be who you might have been - George Eliot
I thought "Eve" may have been a component but partly b/c he felt it may have influenced Wilbur , who may have used it to influence Sybill. In any case, based on his own observations (I'm not saying he was right) he believed Sybil was a "high hysteric" -- apparently these patients tend to be accomodating to a Dr's or ANY authority's whim -- and the personaliies were more a form of role playing in HER case, (again I'm not saying he was right).
shareI could have sworn that Oprah had the real Eve on her show many yrs ago.
One thing I remember from the interview was that "Eve" had gained a lot of weight because each "personality" would eat when they came out. If 3 personalities came out in one day "Eve" would be eating different meals for all of them. If 3 came out in the morning Eve would eat 4 breakfasts, etc. (one for herself and one meal ea. for ea. personality because they didn't know the others existed and knew that they "themselves" hadn't eaten that day.)
I remember one of the personalities was called the Strawberry Lady because that's all she would eat.
Does anybody else remember this? Do I have it mixed up with another MPD person?
Insanity,I'm sorry but I laughed reading your post.It was very interesting what you said but suddenly I visualized Bette Midler doing a new "Eve"-as a comedy!The lines she would come up with regarding the four meals and the weight would have everyone on the floor laughing.Also,"Strawberry Lady" would make a great title for this project or "The four meals of Strawberry Lady" or som'.
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