After the huge success of “Dahmer: An American Cannibal”, other true crime content began to stand out on Netflix, an example of which was the increased access to “Talking to a serial killer: the Killer. Clown “. ”, Documentary series quoted in“ Dahmer ”which tells the story of John Wayne Gacy. With this trend in mind, we have come to reveal the existence of another of these streaming productions: “Monsters Within: The 24 Personalities of Billy Milligan”, a documentary that exposes the true face (or faces) of the man who inspired the 2016 film “Split”.
Of course, first of all, it is important to explain that “Fragmented” is part of a trilogy called Eastern Railway 177 – the name is totally linked to the first film, more precisely with a train -, being the second released in the saga. On top of that, there is “Corpo Fechado”, released in 2000, and “Vidro”, which hit theaters in 2019.
All were directed by the famous M. Night Shyamalan, the director responsible for the screenplay of “The Sixth Sense” in 1999, a film that was critically acclaimed at the time.
With a strong cast, the Eastrail trilogy features Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson as the main characters, each of whom is the protagonist of each of the films. The productions are inspired by different worlds, from the real to the fictional (more precisely to the comics), but there is one in particular that attracts all our attention because, although it is based on reality, it seems incredible and impossible to understand: yes, we are talking about the 23 personalities of Kevin (McAvoy).
“Fragmented” was inspired by whom?
Billy Milligan is his name and, for the uninitiated, Netflix also has a documentary series released in 2021 that tells and shows in detail the trajectory of the criminal (I’ll explain why “criminal”), the development of personalities and the complexity that the court faced in its trials, in addition to popular pressure due to the scale the case has taken.
In the late 1970s, Milligan was responsible for three rapes on the Ohio State University campus, in addition to numerous other crimes, including armed robbery and kidnapping. Entitled “The 24 Personalities of Billy Milligan”, the miniseries – it is worth noting that the content is documentary, a little different from the style presented in the “Dahmer” series, with actors – features emotional accounts of relatives, interviews, real videos while was still accused and, most shocking, Dr. Dorothy Turner with him. The production features several characters, including the passage of many doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists into Milligan’s life.
Turner, a rorschach test specialist, was the one who first caught Billy’s attention and realized that something was psychologically wrong. Dr. Cornelia B. Wilbur, also a psychiatrist and often mentioned in the documentary, is the professional who continues the treatment, being, at the time, one of the most famous in the area and with a domain in the field of dissociative identity disorder – already known as multiple personality disorder. The documentary also features Wilbur videos interrogating Milligan’s personalities.
It is worth noting that in the 1970s little was known or understood about personality disorders. One of the contents that added fuel to this fire of knowledge and complexity was the book The three faces of Eve, released in 1941, but with a boom in 1957 when a movie came out. After that we had Sibylanother book that was also made into a film in 1976: a work also written by writer Flora Rheta Schreiber and Dr. Wilbur.
Milligan said he does not remember committing the crimes, psychiatrists reported that he lived, since childhood, in a sort of psychological coma while other personalities have taken over. Thus, these faces would be responsible for the crimes, and more: a specific personality would have carried out the rape and others the aggression and kidnapping.
Whose fault is it? Was he crazy? Were you pretending? While some experts have pointed to a manipulative, cunning and Oscar-worthy criminal for acting, others have tried to demonstrate his psychic instability and how he was, in fact, the victim of his fragmented mind due to childhood trauma – as well as pointing out that no one would be able to play that long. In the midst of all this, there has been the massive spread of the media and some bureaucratic and personal conflicts of interest that have reached the legal environment, also resulting in the creation of Milligan’s law. Complex, right?
There were personalities with accents, and with each change in profile, the way he walked, talked and behaved also changed. At times she looked like a child and at other times she claimed to be a woman (as in the film “Fragmented”), there was also a man with a horrible appearance and a fluid and intellectual language, very different from other behaviors.
Although the case is well known to some and, since it is real, spoilers have been in books, newspapers and the internet for years, I will limit myself to saying that, to date, there is debate as to whether or not the changes in Milligan’s personalities.
The American died at the age of 59, in 2014, a victim of cancer, but his case is still widely used for study purposes, both legal and psychological. With only 4 episodes of 1 hour each, “The 24 Personalities of Billy Milligan” is the type of production that, for those who loved “Dahmer” or for those who consume such documentaries, can be interesting.
The post Beyond “Damher”: Netflix has the true story that inspired the movie “Split” first appeared on Digital Look.
Source: Olhar Digital
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
