Mordax et al

fromfiction:

Following up from my post about plurality things in Moon Knight episode 1 that I liked, I wanted to ook at how episode 2 continues the portrayal. 

The answer is a lot more mixed; episode 2 drops the ball in some ways that episode 1 didn’t.

The Good 

(things that represented plurality well)

Shows the difficulty of living as part of a system with poor communication between members; how disagreements and closing each other off can lead to chaos and general life problems.

Makes an attempt to show Steven getting used to what it’s like being aware while not in control of the body.

The Bad

(things that represented plurality badly)

Mirrors. Using mirrors to set up and show the communication between Marc and Steven once or twice was fine, but episode 2 takes it above and beyond. All the communication is done through mirrors. Marc says that mirrors can strengthen communication between system members. This is really not something that most plural systems experience, and Moon Knight is pushing it hard.

The Ugly

(things that weren’t necessarily an untrue representation of plurality but were still uncomfortable)

Episode 2 amps up the portrayal of Marc Spector as the system’s violent and destructive alter. He’s a mercenary, so yes he kills people. Without context, I’d give that a pass. But beyond being a killer, we also learn that he’s disruptive of the body’s life, leaving his wife without a word, and presumably never telling her about his having DID. Additionally, as soon as we see Marc get a hold of the body, we then see him sitting half naked on the floor and drinking.

It is not necessarily untrue that sometimes plural systems experience system members who are chaotic, violent, and self-destructive. However, Moon Knight the series leaning into the binary of Steven as the mild mannered and stressed out alter trying to clean up all the messes made by his self-destructive alter Marc leans heavily into a lot of well worn and potentially harmful stereotypical portrayals of a gentle alter and a violent alter. While this can be true for systems, it reinforces a negative image of plurality and DID in the general public who typically only encounter plurality through mass media. 

Moon Knight is fiction, and its primary aim is obviously to tell a compelling narrative, not to be educational. However, I am hoping that as the story progresses, we will see more communication and collaboration between Marc and Steven, and see them come together and work together in an empowered way, rather than reinforcing the idea that plural systems are always at odds and tearing one another apart.