Sybil-Movie Review

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MOVIE REVIEW: SYBIL INTRODUCTION “Sybil” is a movie that was released in 1976. It is based on a true story of Shirley Ardell Mason, a person living with Dissociative Identity Disorder formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. Shirley was born in 1923 and died in 1998. Her life was first documented in a book by the name” Sybil”. A few years later a movie was made under the same name. In this movie we meet Sybil Dorsett, an attractive young woman whose extremely traumatic childhood upbringing led her to develop sixteen different personalities. Each personality dealt with personal feelings and emotions that the real Sybil couldn’t deal with. 2. THE BODY OF THE ESSAY a. Brief description of the movie. The movie “Sybil” was directed by Daniel Petrie. It starred Sally Field (Sybil Dorsett), Joanne Woodward (Doctor Cornelia Wilbur), Brad Davis (Richard Loomis) amongst others. It was one of the best movies of 1970s and it won four globe awards. We first meet Sybil at Central Park in New York. She is a on a field trip with a group of children. After hearing a sound of rusty swing in playground she suffers a “blackout” and later finds herself standing knee deep in a lake. Following this incident she makes a decision to seek help from a psychiatrist- Dr. Cornelia Wilbur. At first dr. Wilbur doesn’t notice anything seriously wrong. As the time goes by however Sybil’s behaviour becomes stranger. Dr. Wilbur’s observations make her believe that Sybil may be suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. A crisis developed when Vicky (one of Sybil’s personalities) called Dr. Wilbur in the middle of the night and said that Sybil is in a hotel room thinking about committing a suicide. The doctor finds Sybil in a depressed state, behaving like a child. Another disaster develops when Sybil starts dating Richard, a street musician. After cooking Christmas dinner
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