I'm just an ordinary man...
They called me Mr. Glass...
There are two films that have left a significant impact on M. Night Shyamalan's career. Those films are Unbreakable (considered by many to be one of his best if not the best) and Split (which is considered to be his comeback after taking a nosedive in his career.) Now, with Glass, everything has come together. In this post of In The Mind Of, I'll be looking at not one, not two, but three characters, each of them from these three movies. To begin, let's talk about the hero of this tale:
David Dunn starts off as this man who is thrown into so many situations where after each event, a new question pops up for him. It all serves to reveal to him that he is more than he thought; that he is in truth a superhuman being. It takes a while for him to accept that fact and adjust to it, but once he does, it proves to be a very complete and fulfilling journey. He becomes the Overseer and works to protect those who need it, especially from people like the next two characters.
Kevin Wendell Crumb, A.K.A. The Horde, is a truly unique individual. Having lost his father in the train crash that helped Dunn discover who he was meant to be and victim to a horrifically abusive mother, Kevin developed a disorder known as D.I.D., in which he changes between 23 different personalities, with three of them, Hedwig, Patricia, and Dennis, asserting the most control. Eventually, he soon develops a 24th personality known as the Beast, which is essentially Kevin transformed into a superpowered, ravenous monster of a man who engages in cannibalizing young girls he considers "impure." Overall, what little of Kevin is trapped within his subconscious, yet there are still moments where it is clear that he is still there and not too far gone.
Our final character, Elijah Price, is the most villainous of the three yet still suffers hardships and misfortunes that could easily garner anyone's sympathies. Having been born with a disease that makes his bones brittle and easy to break, and being an avid lover of comic books, Elijah has spent most of his life trying to find his purpose and prove he is not a mistake. It makes it all the more tragic, disturbing, and bizarrely heartwarming once he reveals to David that he was the one who caused the train derailment (and many other accidents that claimed many lives) after he helped the latter realize his potential as a superhero, thus finally finding his place in the world even if that means being a villain.
David, Kevin, and Elijah are unique characters within their world and they affect everyone around them, even each other, in many ways. Sadly, their story doesn't end well for any of them, but they have managed to leave an impact that will change the world as they knew it.
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