Society — “Turning” a New Page
The Turning (2020) directed by Floria Sigismondi depicts psychological issues revolving around mental health and mental illness. This film makes the viewer look at the ugly side of mental illness through the perception of Kate Mandell. Kate aims to help others, by tutoring Flora and Miles Fairchild and visiting her hospitalized mother, yet she is shunned by the very people she is trying to support. In Kate’s quest to help others could it be that she failed to see her own psychological flaws? This form of rejection is comparable to adjected or “othered” people that are put in mental hospitals in a society. In this regard, The Turning can be thought of as a reflection of our society’s cultural identity.
Think of it this way. An institutionalized society governs behavior and expectations of individuals with the expectancy that everyone will abide by laws which upload moral and cultural values. In a sense, Kate Mandell represents society as she attempts to govern Flora and Miles Fairchild. However, Flora and Miles are disobedient to Kate at times. For instance, Miles goes against Kate’s authority, he terrorizes Kate by watching her sleep and makes sexual remarks towards her against her wishes. This is challenging her authority and contributing to her descent into madness as Miles is making her feel as though she is becoming mentally unstable. In a sociological context, this could be thought of as individuals not obeying the behaviors that are expected of them in a civilized society.
In The Turning, Flora and Miles Fairchild are “special children.” More specifically, thoroughbreds. Flora Fairchild is a reflection of an individual that society has repressed. She tells Kate she has no friends and lost her parents in a tragic accident. This lack of socialization in her upbringing has led society to reject her. She is living in a massive estate, a possible metaphor for a society, where she is all alone and no one fully understands her internal struggle and grief after losing her parents. Later, we learn that Kate is terrorizing the children instead of the other way around. This scenario could be thought of as a society suppressing its citizens.
Early in The Turning, we learn that Kate’s mother lives in a mental institution as she suffers from delusions. Although, presumably Kate is the only one having the delusions and losing her mind. Kate continuously comforts her mother by visiting her in the mental hospital, although Kate is continuously losing her sanity, picturing the ghost of Quint and Miss Jessel in various hallucinations.
In like manner, Dr. Malcolm Crowe in the horror film The Sixth Sense (1999) continuously supports Cole Sear with his unique ability to see dead people, helping Sear overcome his fear and help the spirits that visit him. Shockingly, Dr. Crowe is dead throughout the whole narrative, and Sear was the one helping Dr. Crowe. These character role reversals from Kate Mandell and Dr. Crowe illustrate the similarity between The Turning and The Sixth Sense. As these two horror films delve into the unconscious psyche of these individuals. Kate Mandell through her ghostly hallucinations and delusions of her “mother,” and Dr. Crowe in a metaphysical state through Cole’s dialogue. In both cases, the story represents their involuntary recovery of that memory leading to the resolution of their actual inner conflict.
Notably, The Turning reflects society’s desires through Kate Mandell and Miles Fairchild. Both The Turning and The Sixth Sense (as) horror films have the ability to transform a society and make people look inward at their own psychological warfare. One of the central themes of The Turning is that unsocialized children can acquire toxic behavior and adults can be complicit in allowing these cycles of abuse to continue. Such is the case with Miles and Kate. Miles depicts toxic behavior when he gets expelled from his boarding school for choking another student.
Subsequently, Kate plans to teach miles how to ride horses rather than punishing him for his wrongdoing. Here, Kate’s inner feelings and Miles’ aggressive motivations reflect an aspect of society as an institution. These individuals have come together for a common purpose. A social order where Kate overlooks Miles and Flora, similar to how groups of people from social institutions such as government, parents in families, and teachers in education all govern the behavior of individuals within their socially structured group. The Turning also teaches us about social class, as Kate is above Flora and Miles Fairchild hierarchically. She governs them and tries to control their socially structured group behavior.
Moreover, in The Sixth Sense, Dr. Crowe is “a representation of post-mortem films whose ghost-protagonists walk among the living being literally oblivious to their own demise.” Dr. Crowe is dead throughout the whole film, yet his inner turmoil is apparent when he makes sense of Cole’s condition. There is certainly inner conflict with the protagonists Kate Mandell and Dr. Crowe. Kate’s conflict reflects a social institution in society, whereas Dr. Crowe’s conflict is made ostensible through his patient Cole Sear. Cole is too afraid to approach the undead because he is fearful.
In The Sixth Sense, the dead people don’t know their dead, just as Kate and Dr. Crowe do not know they are the ones suffering, until the conclusions of these two films. In each film, Kate and Dr. Crowe are the delusional ones, not their patients. Both these horror films look inwardly at their main protagonists, who are found to be the ones truly suffering.
