United States of Tara

Showtime's new television series, "United States of Tara," is currently one of the most intriguing television series I have watched in a while. I find Toni Collette partly brilliant and simultaneously psychotic--she is a refreshing beauty. Her ability to fall in and out of several characters in a matter of seconds is nothing short of human and vulnerable. She plays a wife and mother of two, Alice. Alice has DID, aka Dissociative Identity Disorder, which results in sharp transitions between multiple personalities. There is actually much controversy about it being a legitimate diagnosis. As for the television series, I have been told that DID is a much more subtle illness, these personalities may not actually manifest with physical changes and rarely do they make themselves as apparent as the show may lead people to believe. I think I particularly enjoy this television series because I had a sudden emotional response to the first episode and have, since then, been sucked into seeing every one thereafter. The show is entertaining with all the quirkiness of Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning writer of Juno. However, its humor in no way makes light of the situation at hand, it copes and offers perspective. I can't wait to see where the series goes...  Watch it when you get a chance and please let me know what you guys think???