Sanders Sides: Psychosis, Dissociation, or Genius?

Sanders Sides: Psychosis, Dissociation, or Genius?

Since I was thirteen, I have had the notion that my personality can be divided into four different personas. I went so far as to name each one and give them their separate email addresses. Am I the only one to have such a bizarre way to cope with intrapersonal conflicts? I recently found the answer: no.
Thomas Sanders found fame in Vine and later on YouTube and became a personality to look up to and be inspired by. However, one of the most curious and genius content he has created must certainly be the Sanders Sides. This starts off in a video entitled ‘My True Identity!’ where he introduces his intellectual side (Logic personified as a teacher in spectacles and a necktie), his fanciful side (Creativity personified as a Disney Price), and his moral side (Morality personified as a goofy dad) in order to better understand his identity. In a video titled ‘Taking on ANXIETY’, Thomas introduces his anxious side – Anxiety personified as an eye-shadow clad, sardonic ‘emo’. Every conflict that Thomas experiences must arise from one of these facets of his personality or in any case must be solved by them collectively. In subsequent videos, which are to become one day a part of the series called Sanders Sides, Thomas arrives with a conflict and these ‘sides’ of his personality debate to solve said conflict while realising the importance of each side as well as its limits.
Thomas, being himself involved in theatre, plays every part so perfectly that the distinction seems real and these sides seem to become much deeper characters that the fans soon get attached to separately. It is subsequently forgotten that these are different parts of one man’s personality and they are seen as individuals who agree, disagree, care about, hate, and love each other. It goes so far as to inspire fanfiction pairing two of Thomas’ sides together (often called a Thomas Sanders/Thomas Sanders pairing). It is at this point that we wonder if this activity is getting dissociative, leading us towards delusions, or if it is the sheer theatrical genius of Sanders that brings these characters thus to life. This is what I shall discuss in the next segment, so SPOILER ALERT FOR SANDERS SIDES.

Much like with my own personas, Thomas soon reveals the names of his own personas, which he himself is oblivious to till they reveal it. Logic is Logan, Creativity/Princey is Roman, and Morality is Patton. Everyone is curious to know Anxiety’s name but he is (surprise) too insecure to tell them and remains a mysterious figure for the longest time. It is much later that Anxiety discloses that his name is Virgil. With the latest video, we also discover that there are some hidden sides to Thomas’ personality – the Dark Sides. Deceit is unveiled as a two-faced sweet-talker who has not been seen so far because Thomas himself did not wish to acknowledge that part of him. Deceit in turn also hides away the other Dark Sides so as to deceive Thomas into believing that he is a purely good individual.
Is this just a doodle or is there more to the structure of Sanders Sides? Virgil wears dark eye-shadow, clearly as a representation of dark thoughts. He also listens to so-called ‘emo’ music, which is often associated with lyrics that talk about anxiety and insecurities, hence a kind of fodder to Anxiety. Initially painted as an antagonist, it is soon established that Anxiety’s complete absence is not a good scenario either as a complete lack of fear is self-destructive and unproductive. Virgil is perhaps the most loved of the sides and the fans see him as a figure to be protected. But Virgil is not a figure – he is merely a personification of an emotion. Perhaps empathy reaches the stage where we feel pity even for our insecurities.
Virgil is often seen as a foil (and possible romantic interest) for Roman. They start off with great dislike for one another until the point where Anxiety vanishes and Creativity realises that Anxiety “makes [them] better”. To the hopeless romantics, it is a case of opposites attracting. While romance between two emotions is preposterous, we can still look at the binaries created from the beginning as Anxiety/Creativity and Logic/Morality.
Roman is the fantastical, theatrical, creative side of Thomas. He accounts for all the content he creates and everything he is passionate about. He is represented as pompous, dressed as royalty, always imagining a world where fairy-tales are real and he can break into songs and display his chivalry. This positive side is contrasted with the negativity associated with Anxiety. Roman cannot bear Virgil disrupting his perfect positive world while Virgil cannot stand Roman’s streamlined way to view the world. They do, however, reach a compromise, since Anxiety must rule in Creativity to not get problematic or delusional and Creativity must liberate Anxiety. Ironically, Creativity himself seems to experience anxiety as he cannot help but feel he is not working hard enough or is not the favourite side. This is also a clear representation of how insecure any artist is about their art.
Logan is seen as a teacher, wearing a pair of glasses and a necktie that is supposed to represent professionalism. He takes everything at face value, does not understand emotions much, and objects to arguments by screaming “FALSEHOOD”, as opposed to Virgil who hisses like a serpent in disagreement. While logically speaking, Logic should solve all the problems, sometimes Logic is the problem. As Buridan explains with his example of an ass, logic is not always practical. Hence it is clear that in the Logic/Morality binary, Logic is not an assumed hierarchical superior.
Patton is the goofy dad figure. He makes dad jokes, bad puns, wears spectacles, has a jumper around his neck, and calls the other sides ‘kiddo’. He is always cheerful, never frustrated, and gives more importance to emotions rather than reason. In the Head vs Heart debate, he certainly represents the heart. But something is off when Patton does seem to be feeling sad. Patton is not just the centre of good feelings, but the centre of all feelings. He has a hard time letting go of memories and moving on. The latest twist arrives through Patton in the video ‘Can Lying Be Good?’ As Morality, he should always be the defender of truth which is why it is unnerving when he advises Thomas to lie to his friend. Patton seems to be on edge and seems to be hiding something and making sure that no other side reveals it either. This is where it is revealed that it isn’t Patton at all, but another darker side acting as ‘Morality’ – it is Deceit. As long as Deceit keeps deceiving Thomas into believing all is well, Morality would be safe from guilt. After all, guilt is the shadow of morality. (Yes, that’s my own quote, I’m quoting myself) Deceit is revealed only when Thomas decides he can face some unpleasant sides of himself and learn something about himself that he had been repressing. Deceit with half a face of a smiling angel and half of a snake appears, startling almost everyone. There lies the complexity of deception – it deceives not only others but even oneself and one doesn’t see it till one consciously wishes to. There are a number of other ‘dark sides’ yet to be revealed.
Thomas Sanders uses personification as a device to understand himself, portray himself, and help others understand some basic aspects of their personality. He does not, however, let these sides remain flat but rather creates a spectrum through which they all co-exist. While naming your anxiety and creativity might seem like dissociation from oneself, it cannot be denied that the theatrical brilliance and ingenuity that goes into making each Sanders Sides video is commendable. If roleplay and debates in one’s mind palace can solve a dilemma then maybe that is the way to go. The series certainly is a work of art and deserves such appreciation. But subjectively, do I want to mother Virgil and protect him? You bet I do, I never claimed to not be dissociative or delusional. In conclusion, as Thomas would say, “Take it easy, guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Peace out!”

 

Review by:

Hritvika Lakhera

English honours