Freedom comes in all shapes and sizes--and sanities. And so do families. As Tolstoy so wonderfully put it, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." There's a connection he's making there between unhappiness and individualism--and between freedom and group identity. Unhappy families are uniquely messed up because the individuals in them won't or can't subordinate themselves to the collective will of the group. Happy families are boringly alike because borgs tend by definition to lack personality.
All of these ideas are brilliantly and madly at work in the new Spielberg-supported Showtime series, United States of Tara. Tara--played by the amazingly malleable Toni Collette--is a married mother of two who just happens to suffer from dissociative identity disorder. Her alters include a sex-crazed teenager named T, a Stepford-style 1950s homemaker named Alice, a spittin and chewin and cussin Vietnam vet named Buck, and an unnamed rainwear-clad prankster described by Tara's husband Max as a "poncho goblin." All of this makes for unpredictable and vibrant television--and for some fun, head-spinning reflection on the nature of freedom, of individuality, of happiness, of family.
And judging by the show's title, that's all intended.