* MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING: Talk about SA*
This movie was confusing for me in so many ways. Throughout the film, I was battling the line of "I fucking hate this movie and why would you ever show this" and "I kinda like it". And if not like it then semi-understand it. I liked the way in which the film showed two sides to trauma from Niel and Brian's perspective.
The first part that made me step back and think was Brian's story of alien abduction. I've seen this type of description in police/FBI shows; most notably "Criminal Minds". I think it's a way for people to disassociate with what happened. A person's brain creates a new story in order to conceal a trauma that they couldn't "handle". (I put it in quotes because who really knows how to "handle" trauma). Although on the other hand I was disturbed by the fact that Brian couldn't talk to the woman (forgot her name) because she also wanted to take advantage of him. That part I didn't understand at all, it seemed very layered but at the same time real. A person that is vulnerable and looking for answers could be taken advantage of by those who mentor.
I also think it's important to mention the ending of the movie. I found a sort of peace in the fact that they talked about it. There is so much stigmatized shame when it comes to sexual assault. We are automatically turned off by the movie entirely because it talks about hard issues. Our first discussion on Tuesday had me feeling a bit confused. It felt as though the majority of people instantly wrote it off. And although I understand because everyone has their own trauma and is
at different stages with their trauma it's not easy to talk about, I also think it isn't something we should write off. I felt a weird relief knowing that people are trying to tell the story. Trauma can be so hard to depict because it's overlapping. It isn't just anger but also love, sadness, relief, stress. There are so many layers and while I'm still conflicted over my feelings on the film, I know that they tried. They tried to create a multi-layered story.
Hey Fannie!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate this blog. I agree with the points you made. I also appreciate that the directors chose to depict trauma in different ways. I was also confused by the lady who also saw aliens. I was wondering whether she had also experienced some sort of trauma that led to believe that she saw aliens in her dreams. At first I was wondering where the BIPOC actors were in this film and it was hard to identify a reason for this film in the class. I do agree that even though it is a hard conversation to have we should have them anyways.