Let’s Have a Talk About Trauma.

Summary

The web content discusses how recent Disney movies like "Encanto" and "Turning Red" portray trauma as the underlying villain in characters' lives, rather than traditional antagonists, and how this trauma influences their actions and relationships.

Abstract

The article reflects on the evolution of Disney's portrayal of villains, shifting from external entities to the internal struggle with trauma. It highlights how characters like Abuela from "Encanto" and Ming Lee from "Turning Red" are initially perceived as antagonists but are ultimately revealed to be complex individuals grappling with their own unresolved traumas. The piece emphasizes that their seemingly negative behaviors stem from a place of love and protection, as they attempt to shield their families from the pain they themselves have experienced. The author commends Disney for shedding light on the generational impact of trauma and the importance of recognizing and addressing it to prevent harm to loved ones.

Opinions

The author believes that Disney has successfully depicted trauma as a pervasive and recurring challenge, rather than a one-dimensional villain that can be easily defeated.
The article suggests that characters like Abuela and Ming Lee, though their actions may be flawed, are driven by an intense desire to protect their families from trauma, not by malice or disappointment.
It is the author's view that trauma can manifest in ways that hurt others, even when the intent is to protect, and that healing is a continuous process with setbacks.
The author posits that Disney's recent films encourage self-reflection on how personal trauma can affect one's behavior and relationships, and how it might be unintentionally projected onto others.
The piece implies that acknowledging trauma is crucial for breaking harmful cycles and preventing the emotional injury of family members.
The author sees the portrayal of women in these films as particularly poignant, as they often bear the burden of swallowing their trauma to maintain family stability and cohesion.

How has trauma been the villain in your life? How can we come together to address it?

Disney has found itself a new villain! Gone are the days of the Green cloaked monsters looking for power and the damsel in distress looking to be saved.

Instead, as we have seen in movies like Encanto and Turning Red, the new villain is one cloaked in mystery and back story. Upon the first watch of these movies, you may miss it.

You may first blame Abuela for being the villain in Encanto. You may watch on as she pressures her children and grandchildren to lift the heavy burdens of the family and community and think to yourself “what an evil woman.” You may see Ming Lee in Turning Red as an overbearing mother who expects perfection from her daughter and think to yourself “what a helicopter mother.”

Upon the first watch, you might miss it. But, these women are not villains. Throughout the movie, they and all of the subsequent characters are fighting the true villain in ways that only they know-how. They are fighting trauma.

Like all of us, these characters have been through varying degrees of trauma. Abuela took her community under her wing after the murder of her husband and was required to remain strong as she carried the burden of protecting not only her family but her community while never being able to process her grief. Ming Lee is a woman attempting to protect her daughter from the same pain she experienced, while simultaneously repeating the patterns of her own mother, expecting perfection.

Nothing these women do is out of hatred or disappointment, but out of an overwhelming sense of love and protection. Their actions, while they may be cringe-worthy at times, are born out of the insurmountable need to protect their loved ones from experiencing the trauma that they had never truly processed. The grief they never got to sit in and the pain they never got to heal.

Trauma is the biggest villain many of us could face in our lifetimes. It is not something that can be slain or something that could disappear at a moment's notice. It is an ever-present aspect of our lives that sometimes trickle down to those we love.

Even when we do heal, it rears its ugly head at the worst of times and we must heal all over again.

Disney has done a beautiful job of showing how women in particular must swallow their trauma to protect their families. Push it down within to try to protect and love the ones we care about in the best way we know-how. Disney has done a beautiful job of showing how that trauma can be projected in all the wrong ways and despite the best intentions, can cause us to hurt the ones we love.

I hope what these movies do is cause us to look within ourselves. How is your trauma manifested in your life? How has trauma caused others to hurt you, despite it never being their intention? How has your trauma caused you to hurt others?

Is it you that is the villain or your battle within? Was your mother overbearing out of pain rather than ill-intent? Were you lost because of your inner need for perfection?

How has trauma been the villain in your life? How can we come together to address it before it hurts the ones we love?

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