Significance of Trauma - Movie Review Example

Significance of Trauma Name Institution Date Traumatic events leave people with emotional scars that take a long time to heal. It may well be said that the scale of the event determines the extent to which an individual shall be traumatized/scarred. Therefore, a local event may not be as traumatic as a national or international event. In the end, individuals need to find some respite from all the horrors they might have gone through, and this is where cinematography comes in as a therapeutic agent. Therapy does not necessarily imply that the event has already occurred, but like in prophylaxis, therapy may be a way through which an agent is used to help stem the tide of events yet to come, by conditioning the mind (or the entire body) into a resilient mode. In this regard, the conditioning of the mind has the effect that individuals become stoic (that is, they become emotionally aloof or they remain internally unmoved by external events), and cease from experiencing the pain that such experiences should portend. In this paper, the significance of trauma shall be discussed with regard to two Asian films produced within the post millennial period. Most people would like to live without having to recall any trauma they might have experienced earlier on in life, with some of those experiences having taken a heavy toll on their emotional fabric. However, it emerges that part of the therapeutic function of traumatic movies is to help individuals recall their personal experiences and reconcile with the past, which they would have left lurking in their subconscious otherwise. Therefore, this paper shall not only discuss and analyze past events but it shall also enquire of the future and study the present with regard to the two films mentioned above. As it so emerges, retrospection is important when one needs reconciliation, but also is a look into what the future my hold (Sarkin & Sensibaugh, 2009, p. 1036). The theme of The Flowers of War is just as the title suggests, that is war. The setting is in the context of China in 1937, when the country was under attack by Japanese soldiers. This so-called Sino-Japanese War lasted for eight years, and has had a lasting impact on the collective conscience of the Chinese (probably even the Japanese as well) ever since. Specifically, the setting is in Nanjing (otherwise called Nanking) China, and the main character is a Westerner, a heroic figure who finds himself drawn into the throes of the war, and is faced with a dilemma. The situation demands of him to forget about himself and help the women around him (several prostitutes and Chinese students) to get to safety. Through the experiences of the prostitutes and the school girls, the movie does not only enable people to reconnect with a traumatic past but also allows the audience to become aware of the dilemmas that accompany traumatic events. For the prostitute, even while allowing the enemy soldiers to capture her, she goes through quick introspection. In the process she asks herself whether her need to survive should come before the societal need for perpetuity. Through the harlots experience does the audience experience vicarious trauma when the harlot takes the place of the school girl. To the present-day observer, the significance of this is that someone less deserving than them allowed the enemy to ravage her so that China’s future and youthful innocence could be insured, by such people being martyrs during the conflict. The school girls’ experience in the movie also cause the audience to experience the dilemma of whether one who has been traumatized should uphold their need for justice above the need for mercy within the society. Once an individual gets the answer to such a question, they are better prepared for a chance meeting with any of the descendants of the people who caused them so much suffering in the distant past. Otherwise, the trauma of the past still remains an unresolved issue in their collective conscience, and they cannot maintain cordial relationships with each other (Aho, 2014, p. 188). Nevertheless, the manner in which every individual experiences the trauma depends on a number of factors (Doroga & Baban, 2013, p. 145), with their ages and previous experiences being but two of those factors. Looking at the characters in The Flowers of War, one sees a group of girls in the prime of youth; one sees vulnerability as well as innocence. It would be expected that this group of people would be the worst hit by the events unfolding around them, and that they would be the most emotionally seared than their adult counterparts. However, when the upbringing of each should come into focus, one would be able to see that some aspects of that factor have a way of building resilience in the individual so that when traumatic events occur, those individuals are better placed to face the trauma, and be a source of inspiration to their peers, who were not fortunate enough to go through such training. Therefore, trauma is used in The Flowers of War not only to help people realize that their ages or professions should not make them feel more or less important than other people, but also that within these factors there are variations which make each individual a unique entity from the rest; unique in the sense that they are fundamentally different, and not necessarily special or more important than the other people within that cohort. Traumatic events can also be a source of educative information. As far as the school girls in The Flowers of War are concerned, their learning did not stop the moment they walked out of school, but rather the “world” emerged as a teacher with a different curriculum from the school. According to Spear (2014, p. 56), a teacher can recontextualize a traumatic eventa perspective that is unbeknownst to the students, which will divulge the relationship that exists between the past, the present, and the future. In essence, China could not have been what she is today without the events that took place during the Sino-Japanese conflict. This film also has the aspect of self-realization being part of the mix. Through the trauma and the assumed role that the Westerner plays, he comes to a realization that selfishness is a self-defeating attitude that would have gotten him in worse circumstances than he presently was, even as he tried to help the women and girls to find a safe haven away from the hullabaloo. Trauma used in the film helps the audience come to terms with the fact that there are some hidden strengths people have that cannot be revealed to them or even to their closest kith and kin unless they experience such heart rending. In the midst of trying to resolve the fear (for all the actors may have feared that they were going to die at some point) and trying to figure out a way of making it out alive, a person can accidentally realize they have a certain skill at life-preservation they never knew they had, because they had never used the skill either consciously or deliberately. Indeed, looking at all this, it shows that there are some negative things that happen to people in life, but in the midst of the experiences, there are gems that become evident and are of such high value that they could not have been revealed had it not been for such events. Coming to a vivid realization of one’s strength need not be thought of as being more important than the realization that one has a weakness in one area or another. Both of these are brought about by trauma, and by knowing how weak a person is in certain aspects causes them to be extra vigilant so that they do not unduly expose themselves to situations that would exploit those weaknesses and leave them at a loss; or even avoid such situations all together, because whereas total avoidance may keep them safe from the negative impact that such situations might have on the individual, calculated risk-taking would help the individual to develop strength at such points of weakness (Zepinic, 2011, n.p.). An example of this is the way in which fear can cause an individual to experience paralysis at a time that it would have been necessary to run and hide to save oneself. Knowing that one is fearful of something enables the individual to face the object of their fear with clarity of purpose which is guided by the need to overcome that fear. In The Flowers of War, trauma may also have played the role of making people realize how important it is to maintain a sense of individuality or autonomy even in the midst of one’s peers. Normally, when people get into groups, they lose the sense of who they are as individuals, and start using a collective conscience, otherwise termed as group think. In such situations, people become deluded with a sense of power that they may not necessarily have. A sense of euphoria pervades their thoughts so that they think they can do anything, or face any problem head on. This loss of autonomy becomes the individuals’ Achilles Heel when they are in a group. That is, the fact that they have lost their individuality opens the channel to other losses that could include their very lives. For example, the school girls were quite numerous in The Flowers of War, but it was not their numbers that caused them to survive the onslaught of the invaders. Apart from the idea that one gets to know their weaknesses is the stark opposite of the same that the individual may get to realize that they are stronger in a certain way than they thought they were. The main character in The Flowers of War is one such individual who comes to find that he can have a heart for fellow humans at a time of distress, and forget about self-preservation. Even better is the realization that, while in a bid to preserve one’s constitution, they can help others do the same for themselves. This man’s weakness was that he would zealously fight for things he felt he wanted or needed without due regard for what the needs of other people were, or even that in doing so he would be hurting other people, but that somehow changed so that the zeal he had was now channeled to preserving the lives of other people whom he barely knew. To these women and girls, he became their knight in shining armor regardless of the fact that under normal circumstances, he would have been frowned upon as a social misfit. Indeed, The Flowers of War uses trauma to show the audience that sometimes dangerous situations help individuals improve their behavior or change their habits by bringing out the best in such individuals. Traumatic events are not always of human origin, but may also be the result of act of God like the tsunami that hit Takua Pa in Wonderful Town. Paradoxically though, the town may have looked wonderful for the main actor in the movie at the very beginning, but it turned out not to be very wonderful when the natives began baying for his blood. However, that is a digression. Trauma becomes quite bearable when there is an object of origin that can be singled out upon which people may channel their frustrations. In the Wonderful Town, the atrocious act is done by something beyond what people can usually hold or see. The sense of loss is not only hinged on their belongings or sources of livelihood, but also the loss of lives. Many have lost loved ones, sons, daughters, wives et cetera. As a result, the people need to vent their frustrations on something or someone. Unfortunately, the newcomer bears the brunt. In Wonderful Town, many people were frustrated through loss of wealth and loss of loved ones, and they needed to channel these frustrations somewhere. Wonderful Town uses trauma to show the audience that sometimes it is necessary to understand callosity, hatred and other kinds of negative behavior from other people, not necessarily for what those behaviors are, but in terms of where they stem from; where those behaviors originate even as steps are taken to mitigate the negativity (Tilley & Brackley, 2005, p. 282). Of the many issues that bring about negativity between people who may not have ever met or interacted before, unresolved anger plays a major role. Here, the origin of anger is the tsunami. Trauma has caused the townspeople to harbor anger, but it becomes easier to understand such individuals who are going through emotional turmoil, and even to help them recover from the injuries to their egos. Oftentimes people are the unwary victims of misplaced anger, not only from people they know, but also from strangers. Watching a movie such as Wonderful Town enables one to step into the shoes of the angry person to get to know why they are irate, and to find a lasting solution to the anger. Normally, one would react to an angry person with anger, but this only escalates an already bad situation (Das & Avci, 2015, p. 100). A traumatic movie such as Wonderful Town gives a panoramic view of the different issues that would make someone angry so that it is not merely the fact that they are angry that matters as much as why they are angry. For example, one would have misconstrued the anger of the townspeople to mean that they did not approve of, say, intermarriage between their women and foreigners, whereas the bone of contention would have been the fact that this young woman was going to get an advantage over the rest of the town by her recovery from the tsunami before other people could recover, and the thought that such a thing was imminent irked a majority of the people in that town. In conclusion, this paper has delved into the usage of trauma in movies by investigating the reasons why it may have been utilized, and the findings may be summarized forthwith. Trauma is used to help people understand why other people act in antisocial mannerisms; to help people deal better with their own traumatic experiences whether in the past, presently or in the future; to enable people to appreciate their true self-worth in light of the worth of others so that they neither demean nor elevate themselves to unrealistic levels, and to show people that even in the midst of tragedy, some nuggets of great worth may still be garnered. In addition, Traumatic events make people to have negativity of different kinds. Some may suffer depression, often as a result of the loss they suffered during the event. Others may become too anxious, probably the after effect of having been brought too close to disaster, and the thought that it could happen again at any time makes the person full of angst. Yet other people have suicidal tendencies. This paper has shown that through revisiting the traumatic event using narratives, such issues as have been outlined above can be resolved. Bibliography Das, G. Y., & Avci, I. A. (2015). The effect of anger management levels and communication skills of Emergency Department staff on being exposed to violence. Medicinski Glasnik, 12 (1), 99 - 104. Doroga, C., & Baban, A. (2013). Traumatic exposure and posttramatic symptoms for train drivers involved in railway accidents. Cljul Medical, 86 (2) , 144 - 149. Sarkin, J., & Sensibaugh, H. (2009). How historical events and relationships shape current attempts at reconciliation in Iraq. Wisconsin International Law Journal, 26(4) , 1033 - 1077. Tilley, D. S., & Brackley, M. (2005). Men who batter intimate partners: A grounded theory study of the development of male violence in intimate partner relationships. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 26 , 281 - 297. Zepinic, V. (2011). Hidden Scars: U derstanding and Treating Complex Trauma. London: Xlibris Corporation. Read More

Through the harlots experience does the audience experience vicarious trauma when the harlot takes the place of the school girl. To the present-day observer, the significance of this is that someone less deserving than them allowed the enemy to ravage her so that China’s future and youthful innocence could be insured, by such people being martyrs during the conflict. The school girls’ experience in the movie also cause the audience to experience the dilemma of whether one who has been traumatized should uphold their need for justice above the need for mercy within the society.

Once an individual gets the answer to such a question, they are better prepared for a chance meeting with any of the descendants of the people who caused them so much suffering in the distant past. Otherwise, the trauma of the past still remains an unresolved issue in their collective conscience, and they cannot maintain cordial relationships with each other (Aho, 2014, p. 188). Nevertheless, the manner in which every individual experiences the trauma depends on a number of factors (Doroga & Baban, 2013, p. 145), with their ages and previous experiences being but two of those factors.

Looking at the characters in The Flowers of War, one sees a group of girls in the prime of youth; one sees vulnerability as well as innocence. It would be expected that this group of people would be the worst hit by the events unfolding around them, and that they would be the most emotionally seared than their adult counterparts. However, when the upbringing of each should come into focus, one would be able to see that some aspects of that factor have a way of building resilience in the individual so that when traumatic events occur, those individuals are better placed to face the trauma, and be a source of inspiration to their peers, who were not fortunate enough to go through such training.

Therefore, trauma is used in The Flowers of War not only to help people realize that their ages or professions should not make them feel more or less important than other people, but also that within these factors there are variations which make each individual a unique entity from the rest; unique in the sense that they are fundamentally different, and not necessarily special or more important than the other people within that cohort. Traumatic events can also be a source of educative information.

As far as the school girls in The Flowers of War are concerned, their learning did not stop the moment they walked out of school, but rather the “world” emerged as a teacher with a different curriculum from the school. According to Spear (2014, p. 56), a teacher can recontextualize a traumatic eventa perspective that is unbeknownst to the students, which will divulge the relationship that exists between the past, the present, and the future. In essence, China could not have been what she is today without the events that took place during the Sino-Japanese conflict.

This film also has the aspect of self-realization being part of the mix. Through the trauma and the assumed role that the Westerner plays, he comes to a realization that selfishness is a self-defeating attitude that would have gotten him in worse circumstances than he presently was, even as he tried to help the women and girls to find a safe haven away from the hullabaloo. Trauma used in the film helps the audience come to terms with the fact that there are some hidden strengths people have that cannot be revealed to them or even to their closest kith and kin unless they experience such heart rending.

In the midst of trying to resolve the fear (for all the actors may have feared that they were going to die at some point) and trying to figure out a way of making it out alive, a person can accidentally realize they have a certain skill at life-preservation they never knew they had, because they had never used the skill either consciously or deliberately. Indeed, looking at all this, it shows that there are some negative things that happen to people in life, but in the midst of the experiences, there are gems that become evident and are of such high value that they could not have been revealed had it not been for such events.

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