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honestly, there IS a weird inconsistency when fantis say people should write ârealisticâ depictions of their trauma in fiction and art instead of âglorifyingâ it or whatever, then after listening a bit more they just want the story to be completely morally black and white. +
as in- the story should be easy to understand, and the perpetrator should be completely understood to be the âbad guyâ within the narrative. thereâs one flaw in that; thatâs only -realistic- to the person who is an -outsider- to the trauma, who already knows someone is awful... +
in my experience being abused/groomed and likely many other peopleâs too, you donât actually understand the abuser to be an awful person at first because they get your sympathy through manipulation, and their manipulation makes you desperately give excuses for why theyâre good. +
if i (for example) wanted to write a piece of fiction that accurately depicts a victim being groomed by someone else in all its gritty entirety to the best of my ability, i simply wouldnât make it so itâs a moral lesson on why Abusers Bad! why would i? +
i would rather write it so that from the victimâs perspective, the abuser isnât actually immediately visible as one. they would create a convincing lie and my reader would be able to peer into the window of what it must feel like to have believed it... +
THAT would be the terrifying part! they would be able to understand part of why people donât get out of those situations sooner. it would be very uncomfortable, and thatâs the point because itâll tell the situation as neutrally as can be achieved by myself. +
obviously if itâs neutral and the story is based in the protagonistâs own subjectivity, iâm aware a predator can read it and somehow construe it as being for their side. they would view absolutely everything else in a similarly awful way- it doesnât make it my intent, +
nor does it mean, in that situation, that i should let them dictate my freedom of self expression that way. i donât think itâs right to let those predators win over the people whoâre trying to tell their (already silenced!) experiences. +
itâs disgusting that people are thinking this way, especially when they think theyâre right! itâs scary to me that people can so casually wish to put a restriction on the creation of art at all! call me a weirdo but i mean... come on. anyway thatâs my ramble done ig, end thread
