How To Write Trauma Like The Lego Batman Movie

How To Write Trauma Like The Lego Batman Movie

Using Batman from The Lego Batman Movie as my example. I will give you dissertation on how to write trauma whether that trauma is related to orphan shenanigans or not!

STEP NUMBER ONE: TRAUMA AIN'T COOL

This is the biggest thing that The Lego Batman Movie gets spot on! Batman, throughout the movie, behaves more like an emotionally-stunted comical manchild then the suave self-insert straight power fantasy we're used to seeing.

Not only is this more realistic then the countless power fantasy stories that romanticize traumatic experiences and shitty coping mechanisms but it serves the narrative.

And the movie is all the better for this since it's this character development which serves as the necessary emotional core for the movie. If Batman was the perfectly suave badboy then him learning to have a family wouldn't be emotionally groundbreaking.

STEP NUMBER TWO: Have The Trauma Impact EVERYTHING and do it uniquely pwease

From Batman's child-esque tendency to throw tantrums to his higly performative playboy appearance which seems more like movie then man to his edgy sensibilities, everything has been grown from Batman's infamous backstory of orphanry.

His childish and immature attitude give the sentiment that Batman has reverted back into the maturity of a child which is a common coping mechanism as it allows someone to return back to the good old days.

His playboy "stoic"/edgy mean sensibilities (when in public and as Batman) are designed to keep people away as his greatest fear is having a family only to lose them again.

I enjoy the mention of "reverting back into childhood memories" as a coping mechanism because it's a coping mechanism that's not widely explored because society tends to denigrate dependency as "weakness that doesn't deserve to be explored".

Most of the time it's just stoicism which is portrayed as cool and sleeping around which is portrayed as bad not because it's hurting the person but bad because of our puritanical values

Final Lesson: Flaws Are Only Flaws If They're Treated As Flaws

Alot of writers know they need to write flaws connected to a character's trauma because they read writing advice blogs (hey) but they don't want to write actual flaws.

So what is a guy(gender-neutral) meant to do?

Write fake flaws!

This tends to be what Batman as a legacy falls into. Batman is a sleazy capitalistic megalomaniac with control issues who has an obsessive relationship with criminals and every single emotionally unattached woman (and Joker) he can get his hands on.

But it's cool!!! Because it's philosophical, and hot, and power-fantasy worthy.

However, The Lego Batman Movie subverts this! Batman's fear of losing his family and his subsequent abandoning of Dick, Alfred, Barbara, and the Joker nearly lead Gotham to ruins.

It's only when he overcomes his flaws, he can succeed in his goal of protecting Gotham

TL;DR: Trauma isn't cool. Trauma causes a shit ton of issues that create so many different kinds of coping mechanisms from the admirablely unhealthy to the pathetically unhealthy. And the only time you should (cutely and sanely) ship Batman and Joker is in this movie universe.

What Makes A Disabled Character "Good"?

A disabled character shouldn't be judged as a failure when they need caretakers and other reliances for the important stuff in life no matter their age

A disabled character shouldn't be mocked as weak or spoiled when they refuse to break their boundaries or be happy

A disabled character shouldn't be shamed when their medical problems impede on their sex capabilities or hygiene or anything else like that

A disabled character shouldn't be celebrated only when they do break the impossible odds since most characters never break the odds

A disabled character shouldn't be dehumanized when they act cheerful

A disabled character shouldn't be treated like a child when they aren't a child

A disabled character shouldn't be forced into leading an "idealic" life that wasn't built for individuals like them

A disabled character needs to be accepted by the author when they fail to thrive, to die, to succeed.

A disabled character needs to be created by an author who understands that life is complicated and that the things they think as "necessary" to leading a fulfilling life may not be in the cards for certain characters

A disabled character needs to be understood by the author as a disabled character who can't do everything an able-bodied character can do.

And when a disabled character is not fully independent, self-sufficient, and thriving, an author should know that even in these circumstances, fulfillment and joy can be found. Disabled people do it all the time.

Many people aren't breaking odds, being fearless activists, and thriving. They struggle. They break sometimes. They succeed sometimes. But in this life, they can find the ability to be content.

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Writing Advice Part 2: Disability And EVIL

Disabled adults are adults and because they're adults they have a wide variety of morality and characters since humans are an exceedingly diverse group with even more diversed existences.

WRONG!

No. No. In reality:

👿👿DISABLED ADULTS ARE EVIL, ALL EVIL!!!!!!! 👿👿 According to certain writers!

When writers take communities and existences such as the facial difference gang or the intellectually disabled doers this results in horrific portrayals of "demonization". Obviously, people with physical disabilities are often portrayed horribly. I will mention them in the facial differences saga. The only reason I am specifically talking about facial differences and intellectual disability is because physical disability and facial differences tend to overlap while intellectual disability is a common yet undertalked form of representation.

Demonization: it's just like what it sounds like. Disablity always equals evil

However, the ways that facial differences gang is demonized is different to how intellectually disabled doers are demonized.

THIS BECAUSE OF A COMMON ASSOCIATION aka

Good = Beautiful/Handsome, Evil = Ugly

For future reference, when I say ugly I mean "not conventionally attractive" and when I say beautiful I mean "conventionally attractive". Afterall, Harvey Dent is attractive. That's a fact.

A popular example of this is the James Bond franchise which has stocks full of villainous characters with various limb differences, scars, and other such things. These ugly and bad characters fight against the cool and handsome James Bond

Literally, the association between evil and "ugly" is so ubiquitous that when a character becomes disabled they also become evil. The transition between being law-abiding handsome attorney Harvey Dent and evil insane "ugly" Two-Face is marked by fire/acid.

Let me tell you, there is no link between being a bad person and being not conventionally attractive. I'm not saying you can't write bad people with facial differences but they're not bad people because of their facial differences.

Secondly, Facial differences aren't only scars. They are often congenital. There are hundreds of different kinds of facial differences. This was just to talk about the fact that most people hear "facial difference" and think "scar".

FOR INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED DOERS, their evilness comes from their supposed "mental status as a six-year old". For the purposes of clarity, I am just going to say that's not how intellectual disability is labeled and move on.

Because of their supposed "mental status" 🤢, they have no ability to guage morality. They're " *derogatory term* who does evil out of ignorance"

Firstly, intellectually disabled people can learn things, like morality. Especially, if we are talking about the majority of intellectually disabled people who have to mild-to-moderate intellectual disability. Either way, there are hundreds of education prgrams designed to help people in learning about things from periods to childrearing to reading to everything necessary for life.

Secondly, intellectually disabled people aren't children. I talked about that in Part 1 named Writing Advice: Disability And Infantilization. Check it out, it's fun.

Thirdly, intellectually disabled people exist in the real world. If you want to write a character who is intellectually disabled, you can ask them for assistance. There is nothing stopping you.

CONCLUSION: No matter what disability someone has, that shouldn't stop them from being human. You can write disabled characters as evil but disabled characters should be evil not because of disability but regardless of disability. Evil Doesn't Equal Not Conventional.

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*wild cheering* /scene

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