Dissociation

today's weather: S L I G H T D Y S P H O R I A
anxiety : 1
agitation : 2


Sucker Punch got a lot of negative reviews, but I love the movie. I don't just mean the wow-able graphics and the kickass sountrack, mind you.

It's the kind of movie that is both brainless and profound. It's enjoyable if you don't want to think too much; paradoxically, it also has that quality that can accommodate you when you want to overthink. But you have to think like a crazy person to appreciate it.

There's been a lot of flak about what most people find as a crappy, overly simple plot. But it's actually not as simple as it seems on the surface. It's not just about "a girl and her vivid imagination" as most dislikers think it is.

The thing that Babydoll does in her head is called dissociation - it's something that people, usually trauma survivors, do with their heads to cope with the pain of existence. Though it runs on imagination, it's not quite like an ordinary daydream. Depending on the strength of their minds, dissociators can create barriers between themselves and the real world at will. It's not a psychosis; the way I see it, it's more like a defense mechanism - something that needs to be done for survival. It is not a disorder, but a way of putting things in order in one's mind in able to keep the mind from collapsing in on itself.

I used to do a lot of dissociation as a child; it was one of my drugs of choice to cope with abuse. It kept me from going berserk from all the pain and anger I felt. As a teenager, long after my abuser was gone and forgiven, it was still a habit I turned to when life situations weren't to my liking. I was dependent on it, but I managed to wean myself off of it as I matured and healed. I still dissociate when I am extremely depressed, as a way to escape the inescapable - never to Sucker Punch degrees though.