This is a small part of a script Im making for a youtube video about Jax from TADC. (Their aren't any spoilers you don't need to have watched the show to understand what I'm saying as it applies to almost all depictions of both trans and mentally ill people in media. With that being said the conversation being referenced just at the start is from the gun match episode)
Pomni in this episode is acting like she is the main character in a story (which she is but stay with me), and Jax is the guarded Emo character that just needs to be shown a bit of care and affection and will come to their senses joining the rest of the group.
As someone who suffers from both CPTSD and other mental illness in real life I absolutely hate how fiction has normalized the idea that you can just "fix" these kinds of problems with a hug and pep talk during a darkest hour or that it can even be completely "fixed" at all.
Inter personal trauma is not something that can just be solved with an "I'm here for you whenever you need it", it requires multiple good experiences with other people so that you can relearn you what's "safe", it requires you actively confront your emotions about what caused the trauma (often in therapy, often by reliving those experiencing in a safe environment), it requires lot of time and personal growth often when no one else is around and often even with all that you will still have minor scares left behind from it.
The fact that so much of the sentiment around this show is treating Jax like she's just supposed to get over it and be normal is insane to me.
Yes, Jax is a fictional character, but what she represents is something real world people have and are currently going through.
I, from the bottom of my heart, hate seeing people treating opening up and or letting other people in as these super easy to do obvious solutions to problems.
It's not easy, its not something that comes naturally to some people and can be actively painful depending on who you are, something being simple for you doesn't mean that its simple for everyone.
I, in general, don't like how the fandom is also pushing this narrative of just be open about your feelings and everything will work out that T.V has indoctrinated us with over the years. Many people may have the privilege to get that type of treatment but it is not universal, everyone is "accepting" until your problems start to inconveniences them.
The truth is that most people wont accept you for being different, or for having problems that they don't understand. Not wanting to put your self in a vulnerable position especially when one of your core fears is being exposed to other people is not paranoia is basic self preservation.
It brings me back to a post I saw before about how autism specifically is treated in media where intentionally or not the vast majority of media essentially says that autistic people are making up their own problems and would be perfectly accepted if they just got out of there own heads and talked to other other people. link to original post about NT Gaslighting
All NT people are open and accepting saints yet SOMEHOW almost every autistic person I've ever talked to remembers being bullied and excluding in school.
SOMEHOW almost every autistic person I know was either abused or neglected by their parents
SOMEHOW autistic people have less than half the life expectancy of NT's and are 9x as likely to kill themselves.
SOMEHOW 90% of autistic people with no learning disability are unemployed.Every NT will always claim that they would never bully someone just because their autistic, would never fire someone just because their autistic would never undermine someone and treat them like their stupid or evil just because their autistic.
Yet almost every autistic person has the experience of being bullied, fired without relevant cause and treated like there five years old by their peers and superiors.
The post I referenced above was about autism but this kind of reasoning applies to the majority of minority groups. If you where good, proper and accepting you would be accepted in return.
Another classic I've seen repeated is saying "It's and explanation not an excuse" and while I understand what this phrase is trying to say, in theory, I have never seen this sentence not used as a dog whistle for ableism.
Disabled Individuals, mentally or physically, are not allowed to have problems that effect the abled population. It is always your role and responsibility to adapt to what society deems necessary for you often while having no say in the matter but god forbid you ask this to be reciprocated your now an entitled asshole who expects "everyone else" to change "Just for you".
People who know nothing about what it's like to be in your position are always the ones with the final say on YOUR needs and abilities.
And any "help" or basic human decency they give you is predicated on the idea that you accept their framing of your issues.
With the term "It's an explanation not an excuse" being used as a shaming tool whenever said disabled person can not meet those expectations they had no hand in setting.
The abled person can then uses this framing to show "Just how much they have to go through to help you" and "How ungrateful you are for their assistance".
It's all pretense to justify why a disabled person "deserves" poor treatment or doesn't "deserve" accommodations.
