I’ve never heard anyone say anything like “introversion is nothing to overcome”, I really appreciate that. Most people see it as a problem instead of an aspect of a person. The blame introversion as whole, instead of looking at some parts that need to be managed, like anxiety. As always, you two are incredibly validating. You’re both treasures. Thank you.
My sympathies that you were treated poorly for being different. I'm an introvert too and from one to another your introversion has a lot of value. I won't deny the struggles that come with it too but needing that time to yourself can give you a lot of time to think and reflect. I found it helped me understand myself better and gave me a chance to think back on things I might have agreed with too quickly. It's definitely easy to get too in your head and lose grounding and perspective but I hope you can look at some of the time you spend apart to gather yourself positively. Also my therapist has told me learning to reframe my interpretation of the recent events helps a lot with anxiety and I think he is right though it's still a struggle.
defo agree. i think another conversation to be had is the forms of introversion. im introverted but maybe like only 55 - 60 % so. hence many people are shocked when they find out that i am in fact, introverted. its just not as easy to notice coz my coping mechanism for when i get anxious in social events is to become even more social.
I felt incredibly validated when he said that...my whole life my dad has cursed my introversion for preventing me from doing certain things he wanted for me to do, but after hearing Johnathan say that made me feel accepted, that its not the state of my existence that's wrong, but some aspect of my personality that I have to change, which I have started working on. I can deal with people much better these days, but I still do love my alone time with my hobbies & loved ones
It’s true, growing up I always had really good friends, and never really saw it as a problem (my friends were ok with my lack of texting and hanging out). As an adult I’ve struggled with dating or long distance friendships because whenever I try to explain that I don’t like texting everyday, they respond with “that’s ok, I can help you with that.” And I’m just sitting here like ‘I don’t want to be fixed.’ I tell them that so they don’t take it personally when I may not respond right away because I need to recharge
I think the most heartbreaking part of THG is that the only reason Katniss even goes to the games is to protect Prim, and after everything, she still loses her sister anyway. Even with the entire Panem being set free, it feels like it was all for nothing. That ending BREAKS me every single time... I love this series and Katniss, so now I'm reading the books and it's amazing to have her point of view, know exactly what she was thinking and feeling as things happened
Although... before she died Prim grew from a scared little girl into a competent healer. She created a goal and pursued it with her whole heart. She became a carer, not always the one to be care for. She grew as a person and touched others in a way she couldn't have if she'd died in the 74th Hunger Games. And that is honestly not for nothing... At least it seems that way to me.
I remember reading that part and it hit me so hard I was crying bawling it was so heartbreaking. also that Prim went there to help people. and that these moments happen IRL... it's so sad
As sad as it is to lose Prim, she had her growth, at the same time her death shows that no matter what fate catches up with you. Prim was going to die and nothing Katniss tried was going to change it.
My favorite detail in the second and third books is actually the use of the main motif for Katniss as "the girl on fire." It's a pretty obvious theme, but I think what is often forgotten is that for the entirety of the trilogy, she isn't "the girl made of fire" or "the girl with fire." She is "on fire." She's slowly suffering under the weight of being this rebellion symbol, and her humanity is being burned away. It culminates in the death of Prim, when she's severely burned in the explosion, and she dissociates and literally has her entire body remade. She's still incredibly damaged by everything she's been through and is being metaphorically burned alive by her traumatic experiences.
I never thought of it that way, but yeah. All the hope and revolution and light themes are perfectly valid, but put that aside and focus on the other side of the coin. She's on fire. She's burning. She's hurting. She's damaging herself. Damaging herself for others. If we burn, you burn with us.
My mind is blown by reading this. Do you think, Cinna thought of all this, like of Katniss and the disctrict of people she represented when he incorporated fire into the costumes?
"Their art is their therapy." Interesting that was said. In the books, Peeta turns his nightmares into stunningly beautiful paintings for that exact reason. It helps him process what's real and what's not.
Interesting, however i disagree with the sentiment. As an artist and disability justice advocate this is often used against MaDD deaf and disabled artists. No, art is not their therapy. They are artists. People create because it is what comes to them to do not because they are unwell. Whatever the intentions the impact of the sentiment does more to isolate artists with disabilities and confines their work.
@@daniellehyde9279 two different things you've made a false equivalency. People born with or People who are differently able are not the same as people who have ptsd or trauma and are using art to work through their experiences.
@@anonomas6126 Such a distinction is laden with illusory differences and is especially not applicable on the topic at hand, engaging art. Trying to apply that here is like saying someone born with a heart condition is qualitatively different as a person from someone who broke an arm later. Broadly still two humans with injuries that should have the same standard of care. But especially those illusory distinctions are not strong reasons for limiting how we view or engage with art those people make. Whether or not someone was born with a condition or it develops shouldn't impede an earnest look at someone's art. But the generalization made feeds that barrier and does function to wrongfully limit many artists. Health is health, care for the mind is Healthcare. Regardless of why, how or at what part in a person's life their health needs care my original statement applies. The potential of the work is more than something to just casually limit as oh it's their therapy. So I maintain that it is a harmful generalization. Mental health is whole body health, the hard lined socially constructed distinctions separating these are misleading. All health, including care of the mind, is a constant process throughout all our lives. It doesn't matter how, why, or at what point the needs arise. The need is there. We are all not that different in this and also similar at the core through radical difference; as all experiences of our mental and physical health are personal we all share in that difference. So in any case I disagree with applying generalizations of a person's art as therapy. Their art is their art, they're engaged in the creative process because it resonates with them, it's an artistic process. Doesn't matter what brought them to that. It doesn't frame all they make as their therapy. It's art. Many artists contend against this generalization of their art as therapy, it has an impact acting as a caveat in art creating distinctions and limitations on the work a person creates and how we relate to it. Like an asterisk on what they do, *it's their therapy. No it's art. Aspects of it may or may not be informed by their direct experiences. Many times a person may be too unwell to pick up a brush. The beauty they communicate, or the challenges, the skills they learn, the mediums they experiment with it's more. Anytime and in any form we tell our stories aspects of this can be healing but that doesn't inherently restrain it to therapy. There's no false equivalence because I'm not comparing how people come to the point of need as that doesn't matter to the subject at hand. Applying such a generalization on art remains problematic. It's a human being that picks up a paint brush and all that's explored in that act, it should be respected. Unfortunately the art therapy tie has made the health of artists a barrier, having to work twice as hard to be recognized, received and seen as legitimate.
One of the saddest parts of any of the books to me was when she was talking about having to go to the mines on a field trip every year for school. Before her dad died it was just dismal but afterwards all she could think about was what it would be like to be trapped and slowly suffocate to death like or be blown up in an explosion. She said she even made herself sick to avoid that day at school because she couldn't handle it. And the fact that she was literally 11 when it all happened. Also the scene where Peeta gave her the bread in the book was SO heartbreaking. She was so weak from hunger and cold that she collapsed and her options were either die in the rain or go home to her mom, who was basically in a state of comatose, and her starving helpless sister and get sent to a group home where they would probably starve anyway. Peeta giving her that bread literally gave her the stamina to run home and feed her family. It even physically warmed her because it was so fresh. It's no wonder Peeta was such an inspiration. He risked his own safety to save her life before they were even old enough to be reaped in the games.
The reason why Katniss, Primrose and her mother were staying at home on the brink of starving to death although the children could have gone to a residential child care institution was that they knew that children were often physically abused in these instiutions and sometimes also sexually abused. They preferred to die at home over getting raped. Physical and sexual abuse of children in institutions was common up to the 20th century. In the 21nd century, a couple a major scandals were uncovered in the UK and Canada where hundreds of children in these institution died for undocumented reasons, with many anonymous child graves found on the site of these institutions. Katniss's family had an unspoken agreement to prevent this fate for her and Primrose and rather starve to death at home. This book series is *so much* darker when you read it as an adult with the knowledge of all the abominable things humans have done to each other.
one of the saddest parts for me was when at the end of the trilogy she finds out that her other best friend, who wasn't even in the movies... died in the attack on district 12, that's why no one knew where Madge was.
which he also come from an abusive family, Peeta. He was extremely strong, in close combat he could easily choke you to death without much effort, that of the extreme labour his family would put him through.
Peeta also got punished by his dad because he burned those loaves of bread, but he purposefully burned them just enough to where he’d be instructed to throw them out to the pigs, but he threw them to Katniss which was his plan all along. Iirc. I read the books freshman year of high school, so it’s been a while
I love that Haymich sees all of Katniss. All of her. And she’s not scared by it, because the mess he is on the outside she feels on the inside. And most of getting through trauma, in my vast array of experiences, is knowing that you’re accepted for all your broken parts. It makes you feel not so broken.
Precisely, thanks for articulating this sentiment superbly! Haymitch is one of the only other people who shares Katniss' trauma from the games, and is even her sole confidant regarding her whole Peeta/Gale love triangle.
I love their relationship. He's sort of a father figure, but not overbearing or suffocating. He always gave her a push when she needed it, a reality check, the harsh truth, but he's always there for her when she needs someone. They couldn't have cast Haymitch better than Woody Harrelson.
I have anxiety disorder with a panic disorder. In college I took acting classes and I loved it I had fun and I never had anxiety while doing skits. When I saw my therapist and told him about the class he was like how are you not nervous or anxious in front of people? And I told him that when I do a scene they are expecting my character, not me. It’s easy when you can hide behind a mask. Edit: Wow! Thanks for the likes! 😂 Edit: I’m also glad that my comments resonated with a lot people and have felt the same thing as I have. Thank you. It makes me feel less alone. 😊
I relate to this so much! I'm a theatre kid and love acting, I also have anxiety and panic attacks and hate public speaking and am very introverted. My friends always wonder how I can not be nervous but I always say it's because I'm the character not myself
That is EXACTLY it. I’m an anxiety sufferer as well and absolutely love the stage, whether I’m acting or performing some kind of music. My art is my shield, in a way. However, ask me to do a presentation in front of a class where it’s just me talking…absolutely NOT.
As an introvert who is also a teacher, I relate to this so much. In the classroom, I’m “the teacher”, and most of the time we have to “hide” certain aspects of ourselves that don’t fit into that space, so I feel like I’m a character too when I’m teaching, in a way. But in social events, I hate talking to strangers, and being around too many people for prolonged periods of time drains me to the limit.
That's a fantastic outlet, I'm so pleased that you found a way to decrease your stresses, and to simply be apart of a different character's life for a while.
If I remember correctly from an interview, Suzanne Collins grew up with her father talking to her about his own personal war stories as a veteran, so she learned so much from his very honest and straightforward teachings and experiences about war and she witnessed firsthand how he suffered through PTSD and coped with it. His teachings were a huge influence on her novels like the Underland Chronicles and the Hunger Games that focus on genocides, biological warfare, and PTSD.
I loved the Underland Chronicles, Gregor was such a good character for someone his age. I especially loved his bond with Ares, and how Gregor and his sister grew throughout the series in their own ways.
My dad was a prisoner of war guard in Korea. He showed *ALL* the hallmarks of PTSD, but refused to accept it or do anything about it. He had the most horrifying stories. He always slept with a handgun where he could grab it as if he never felt safe. You didn't dare touch him to wake him up. I have C-PTSD from other things but I don't deny it and got help. Still, I don't feel safe unless I have a locked door between me and the world. I will even constantly check the door when I am very stressed.
@@lincolnbeckett8791 in terms of genre they're very different so I don't know if you'd like them as much purely if you're a fan of the hunger games. Where hunger games is a more grounded dystopic sci-fi, Gregor is more of a modern fantasy adventure. That said, it's a wonderful coming of age tale for Gregor and his sister, so if you love those, I'd definitely recommend it. It's also a great read for teens, there are somewhat graphic depictions of death and mourning, so I can't really recommend it for younger children.
One of my favorite things in Catching Fire is that it shows Haymitch's reaction to the quarter quell as well as Katniss and Peeta's. Haymitch was the winner of the second quarter quell, he outlived the most tributes in one singular game than anybody else in the Hunger Games universe. His childhood sweetheart (arguably, the love of his life) and his entire family was killed because of his games. And in the movies, his trauma is often hidden behind his drunkenness and his general personality. But that one shot of him throwing the bottle at the screen and screaming when it's announced it could be him again, it hurts and gives us SUCH a good show of who he is. I also adore the end scene, where Katniss is sitting with her baby and watching Peeta and their son play. It shows such intense growth for her character, and the complex way her trauma still effects her, but also the way she's been able to heal from it, to the point of feeling safe to be able to have children with the man she loves. It's such a happy ending for the story and I adore it.
I loved the end scene too. Some people say its weird that she had kids because in the beginning she didnt want to, but they forget, that she never wanted to bring kids into the world she was raised in. The fact that she has kids in the end shows us that the world around her has changed enough to make her feel safe
In the books it said she was still terrified having her second kid and there’s nothing positive said at all about motherhood or the children, just that she ultimately gave in and had children. It reads like she basically just gave up and did it even though she still didn’t want to. Seems like Peeta just pressured her into having kids she didn’t want.
the fact that she doesn't love Peeta but decided the take care of him was okay... having a child with him not so much. The books made it clear he never recovered, he was basically not a conscious person anymore and she couldn't bring herself to love Gale after his hypothetical plan killed her sister. Her best friend Madge being excluded from the film was a bit of a gut punch. especially considering how every time she was hurting or joyful there were four people she asked for, her mother, sister, Gale and Madge. turned out that Madge died and that's why no one knew where she was.
Y'all remember when Joanna was yeling at the game makers in the 2nd arena and then everyone looks at her like she's crazy. And she says, "What? They can't hurt me. There's no one left that I love." Then in the third film during Finnick's speach to Panem, he talks about them selling his body, but if you refuse, they kill someone that you love." I'm sure that's what happened to Joanna's family 😞
Haymich ended up in the same situation as Joanna: the Capitol killed everyone he loved. But not for refusing, but for winning by using the arena's force field to bounce the last opponent's weapon back into them. The Capitol made of him an example.
I've read the books, and if you're wondering. Yes, that is what happened. She became popular for her "sassy" (Or agressive?) attitude you could say, so the capital wanting to profit off of her, tried to prostitute her. She didn't agree. So they killed her entire family.
I think part of what makes J Law's performance so darn perfect is that she isnt afraid to look ugly. Lots of actresses feel pressure to look a certain way, but Jen is truthful through everything she does, and really pushes the boat out of what a leading lady does in a film series. You can learn so much from watching her in these films.
Yes this! This is exactly what I was thinking when she fell to the ground after hearing the news about the quarter quell, and her expression twisted with terror and grief as she had a panic attack. I can't think of any other actress I've seen displaying such raw and realistic emotion. And having CPTSD myself, it felt like a rare instance where a disorder was actually being properly represented in a film.
It's not always that the ACTOR doesn't want to look ugly. Often it's that they're not allowed to, because Hollywood is shockingly sexist. I forget which actress it was, but one said she was doing a crying scene and she was literally told by the director "stop crying so hard, you look ugly. Can't you cry prettier?"
I just love that when Effie reads Katniss' name at the reaping, she's not her usual bubbly, cheery self. She smiles, but then she meets Katniss' gaze and you can see the terror and sadness in her eyes. She usually hates her job since she has to chaperone the lower class District 12, at the bottom of the social ladder, but she's developed this bond with her two victors that she can't stand the idea of them going back into the arena because there's a possibility they won't come back out. And all hell does break loose at the end and she and Katniss are reunited and they join the resistance, but she's no longer dressed in color and flair, she tries to be positive, but she's mainly focused on them winning, she wants Katniss to win. Everyone does and you can see the pressure affecting Katniss because she also wants to win, yet she's still dealing with the trauma of the games, losing Rue, watching her best friend be whipped, finding out her friends let her "boyfriend" be captured and mistreated by the Capitol, losing her sister, her home, everything she has. It's so powerful and Jennifer Lawrence nails the idea of determined, but also damaged.
Effie’s reaction to the reaping in catching fire breaks my heart, because you can see how much they mean to her, and how powerless Effie herself feels, like the rest of them against the capital
@@jessicaswim2744 Definitely true. There was protest against the quarter quell, especially when Peeta lied about Katniss being pregnant and that got the Capital mad, which is odd because they love the games. But a pregnant woman competing and possibly dying? Uh uh. Effie definitely loses her spark but I’m glad she survives. I would have been heartbroken if they had tortured her too because she is such a good ally, friend, and person.
When I first read the books I was kinda mad at the ending, being all like "ugh they just gave katniss a husband and kids because thats what happy endings are supposed to look like, isn't she way too messed up to act out the perfect heteronormative happy ending?" And now, rewatching this with a lot more experiences under my belt, I can appreciate what they're trying to say: katniss has been through hell and now she gets to live a life where she can heal and be as happy as she possibly can be, not by settling down and getting her "happy ending", but by healing alongside someone who went through the same experiences and has stuck by her side through it all, and by getting to see hope for a brighter future, and by being allowed to finally rest and mourn without the need of being "badass". It's not about the happy family life, it's about telling you that you deserve happiness, even if you've been through the worst and back, especially then.
Yeah, I also take her willingness to have kids as her hope for the future. She was adamant that she didn't want kids because she didn't want to raise them in District 12 and see them suffer the way she did. But after everything, she's able to hope that the future will be better and her kids will have a better life than she did.
I never saw it that way in the books. It literally took years of Peta loving Katniss and the two of them helping each other heal before she was ready to accept that she really did love him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Then it took years after that of Peta bringing up the idea of having kids before Katniss was willing to be a parent, and even then she had so many doubts about her ability to be a good mom (not realizing that she'd already been a good mom to Prim). I saw each of those steps that she took as signs that she was gradually healing and finding peace, which was something I so seriously wanted for her after the hell she'd lived through, and I always knew that Peta was the only one who knew Katniss well enough to love her through everything.
I'm also not a fan of "every character has to get married and have kids" endings. But I think it's thematically important that Katniss has kids - because it shows her journey. At the beginning of the story she's determined to NEVER have kids; not because she doesn't want them, but because she doesn't want them to end up in the games. She doesn't think she could handle watching them die. The fact that she does eventually have kids shows that she has hope - hope that they can live a better life than she did. It shows that at the end of the day, she really did win. Because now she can build the life she wants, without having to be afraid of what might happen.
Katniss marries Peeta and has kids because the whole theme with the love triangle is that she chose peace and healing over hatred and retribution. Peeta is peace, and would help her heal and move on and let go of any hate she had of the Capitol. Gale would have stoked self destructive fire
_"When I look at my son - he reminds me so much of his father [Finnick]. We have all lost so much, but we have to make the best of our lives. We owe that to our children and our loved ones."_ Annie's letter to Katniss in Mockingjay.
I read these books during my chemo treatments. I suffered from PTSD afterwards because I went through my entire illness and treatments alone. No support system. I read the books and then saw the movies and by my 32nd bday I was having a hunger games themed bday week. JLaw may thinks she’s a simple actress but her performance and these books gave me the support I needed to get better. Next month marks 10 yrs in remission
I know I'm just a stranger on the internet, but I'm so happy you found solace in this series during such a difficult time, and I'm glad you're still here.
I want to say thanks to Jonathan in specific in this episode. In other episodes we see Alan tear up, but this episode you were vulnerable and said you had a panic attack. It means a lit to me that it is shown that you can have a good life, carreer and also struggle sometimes with panic and anxiety. Thank you so much
@@CinemaTherapyShow Hey guys I was wondering if you would do a video on Finnick's trauma. Sexual abuse/sex slavery are such big issues globally and in my personal life and past. To hear your opinions and dissection of it would be amazing. -Holly
Mental issues and disorders do not distinguish between class or financial status. I think that was the thought for a long time that those kinds of problems were a lower class problem and if the upper class were having mental issues it was kept secret so as to not be looked down on.
Poor Finnick, while I didn't catch it when I first read the book, it's pretty obvious to me now that he was forced to prostitute himself to save his family from the Capitol. It's heartbreaking, especially considering that Finnick is nearly always charismatic, and how he deals with PTSD.
In contrast we have Johanna, who rejected the offer of prostitution and her family were killed for it. That explains her attitude. Her whole thing of not caring what she does or says, as well as getting caught up in the retribution mindset against the innocents of the Capitol.
They should do an episode for Finnick, because he went through so much shit like Katniss, the only difference was that he was a few year before her, as a mentioned he basically became a prostitute, and that really mirrors real life. Not to mention it was a guy, and fuck knows that just added layer of masculinity to deal with. The scene in both the book and in the movie where he opened up about the secrets he got from pretty much w****ing himself out was also another very moving scene. Sounds like they got a full schedule already though 😂, and I'm pretty sure the next few episodes that come out are lighter hearted, maybe twilight?
@@keyboardsmash3983 I'm just glad they mentioned it because Finnick is such a tragic character. The fact he was a sex slave could easily be omitted, but it's a disservice to his character to do so. I remember being so entranced by his speech about Snow.
I was diagnosed with PTSD after a long history of sexual assault as a kid and one of my biggest triggers is people touching my hair or a smell. There was a smell that was there the day my assault happened and everytime I smell that smell today, I fly into a PTSD episode or trigger. Growing up with the Hunger Games and a female character who was dealing with PTSD felt like a lifeline because I didn't feel so broken anymore. This series you guys do has helped me grow and find better techniques for dealing with my PTSD and anxiety. Cinema has a way of just being so therapeutic while also teaching us things about ourselves and others and I find that so very beautiful.
I experienced something similar when I was 5. I don't have PTSD, but for a long time I had severe panic attacks and I became introverted around strangers. I do get triggered sometimes by scenes in movies or a certain smell that I remember as well. I'm much better now, but I've always loved the Hunger Games. I fell in love with the books and even more for the film, and I never knew why. Now I do, Katniss represented everything I wanted to be, strong, kind and keeps pushing forward regardless of what happens and accepting she is messed up and still not losing herself.
Similar situation, and my trigger is my upper back. Normal society, rubbing or patting someone on the back is a symbol of care of affection, but for me, I used to panic/freak out. Now I freeze and am able to calm myself down. RUclips channels like this and audiobooks helped me start on my healing journey, until now, I'm making enough money to afford therapy. Cinema Therapy is definitely a valid start to healing. I send videos to my loved ones who need it, but who can't because therapy was used to further their abuse as children. It's safe.
I was in a similar situation but it's compounded with abuse so even though I was diagnosed with PTSD it fits more into CPTSD. My triggers were hugs, being in a room with just one other person, and leaving doors open. I'm NEVER secure in bathrooms. I was 11 and I'm 30 now, to this day I can't be in the bathroom without music because the quiet just triggers me and I jump for no reason if I hear my upstairs neighbors walking or just get a feeling of being watched. I did go through Narrative therapy to recontexctualize my trauma and wanna help others like me, but some triggers just don't fade.
The ending of the Hunger Games is practically the definition of a ‘Pyrrhic Victory.’ When you come out on top but so much devastation happened that the victory is so hollow, and it feels like there is no point in celebrating because you lost so much in the process. However, the epilogue gives so much hope for a better future, that their children wont’t experience the trauma that they did, and I think that is what makes it one of the best endings, that I’ve seen, to a series.
personally i liked the book ending better, which is basically the exact same scene but without the children. there katniss explained how her scars are to deep for her to be ready to bring life into this cruel world, but on the other hand shes looking lovingly at peeta and realizes there's finally hope. I thought it kinda made more sense for her to think like that because of her personality and her trauma. but the movie ending sure is heartwarming, she really deserved it :)
@@HikariChisame I found the book and movie endings to be essentially the same, just different ages for the children. Both have the same themes which is why I love it either way :)
I hated the ending when I read the books as a teenager, but now that I'm older I'm so surprised by how beautiful and nuanced the ending of the series is.
@@HikariChisame The end of the last book is Katniss watching her daughter and son play while she writes about what happened to her so that maybe her children will understand and help to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.
@@Kayjee17 Not just that the kids are playing and Katniss wanting a better future in a world where she broke the old system, but the song she sang at the end was so haunting. While she sings, they're playing on what is a graveyard and the kids don't even know it. That's why the ending was so powerful. Katniss broke the system and gave the Panem a chance to create something better. Katniss knew she could've forced Snow to suffer the way she did, but she understood the implications that she would be maintaining the status quo. Now that is how you break the wheel. Hint to David Benioff and Dan Weiss who absolutely rushed Game of Thrones and killed their own careers in Hollywood.
I'm late to the party but Suzanne Collins got a degree in the psychological impact on children of war. She wrote another really good book similar to the hunger games.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe her father was actually in the military himself. So that could explain why she writes so personally about these things. Suzanne Collins is brilliant
My dad flew Blackhawks for over 22 years and came back a complete mental wreck. He's never been there for our family since, and while it is aggravating, it is also extremely sad. :/
as someone with CPTSD, I spent this entire video crying / sobbing because not only is Jennifer Lawrence an INCREDIBLE actor who nails how trauma feels, but you're both so insightful and compassionate in your presentation. I love the Hunger Games and the story means a lot to me. Thank you for these videos. Idk if you'll cover all the movies in the series, but if you do, I'll be here to watch every minute of your videos. Thank you! her reaction in the whole scene at 20:00 from the silence the immediate flight response of walking away into the woods where she generally feels more safe, to the total sobbing, face-contorting breakdown perfectly encapsulates how it can feel sometimes.
I'm so sorry to hear about your past trauma, though I'm happy that this series has helped you on your road to recovery. 😘 You can tell that Collins and the filmmakers REALLY studied up on PTSD, and general traumas.
The idea of using “maybe someone in the audience needs what I have to offer” to get through your nerves is excellent. My sons friend pointed this channel out to me and I was immediately addicted. Even topics that I feel have no impact on me you two always give me something profound to take away from every episode and to work into my life. This show has helped me deal with a lot of internal issues I am dealing with.
While it's been established that Katniss has PTSD due to her tough childhood, the reason Prim doesn't have PTSD is because Katniss was always there for her, while Katniss had no-one to protect her.
Yea, with a barely approachable community that only approaches if u have something to offer, a clinically depressed mother, and a few more access to assistance, it's a miracle her ptsd was not worse to begin with
I'm not sure that Prim didn't also have PTSD, while yes, Katniss did everything in her power to shield Prim from the worst, and Prim is definitely more naive/innocent than Katniss, she still lost her father, has to watch her peers die on TV, watch her sister possibly get reaped, starves alongside Katniss etc.
I read a book recently called “Escape From Camp 14”. It is about a young man born and raised in a North Korean slave labor camp. There is a line in that book that I cannot forget. He said that many “outsiders” lost the will to survive and committed suicide. A perverse benefit to being born in the camp was that he had no hope to lose. Now that is some SERIOUS CPTSD.
Suzanne Collins is an amazing writer. I was first exposed to her through her earlier series The Underland Chronicles, which despite being targeted at a somewhat younger audience manages to touch on a lot of the themes and struggles that she would later explore fully in Hunger Games. (If you haven't read the series yet you should - it's criminally overlooked and is still one of my favorite young adult series of all time.)
Yesss the Underland Chronicles!! I reread the last like 20 pgs of The Code of Claw (when I know I can handle it) bc it just speaks to me so so much, it’s just such a great portrayal of PTSD, I just love it
oh my god i love that series, it makes me so upset no one ever talks about it. it helped me through some of the toughest parts of my early teen years and was a pretty accurate portrayal of ptsd
I remember reading the Underland Chronicles when I was younger and loving it. I think I need to reread it now that I’m older and have a better understanding and appreciation of good characters, which I remember the Underland Chronicles having a lot of.
We read that whole series as a family (we read books every night at bedtime) and I honestly, honestly think the Underland Chronicles are better than The Hunger Games.
This will probably get lost in the comments, but a few months ago my little brother and I were attending the FanX convention in Salt Lake. Halfway through the day we got the news our grandmother had unexpectedly passed. It was difficult to have much fun after that, until we attended your panel. There were two people in that audience who were having one of the worst days of their lives, and you helped them through it. I just want to say thank you.
Was really hoping there would be a part 3 to disect Peeta's trauma in relation to the brainwashing and how that affected Katniss. This series was incredibly moving, and as someone who's been studying psych I love how Cinematherapy brings out the psychological themes in such a profound way.
Oh my goodness, yes!! I would love to see one about Peeta. What it's like to have this experience as well as managing how he must interact with Katniss. He gets thrown around a lot too: isn't preferred within his own family, isn't seen as powerful, is thrown back and forth in his relationship with Katniss, etc.
I feel like, in the last video, there's something to be said for the way Katniss is portrayed as being THE ONE who doesn't want to be changed, because in the books that's Peeta. HE's the one who really exemplifies the idea, to the point that he doesn't really kill anyone directly in the arena at all, and Katniss finally grabs hold of that idea once she's in the arena and fully understands. There's something to be said about the effectiveness of moving that trait to Katniss, but also the unintended impact that made on the character of Peeta really not being desirable as a romantic partner to Katniss in the eyes of so many viewers whose only exposure to Peeta was Movie Peeta, not Book Peeta.
Yep this. In the book Katniss is like any other victor. She killed to stay alive. Peeta is the one who refuses to turn into the monster the Capitol wants. His unwillingness to be the bad guy is what makes Katniss choose him as a romantic partner ultimately. "I want the dandelion in the spring." Such a beautiful way to describe Peeta's character.
I didn't read the book, but seeing the actions and words of Peeta in 1 and 2 I notice that indeed it's more of Peeta since Peeta actually says it to Katniss the day before the Games that he doesn't want the Capitol to change him. I don't recall Katniss ever really sayinf that. And her actions don't really reflect that. She has killed so many directly and indirectly in the Games. She even mercy kills Cato. Did she want to kill? No. Was she haunted by it? Yes. But She's accustomed to killing. She killed a bird for sport.
@@hederlisa aww that's so beautiful. I love when writers do that with male characters. Too often, they have to be tough, emotionless heroes. I appreciate quiet men like him
I really hope they will do a vidoe on Peeta. He was always my favorite character. She is warm and kind and keeps that all the way through and fights his way back to his kind self after being highjacked by tracker jacker venom.
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but doesn't Peeta still tell Katniss he doesn't want the arena to change him? That he still wants to be himself until the very end? I distinctly remember that line being said, but maybe I'm confusing the memory of reading the book with the movie.
I'll say this, crying when watching movies has been a thing me and the people close to me had been made fun for. So, while growing up, I've been training myself to avoid crying while watching movies. But when I see these two, reacting so sincerely to what they're watching, crying not only when seeing a movie meant to make you cry, but also when witnessing someone hurting, like here with Katniss and her CPTSD, that is making me embrace my emotions more and more. Being vulnerable is not easy, but watching someone else do it definetly encourages me to do it more often.
I like to see the emotion on someone’s face and feel what they’re feeling. It helps me connect more. And that part of me that lacks trust for people loves to witness raw emotion because I know what I’m seeing is true and what they’re feeling and displaying on their face and body language is their real feelings- in which makes me connect and feel more.
I made a comment on the first video about having to watch this movie and class and being made fun of for it, I love that we are all here crying together now ❤
If you've never experienced a panic anxiety attack it's very hard to picture what it's really like. I don't know if JLaw has lived through it herself, but she portrays it so good - not just the panical breathing and the shaking, but also the way she stumbles, because the vision is so dimmed, she can't see where she's going, and then she falls down with her arms in that cramping position ... it's so lifelike.
Collins is from a military family. Her father was an army officer. growing up she moved around a lot. She has said she got the inspiration for the Hunger Games after watching footage of young soldiers in the Vietnam War and then a reality game show back to back and that's what she built the story from.
Another book series she wrote, Gregor the Overlander, also deals with violence, trauma, war, and PTSD-it makes sense that she grew up in a military family
Almost. Collins' father served in the Vietnam war and her as a child waiting at home for many months for him to come back was worrying. After the war, her father explained to her what happens to soldiers and civilians in a war, and he traveled with her to locations of various other wars to explain war to her. She had the inspiration for _The Hunger Games_ while channel switching between footage from the 2003 invasion in Iraq and "reality television" shows.
I agree. When you compare it to really any of them like Divergent or Mazerunner Katniss is the most believable as a person and it's that right mix of good writing to begin with, excellent actress portraying her, and all of the cinematic story telling that we see around her. I enjoyed the movies the first time that I watched them, but I didn't appreciate how impactful it was until watching Cinema Therapy.
@@PrettyGuardian I think Tris is quite believable in the books, she has a very real struggle. She even dies at the end, so she isn't really a teen dystopia hero!™️, she becomes yet another life lost, another war victim.
@@sarasamaletdin4574 She dies, she sacrifices herself to save the city from memory wipe. The films never finished, and I have no idea were they intended to go with the fourth.
Can I just say, that I like Haymitch? He honestly cares about Katiniss and Peeta, he does his best to protect them, and he does his best to help all the other tributes who had to go through this while dealing with it himself. And I love how when they say that the victors are going to be reaped he just chucks a bottle at the screen because he's going to lose people he's grown to love, the only people he was actually able to help and protect, along with others he likes, and what's worse is to him, it means he's failed. In his head, all he had to do was help them through the first couple years of being back. Now it's all just gone.
@@BonaparteBardithion I don't think haymitch was ever seriously fearing going back, I think he knew that as long as Katniss was going, Peeta was going as well and there was nothing he could do about ut
@@yellowhouse4911 Yeah there were like several mixed thoughts and emotions in him when he threw that bottle 1.) "For fuck's sake I got out of that hell hole and now i might have to go back" 2.) "The Capital is shit" 3.) "Wait shit Katniss is our only female victor" 4.) "If Katniss is going Peeta's gonna go" 5.) "I don't want them to go and get themselves killed but i don't want to die either" 6.) "What do we do now"
Finnick's line "It takes ten times as long to put yourself together as it does to fall apart," read a little different for me. For me it was more of don't rush the process, it takes time, and it's not gonna be an easy fix. Falling apart can happen in a matter of days, and it can take years to get better (and I use the word better very loosely here). I've had two major mental health crises in the past two years, both of which required me taking a step back and re-situating my life, the second of which finally convinced me to try antidepressants after years of talk therapy not yielding any lasting results, and I'm happy to report that I'm in a far better place now because of it
Yes, whenever Id make a plan to "fix" myself, it's usually severely underestimating how long it would take. So I can hope at New Year's day it'll be a new start and Id instantly start doing better, or even taking a month trying to improve, but it seems that what I did purposefully usually played such a minor role that just going through life for the next few years with the hope for improvement held much better results.
The moment she says "if we burn, then you burn with us"... I absolutely lost it. Complex PTSD is something I struggle with, and her emotions are so raw and familiar to me.
"Joel said that?" That made me giggle, but never underestimate the powere of trying to lift someone else up. Your channel does an awful lot of that, thankyou.
In general right now, I feel the idea of "do something for others" should be mentioned more. Alot of people think of them and themselfs first. And while it is important to look out for yourself, the mindset of thinking about helping others out, even with a small gesture, or taking a step back for someone else to make his/her day is a mindset that I wish more people had. And then there are sadly people who especially use social media to be toxic to others while hiding it behind a wall of "helping a certain group of people" (whoever this group is). Positivity is the way to go though in my humble opinion, it doesn`t help if you do something by hurting others or beating them down in a way.
What I really like is that she doesn't have the stereotypical characteristics of a leader. She is not chirasmatic, she is very blunt and sarcastic. She is not personable, she seems introverted. She is very cynical, especially in the beginning. And these things don't really drastically change because they are a part of who she is. In the first book, especially in the beginning, she doesn't understand why Gale bothers venting and getting angry over the games and the capital. To her, it seems like a waste of energy. She doesn't see a way to change it so it seems pointless to get upset over it. Then it becomes personal and she is put in a situation where she suddenly has a voice and can be a voice for others and she uses it.
She is not a leader. That's part of the point of the movies. She inspires and people can follow her goals. But that is not her intention or goal. She goes her own way all the time.
15:28 as someone with C-PTSD I just wanna add that it's important to note that not all trigger responses are crying, and hyperventilating, and screaming. Sometimes it's literally just quietly blanking out and dissociating for a few minutes and no one even realises that you're panicking. That's how it usually is with me. I definitely have had the more visceral crying and shaking and hyperventilating episodes, but more often than not I just kind of...freeze and space out (but in my head I'm screaming). If you have loved ones with C-PTSD (or PTSD), I suggest learning their tells, or asking them if they know what theirs are! Because sometimes we need help snapping out of it but we're surrounded by people who don't know and don't notice and it can lead to some spiralling afterwards. And definitely 16:01 to 16:19 that's 100% accurate right there 👏
o m g . yes, you're so right! I also don't really have outward reactions, for me it's also the freezing, dissociating, not being able to control anything, just blanking out for a few minutes. I go into that state when people are angry raging around me. I am so sensitive for these emotions in others and I become literally so scared, like a little child
Yes! Me too. Learning about the limbic system helped me SO much with my C-PTSD. Fight, flight, freeze, and faun. There are 4 responses, not just 2. I freeze often too. I get distant. I can't recall facts well. Can't do math all of a sudden. I will often try to numb my feelings with a distraction. It can lead to depression for me. I often pass through it once I feel safe enough and brave enough to feel the emotions I was repressing. And then my other response is fauning. I just learned about it this year. It means saying yes and going along just to keep yourself safe (but not actually wanting to). It explains so much about why I could never say no to people. And recognizing when it's happening helps me to override it.
I’ve never had vivid visual flashbacks, but my C-PTSD manifests as emotional flashbacks. Someone will do or say something that reminds me of my abusive childhood, and I go straight back to feeling like a helpless, unloved, vulnerable child. It feels like being lost in the eye of a dark black hurricane, cut off from the whole world, and only danger all around you. The best way to snap me out of that is to ask me if I’m experiencing a flashback, because once I know that’s what happened, I’ll pull myself back together with all the skills I’ve learned in therapy. But the hard part is recognizing it’s happening to me while I’m in the middle of that dark hurricane.
@@starlingwarrior yea 100% with me, fight never worked with my parents so it was always freeze flight or faun, and when i got older faun kinda went away and just freeze was my go to because it ment less effort with the very little effort energy i had left, but thatw as hoenstly in the last year or so before i escaped them, but saying yes and doing whatever mom wanted kept me safe for a logn long time, i get it
@@catc8927 i get this too, my dad used to stomp around the house and my mom too, and my husband who has never riased his voice to me ever will be frustrated and be stomping and i immediately am hiding under the blankets scared and terrified im going to be yelled at
It's been a couple years but I remember the end of the third book where Katniss tells about her children. It was smth like "they're playing on a graveyard" and it's unbelievable how these few words can hold so many emotions
As someone with C-PTSD, watching the portrayal of a heroic figure having such realistic symptoms of C-PTSD was really cathartic, but also made me realize my trauma doesn't dictate everything in my life. The trauma will always live with me, but I can still succeed in life and try to make the world a better place without having to be fully healed from my trauma.
One of the things that makes the ending especially bittersweet is that she participated in the games to protect her sister, not to become a symbol of a revolution, but ultimately Prim died. It's kinda like life honestly, we don't get exactly what we want, we get hurt a lot and there are things we lose and can't really get back, but we also find and do some pretty incredible things along the way, like she found Peeta and helped Panem in their fight against Snow's tyranny
Exactly. I completely agree with you on that. Even though Katniss killed her sisters killer which was president Coin, she still has to suffer the grief and PTSD of losing Primrose. Katniss may be a fictional character but I just to hug her, this poor girl had suffered enough already.
The acting advice you talked about made me think of Robin Williams (may he Rest In Peace). As a comedian he was very energetic and engaged in front of an audience, but he also struggled with depression and I think he knew other people struggled like he did so he wanted to make people feel good.
The funniest people often struggle with depression. Trauma + Time = Comedy. It's also why you see comedians capable of dramatic work but not so much the other way around.
Isn’t he quoted as to say the funniest people have the most pain and sadness and they never want anyone else to feel like that. Or something to that effect
@@roselydiapage702 I'm sure some people want to use their comedy to help people also experiencing pain but I think it's more of a coping mechanism. Learning to laugh at things as opposed to crying, so much that it shapes your personality, sense of humor & how you deal with hardship.
An interesting fact about Robin Williams - considering the comments from part 1 of this - is that he would contact Steven Spielberg and other individuals working on making and acting in Schindler's List and tell them jokes and say funny things for a while to help everyone feel better as it was a really hard movie to make from an emotional standpoint
The last video got me to reread this books. I remember the promo and talk about these movies was soooo focused on the love triangle and it really really trivialized the story, which is extremely sad because it is profound in so many ways. The first video said that Katniss is a hero because she is always trying to dry herself and maintain her values, which is true, but she teeters back and forth on that internally the entire time. Peeta really represents and models that integrity first/“I don’t want them to change me” mentality. He has a real captain americanness about him. He inspires that in her in many ways. And the one of most traumatic thing she goes through is seeing that tourtured out of him. Gale totally leans into the every man for himself mindset towards the end. The absolute most traumatic thing she goes for is Gale’s lack of morality leading to Prim’s death. It’s not a triangle at all but 3 people who fall into different places on that line of maintaining an integral mindset in a world absenting integrity. It’s heartbreaking for all three of them. Also it’s so obvious that Katniss uses any romantic interactions with either of the boys as a maladaptive coping skill, to avoid her sadness.
Yeah it’s kinda a long running joke about how the media for the hunger games movies became the capital in how it focuses on the love triangle while ignoring the societal commentary
Ooooh off topic & side note with your first sentence, it's super interesting that you said that because when I was a kid reading the books and watching the movies, I was one of those people who arguably missed the point of the story because I was so wrapped up in the "is she better with Peeta or with Gale? Here's ten reasons why Peeta is the one" and all that love triangle stuff. Now the Hunger Games means something entirely different to me as an adult with the context and nuance of my own experience. It just goes to show that we are just as capable of avoiding what's presented in front of us if we're actively invested in something mundane, or trendifyifng it to be trivial. Every time I watch Hunger Games I ALWAYS find something I missed the last time. I've seen people compare Squid Game to Hunger Games (and while I can see why, they're both great pieces of commentary that utilize the tropes and archetypes very well) and the only thing that goes through my mind is how history repeats itself with people being so wrapped up in the mundane and trendifying. I've seen more dalgona recipes, red light green light, and even halloween costumes of the soldiers than I've cared to count. Even large scale influencers like Mr.Beast have taken the time out to recreate the set and literally have people compete for money which is the most tone deaf thing I've ever seen, regardless of how nice Jimmy is as a person. When you have social commentary on capitalism and social justice, it's kind of inevitable that you have to play into capitalizing it in order to get your voice out there. After all, Suzanne Collins has to sell her books and Hwang Dong-hyuk has to have a streaming platform in order to tell their stories. And everyone needs to eat. But it's just super dystopian and a bit sad to see the concept get misconstrued and the profound tale get consumed in such a wrong manner. It's almost like it's our own maladaptive coping method, telling ourselves that desperate situations that cause people to do desperate things will NEVER happen to us if we can separate ourselves via costumes and games. Which is literally what the Capitol does, and we collectively hate the Capitol.
@@pinkjessjmb Really well put! And oddly, not really off topic? 😉 The question of how do we 'consume' social-justice-themed popular media (and potentially enthuse about the cinematography, acting, costume & sound design etc without losing the core message) is fairly on-theme for that question of 'how do we retain the truth of things, & of ourselves?' As you note, creators & artists of all kinds are always struggling with the similar challenge of how to produce content that's true to their vision, but which can also successfully reach their intended audience. Unfortunately, marketing, SEO & things like that can sometimes warp the original message or intention of a work - 'Hunger Games' mass marketing to young people was a fairly good example of this problem? - and the original creators often don't have full control over how that process happens...
Well that's good to know. Since I was diagnosed with C-PTSD years ago and then it was removed from the DSM 5. It felt like further invalidation. As if all that I live with, everyday, wasn't real anymore because it's no longer "recognized". At least it's nice to know it's still recognized in an international classification, I never knew that.
There aren't as many of us in the comments with C-PTSD as some of the other conditions in Cinema Therapy's videos, but finding y'all who are willing to share even a little is so inspiring. I just recently got diagnosed and finding this video has helped so much
I was diagnosed with CPTSD this year. It’s so strange seeing how it seems to be getting the treatment of being swept under the rug. That invalidation hurts…
One of the things I really appreciated about the books was how often Katniss spend time recovering from injuries and having massive nervous breakdowns. It's so realistic for her to be exposed to all this violence and trauma and has to get better.
In regards to the idea of Katniss being traumatized when we meet her in the first book, she mentions that she still wakes up screaming for her father. Then there’s all the factors you discussed. It’s honestly so sad cause Katniss just keeps getting severely traumatized throughout the entire series with barley any breaks. The capitol purposely triggers victors like her through the victory tour and then again through the quarter quell. Then there’s the whole revolution, it’s justified but it’s still a war and war is a terrible traumatic thing.
There is also her mother's "abandonment". She never left physically but she left mentally and emotionally, and broke the bond of trust and comfort Katniss had as a young child. Which is why she's so angry towards her mother and why she treats Primrose like her daughter. It's also a trauma, to HAVE to take a role that isn't yours, otherwise you die and the people you love die.
What i like about the series in terms of the war plot is that it really doesn't shy away from anything. There's absolutely nothing glorious about it whatsoever, not even for the victors. While it's depressing, it's the truth: there's nothing glorious about war and the series made it a point to emphasize that it SHOULD'NT be glorified through the eyes of katniss
When you talk about the hollow victory of this story, it reminds me a little of Frodo in LoTR. He has a that line _"I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them."_ The victories came at huge costs and even if you know the world at large is better off, some people who most deserve the victory don't really get left in a position to enjoy it. But the similarities also extend that both Frodo and Katniss found peace in the people who loved them. Their trauma never fully goes away but, as you said, by accepting the love of people around them they're able to create a way forward for themselves.
My heart broke for Frodo in the end of the books. He was broken. No happy endings. He'd seen too much, worn evil close to his heart for too long. Even his love for his friend couldn't save him.
True, Frodo takes the ring to protect the Shire - his plan is only to get it to the next stage and then hand it on to the council/whoever Gandalf and Co. decides to entrust it to. He then continues because its the right thing to do, and because he sees the damage it can do, even to his beloved Bilbo, and the risks of even good intentioned but more powerful people/species like Galdalf, Boromir, & Galadrial (sp?). Likewise Katniss's only goals are the survival of her family, and by extention herself as the main provider for them. Ultimately she wins a better world for Panam, but loses her sister (who she always saw as the best of the family) and also Gale, through his choices. She gets a world she never thought was possible, and eventually a new family for herself, but she could never go back to her original family/Shire. A silver lining for Frodo - he gets to go to the West with his family (Bilbo). It's not the future he once saw for himself, but it is a future and one shared with his most loved relative.
"It's a construct to define something that is real" really hit me. As someone struggling with anxiety, all my life I have been chasing the title of "anxiety disorder" because it made me feel seen. Made me feel like I know what my problem is. And I freaked out when I thought I had the wrong diagnosis. And my therapist that day told me "It truly doesn't matter what label you give yourself. You found the right medication, the right course of therapy, and it is working for you. Those labels are no more than just that, labels. What you're experiencing is real, regardless if it is recognized in a manual. What you're feeling is valid" and I didn't get that until I watched this video. Thank you so much, Jonathan and Alan, you inspire me everyday
Yeah, words are words. On one hand, words have no value unless you give them value. On the other hand, a rose by any other name is still a rose. Which is why I am confused when people correct me when saying my mom has manic depression that she actually is bipolar. I mean, manic says it all, as does depression, and if anything, her greatest disability is holding onto grudges and taking her negative emotions out on people, pushing them away (then wondering why no one wants anything to do with her). Whatever the case, whatever you feel you have, as long as you deal with healthily and can function in society well enough, I agree that is all that matters.
My friend tried to get me to watch your channel for ages and I have spent the last two months binging your content, but I somehow never really noticed this episode. And I watched both parts, but my heart both broke and was invigorated by this second episode. I grew up when these books had just become popular and read them even though they were too old for me. I connected so strongly with Katniss but could never explain why. My 10 year old vocabulary didn't have the words. Now, as an adult, I know. I was diagnosed with CPTSD two days before Christmas of 2019. I was in the middle of my sophomore year, taking more than 20 credit hours (12 is full time, 15 is normal), and acting as the caregiver for my mom with myotonic dystrophy (a form of muscular dystrophy), my brother with autism who was and is verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive, and my grandmother who had a number of health conditions and could barely walk. I remember making it a week into Christmas break before I just broke down and my dad couldn't understand what I was saying, my sobs were so loud and strong and I couldn't stop. Growing up with a sibling with a disability is hard enough, but when they scream obscenities at you for asking them to take out the trash or throw you over a chair when they have stolen money and you found out, it's even worse. My mom is slowly losing control over her muscles and struggles to walk. My Nana just lost the ability to walk at all and is in a care home because my dad and I physically can't help her now. It's a feeling of being trapped in the trauma, because it never ends. My brother will be my responsibility until he dies or I do because there's no help for us right now. My mom will get worse. My Nana will pass. Even though I'm going away to another continent for a year for my master's, it's inevitable. And that makes the CPTSD worse. I can't handle being touched unexpectedly. I can't handle yelling, even when excited. I can't handle driving some days. I am capable of literally saving my mom's life from my brother and being fine, but when a young student of mine gets excited about doing well and raises their voice in happiness, I flinch. All of this to say that seeing this video makes me finally understand why I loved Katniss. She is a protagonist who goes into life and does what she has to do even though she's broken and she's beaten down. She can kill or shoot a promo after a hospital is bombed but breaks down when she tries to do a thing she used to love and felt proud of but had tainted by her trauma. Thank you, Alan and Jonathan. I really needed to see this today. I hope you have an amazing day if you read this. You have certainly blessed this person with your work.
You do NOT have to care for your brother. You are not obligated to take on an abuser. There are programs that can care for your sibling if your parent are unwilling to take advantage of these programs it is not your fault or responsibility.
I’m so sorry you went through that. As someone who’s on the autism spectrum, I’d like to say that it’s not an excuse to be abusive. Ever. Whatever the reason was, it doesn’t matter. You do not deserve to go through the things you did. I hope you’re safe and far away from him now
@@multifanderisverycrafty Thank you very much. ❤️ I've gained many friends on the spectrum who don't act this way. I am, unfortunately, due to my own mental health issues and my mother's physical issues still at home, but I have spent about a year away in England and that has helped me heal some of the wounds sapping me of strength. I needed this comment today, so thank you. ❤️
Honestly, that act of listening to what a person needs in a panic attack, holding them if they want to be held, staying with them, letting them help clean up, just listening and doing what they need is so powerful. I had a panic attack and my sister-in-law recognized it and tried to help. At first, she wasn't able to get through very well, just rubbing my arm and sitting next to me. I was trying to get myself out of it, just chanting "I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm safe," over and over. She walked over and locked the door and then turned to me and said, "You are safe." and I knew I was. Not because of the lock so much as that she was listening and there for me and if someone at that second tried to come through that door, she'd protect me. It took me a while to get fully out of it but that was a major step forward.
Thank you two for helping combat toxic masculinity. Seeing you two emote and empathize and connect and show vulnerability is so refreshing and healing. So much love for what you do
I totally agree. I appreciate their healthy masculinity. It helps so much. These two guys are such a safe haven to go to, for a girl 22 years old with no male figure to look to. Thank you
lmao, bitches still be out there thinking men are against them Hey, i want you to know that the average dude isnt doing toxic masculinity and probably doesnt even know what it means. Your issue is with sexist assholes. You should stop acting like men are the problem.
19:10 In addition to, you know, starvation and her dad's death, she was also the sole caretaker of Prim and of her mother for a long period of time. Her mother was nearly catatonic and was unable to work, and even after her mom got better, Katniss never felt she could rely on her for her and her sister's basic needs ever again. Keeping in mind that Katniss was 16 at the start of the events in the hunger games, that's . . . a really traumatizing and isolating thing for a child to go through.
Jen was really amazing as Katniss and I'm not taking that away from her, but I really wish they cast someone who is actually Katniss's age, because Jen tends to make you forget how young Katniss actually is.
@@bessieburnet9816 Honestly, JL was the absolute best choice for the role. Sometimes, when you cast too closely to the character of something you are trying to adapt into a new medium, you can lose out on other important aspects, like skill and on-screen charisma. JL might not have been 16 when she played the role of Katniss Everdeen, but she became her. And she portrayed her incredibly well. Getting too hung up on small details like that, without seeing how everything fits into the bigger picture, can sometimes result in a disconnected or watered down product. Unfortunately, there aren't that many child actors who have JL's raw talent and range, nor directors with enough time to put several weeks of effort into getting the emotional response they need for a scene. Also, there are other logistics at play, such as film laws for child actors, etc. It can be very difficult to schedule filming as they are not allowed to work before or after certain times, plus they often have to have a guardian present at all times, which can be a hard ask considering most adults need to work their own jobs. That being said, I get what you mean about wishing that we could have seen slightly more accurate age portrayals in terms of the main characters, if only because it would have lent more weight to the fact that the people of Panem really are watching children murder one another for entertainment. Still, nothing is perfect, and I really think the the entire cast, not just JL, absolutely did the source material justice. If only more recent adaptations (looking at you, Wheel of Time and The Last Airbender) were just as good. Sigh.
I've had to go through the process of the legal system when I was raped, it's not easy testifying. its traumatizing in itself to have to sit there and speak your truth but if you do it I'd say have an advocate there
Justice for sexual abuse never actually feels like enough because you can’t just solve the damage with putting that person away. Healing is far more difficult, I’m sure any of us who go through it can agree. I know that proof and testifying are just so hard, and if you find you can testify, they also offer emotional support animals that can sit with you. I agree, have an advocate, and may you find peace.
I loved the Hunger Games series (the books, haven't seen all of the movies). The thing that I appreciated the most was the ending because Suzanne Collins did not wimp out on it. She showed the very real trauma that Katniss had because how could she go through all of that and not be severely traumatized. It made everything feel more real than if it had been glossed over.
I appreciate that you both confess to feeling nervous about these videos. From my POV, it feels like I'm in the same room as you guys, just watching you both discuss a movie. I completely forget about the mechanics and the very real human "We're both here, alone in a room, talking together about a movie, and we're not sure how it will be received by the audience." It's incredibly human to be worried about audience reception, even when time and again, the audience appreciates your work.
This channel was the beginning of awareness for me. Your gaslighting video cracked open the door to a realization of the narcissism, abuse, and toxicity dwelling in my family. Initially becoming aware is painful, and I denied my new reality for a long time. But this channel has given me knowledge, hope, understanding. A companion I can laugh and cry with during this new time. Cinema therapy, thank you. This channel is a gem. I love that there's actual professionals behind the camera and not Dr. Google, and that I can trust what I gain from these videos.
When Johnathan spoke about his wife holding him and resting his head on her and breathing made me instantly tear up. My fiancé does the exact same thing with me if I'm having a PTSD episode . I am so fortunate to have someone who loves me and was able to just jump right into that role without any prompting . He has done this for me since we met, he knows the trauma I've gone through and I honestly don't know if I ever would of been able to heal as much as I have without his support.
Hey Jono, the word you were looking for is Pyrrhic Victory. This is where you technically won, but you suffered so much incalculable loss that it wasn't at ALL worth it, and you must now live with your actions. Its from the legend of Pyrrhus, who was the very last man standing and had lost his entire army, with whom he shared a deep connection.
''Its from the legend of Pyrrhus, who was the very last man standing and had lost his entire army, with whom he shared a deep connection. '' Well the saying 'Pyrrhic Victory', came from a legendary event/quote, but the man himself is historical, as well as the war he fought against Rome. He wasn't the very last man standing, but after winning the majority of his battles against Rome, he couldn't replenish his army, and had to leave Italy.
"Acting is really just feeling. It's accessing things and really feeling them and letting it be real enough to let it come out." As someone who has taken acting classes and studied the books on it...this is 100% true. Acting is being vulnerable and dealing with and connecting your own hopes, dreams, doubts, all the have-tos and must-nots to the objectives and obstacles of the character you're portraying. And if that concept is achieved...wow, LOOK OUT!!!
It's nice to hear someone say you don't have to "toughen up." People who don't understand what it's like to have complex PTSD have literally told me I was too sensitive and that it was a weakness and genuinely it made me feel shame for just..feeling, which is ridiculous. Things are getting better everyday over time though. I appreciate the support from you guys ❤
🤦🏻♀️ Argh! As someone who suffers from disabling physical forms of hypersensitivity, I can relate all too well, alas... Really sorry you had to experience people being like that! Sadly, my observation's been that many people will just reject someone's lived experience if they don't understand it...? To me it seems like a drastic failure of empathy, not to mention a really self-centred way of living, but I guess perhaps some people deal with their own issues by trying to block out/ignore/deny whatever anyone else around them is struggling with...? 🤷🏻♀️ I do hope that in the main part, you'll encounter more people who'll actively extend empathy whether they understand or not - AND who'll even take the trouble to become better informed!
@@anna_in_aotearoa3166 Wow, there was so much grace in your comment and I just wanted to say how much I respect that. You make me want to learn more and be more empathetic, thank you
@@melissa0378 because that thought never occurred to us, right? Because if it was as easy to "get over" trauma, depression, anxiety, etc. as simply telling ourselves to "just suck it up or toughen up and quit being/ feeling/ experiencing those things", then we'd all be just fine and nobody would ever suffer with these issues! Why would anyone choose to have these issues if we could simply choose not to?? Ugh. 🙄 Sorry, people like that, who don't even try to be empathetic, compassionate or understanding are a real pet peeve of mine and I've experienced similar sentiments, myself. 😞 Edit: hugs to you and all of us who wrestle with any of these various difficulties, and thank you to Cinema Therapy for understanding and helping us!
The symptoms Katniss often experiences (especially in Mockingjay) I relate to most are panic attacks and dissociaction. Katniss constantly loses track of time and ends up hiding in places for hours and has no idea how she found that spot. After my traumatic experience I dissociated for 2 months. I lived on complete autopilot and that fact I have no idea what I'd been doing, where I'd been for two months still terrifies me 12 years later. I developed enormouns anxiety & phobia related to my experience and I behave the exact way when Katniss found white roses after the bombing. It's exhausting and terrifying.
This is why I love Peeta. A lot of people made some pretty nasty comments about him, but he’s so kind and stays that way no matter what. He always does his best to choose kindness and compassion first, and that takes INTENSE strength.
After what happened in Palestine the scene where Katness goes to district 8 and watches a hospital being bombed and her having to explain it hits different. The rage and her grief is something one can relate to.
I just rewatched Mockingjay and the first thing I thought was Palestine. the hunger games don’t feel as dystopian anymore when you have people not asking for a ceasefire but supporting israel instead
@@tsaralexis9459 No? They are literally creating a genocide on a people who were in Israel first but we're forced out of their own homes 70+ years ago, much similar to how America created a genocide for the Native Americans, who were in America first. They are literally no better than America at this point. And They aren't defending anything, the people in Gaza can barely defend themselves let alone attack back.
@@tsaralexis9459 Speaking of, I just heard that Israel has dropped over 50,000 explosives on Gaza the passed 3 months, I don't see that as defending themselves, more like they are trying to wipe the Palestinians out.
i suffer from inner city complex PTSD and i never had a word for what i was suffering through, but when i finally had a name for it I finally could face it. it’s an awful daily existence. I grew up in it until i was 14, i am 46 and still wake up at night and have to power through mental panic attacks and continue to do my job. Inner city violence, the off shoot activities that are plastered across media and society are constant triggers because i know that gangsterism is not a valid societal system and not sexy. But its all around us, everyday, from sports to music, to television… i have not owned a tv since 2003 and avoid listening to any radio. its a small coping lifestyle choice.
The Hunger Games Trilogy is one of the few films from the books that I have no complaints about. Reading the books as a teenager is incredibly a different experience when you read it as an adult. You learn how the capital creates a lot of generational trauma as well as personal trauma throughout all the characters, and you read how they've learned to cope as a result of the systemic oppression they're in, for better or worse. As a person who also suffers from CPTSD, the movies hit close to home in terms of dealing with your own darkness as you're trying to be the light in the world. It is a struggle that's hard to conceptualize, but I appreciate you two for handling the conversation with care. Side-note: Alan, never give up your dreams of being a director. That short clip between you and your son looked powerful to me in terms of the directing and acting. I hope you continue to do amazing work.
The whole story of the Hunger Games is so intense and Jennifer did an incredible job, but your review of this has brought me to a whole new level of awareness of just HOW good she is!!!!!
I dove back into this world this year too and now that I am older, I feel like I can appreciate what Suzanne Collins tried to tell us more than when I was younger.
The vacant expression Katniss has in the final scene is the most real part of her performance. It speaks to the humanity she’s lost forever in her fight, and that despite winning for the greater good, she cannot really win for herself. It’s the unfortunate nature of trauma that not everyone gets a real chance at a happy ending. For so many people the best they can hope for is getting through the end of each day and making it to your life’s natural end without giving it up.
I had PTSD (or so my doctors told me repeatedly--I kept telling them my trauma wasn't "bad enough" like there was some kind of objective metric). I never had waking visions like Katniss does, but I did have nightmares and they still pop up ocassionally. I liked how these books didn't say "we fixed it with the revolution" or anything like that. In the epilogue her and Peeta both still have nightmares and she tells her kid her coping techniques.
I really appreciated the Hunger Games trilogy because it seemed so true to my own experiences with trauma. And like you said, the reality of healing is more complicated than most cliche stories. There's something to be said about a portrayal of trauma in media that doesn't presume to be easy or simple or something you can "beat".
that's so true. Trauma will never leave you, like scars that can fade but they never truly heal. And that's what makes being a survivor of trauma all the more powerful. Cause you've seen shit and you survived. In case you see shit again, you know you've already survived it once and you can rely on these experiences.
I unexpectedly witnessed PTSD in action, and even though it wasn't anything super big it has stayed with me ever since. My godmother's father fought in the Vietnam War, and one day when we were having dinner for my godfather's birthday something fell over and made a loud, metallic clanging noise. He relatively kept his composure, but I can only imagine what was going on inside his head when he said that it freaked him out. It's always the little things that you don't really think about.
Yeah, when they say something freaked them out, I'm sure that's an understatement. My dad was a Marine in Vietnam and was also a martial artist and former police officer, and we learned never to wake him up by touching him, or to ever sneak up on him (my sister almost got knocked out the first and only time she tried, luckily he was quick and skilled enough to pull his punch at the last nanosecond), and that he disliked loud noises and fireworks and was always hypervigilant. He never talked about his experiences much and was a pretty stoic guy, but I'm pretty sure he was also an HSP and you could tell there were scars and deep issues under the surface that he worked hard not to let out. I can't even imagine what he'd been through.
Woah, that's intense experiences😰. When I was a kid, the basic understanding I have of PTSD (and the very first time I heard of the condition and it's name) was through a fictional character named Flippy (that show was NOT for The faint of heart, let alone for kids, by the way😰) but conversations like this (and a certain Steven universe future episode) gave me a more realistic insight of The Happy Tree Resident's internal condition (which, from what I recently read somewhere, was crossed with Disassociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder)
I'm not sure if it's going to be mentioned in this video, but I think the single best change the movies made, was Cato breaking down at the end of the first movie. "Go on! Shoot, then we both go down and you win. Go on. I'm dead anyway. I always was, right? I didn't know that till now. How's that? Is that what they want? Huh?" This moment makes the audience realize that he isn't the real enemy, the real villain. He's a victim too. He may have volunteered, and trained his whole life, but isn't that tragic too? These kids being spoonfed propaganda and lies, being told that they're born for it, and they will be great. But if Cato had survived, he would have had to kill his friend, Clove. He would have to be raised his whole life, keeping others at arms length emotionally, so he doesn't get too attached. The career kids aren't the bad guys, they're just as much victims of the system as the kids unwillingly drafted into this.
As an artist.. my family’s scapegoat.. There is a lot of advice you both give me more than once I needed to hear. Katniss is a character I have identified with for a long time. Especially with her C-PTSD because of my childhood as well as past domestic abuse. She is a reflection of find strength even when you have felt broken.
When I did comedy, my philosophy was 'everyones my best friend'. It gave me such a positive mentality for bombing, heckling, etc. The audience was never the enemy, only my own expectations.
I think the actual books do a great job of describing the trauma that Katniss, and all the other characters, experience because of the Games. The movies did a good job of interpreting the books, but certain scenes in the books are just so descriptive. It would be amazing to have an analysis of the book scenes from the psychological point of view and an insight of why certain scene were interpreted in certain ways from a director's point of view.
I really wish you'd talked about her reaction to the suggestion that as retribution, the Citadel would be forced to go through a Hunger Games. I always found that a really intense part of the books and the films - that you have a choice about how to deal with the people who inflict trauma on you. She doesn't forgive the Citadel, she refuses to allow the trauma to continue, and it's the thing that breaks her and Gabe - he wants revenge, he wants to inflict the same pain back, and she wants it to stop.
26:19 “your friends and family play a specific role which is to love you, which is to be there for you, which is to mourn with you and suffer with you and let you know that you’re not alone” this made me tear up. I wish my family would show me they’re there for me and show me I’m not alone, they try but they don’t try hard enough, they tell me they’re there but they don’t show it
To be completely honest, I loved how the story had a realistic "happy ending". The actual leader of the rebellion being basically the same thing as the person she's replacing is quite accurate to how a lot of violent uprisings go, but they still got their democratic system in the end. Katniss marrying Peeta who has shown he loves and supports her through all the trauma, and who needs that love and support just as much as she does. Maybe I just love bittersweet in media, but there's something about ending in a place of victory while remembering the sacrifices that it took to get there... It's a very emotionally powerful way to end.
As a professional actor, I would like to expand on what Alan was talking about in terms of acting techniques. There are, actually, a number of different techniques that actors might use for accessing emotion. The Stanislavski system (and to a slightly lesser degree the Method) focuses heavily on emotional recall but, not all acting techniques involve using real-life memories or real experiences. Actually, for certain people, accessing real memories can be too psychologically traumatizing and it's healthier for them to access emotion in a different way. Other techniques (like Meisner or Chekhov) are basically about focusing so fully on your environment in the moment that you will react as if the scene is actually happening to you. It's more about acting on instinctual impulses than previous memories. Meanwhile, the Stella Adler technique mostly focuses on imagination and consciously creating a character's inner world. Stella Adler, herself, actually believed that focusing on personal memories was limiting to an actor's range. Then, of course, there is the Classical Acting technique which is much more cerebral and more about planning out the external parts of your performance in terms of voice, costume, makeup, movement, script analysis, and character analysis to such an extent that the internal stuff will either present itself naturally or simply give the appearance that it is (even though Daniel Day-Lewis is often thought of as a Method actor, he is actually Classically trained and uses a lot of Classical acting techniques). Individual actors will, usually, learn a bunch of these techniques in order to find the one (or a combination) that ends up working the best for them.
I’ve only acted in a handful of things and never got any formal instruction (and often not much instruction from a director-we’re all amateurs. And when I did most of this I was a college kid in a small club and so were they), so it’s honestly nice to see stuff I was doing instinctively is 1) actually how it all works and 2) see names for these things
Not an actor over here, just a person with a BA in Drama. My profs discussed these methods, too, and were not fans of using emotional recall because of potential limits and the risk of draining the memory of the emotion and 'tapping out' that source. When preparing for a performance I tended towards the Adler approach. For me it was a big part of the process, a lot of fun, and made show time easier because it was simply becoming another person.
There's a story that Orson Wells was filming Citizen Kane, he, Kane, is in a rage. Wells did it so well that the crew was frightened. When the scene ended and he calmly walked off the set, they stepped back in featr. He looked and said, "Acting. It's acting."
My director told me once that acting is about lending your body to the character so they can live in it, and for me that was everything.... so I take (or build) the memories of the character and let they be in that situation... so it's not exactly about how I would react neither, but it's closer to Stanislavsky technique
"I always think that there's someone in the audience who is having the worst week of their life, and I am going to help them remember that they can laugh and feel happy." As an education student who gets anxious before heading into a classroom, I will never forget that. Cheers lads, and thank you Joel
As a teacher of 15 years, I am always nervous on the first day of classes, and often when I begin a class session too. But practice and purpose (which is what they named so eloquently here) will always guide you through. Very good luck with your career, you'll find your groove. It's truly one of the most rewarding jobs ever ❤️
Love that you guys address this, but there's another aspect of this series that I'd be curious to hear Jonathan talk about - the relationship between Katniss and Peeta. When I first read "Mockingjay," I felt like the ending was rushed and that the two were pushed together simply to satisfy the shippers. But now, years later, I'm not so sure. Is their relationship realistic, or is it fictionalized for the sake of the narrative? I honestly think this deserves it's own episode.
In the book Peeta loves katniss but Katniss doesn't know or wants to know love she damages already when we meet her. Take the I don't want children, its cause she doesn't want one it's just that for her it's too cruel. In the book and and the movie the learn to love petta and she also learns to acceptes love and end up being OK with and realised she is allowed to feel more than just pain and sadness. And what make it even better is that Katniss acceppting petta love and chosing to poursui her love toward Peeta is her choosing healing and peace after the trauma and accepting the past happened so no need to keep fighting the past. Should she have chosen Gale she would have chosen resentement and anger and still being in pain. She broke out of the circle of pain
I just reread the books, and it's very clear in book one that the author is shipping Katniss and Peeta, because Katniss very specifically sees Gale as a brother, doesn't want kids, and repeatedly states that while she doesn't know how she feels about Peeta she does kiss him a lot for the games. And then proceeds to get comfort from Peeta that Gale can't supply. I also read the books and it seems like every time she and Gale kiss it isn't romantic. Like, Gale tests her out but she never seems to reciprocate, or she'll kiss him on the cheek. But he is two years older than her and that is a lot of time for teenagers, and Katniss just never seemed to feel that way about Gale. She deliberately goes out of her way to sacrifice for Peeta too, so it really makes sense that she realizes the extent of her feelings for Peeta, or rather that they just fit together, and that they have shared trauma that they both understand and can be there for each other. Gale was too much of an extremist, whereas Peeta was gentle, and Katniss needed Peeta's gentleness after the war.
@@badratymj9255 Your last sentences remind me of... I forgot the line, but it's something like, "I don't need Gale's fire. I am fire myself. What I need is yellow dandelions on the spring (Peeta). A gentle promise that tomorrow would be better." (???)
@@catherinepoteat I agree. Gale is too much like herself - a fighter, a provider, a pessimist (or you might call it realist bc their world really is that shitty). Peeta however is a healer - someone who dreams of what life could become and takes the steps to get there. While Gale keeps fighting at the end of book 3, Peeta understands Katniss and her desire to stop fighting and live in peace away from all the suffering. He completes her and steps in where she's not able to go on alone.
@@catherinepoteat gale is also a hella gaslighter and also one of the people that AGREED TO BOMB THE INNOCENT CAPITOL CITIZENS, meaning IT"S HIS FAULT PRIM DIED!!!!!! that was such a big part of the last book and one of the big pointers for katniss choosing peeta. like y'all seriously too blinded by the man's looks. he's a gaslighter and a murderer
26:00 Really ripped into me and I swear it'll stick with me for sure. I suffer from C-PTSD that has caused severe anxiety, dysthymia, and lots of mental anguish. Despite going to therapy so much, I always felt like something was missing and it's that second part that Jonathan mentions: friends and family. I try very hard to get better and do everything I can to be "normal" again and "get over" these things that I struggle with, but it's always been a lonely and solitary journey. I've severely underestimated how badly not having friends or family to love and support me in those hard times is on myself mentally. It's so interesting how humans thrive on love and connections, and without them it can be so hard.
I know I don't know you, but I'm here for you. Connection can be terrifying or feel impossible when you feel broken or in pain. I'm also on the healing journey and yeah it can feel isolating when everyone around you can't really understand your experience. But I'm here if you ever want to talk.
I was diagnosed with c-PTSD at 30 after being raised in an abusive home, hostile school environment, cult like religious experience, and medical neglect from my parents and the medical community. Katniss speaks to me deeply. The whole Covid situation and having to do appointments over telemed made my primary doctor realize that the medical setting is incredibly traumatizing for me and inhibits my ability to effectively communicate. I’m very blessed to have compassionate and accommodating doctors but that trauma is still there subconsciously. I actually work in education and I am about to do the practicum for my special education certification. My school, not knowing of the circumstances because it was diagnosed during Covid, tried to place me in the district that traumatized me for 13 years. My psychiatrist was not having that and happily filled out the accommodation paperwork to get me moved to literally any other district as I have proven I can be fine in districts I don’t have a history with.
12:26 you guys definitely make my week better. I'm from Myanmar and I'm currently living in Myanmar and the political situation is worsening with people dying because of the military, bombings, shootings and more... So this really hits hard, especially the scene where Katniss sees the hospital burning and says that. We also do the 3 finger sign as a show of our rebellion and what we stand for, and standing up against them.
Which is why I am frustrated with other Americans complaining about minimum wage when they are usually quite safe, driving vehicles, streaming media. I do not consider one poor until they are using water with their cereal instead of milk, take the bus, share a rented room, etc. I pray things work out, but obviously it is not so simple. 80 years of war will take a lot of recovery, and whoever wins, better have some infrastructure plans in mind.
@@jeremybrummel3254 You can always find a worse situation that doesn't negate other situations. When the price for apartment rooms, medical care, food, toiletries and everything else keeps increasing, pay MUST INCREASE or there's a problem. At that point, you can't complain about homelessness.
@@chocolatecharley99 Oh? Not sure if you knew, but you can save lots of money by simply renting a room of, say, Craigslist, and taking public transportation. I only need 24 hours a week on minimum wage in the valley of California, to make ends meet. Other people seem to expect to afford a vehicle and two bedroom apartment, or even afford to start a family, on minimum wage. Many even feel like they are entitled to be able to afford to live in big cities on minimum wage.
There's also this incredibly small detail I never noticed until now, but when Katniss is under the tracker jacker's poison and has a flashback of the mine explosion that killed her father, all of the miner's faces morph into that of her dad as they go in.
I was just diagnosed with c-ptsd by my therapist (cults are fun) and man... it's both validating and empowering to see an accurate representation of it on screen. Thank you both so much for these last two episodes. 💜
Hey, I have CPTSD (not cult related) and recently joined some support groups. They’ve been invaluable in battling the isolation that come w CPTSD and people having no understanding of us. It may be really helpful for you too Just make sure the groups you join have good protocol around triggers and that you’re intention when engaging w the group so you don’t get overwhelmed/triggered
I appreciate so much that Jennifer Lawrence's acting abilities are praised here because I agree so much and have seen that take as largely an unpopular opinion. From what I understand, Katniss as a character starts off seeing emoting as a vulnerability she won't allow outside of very few people, and JLaw plays that so well. Around Gale she's open and relaxed (at least until a certain something happens). Around her mom she's commanding and assertive. For Prim she's warm, sweet, and teaches via that lense in a way that hits home and kinda made me wanna cry. Outside of those people, until they've become safe to her or until she just can't keep it in anymore, she maintains a blank affect. That JLaw can still emote fear, anger, shock, through what are almost micro-expressions in a way that's nuanced and believable as an accident is incredible to me. She's not just acting with her face, she's acting with her whole body in a way that has to take so much brain power but you don't see that thought process happening. With Cinna in the first movie, her eyes look terrified, her face is making only the tiniest of twists, and she is shaking. SHAKING? I can't even wrap my head around how someone can tremble on command like that. It feels so accurate to me as a person desperately trying to hold everything in, and there's the sense there's so much to hold in, so it saddens me a little when the performance gets written off. I appreciated the note about flashbacks and PTSD. For a long time I had the misunderstanding that if you don't have the one, you don't have the other, it needed to look like that, and it needed to be consistent. I am grateful for the reminder that it's not that binary because I'm still working to unlearn that. The work it takes to internally validate that to begin the process of healing from it, woof. (I think there's the note about constructs and definitions? That a word isn't the be all end all of an experience, but without the proper language it's so easy, at least IME, for those struggles to be devalued and dismissed, internally and externally, and it seems to make healing harder. Language is medicine.) So I appreciate too that the take here is that Katniss is 'successful' in overcoming, her power is her resistance to changing her core values and not giving in, that her happy ending is bittersweet and that's... I guess allowed? To be a victory? Because rebuilding and connection and love are still happening. Watching it, Katniss looked hollow by the scene in the meadow (and again, JLaw's ability to CONVEY that? Hi?). There's a sense of vacancy in her smile that didn't seem to be there before, and it was difficult not to draw a connection to her mom? Because the actress who played her mom is also, like, spookily good at looking dissociated and empty, and there's almost a sense of circular story telling where Katniss is a caregiver again while wrestling with her trauma and in a relationship with Peeta in a way that could be a matter of survival because for so long, Katniss's world was Peeta. Totally went over my head that, unlike her mom, Katniss is still working to connect to her child, that she's actively holding, whose face she focuses on, and that she even says "they won't ever go away...but I'll tell you how I survive it". Katniss's relation to children is one of my favourite pieces, and it's thematically consistent, so it does make sense that her relation to kids is how they'd express that and not "just a cop out", which seems to be a popular opinion. I never fully agreed with it, but I didn't see the value there either, so this was really nice, and I'm excited to have gotten to change my mind. I feel like I'm leaving a lot of essays in your comment section, you guys are giving me lots to think about. Really glad I watched this!! Thank you for your work!!
I was an abused child, so CPTSD. I had a wonderful therapist, who taught me, some wonderful skills. One of the best things that she said was, "When you get triggered, even after a long time, without, think about it as a program on your computer, that you were sure, got deleted, and there it is, again. So, instead of freezing, and self condemning, say to yourself, "OK, there it is again." Know that it can show up again, that is OK, recognize it, and delete it again. That reduces the power." Knowing that the trigger can occur, less often, but it can, and that I have the power to accept that, and lessen its power, in itself, is powerful.
So glad you’re recognizing and acknowledging the differences between CPTSD and PTSD, despite the DSM’s rejection of CPTSD as a diagnosis. I struggled for years to find a diagnosis that actually fit me, and when I read the Wikipedia page on CPTSD, everything clicked. I’m not weak or incapable of healing, I’m just someone who was dealt some serious early setbacks in life, despite my other forms of relative privilege. My life’s work is going to be digging my way out of trauma to get to a life worth living.
I had the same experience, I couldn't figure out why the information about PTSD (despite having some of the symptoms) didn't match what I was experiencing. I thought I was broken and then I read Pete Walkers CPTSD: From Surviving to Thriving and it changed everything. Hopefully we will get the life we deserve after everything that's happened to us
@@aevum6667 They may be similar but there's enough different between the two that they should be recognized separately. Anorexia and Binge Eating Disorder are both eating disorders but they are both seen as two different things. Treating treatment for them as interchangeable would be damaging. It's a similar concept with PTSD and CPTSD. Some of what therapists do to treat PTSD is completely toxic for someone like me with CPTSD. If the distinction between the two was recognized within the USA, it would be a lot easier for me to get help I need. It would also help if more therapists were open to being flexible with treatment on a case by case basis. Instead, most seem to be pretty ridged and not open to trying something outside the specific thing they have chosen for all their clients of a particular diagnosis. At least that has been the case for most if those that take my insurance. " Let's go beat the dead CBT horse one more time."
As someone with CPTSD.. I can attest that sometimes therapy is through art. I role play.. a lot.. and parts of the elements of my stories mirror my real life horrors. It gives me.. control.. over them and allows me to work them out by standing outside of it and looking at it from a larger gaze. it helps.
I do the same thing, and for some reason looking at it from afar is like me empathizing with myself. I won’t let myself off, but if it’s someone else, whether I wrote them or just thought them up, I can forgive myself for not being able to protect myself.
I have cPTSD, technically I'm only diagnosed with PTSD but that's because like he said it's not recognized by a lot of people. For a long time, I didnt know I had cPTSD or any mental health issues. As I got away from the abusive home I was raised in, I slowly began to see the damage and the trauma we had all went through. Personally it was really hard to mentally prepare myself to even consider finding a therapist, because I was just realizing what I had been through, It was like a fog in my mind was slowly starting to clear and I was realizing what I had been through. Like the whole time I was in that abusive home, I was just focusing on surviving and not what was happening to me and not how it was hurting me. Even after I started realizing, I was still questioning myself on what exactly happened, like maybe I'm remembering wrong or maybe this isn't what really happened. I was able to confirm it with my sister, that what we had been through was wrong and horrible, and eventually I was ready to start healing. I was ready to get the opinion and validation of a professional on what happened and what is wrong with me. But I still needed that push because I was afraid that they would be too professional and I wouldn't be able to open up because of it. Or that the therapist would think because I was opening up that I was ok and didn't need help, like the first therapist I ever saw seemed to do. Or I would get a bad therapist and not want to go at all anymore, because I have heard of a lot of bad therapist stories. Luckily I was finally able to push myself to try therapy. Part of it was when I found this channel I saw how nice and connecting and open a therapist Jonathan Decker was and I was like, man I want a therapist like this. Like a therapist that would be worth looking for. After 2 bad experiences (that didn't push me away) I finally found the therapist I have now who is amazing and I'm already seeing the healing and learning about how to deal with my anxiety and depression and cPTSD. I'm so happy I was finally able to get the help that I needed, because let me tell you, it was a struggle trying to do it on my own. My friend described it as walking on a broken leg without crutches.
It’s super validating to have a sibling if you had to grow up in an abusive home. While I dearly wish my sister never had to suffer like I did, at least we have each other to compare notes with, because sometimes abuse is so strange and wrong to non-abusive people that it’s hard for them to really understand. My sister and I can check in with each other and look back on our childhood abuse as adults: “Oh man. Did that really happen? What the heck. It really WAS that messed up.” Best wishes to you on your healing journey. It’s a long struggle to wrestle with your childhood demons, but it’s worth it because of the freedom and relief it can bring.
@@catc8927 Yes exactly, me and my sister do the same. Looking back at it and seeing how truly messed up it was. I agree, I wish all my siblings didn't have to go through the crap that we did growing up, but at the very least me and my sister always had each other's backs. Thank you kindly ^-^ it is rough but I know I can make it. I hope you have healed from your traumas as well, as much as one can anyway. Thanks again for the well wishes ❤
I was diagnosed with PTSD as a toddler. My psychiatrist said I was his youngest ever case. I’ve lived with it all my life and I really appreciate when there’s accurate representation, understanding and validation of it. Thank you both.
For someone who grew up around emotionally unavailable and hardly existent men in my life. It brings me such strange comfort and peace when I see these men cry about stuff I cry about. It's very healing and very peaceful. It's human. Love watching this as a current psych student
Dear therapy dads, I'm sure your plans for the coming months are already chock a block, but I've just binge watched Arcane, aka 'desperately needs therapy, the TV show' where everyone is traumatised and often as the result of awful things happening for the best of intentions. I'd love to see an episode on the show
For anyone gaslighting themselves into thinking they don’t have trauma, your experiences and emotions are valid. A situation can be traumatic for one person but completely fine for another. Don’t compare your trauma.
The moment when they’re told they’ll be reaped again is such a pointent and unsettling moment particularly in the books. The emotion and trauma that is brought up for Hamich, Katniss and Peeta is insane and honestly so hard to capture realistically.
What struck me in this scene is the smug and manipulative smirk on Snow’s face when he delivers this shattering news. He has spent an entire year thinking up ways to get even with Katniss and Peta , and now he’s rigging the game to make it almost certain that they will die after they felt safe. What a coldhearted bastard he was.
Hey guys, There’s around 1800 comments here, but hope you’ll see this one. I’m a recovering porn addict who lived a complex trauma caused by childhood and coming of age. You guys being nervous still made me laugh with you, cry with you, and… Heal myself. Jono your comments made me stop wanting to pursue women and collect them like trophees. I want an actual relationship now, that starts with friendship THEN morphs into something more physical. Alan you cry so much and so genuinely that I connected with my true values instead of connecting with what I think will make people like me. Thank you guys. Please, continue to be nervous.
Just watching other people talk about PTSD and CPTSD so sensitively and compassionately is so comforting. I suffer from frequent, dreadful nightmares related to traumas I've gone through. I have intrusive thoughts which strike out of nowhere and can take me hours to shake leaving me emotionally and physically exhausted. It's very hard to not feel dreadfully alone but hearing other people talk about helps brings you out of your own head and opens your heart to others and yourself in the process. Thanks Alan and Jonathan 💗
I’ve never heard anyone say anything like “introversion is nothing to overcome”, I really appreciate that. Most people see it as a problem instead of an aspect of a person. The blame introversion as whole, instead of looking at some parts that need to be managed, like anxiety. As always, you two are incredibly validating. You’re both treasures. Thank you.
My sympathies that you were treated poorly for being different. I'm an introvert too and from one to another your introversion has a lot of value. I won't deny the struggles that come with it too but needing that time to yourself can give you a lot of time to think and reflect.
I found it helped me understand myself better and gave me a chance to think back on things I might have agreed with too quickly. It's definitely easy to get too in your head and lose grounding and perspective but I hope you can look at some of the time you spend apart to gather yourself positively.
Also my therapist has told me learning to reframe my interpretation of the recent events helps a lot with anxiety and I think he is right though it's still a struggle.
defo agree. i think another conversation to be had is the forms of introversion. im introverted but maybe like only 55 - 60 % so. hence many people are shocked when they find out that i am in fact, introverted. its just not as easy to notice coz my coping mechanism for when i get anxious in social events is to become even more social.
I felt incredibly validated when he said that...my whole life my dad has cursed my introversion for preventing me from doing certain things he wanted for me to do, but after hearing Johnathan say that made me feel accepted, that its not the state of my existence that's wrong, but some aspect of my personality that I have to change, which I have started working on. I can deal with people much better these days, but I still do love my alone time with my hobbies & loved ones
It’s true, growing up I always had really good friends, and never really saw it as a problem (my friends were ok with my lack of texting and hanging out). As an adult I’ve struggled with dating or long distance friendships because whenever I try to explain that I don’t like texting everyday, they respond with “that’s ok, I can help you with that.” And I’m just sitting here like ‘I don’t want to be fixed.’ I tell them that so they don’t take it personally when I may not respond right away because I need to recharge
Yeah I always felt some type of way when people say "she'll just grow out of it"
I think the most heartbreaking part of THG is that the only reason Katniss even goes to the games is to protect Prim, and after everything, she still loses her sister anyway. Even with the entire Panem being set free, it feels like it was all for nothing. That ending BREAKS me every single time... I love this series and Katniss, so now I'm reading the books and it's amazing to have her point of view, know exactly what she was thinking and feeling as things happened
Although... before she died Prim grew from a scared little girl into a competent healer. She created a goal and pursued it with her whole heart. She became a carer, not always the one to be care for. She grew as a person and touched others in a way she couldn't have if she'd died in the 74th Hunger Games. And that is honestly not for nothing...
At least it seems that way to me.
I remember reading that part and it hit me so hard I was crying bawling it was so heartbreaking. also that Prim went there to help people. and that these moments happen IRL... it's so sad
The Hunger Games is probably the only book series I’ve read that has made me cry more than once. Amazing writing, truly
As sad as it is to lose Prim, she had her growth, at the same time her death shows that no matter what fate catches up with you. Prim was going to die and nothing Katniss tried was going to change it.
@@mimiadams247 This is a beautiful way to think about it. Her life was cut too short but still she made a difference. 💜
My favorite detail in the second and third books is actually the use of the main motif for Katniss as "the girl on fire." It's a pretty obvious theme, but I think what is often forgotten is that for the entirety of the trilogy, she isn't "the girl made of fire" or "the girl with fire." She is "on fire." She's slowly suffering under the weight of being this rebellion symbol, and her humanity is being burned away. It culminates in the death of Prim, when she's severely burned in the explosion, and she dissociates and literally has her entire body remade. She's still incredibly damaged by everything she's been through and is being metaphorically burned alive by her traumatic experiences.
I never thought of it that way, but yeah. All the hope and revolution and light themes are perfectly valid, but put that aside and focus on the other side of the coin. She's on fire. She's burning. She's hurting. She's damaging herself. Damaging herself for others. If we burn, you burn with us.
We don't often think of a phoenix's rebirth as painful but Katniss shows how her traumatic crucible almost unmakes her.
It reminds me of the scene in Violet Evergarden where Hodgins tells Violet that she's burning from all the things she did when she was a soldier.
@@analise17 The phoenix's body has to crumble and break to be reborn after all
My mind is blown by reading this. Do you think, Cinna thought of all this, like of Katniss and the disctrict of people she represented when he incorporated fire into the costumes?
"Their art is their therapy."
Interesting that was said. In the books, Peeta turns his nightmares into stunningly beautiful paintings for that exact reason. It helps him process what's real and what's not.
And together he and Katniss make a book of all their memories of everyone they knew that was gone.
I was thinking about this exact thing!
Interesting, however i disagree with the sentiment. As an artist and disability justice advocate this is often used against MaDD deaf and disabled artists. No, art is not their therapy. They are artists. People create because it is what comes to them to do not because they are unwell. Whatever the intentions the impact of the sentiment does more to isolate artists with disabilities and confines their work.
@@daniellehyde9279 two different things you've made a false equivalency. People born with or People who are differently able are not the same as people who have ptsd or trauma and are using art to work through their experiences.
@@anonomas6126 Such a distinction is laden with illusory differences and is especially not applicable on the topic at hand, engaging art. Trying to apply that here is like saying someone born with a heart condition is qualitatively different as a person from someone who broke an arm later. Broadly still two humans with injuries that should have the same standard of care. But especially those illusory distinctions are not strong reasons for limiting how we view or engage with art those people make. Whether or not someone was born with a condition or it develops shouldn't impede an earnest look at someone's art. But the generalization made feeds that barrier and does function to wrongfully limit many artists. Health is health, care for the mind is Healthcare. Regardless of why, how or at what part in a person's life their health needs care my original statement applies. The potential of the work is more than something to just casually limit as oh it's their therapy. So I maintain that it is a harmful generalization. Mental health is whole body health, the hard lined socially constructed distinctions separating these are misleading. All health, including care of the mind, is a constant process throughout all our lives. It doesn't matter how, why, or at what point the needs arise. The need is there. We are all not that different in this and also similar at the core through radical difference; as all experiences of our mental and physical health are personal we all share in that difference. So in any case I disagree with applying generalizations of a person's art as therapy. Their art is their art, they're engaged in the creative process because it resonates with them, it's an artistic process. Doesn't matter what brought them to that. It doesn't frame all they make as their therapy. It's art. Many artists contend against this generalization of their art as therapy, it has an impact acting as a caveat in art creating distinctions and limitations on the work a person creates and how we relate to it. Like an asterisk on what they do, *it's their therapy. No it's art. Aspects of it may or may not be informed by their direct experiences. Many times a person may be too unwell to pick up a brush. The beauty they communicate, or the challenges, the skills they learn, the mediums they experiment with it's more. Anytime and in any form we tell our stories aspects of this can be healing but that doesn't inherently restrain it to therapy. There's no false equivalence because I'm not comparing how people come to the point of need as that doesn't matter to the subject at hand. Applying such a generalization on art remains problematic. It's a human being that picks up a paint brush and all that's explored in that act, it should be respected. Unfortunately the art therapy tie has made the health of artists a barrier, having to work twice as hard to be recognized, received and seen as legitimate.
One of the saddest parts of any of the books to me was when she was talking about having to go to the mines on a field trip every year for school. Before her dad died it was just dismal but afterwards all she could think about was what it would be like to be trapped and slowly suffocate to death like or be blown up in an explosion. She said she even made herself sick to avoid that day at school because she couldn't handle it. And the fact that she was literally 11 when it all happened.
Also the scene where Peeta gave her the bread in the book was SO heartbreaking. She was so weak from hunger and cold that she collapsed and her options were either die in the rain or go home to her mom, who was basically in a state of comatose, and her starving helpless sister and get sent to a group home where they would probably starve anyway. Peeta giving her that bread literally gave her the stamina to run home and feed her family. It even physically warmed her because it was so fresh. It's no wonder Peeta was such an inspiration. He risked his own safety to save her life before they were even old enough to be reaped in the games.
The reason why Katniss, Primrose and her mother were staying at home on the brink of starving to death although the children could have gone to a residential child care institution was that they knew that children were often physically abused in these instiutions and sometimes also sexually abused. They preferred to die at home over getting raped.
Physical and sexual abuse of children in institutions was common up to the 20th century. In the 21nd century, a couple a major scandals were uncovered in the UK and Canada where hundreds of children in these institution died for undocumented reasons, with many anonymous child graves found on the site of these institutions.
Katniss's family had an unspoken agreement to prevent this fate for her and Primrose and rather starve to death at home. This book series is *so much* darker when you read it as an adult with the knowledge of all the abominable things humans have done to each other.
one of the saddest parts for me was when at the end of the trilogy she finds out that her other best friend, who wasn't even in the movies... died in the attack on district 12, that's why no one knew where Madge was.
which he also come from an abusive family, Peeta. He was extremely strong, in close combat he could easily choke you to death without much effort, that of the extreme labour his family would put him through.
@@Viewable11 Also what happened in state-run “orphanages” for Native American children in the US and Canada.
Peeta also got punished by his dad because he burned those loaves of bread, but he purposefully burned them just enough to where he’d be instructed to throw them out to the pigs, but he threw them to Katniss which was his plan all along. Iirc. I read the books freshman year of high school, so it’s been a while
I love that Haymich sees all of Katniss. All of her. And she’s not scared by it, because the mess he is on the outside she feels on the inside. And most of getting through trauma, in my vast array of experiences, is knowing that you’re accepted for all your broken parts. It makes you feel not so broken.
Precisely, thanks for articulating this sentiment superbly! Haymitch is one of the only other people who shares Katniss' trauma from the games, and is even her sole confidant regarding her whole Peeta/Gale love triangle.
Haymitch and Katniss have a much warmer mentor relationship deep down
@@bessieburnet9816 Absolutely! Haymitch and Katniss' relationship (especially in the films) is one of my favorite parts of the franchise.
I love their relationship. He's sort of a father figure, but not overbearing or suffocating. He always gave her a push when she needed it, a reality check, the harsh truth, but he's always there for her when she needs someone. They couldn't have cast Haymitch better than Woody Harrelson.
So true! Sadly in my Life there are so many people looking down on me for having a mental illness...
I have anxiety disorder with a panic disorder. In college I took acting classes and I loved it I had fun and I never had anxiety while doing skits. When I saw my therapist and told him about the class he was like how are you not nervous or anxious in front of people? And I told him that when I do a scene they are expecting my character, not me. It’s easy when you can hide behind a mask.
Edit: Wow! Thanks for the likes! 😂
Edit: I’m also glad that my comments resonated with a lot people and have felt the same thing as I have. Thank you. It makes me feel less alone. 😊
I relate to this so much! I'm a theatre kid and love acting, I also have anxiety and panic attacks and hate public speaking and am very introverted. My friends always wonder how I can not be nervous but I always say it's because I'm the character not myself
That is EXACTLY it. I’m an anxiety sufferer as well and absolutely love the stage, whether I’m acting or performing some kind of music. My art is my shield, in a way. However, ask me to do a presentation in front of a class where it’s just me talking…absolutely NOT.
As an introvert who is also a teacher, I relate to this so much. In the classroom, I’m “the teacher”, and most of the time we have to “hide” certain aspects of ourselves that don’t fit into that space, so I feel like I’m a character too when I’m teaching, in a way. But in social events, I hate talking to strangers, and being around too many people for prolonged periods of time drains me to the limit.
This resonates so much
That's a fantastic outlet, I'm so pleased that you found a way to decrease your stresses, and to simply be apart of a different character's life for a while.
If I remember correctly from an interview, Suzanne Collins grew up with her father talking to her about his own personal war stories as a veteran, so she learned so much from his very honest and straightforward teachings and experiences about war and she witnessed firsthand how he suffered through PTSD and coped with it. His teachings were a huge influence on her novels like the Underland Chronicles and the Hunger Games that focus on genocides, biological warfare, and PTSD.
I loved the Underland Chronicles, Gregor was such a good character for someone his age. I especially loved his bond with Ares, and how Gregor and his sister grew throughout the series in their own ways.
@@fluxshaman8251 same
My dad was a prisoner of war guard in Korea. He showed *ALL* the hallmarks of PTSD, but refused to accept it or do anything about it. He had the most horrifying stories. He always slept with a handgun where he could grab it as if he never felt safe. You didn't dare touch him to wake him up. I have C-PTSD from other things but I don't deny it and got help. Still, I don't feel safe unless I have a locked door between me and the world. I will even constantly check the door when I am very stressed.
@@fluxshaman8251 Would you definitely recommend this series as someone who is a fan of The Hunger Games.
@@lincolnbeckett8791 in terms of genre they're very different so I don't know if you'd like them as much purely if you're a fan of the hunger games. Where hunger games is a more grounded dystopic sci-fi, Gregor is more of a modern fantasy adventure.
That said, it's a wonderful coming of age tale for Gregor and his sister, so if you love those, I'd definitely recommend it. It's also a great read for teens, there are somewhat graphic depictions of death and mourning, so I can't really recommend it for younger children.
One of my favorite things in Catching Fire is that it shows Haymitch's reaction to the quarter quell as well as Katniss and Peeta's. Haymitch was the winner of the second quarter quell, he outlived the most tributes in one singular game than anybody else in the Hunger Games universe. His childhood sweetheart (arguably, the love of his life) and his entire family was killed because of his games. And in the movies, his trauma is often hidden behind his drunkenness and his general personality. But that one shot of him throwing the bottle at the screen and screaming when it's announced it could be him again, it hurts and gives us SUCH a good show of who he is.
I also adore the end scene, where Katniss is sitting with her baby and watching Peeta and their son play. It shows such intense growth for her character, and the complex way her trauma still effects her, but also the way she's been able to heal from it, to the point of feeling safe to be able to have children with the man she loves. It's such a happy ending for the story and I adore it.
I loved the end scene too. Some people say its weird that she had kids because in the beginning she didnt want to, but they forget, that she never wanted to bring kids into the world she was raised in. The fact that she has kids in the end shows us that the world around her has changed enough to make her feel safe
In the books it said she was still terrified having her second kid and there’s nothing positive said at all about motherhood or the children, just that she ultimately gave in and had children. It reads like she basically just gave up and did it even though she still didn’t want to. Seems like Peeta just pressured her into having kids she didn’t want.
@@ChaosRocket I completely agree.
the fact that she doesn't love Peeta but decided the take care of him was okay... having a child with him not so much. The books made it clear he never recovered, he was basically not a conscious person anymore and she couldn't bring herself to love Gale after his hypothetical plan killed her sister. Her best friend Madge being excluded from the film was a bit of a gut punch. especially considering how every time she was hurting or joyful there were four people she asked for, her mother, sister, Gale and Madge. turned out that Madge died and that's why no one knew where she was.
@@liamnehren1054 when I read it, my understanding was she does love Peeta
Y'all remember when Joanna was yeling at the game makers in the 2nd arena and then everyone looks at her like she's crazy. And she says, "What? They can't hurt me. There's no one left that I love."
Then in the third film during Finnick's speach to Panem, he talks about them selling his body, but if you refuse, they kill someone that you love."
I'm sure that's what happened to Joanna's family 😞
Haymich ended up in the same situation as Joanna: the Capitol killed everyone he loved. But not for refusing, but for winning by using the arena's force field to bounce the last opponent's weapon back into them. The Capitol made of him an example.
@@arturoaguilar6002 Dang I didn't know that! Was that in the book???
I've read the books, and if you're wondering. Yes, that is what happened. She became popular for her "sassy" (Or agressive?) attitude you could say, so the capital wanting to profit off of her, tried to prostitute her. She didn't agree. So they killed her entire family.
Oh ya. There are many things that are said in the books that aren’t portrayed in the movies. I totally recommend reading them
yes that is in the books if i remember right, snow killed everyone she loved
I think part of what makes J Law's performance so darn perfect is that she isnt afraid to look ugly. Lots of actresses feel pressure to look a certain way, but Jen is truthful through everything she does, and really pushes the boat out of what a leading lady does in a film series. You can learn so much from watching her in these films.
Yes this! This is exactly what I was thinking when she fell to the ground after hearing the news about the quarter quell, and her expression twisted with terror and grief as she had a panic attack. I can't think of any other actress I've seen displaying such raw and realistic emotion. And having CPTSD myself, it felt like a rare instance where a disorder was actually being properly represented in a film.
It's not always that the ACTOR doesn't want to look ugly. Often it's that they're not allowed to, because Hollywood is shockingly sexist. I forget which actress it was, but one said she was doing a crying scene and she was literally told by the director "stop crying so hard, you look ugly. Can't you cry prettier?"
@@LordofFullmetal Man. This is fucked up, but entirely unsurprising. Crying isn't "pretty". Ugh. 🤦♂️
@@LordofFullmetal yes! I also remember that interview but can’t remember who was the actress.
@@LordofFullmetal Was it Jessica Alba? I know the entirety of her direction in the Fantastic 4 movies was "ok but can you do it prettier?"
I just love that when Effie reads Katniss' name at the reaping, she's not her usual bubbly, cheery self. She smiles, but then she meets Katniss' gaze and you can see the terror and sadness in her eyes. She usually hates her job since she has to chaperone the lower class District 12, at the bottom of the social ladder, but she's developed this bond with her two victors that she can't stand the idea of them going back into the arena because there's a possibility they won't come back out. And all hell does break loose at the end and she and Katniss are reunited and they join the resistance, but she's no longer dressed in color and flair, she tries to be positive, but she's mainly focused on them winning, she wants Katniss to win. Everyone does and you can see the pressure affecting Katniss because she also wants to win, yet she's still dealing with the trauma of the games, losing Rue, watching her best friend be whipped, finding out her friends let her "boyfriend" be captured and mistreated by the Capitol, losing her sister, her home, everything she has. It's so powerful and Jennifer Lawrence nails the idea of determined, but also damaged.
Beautifully said
Her sorrow at having to reap people who have become her friends--and knowing for certain it's Katniss because she's the only one--was so well done
Effie’s reaction to the reaping in catching fire breaks my heart, because you can see how much they mean to her, and how powerless Effie herself feels, like the rest of them against the capital
@@jessicaswim2744 Definitely true. There was protest against the quarter quell, especially when Peeta lied about Katniss being pregnant and that got the Capital mad, which is odd because they love the games. But a pregnant woman competing and possibly dying? Uh uh.
Effie definitely loses her spark but I’m glad she survives. I would have been heartbroken if they had tortured her too because she is such a good ally, friend, and person.
When I first read the books I was kinda mad at the ending, being all like "ugh they just gave katniss a husband and kids because thats what happy endings are supposed to look like, isn't she way too messed up to act out the perfect heteronormative happy ending?"
And now, rewatching this with a lot more experiences under my belt, I can appreciate what they're trying to say: katniss has been through hell and now she gets to live a life where she can heal and be as happy as she possibly can be, not by settling down and getting her "happy ending", but by healing alongside someone who went through the same experiences and has stuck by her side through it all, and by getting to see hope for a brighter future, and by being allowed to finally rest and mourn without the need of being "badass". It's not about the happy family life, it's about telling you that you deserve happiness, even if you've been through the worst and back, especially then.
Yeah, I also take her willingness to have kids as her hope for the future. She was adamant that she didn't want kids because she didn't want to raise them in District 12 and see them suffer the way she did. But after everything, she's able to hope that the future will be better and her kids will have a better life than she did.
I never saw it that way in the books. It literally took years of Peta loving Katniss and the two of them helping each other heal before she was ready to accept that she really did love him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Then it took years after that of Peta bringing up the idea of having kids before Katniss was willing to be a parent, and even then she had so many doubts about her ability to be a good mom (not realizing that she'd already been a good mom to Prim).
I saw each of those steps that she took as signs that she was gradually healing and finding peace, which was something I so seriously wanted for her after the hell she'd lived through, and I always knew that Peta was the only one who knew Katniss well enough to love her through everything.
I'm also not a fan of "every character has to get married and have kids" endings. But I think it's thematically important that Katniss has kids - because it shows her journey. At the beginning of the story she's determined to NEVER have kids; not because she doesn't want them, but because she doesn't want them to end up in the games. She doesn't think she could handle watching them die.
The fact that she does eventually have kids shows that she has hope - hope that they can live a better life than she did. It shows that at the end of the day, she really did win. Because now she can build the life she wants, without having to be afraid of what might happen.
Katniss marries Peeta and has kids because the whole theme with the love triangle is that she chose peace and healing over hatred and retribution. Peeta is peace, and would help her heal and move on and let go of any hate she had of the Capitol. Gale would have stoked self destructive fire
_"When I look at my son - he reminds me so much of his father [Finnick]. We have all lost so much, but we have to make the best of our lives. We owe that to our children and our loved ones."_ Annie's letter to Katniss in Mockingjay.
I read these books during my chemo treatments. I suffered from PTSD afterwards because I went through my entire illness and treatments alone. No support system. I read the books and then saw the movies and by my 32nd bday I was having a hunger games themed bday week. JLaw may thinks she’s a simple actress but her performance and these books gave me the support I needed to get better. Next month marks 10 yrs in remission
I know I'm just a stranger on the internet, but I'm so happy you found solace in this series during such a difficult time, and I'm glad you're still here.
I'm so happy to hear that you're in remission. It's amazing the effect that stories like this can have on us. I'm glad you are better
That is so beautiful. ❤️💔
I'm so glad you're still with us. Cancer is not something I wish on anyone.
I wish JLaw accepted the fans more who just wanna thank her for how her performance changed their lives
I want to say thanks to Jonathan in specific in this episode. In other episodes we see Alan tear up, but this episode you were vulnerable and said you had a panic attack. It means a lit to me that it is shown that you can have a good life, carreer and also struggle sometimes with panic and anxiety. Thank you so much
You're very welcome!
@@CinemaTherapyShow Hey guys I was wondering if you would do a video on Finnick's trauma. Sexual abuse/sex slavery are such big issues globally and in my personal life and past. To hear your opinions and dissection of it would be amazing. -Holly
Mental issues and disorders do not distinguish between class or financial status. I think that was the thought for a long time that those kinds of problems were a lower class problem and if the upper class were having mental issues it was kept secret so as to not be looked down on.
Poor Finnick, while I didn't catch it when I first read the book, it's pretty obvious to me now that he was forced to prostitute himself to save his family from the Capitol. It's heartbreaking, especially considering that Finnick is nearly always charismatic, and how he deals with PTSD.
Finnick is such a beautiful character. I got so emotional that I threw my book at my bedroom wall when he died.
@@teeny733 Same
In contrast we have Johanna, who rejected the offer of prostitution and her family were killed for it. That explains her attitude. Her whole thing of not caring what she does or says, as well as getting caught up in the retribution mindset against the innocents of the Capitol.
They should do an episode for Finnick, because he went through so much shit like Katniss, the only difference was that he was a few year before her, as a mentioned he basically became a prostitute, and that really mirrors real life. Not to mention it was a guy, and fuck knows that just added layer of masculinity to deal with. The scene in both the book and in the movie where he opened up about the secrets he got from pretty much w****ing himself out was also another very moving scene.
Sounds like they got a full schedule already though 😂, and I'm pretty sure the next few episodes that come out are lighter hearted, maybe twilight?
@@keyboardsmash3983 I'm just glad they mentioned it because Finnick is such a tragic character. The fact he was a sex slave could easily be omitted, but it's a disservice to his character to do so. I remember being so entranced by his speech about Snow.
I was diagnosed with PTSD after a long history of sexual assault as a kid and one of my biggest triggers is people touching my hair or a smell. There was a smell that was there the day my assault happened and everytime I smell that smell today, I fly into a PTSD episode or trigger. Growing up with the Hunger Games and a female character who was dealing with PTSD felt like a lifeline because I didn't feel so broken anymore. This series you guys do has helped me grow and find better techniques for dealing with my PTSD and anxiety. Cinema has a way of just being so therapeutic while also teaching us things about ourselves and others and I find that so very beautiful.
I experienced something similar when I was 5. I don't have PTSD, but for a long time I had severe panic attacks and I became introverted around strangers. I do get triggered sometimes by scenes in movies or a certain smell that I remember as well. I'm much better now, but I've always loved the Hunger Games. I fell in love with the books and even more for the film, and I never knew why. Now I do, Katniss represented everything I wanted to be, strong, kind and keeps pushing forward regardless of what happens and accepting she is messed up and still not losing herself.
Hope you feel better now. You are so strong, I'm proud of you
Similar situation, and my trigger is my upper back. Normal society, rubbing or patting someone on the back is a symbol of care of affection, but for me, I used to panic/freak out. Now I freeze and am able to calm myself down. RUclips channels like this and audiobooks helped me start on my healing journey, until now, I'm making enough money to afford therapy. Cinema Therapy is definitely a valid start to healing. I send videos to my loved ones who need it, but who can't because therapy was used to further their abuse as children. It's safe.
I was in a similar situation but it's compounded with abuse so even though I was diagnosed with PTSD it fits more into CPTSD. My triggers were hugs, being in a room with just one other person, and leaving doors open. I'm NEVER secure in bathrooms. I was 11 and I'm 30 now, to this day I can't be in the bathroom without music because the quiet just triggers me and I jump for no reason if I hear my upstairs neighbors walking or just get a feeling of being watched. I did go through Narrative therapy to recontexctualize my trauma and wanna help others like me, but some triggers just don't fade.
I'm sorry for your experiences and continued struggles. Thank you for sharing with us. ❤️
The ending of the Hunger Games is practically the definition of a ‘Pyrrhic Victory.’ When you come out on top but so much devastation happened that the victory is so hollow, and it feels like there is no point in celebrating because you lost so much in the process. However, the epilogue gives so much hope for a better future, that their children wont’t experience the trauma that they did, and I think that is what makes it one of the best endings, that I’ve seen, to a series.
personally i liked the book ending better, which is basically the exact same scene but without the children. there katniss explained how her scars are to deep for her to be ready to bring life into this cruel world, but on the other hand shes looking lovingly at peeta and realizes there's finally hope. I thought it kinda made more sense for her to think like that because of her personality and her trauma. but the movie ending sure is heartwarming, she really deserved it :)
@@HikariChisame I found the book and movie endings to be essentially the same, just different ages for the children. Both have the same themes which is why I love it either way :)
I hated the ending when I read the books as a teenager, but now that I'm older I'm so surprised by how beautiful and nuanced the ending of the series is.
@@HikariChisame The end of the last book is Katniss watching her daughter and son play while she writes about what happened to her so that maybe her children will understand and help to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.
@@Kayjee17 Not just that the kids are playing and Katniss wanting a better future in a world where she broke the old system, but the song she sang at the end was so haunting. While she sings, they're playing on what is a graveyard and the kids don't even know it. That's why the ending was so powerful. Katniss broke the system and gave the Panem a chance to create something better. Katniss knew she could've forced Snow to suffer the way she did, but she understood the implications that she would be maintaining the status quo. Now that is how you break the wheel. Hint to David Benioff and Dan Weiss who absolutely rushed Game of Thrones and killed their own careers in Hollywood.
I'm late to the party but Suzanne Collins got a degree in the psychological impact on children of war. She wrote another really good book similar to the hunger games.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe her father was actually in the military himself. So that could explain why she writes so personally about these things. Suzanne Collins is brilliant
@@april-zz9pqyou would be correct, she wrote a book about her father's experience in Vietnam
I thought she has a degree in fine arts though? Couldn't find anything about a psychology degree.
Would this other book be Gregor the Overlander?
dont do this and NOT call her other war book. wtf is wrong with you?
As a veteran and someone who took part in drone warfare, the phrase “it’s not the dying that gets to you, it’s the killing” is 100% accurate
My dad flew Blackhawks for over 22 years and came back a complete mental wreck. He's never been there for our family since, and while it is aggravating, it is also extremely sad. :/
I’m really sorry… that’s super traumatic
@@ilovehotmoms5804 It really was. Thankfully I'm over it now for the most part, and my stepdad is one hell of a stepdad. :)
as someone with CPTSD, I spent this entire video crying / sobbing because not only is Jennifer Lawrence an INCREDIBLE actor who nails how trauma feels, but you're both so insightful and compassionate in your presentation. I love the Hunger Games and the story means a lot to me. Thank you for these videos. Idk if you'll cover all the movies in the series, but if you do, I'll be here to watch every minute of your videos. Thank you!
her reaction in the whole scene at 20:00 from the silence the immediate flight response of walking away into the woods where she generally feels more safe, to the total sobbing, face-contorting breakdown perfectly encapsulates how it can feel sometimes.
Same. It reminded me that I can do good things even when I feel so broken.
I'm so sorry to hear about your past trauma, though I'm happy that this series has helped you on your road to recovery. 😘 You can tell that Collins and the filmmakers REALLY studied up on PTSD, and general traumas.
yeah, I cried through the whole thing too. now I'm wondering if I have CPTSD...
same here, thank you for this comment ♡ lots of love and compassion
Same diagnosis, but I'm dissociating too much to react.
The idea of using “maybe someone in the audience needs what I have to offer” to get through your nerves is excellent. My sons friend pointed this channel out to me and I was immediately addicted. Even topics that I feel have no impact on me you two always give me something profound to take away from every episode and to work into my life. This show has helped me deal with a lot of internal issues I am dealing with.
While it's been established that Katniss has PTSD due to her tough childhood, the reason Prim doesn't have PTSD is because Katniss was always there for her, while Katniss had no-one to protect her.
Yea, with a barely approachable community that only approaches if u have something to offer, a clinically depressed mother, and a few more access to assistance, it's a miracle her ptsd was not worse to begin with
She also was younger when her father was killed & her mom checked out temporarily.
This. Katniss was thrown to the wolves; and she dedicated her life to making sure her sister never would be.
I'm not sure that Prim didn't also have PTSD, while yes, Katniss did everything in her power to shield Prim from the worst, and Prim is definitely more naive/innocent than Katniss, she still lost her father, has to watch her peers die on TV, watch her sister possibly get reaped, starves alongside Katniss etc.
I think most people in most of the districts had PTSD. How could you not have PTSD in that society?
I read a book recently called “Escape From Camp 14”. It is about a young man born and raised in a North Korean slave labor camp. There is a line in that book that I cannot forget. He said that many “outsiders” lost the will to survive and committed suicide. A perverse benefit to being born in the camp was that he had no hope to lose. Now that is some SERIOUS CPTSD.
Suzanne Collins is an amazing writer. I was first exposed to her through her earlier series The Underland Chronicles, which despite being targeted at a somewhat younger audience manages to touch on a lot of the themes and struggles that she would later explore fully in Hunger Games. (If you haven't read the series yet you should - it's criminally overlooked and is still one of my favorite young adult series of all time.)
Yesss the Underland Chronicles!! I reread the last like 20 pgs of The Code of Claw (when I know I can handle it) bc it just speaks to me so so much, it’s just such a great portrayal of PTSD, I just love it
oh my god i love that series, it makes me so upset no one ever talks about it. it helped me through some of the toughest parts of my early teen years and was a pretty accurate portrayal of ptsd
I remember reading the Underland Chronicles when I was younger and loving it. I think I need to reread it now that I’m older and have a better understanding and appreciation of good characters, which I remember the Underland Chronicles having a lot of.
We read that whole series as a family (we read books every night at bedtime) and I honestly, honestly think the Underland Chronicles are better than The Hunger Games.
very criminally overlooked and one of the most beautiful emotional journeys ever
This will probably get lost in the comments, but a few months ago my little brother and I were attending the FanX convention in Salt Lake. Halfway through the day we got the news our grandmother had unexpectedly passed. It was difficult to have much fun after that, until we attended your panel. There were two people in that audience who were having one of the worst days of their lives, and you helped them through it. I just want to say thank you.
Hey I went to the FanX convention, I’m sorry you had that happen. While we were there my friend got news her friend had passed.
Beautiful
Someone please bring this to their attention.
Wow I hope they see that. I am sorry for your loss
❤️❤️💔😭
Was really hoping there would be a part 3 to disect Peeta's trauma in relation to the brainwashing and how that affected Katniss. This series was incredibly moving, and as someone who's been studying psych I love how Cinematherapy brings out the psychological themes in such a profound way.
Boosting. Would love to see this
Sammmeeeee part three !!
Oh my goodness, yes!! I would love to see one about Peeta. What it's like to have this experience as well as managing how he must interact with Katniss. He gets thrown around a lot too: isn't preferred within his own family, isn't seen as powerful, is thrown back and forth in his relationship with Katniss, etc.
Would want to see this as well
Duuuudddee I would love to see this
I feel like, in the last video, there's something to be said for the way Katniss is portrayed as being THE ONE who doesn't want to be changed, because in the books that's Peeta. HE's the one who really exemplifies the idea, to the point that he doesn't really kill anyone directly in the arena at all, and Katniss finally grabs hold of that idea once she's in the arena and fully understands. There's something to be said about the effectiveness of moving that trait to Katniss, but also the unintended impact that made on the character of Peeta really not being desirable as a romantic partner to Katniss in the eyes of so many viewers whose only exposure to Peeta was Movie Peeta, not Book Peeta.
Yep this. In the book Katniss is like any other victor. She killed to stay alive. Peeta is the one who refuses to turn into the monster the Capitol wants. His unwillingness to be the bad guy is what makes Katniss choose him as a romantic partner ultimately. "I want the dandelion in the spring." Such a beautiful way to describe Peeta's character.
I didn't read the book, but seeing the actions and words of Peeta in 1 and 2 I notice that indeed it's more of Peeta since Peeta actually says it to Katniss the day before the Games that he doesn't want the Capitol to change him. I don't recall Katniss ever really sayinf that. And her actions don't really reflect that. She has killed so many directly and indirectly in the Games. She even mercy kills Cato. Did she want to kill? No. Was she haunted by it? Yes. But She's accustomed to killing. She killed a bird for sport.
@@hederlisa aww that's so beautiful. I love when writers do that with male characters. Too often, they have to be tough, emotionless heroes. I appreciate quiet men like him
I really hope they will do a vidoe on Peeta. He was always my favorite character. She is warm and kind and keeps that all the way through and fights his way back to his kind self after being highjacked by tracker jacker venom.
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but doesn't Peeta still tell Katniss he doesn't want the arena to change him? That he still wants to be himself until the very end? I distinctly remember that line being said, but maybe I'm confusing the memory of reading the book with the movie.
I'll say this, crying when watching movies has been a thing me and the people close to me had been made fun for. So, while growing up, I've been training myself to avoid crying while watching movies. But when I see these two, reacting so sincerely to what they're watching, crying not only when seeing a movie meant to make you cry, but also when witnessing someone hurting, like here with Katniss and her CPTSD, that is making me embrace my emotions more and more. Being vulnerable is not easy, but watching someone else do it definetly encourages me to do it more often.
I like to see the emotion on someone’s face and feel what they’re feeling. It helps me connect more. And that part of me that lacks trust for people loves to witness raw emotion because I know what I’m seeing is true and what they’re feeling and displaying on their face and body language is their real feelings- in which makes me connect and feel more.
@@theucheao yes I relate to that so much
Truth!! My parents always laughed or didn’t understand why I was crying.
I made a comment on the first video about having to watch this movie and class and being made fun of for it, I love that we are all here crying together now ❤
If you've never experienced a panic anxiety attack it's very hard to picture what it's really like. I don't know if JLaw has lived through it herself, but she portrays it so good - not just the panical breathing and the shaking, but also the way she stumbles, because the vision is so dimmed, she can't see where she's going, and then she falls down with her arms in that cramping position ... it's so lifelike.
Collins is from a military family. Her father was an army officer. growing up she moved around a lot. She has said she got the inspiration for the Hunger Games after watching footage of young soldiers in the Vietnam War and then a reality game show back to back and that's what she built the story from.
Another book series she wrote, Gregor the Overlander, also deals with violence, trauma, war, and PTSD-it makes sense that she grew up in a military family
@@marycapossela2090 i remember that series. Makes me want to reread it again.
Almost. Collins' father served in the Vietnam war and her as a child waiting at home for many months for him to come back was worrying. After the war, her father explained to her what happens to soldiers and civilians in a war, and he traveled with her to locations of various other wars to explain war to her.
She had the inspiration for _The Hunger Games_ while channel switching between footage from the 2003 invasion in Iraq and "reality television" shows.
Katniss' arc is the most realistic I've ever seen in teen dystopia films. Especially after she came home from the war
I agree. When you compare it to really any of them like Divergent or Mazerunner Katniss is the most believable as a person and it's that right mix of good writing to begin with, excellent actress portraying her, and all of the cinematic story telling that we see around her. I enjoyed the movies the first time that I watched them, but I didn't appreciate how impactful it was until watching Cinema Therapy.
@@PrettyGuardian I think Tris is quite believable in the books, she has a very real struggle. She even dies at the end, so she isn't really a teen dystopia hero!™️, she becomes yet another life lost, another war victim.
@Bessie Burnet
She doesn’t die in the end? But I would have wanted her more pay ally effected like in the books.
@@sarasamaletdin4574 She dies, she sacrifices herself to save the city from memory wipe.
The films never finished, and I have no idea were they intended to go with the fourth.
Exactly. Hunger Games really was the first and last truly good young adult novel.
Can I just say, that I like Haymitch? He honestly cares about Katiniss and Peeta, he does his best to protect them, and he does his best to help all the other tributes who had to go through this while dealing with it himself. And I love how when they say that the victors are going to be reaped he just chucks a bottle at the screen because he's going to lose people he's grown to love, the only people he was actually able to help and protect, along with others he likes, and what's worse is to him, it means he's failed. In his head, all he had to do was help them through the first couple years of being back. Now it's all just gone.
There was also the added layer of him being a previous victor himself and fearing going back in the arena.
@@BonaparteBardithion I don't think haymitch was ever seriously fearing going back, I think he knew that as long as Katniss was going, Peeta was going as well and there was nothing he could do about ut
@@yellowhouse4911
You're not wrong. There's no way they'd pass up a second season of that hot steaming drama.
@@yellowhouse4911 Yeah there were like several mixed thoughts and emotions in him when he threw that bottle
1.) "For fuck's sake I got out of that hell hole and now i might have to go back"
2.) "The Capital is shit"
3.) "Wait shit Katniss is our only female victor"
4.) "If Katniss is going Peeta's gonna go"
5.) "I don't want them to go and get themselves killed but i don't want to die either"
6.) "What do we do now"
Haymitch was like the fun caring uncle that always pulls jokes on you. Enjoyed him, just literally everyone in this movie was so good!
Finnick's line "It takes ten times as long to put yourself together as it does to fall apart," read a little different for me. For me it was more of don't rush the process, it takes time, and it's not gonna be an easy fix. Falling apart can happen in a matter of days, and it can take years to get better (and I use the word better very loosely here). I've had two major mental health crises in the past two years, both of which required me taking a step back and re-situating my life, the second of which finally convinced me to try antidepressants after years of talk therapy not yielding any lasting results, and I'm happy to report that I'm in a far better place now because of it
Yes, whenever Id make a plan to "fix" myself, it's usually severely underestimating how long it would take. So I can hope at New Year's day it'll be a new start and Id instantly start doing better, or even taking a month trying to improve, but it seems that what I did purposefully usually played such a minor role that just going through life for the next few years with the hope for improvement held much better results.
The moment she says "if we burn, then you burn with us"... I absolutely lost it. Complex PTSD is something I struggle with, and her emotions are so raw and familiar to me.
"Joel said that?" That made me giggle, but never underestimate the powere of trying to lift someone else up. Your channel does an awful lot of that, thankyou.
In general right now, I feel the idea of "do something for others" should be mentioned more. Alot of people think of them and themselfs first.
And while it is important to look out for yourself, the mindset of thinking about helping others out, even with a small gesture, or taking a step back for someone else to make his/her day is a mindset that I wish more people had.
And then there are sadly people who especially use social media to be toxic to others while hiding it behind a wall of "helping a certain group of people" (whoever this group is). Positivity is the way to go though in my humble opinion, it doesn`t help if you do something by hurting others or beating them down in a way.
Katniss is such a leader a dramatic, broken and soo straight forward character.This was the sequel we waited for!
Indeed, she's so strong and empowering, despite her trauma and pain.
@@trinaq )) l) lllll) )) l))) l)) lol) lll) lol) llll
she's not broken that why she's strong. Cracked but unbroken
What I really like is that she doesn't have the stereotypical characteristics of a leader. She is not chirasmatic, she is very blunt and sarcastic. She is not personable, she seems introverted. She is very cynical, especially in the beginning. And these things don't really drastically change because they are a part of who she is.
In the first book, especially in the beginning, she doesn't understand why Gale bothers venting and getting angry over the games and the capital. To her, it seems like a waste of energy. She doesn't see a way to change it so it seems pointless to get upset over it. Then it becomes personal and she is put in a situation where she suddenly has a voice and can be a voice for others and she uses it.
She is not a leader. That's part of the point of the movies. She inspires and people can follow her goals. But that is not her intention or goal. She goes her own way all the time.
15:28 as someone with C-PTSD I just wanna add that it's important to note that not all trigger responses are crying, and hyperventilating, and screaming. Sometimes it's literally just quietly blanking out and dissociating for a few minutes and no one even realises that you're panicking. That's how it usually is with me. I definitely have had the more visceral crying and shaking and hyperventilating episodes, but more often than not I just kind of...freeze and space out (but in my head I'm screaming). If you have loved ones with C-PTSD (or PTSD), I suggest learning their tells, or asking them if they know what theirs are! Because sometimes we need help snapping out of it but we're surrounded by people who don't know and don't notice and it can lead to some spiralling afterwards. And definitely 16:01 to 16:19 that's 100% accurate right there 👏
o m g . yes, you're so right! I also don't really have outward reactions, for me it's also the freezing, dissociating, not being able to control anything, just blanking out for a few minutes. I go into that state when people are angry raging around me. I am so sensitive for these emotions in others and I become literally so scared, like a little child
Yes! Me too. Learning about the limbic system helped me SO much with my C-PTSD. Fight, flight, freeze, and faun. There are 4 responses, not just 2.
I freeze often too. I get distant. I can't recall facts well. Can't do math all of a sudden. I will often try to numb my feelings with a distraction. It can lead to depression for me. I often pass through it once I feel safe enough and brave enough to feel the emotions I was repressing.
And then my other response is fauning. I just learned about it this year. It means saying yes and going along just to keep yourself safe (but not actually wanting to). It explains so much about why I could never say no to people. And recognizing when it's happening helps me to override it.
I’ve never had vivid visual flashbacks, but my C-PTSD manifests as emotional flashbacks. Someone will do or say something that reminds me of my abusive childhood, and I go straight back to feeling like a helpless, unloved, vulnerable child. It feels like being lost in the eye of a dark black hurricane, cut off from the whole world, and only danger all around you.
The best way to snap me out of that is to ask me if I’m experiencing a flashback, because once I know that’s what happened, I’ll pull myself back together with all the skills I’ve learned in therapy. But the hard part is recognizing it’s happening to me while I’m in the middle of that dark hurricane.
@@starlingwarrior yea 100% with me, fight never worked with my parents so it was always freeze flight or faun, and when i got older faun kinda went away and just freeze was my go to because it ment less effort with the very little effort energy i had left, but thatw as hoenstly in the last year or so before i escaped them, but saying yes and doing whatever mom wanted kept me safe for a logn long time, i get it
@@catc8927 i get this too, my dad used to stomp around the house and my mom too, and my husband who has never riased his voice to me ever will be frustrated and be stomping and i immediately am hiding under the blankets scared and terrified im going to be yelled at
It's been a couple years but I remember the end of the third book where Katniss tells about her children. It was smth like "they're playing on a graveyard" and it's unbelievable how these few words can hold so many emotions
As someone with C-PTSD, watching the portrayal of a heroic figure having such realistic symptoms of C-PTSD was really cathartic, but also made me realize my trauma doesn't dictate everything in my life. The trauma will always live with me, but I can still succeed in life and try to make the world a better place without having to be fully healed from my trauma.
One of the things that makes the ending especially bittersweet is that she participated in the games to protect her sister, not to become a symbol of a revolution, but ultimately Prim died. It's kinda like life honestly, we don't get exactly what we want, we get hurt a lot and there are things we lose and can't really get back, but we also find and do some pretty incredible things along the way, like she found Peeta and helped Panem in their fight against Snow's tyranny
Exactly. I completely agree with you on that. Even though Katniss killed her sisters killer which was president Coin, she still has to suffer the grief and PTSD of losing Primrose. Katniss may be a fictional character but I just to hug her, this poor girl had suffered enough already.
The acting advice you talked about made me think of Robin Williams (may he Rest In Peace). As a comedian he was very energetic and engaged in front of an audience, but he also struggled with depression and I think he knew other people struggled like he did so he wanted to make people feel good.
The funniest people often struggle with depression. Trauma + Time = Comedy. It's also why you see comedians capable of dramatic work but not so much the other way around.
Isn’t he quoted as to say the funniest people have the most pain and sadness and they never want anyone else to feel like that. Or something to that effect
@@roselydiapage702 I'm sure some people want to use their comedy to help people also experiencing pain but I think it's more of a coping mechanism. Learning to laugh at things as opposed to crying, so much that it shapes your personality, sense of humor & how you deal with hardship.
An interesting fact about Robin Williams - considering the comments from part 1 of this - is that he would contact Steven Spielberg and other individuals working on making and acting in Schindler's List and tell them jokes and say funny things for a while to help everyone feel better as it was a really hard movie to make from an emotional standpoint
The last video got me to reread this books. I remember the promo and talk about these movies was soooo focused on the love triangle and it really really trivialized the story, which is extremely sad because it is profound in so many ways. The first video said that Katniss is a hero because she is always trying to dry herself and maintain her values, which is true, but she teeters back and forth on that internally the entire time. Peeta really represents and models that integrity first/“I don’t want them to change me” mentality. He has a real captain americanness about him. He inspires that in her in many ways. And the one of most traumatic thing she goes through is seeing that tourtured out of him. Gale totally leans into the every man for himself mindset towards the end. The absolute most traumatic thing she goes for is Gale’s lack of morality leading to Prim’s death. It’s not a triangle at all but 3 people who fall into different places on that line of maintaining an integral mindset in a world absenting integrity. It’s heartbreaking for all three of them. Also it’s so obvious that Katniss uses any romantic interactions with either of the boys as a maladaptive coping skill, to avoid her sadness.
Yeah it’s kinda a long running joke about how the media for the hunger games movies became the capital in how it focuses on the love triangle while ignoring the societal commentary
@@Wurmze soooooo true. I hate it here
Ooooh off topic & side note with your first sentence, it's super interesting that you said that because when I was a kid reading the books and watching the movies, I was one of those people who arguably missed the point of the story because I was so wrapped up in the "is she better with Peeta or with Gale? Here's ten reasons why Peeta is the one" and all that love triangle stuff. Now the Hunger Games means something entirely different to me as an adult with the context and nuance of my own experience. It just goes to show that we are just as capable of avoiding what's presented in front of us if we're actively invested in something mundane, or trendifyifng it to be trivial. Every time I watch Hunger Games I ALWAYS find something I missed the last time.
I've seen people compare Squid Game to Hunger Games (and while I can see why, they're both great pieces of commentary that utilize the tropes and archetypes very well) and the only thing that goes through my mind is how history repeats itself with people being so wrapped up in the mundane and trendifying. I've seen more dalgona recipes, red light green light, and even halloween costumes of the soldiers than I've cared to count. Even large scale influencers like Mr.Beast have taken the time out to recreate the set and literally have people compete for money which is the most tone deaf thing I've ever seen, regardless of how nice Jimmy is as a person.
When you have social commentary on capitalism and social justice, it's kind of inevitable that you have to play into capitalizing it in order to get your voice out there. After all, Suzanne Collins has to sell her books and Hwang Dong-hyuk has to have a streaming platform in order to tell their stories. And everyone needs to eat. But it's just super dystopian and a bit sad to see the concept get misconstrued and the profound tale get consumed in such a wrong manner. It's almost like it's our own maladaptive coping method, telling ourselves that desperate situations that cause people to do desperate things will NEVER happen to us if we can separate ourselves via costumes and games. Which is literally what the Capitol does, and we collectively hate the Capitol.
@@pinkjessjmb Really well put! And oddly, not really off topic? 😉 The question of how do we 'consume' social-justice-themed popular media (and potentially enthuse about the cinematography, acting, costume & sound design etc without losing the core message) is fairly on-theme for that question of 'how do we retain the truth of things, & of ourselves?'
As you note, creators & artists of all kinds are always struggling with the similar challenge of how to produce content that's true to their vision, but which can also successfully reach their intended audience. Unfortunately, marketing, SEO & things like that can sometimes warp the original message or intention of a work - 'Hunger Games' mass marketing to young people was a fairly good example of this problem? - and the original creators often don't have full control over how that process happens...
It's weird. I never saw the media making it like that. It was always more the fans trivializing it to try and make it the next Twilight or something
Well that's good to know. Since I was diagnosed with C-PTSD years ago and then it was removed from the DSM 5. It felt like further invalidation. As if all that I live with, everyday, wasn't real anymore because it's no longer "recognized". At least it's nice to know it's still recognized in an international classification, I never knew that.
So glad we could help in our small way!
There aren't as many of us in the comments with C-PTSD as some of the other conditions in Cinema Therapy's videos, but finding y'all who are willing to share even a little is so inspiring. I just recently got diagnosed and finding this video has helped so much
I was diagnosed with CPTSD this year. It’s so strange seeing how it seems to be getting the treatment of being swept under the rug. That invalidation hurts…
It is good to know. I was diagnosed with ptsd at 12, and c-ptsd in my early 30s, and then they removed it... it's been rather confusing to me.
One of the things I really appreciated about the books was how often Katniss spend time recovering from injuries and having massive nervous breakdowns. It's so realistic for her to be exposed to all this violence and trauma and has to get better.
In regards to the idea of Katniss being traumatized when we meet her in the first book, she mentions that she still wakes up screaming for her father. Then there’s all the factors you discussed. It’s honestly so sad cause Katniss just keeps getting severely traumatized throughout the entire series with barley any breaks. The capitol purposely triggers victors like her through the victory tour and then again through the quarter quell. Then there’s the whole revolution, it’s justified but it’s still a war and war is a terrible traumatic thing.
There is also her mother's "abandonment". She never left physically but she left mentally and emotionally, and broke the bond of trust and comfort Katniss had as a young child. Which is why she's so angry towards her mother and why she treats Primrose like her daughter. It's also a trauma, to HAVE to take a role that isn't yours, otherwise you die and the people you love die.
Oh exactly! That has definitely effected Katniss a lot and caused her to act like the adult in the family far too young.
What i like about the series in terms of the war plot is that it really doesn't shy away from anything. There's absolutely nothing glorious about it whatsoever, not even for the victors. While it's depressing, it's the truth: there's nothing glorious about war and the series made it a point to emphasize that it SHOULD'NT be glorified through the eyes of katniss
When you talk about the hollow victory of this story, it reminds me a little of Frodo in LoTR. He has a that line _"I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them."_ The victories came at huge costs and even if you know the world at large is better off, some people who most deserve the victory don't really get left in a position to enjoy it. But the similarities also extend that both Frodo and Katniss found peace in the people who loved them. Their trauma never fully goes away but, as you said, by accepting the love of people around them they're able to create a way forward for themselves.
Tolkien actually wrote LoTR with the trauma he got from WW1 in mind. There's a movie that explores that part of his life that got out in 2019.
My heart broke for Frodo in the end of the books. He was broken. No happy endings. He'd seen too much, worn evil close to his heart for too long. Even his love for his friend couldn't save him.
@@yamitsukikarasu8857 Yeah. It was the one starring Nicholas Hoult, right?
@@LittleHobbit13 I sobbed at that one...
True, Frodo takes the ring to protect the Shire - his plan is only to get it to the next stage and then hand it on to the council/whoever Gandalf and Co. decides to entrust it to. He then continues because its the right thing to do, and because he sees the damage it can do, even to his beloved Bilbo, and the risks of even good intentioned but more powerful people/species like Galdalf, Boromir, & Galadrial (sp?).
Likewise Katniss's only goals are the survival of her family, and by extention herself as the main provider for them. Ultimately she wins a better world for Panam, but loses her sister (who she always saw as the best of the family) and also Gale, through his choices. She gets a world she never thought was possible, and eventually a new family for herself, but she could never go back to her original family/Shire.
A silver lining for Frodo - he gets to go to the West with his family (Bilbo). It's not the future he once saw for himself, but it is a future and one shared with his most loved relative.
"It's a construct to define something that is real" really hit me. As someone struggling with anxiety, all my life I have been chasing the title of "anxiety disorder" because it made me feel seen. Made me feel like I know what my problem is. And I freaked out when I thought I had the wrong diagnosis. And my therapist that day told me "It truly doesn't matter what label you give yourself. You found the right medication, the right course of therapy, and it is working for you. Those labels are no more than just that, labels. What you're experiencing is real, regardless if it is recognized in a manual. What you're feeling is valid" and I didn't get that until I watched this video. Thank you so much, Jonathan and Alan, you inspire me everyday
Yeah, words are words. On one hand, words have no value unless you give them value. On the other hand, a rose by any other name is still a rose.
Which is why I am confused when people correct me when saying my mom has manic depression that she actually is bipolar. I mean, manic says it all, as does depression, and if anything, her greatest disability is holding onto grudges and taking her negative emotions out on people, pushing them away (then wondering why no one wants anything to do with her).
Whatever the case, whatever you feel you have, as long as you deal with healthily and can function in society well enough, I agree that is all that matters.
My friend tried to get me to watch your channel for ages and I have spent the last two months binging your content, but I somehow never really noticed this episode. And I watched both parts, but my heart both broke and was invigorated by this second episode. I grew up when these books had just become popular and read them even though they were too old for me. I connected so strongly with Katniss but could never explain why. My 10 year old vocabulary didn't have the words. Now, as an adult, I know.
I was diagnosed with CPTSD two days before Christmas of 2019. I was in the middle of my sophomore year, taking more than 20 credit hours (12 is full time, 15 is normal), and acting as the caregiver for my mom with myotonic dystrophy (a form of muscular dystrophy), my brother with autism who was and is verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive, and my grandmother who had a number of health conditions and could barely walk.
I remember making it a week into Christmas break before I just broke down and my dad couldn't understand what I was saying, my sobs were so loud and strong and I couldn't stop.
Growing up with a sibling with a disability is hard enough, but when they scream obscenities at you for asking them to take out the trash or throw you over a chair when they have stolen money and you found out, it's even worse. My mom is slowly losing control over her muscles and struggles to walk. My Nana just lost the ability to walk at all and is in a care home because my dad and I physically can't help her now.
It's a feeling of being trapped in the trauma, because it never ends. My brother will be my responsibility until he dies or I do because there's no help for us right now. My mom will get worse. My Nana will pass. Even though I'm going away to another continent for a year for my master's, it's inevitable.
And that makes the CPTSD worse. I can't handle being touched unexpectedly. I can't handle yelling, even when excited. I can't handle driving some days. I am capable of literally saving my mom's life from my brother and being fine, but when a young student of mine gets excited about doing well and raises their voice in happiness, I flinch.
All of this to say that seeing this video makes me finally understand why I loved Katniss. She is a protagonist who goes into life and does what she has to do even though she's broken and she's beaten down. She can kill or shoot a promo after a hospital is bombed but breaks down when she tries to do a thing she used to love and felt proud of but had tainted by her trauma.
Thank you, Alan and Jonathan. I really needed to see this today. I hope you have an amazing day if you read this. You have certainly blessed this person with your work.
Thank you. I'm deeply touched and my thoughts are with you. - Jonathan
You do NOT have to care for your brother. You are not obligated to take on an abuser. There are programs that can care for your sibling if your parent are unwilling to take advantage of these programs it is not your fault or responsibility.
I’m so sorry you went through that. As someone who’s on the autism spectrum, I’d like to say that it’s not an excuse to be abusive. Ever. Whatever the reason was, it doesn’t matter. You do not deserve to go through the things you did. I hope you’re safe and far away from him now
@@multifanderisverycrafty Thank you very much. ❤️ I've gained many friends on the spectrum who don't act this way. I am, unfortunately, due to my own mental health issues and my mother's physical issues still at home, but I have spent about a year away in England and that has helped me heal some of the wounds sapping me of strength. I needed this comment today, so thank you. ❤️
I'm sorry it's so hard with your brother. I pray that you get some good moments with him. We all love you
Honestly, that act of listening to what a person needs in a panic attack, holding them if they want to be held, staying with them, letting them help clean up, just listening and doing what they need is so powerful. I had a panic attack and my sister-in-law recognized it and tried to help. At first, she wasn't able to get through very well, just rubbing my arm and sitting next to me. I was trying to get myself out of it, just chanting "I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm safe," over and over. She walked over and locked the door and then turned to me and said, "You are safe." and I knew I was. Not because of the lock so much as that she was listening and there for me and if someone at that second tried to come through that door, she'd protect me. It took me a while to get fully out of it but that was a major step forward.
Thank you two for helping combat toxic masculinity. Seeing you two emote and empathize and connect and show vulnerability is so refreshing and healing. So much love for what you do
Agreed 🙏🙏🙏
I totally agree. I appreciate their healthy masculinity. It helps so much. These two guys are such a safe haven to go to, for a girl 22 years old with no male figure to look to. Thank you
Literally! watching them is so refreshing, just like a breath of fresh air!
@@noraurimalterud6712 It is pretty nice honestly. I myself am a pretty emotional guy, so I can empathize with them more.
lmao, bitches still be out there thinking men are against them
Hey, i want you to know that the average dude isnt doing toxic masculinity and probably doesnt even know what it means.
Your issue is with sexist assholes. You should stop acting like men are the problem.
19:10 In addition to, you know, starvation and her dad's death, she was also the sole caretaker of Prim and of her mother for a long period of time. Her mother was nearly catatonic and was unable to work, and even after her mom got better, Katniss never felt she could rely on her for her and her sister's basic needs ever again. Keeping in mind that Katniss was 16 at the start of the events in the hunger games, that's . . . a really traumatizing and isolating thing for a child to go through.
Jen was really amazing as Katniss and I'm not taking that away from her, but I really wish they cast someone who is actually Katniss's age, because Jen tends to make you forget how young Katniss actually is.
@@bessieburnet9816 Honestly, JL was the absolute best choice for the role. Sometimes, when you cast too closely to the character of something you are trying to adapt into a new medium, you can lose out on other important aspects, like skill and on-screen charisma. JL might not have been 16 when she played the role of Katniss Everdeen, but she became her. And she portrayed her incredibly well. Getting too hung up on small details like that, without seeing how everything fits into the bigger picture, can sometimes result in a disconnected or watered down product. Unfortunately, there aren't that many child actors who have JL's raw talent and range, nor directors with enough time to put several weeks of effort into getting the emotional response they need for a scene. Also, there are other logistics at play, such as film laws for child actors, etc. It can be very difficult to schedule filming as they are not allowed to work before or after certain times, plus they often have to have a guardian present at all times, which can be a hard ask considering most adults need to work their own jobs.
That being said, I get what you mean about wishing that we could have seen slightly more accurate age portrayals in terms of the main characters, if only because it would have lent more weight to the fact that the people of Panem really are watching children murder one another for entertainment. Still, nothing is perfect, and I really think the the entire cast, not just JL, absolutely did the source material justice.
If only more recent adaptations (looking at you, Wheel of Time and The Last Airbender) were just as good. Sigh.
“The losses are so devastating that the victory feels hollow.” I feel this and identify with it, as I work thru getting justice for sexual abuse.
I've had to go through the process of the legal system when I was raped, it's not easy testifying. its traumatizing in itself to have to sit there and speak your truth but if you do it I'd say have an advocate there
Justice for sexual abuse never actually feels like enough because you can’t just solve the damage with putting that person away. Healing is far more difficult, I’m sure any of us who go through it can agree. I know that proof and testifying are just so hard, and if you find you can testify, they also offer emotional support animals that can sit with you. I agree, have an advocate, and may you find peace.
@@haleychaudhry2219 thank you!
@@TheMissMonie i’m so sorry, I hope I have the strength to do what you did. 💕
I loved the Hunger Games series (the books, haven't seen all of the movies). The thing that I appreciated the most was the ending because Suzanne Collins did not wimp out on it. She showed the very real trauma that Katniss had because how could she go through all of that and not be severely traumatized. It made everything feel more real than if it had been glossed over.
I appreciate that you both confess to feeling nervous about these videos. From my POV, it feels like I'm in the same room as you guys, just watching you both discuss a movie. I completely forget about the mechanics and the very real human "We're both here, alone in a room, talking together about a movie, and we're not sure how it will be received by the audience." It's incredibly human to be worried about audience reception, even when time and again, the audience appreciates your work.
This channel was the beginning of awareness for me. Your gaslighting video cracked open the door to a realization of the narcissism, abuse, and toxicity dwelling in my family. Initially becoming aware is painful, and I denied my new reality for a long time. But this channel has given me knowledge, hope, understanding. A companion I can laugh and cry with during this new time. Cinema therapy, thank you. This channel is a gem. I love that there's actual professionals behind the camera and not Dr. Google, and that I can trust what I gain from these videos.
When Johnathan spoke about his wife holding him and resting his head on her and breathing made me instantly tear up. My fiancé does the exact same thing with me if I'm having a PTSD episode . I am so fortunate to have someone who loves me and was able to just jump right into that role without any prompting . He has done this for me since we met, he knows the trauma I've gone through and I honestly don't know if I ever would of been able to heal as much as I have without his support.
Hey Jono, the word you were looking for is Pyrrhic Victory. This is where you technically won, but you suffered so much incalculable loss that it wasn't at ALL worth it, and you must now live with your actions. Its from the legend of Pyrrhus, who was the very last man standing and had lost his entire army, with whom he shared a deep connection.
''Its from the legend of Pyrrhus, who was the very last man standing and had lost his entire army, with whom he shared a deep connection. ''
Well the saying 'Pyrrhic Victory', came from a legendary event/quote, but the man himself is historical, as well as the war he fought against Rome. He wasn't the very last man standing, but after winning the majority of his battles against Rome, he couldn't replenish his army, and had to leave Italy.
"Acting is really just feeling. It's accessing things and really feeling them and letting it be real enough to let it come out." As someone who has taken acting classes and studied the books on it...this is 100% true. Acting is being vulnerable and dealing with and connecting your own hopes, dreams, doubts, all the have-tos and must-nots to the objectives and obstacles of the character you're portraying. And if that concept is achieved...wow, LOOK OUT!!!
"There's no comfort in waking up" Is incredibly true. It's an observation I didn't think I'd see and I'm grimly glad to see.
It's nice to hear someone say you don't have to "toughen up." People who don't understand what it's like to have complex PTSD have literally told me I was too sensitive and that it was a weakness and genuinely it made me feel shame for just..feeling, which is ridiculous. Things are getting better everyday over time though. I appreciate the support from you guys ❤
🤦🏻♀️ Argh! As someone who suffers from disabling physical forms of hypersensitivity, I can relate all too well, alas... Really sorry you had to experience people being like that!
Sadly, my observation's been that many people will just reject someone's lived experience if they don't understand it...? To me it seems like a drastic failure of empathy, not to mention a really self-centred way of living, but I guess perhaps some people deal with their own issues by trying to block out/ignore/deny whatever anyone else around them is struggling with...? 🤷🏻♀️
I do hope that in the main part, you'll encounter more people who'll actively extend empathy whether they understand or not - AND who'll even take the trouble to become better informed!
@@anna_in_aotearoa3166 Wow, there was so much grace in your comment and I just wanted to say how much I respect that. You make me want to learn more and be more empathetic, thank you
Hugs
Ahh you just reminded me when I had a bit of an episode back when I had PTSD and I got told to "fucking pull yourself together"
@@melissa0378 because that thought never occurred to us, right? Because if it was as easy to "get over" trauma, depression, anxiety, etc. as simply telling ourselves to "just suck it up or toughen up and quit being/ feeling/ experiencing those things", then we'd all be just fine and nobody would ever suffer with these issues! Why would anyone choose to have these issues if we could simply choose not to?? Ugh. 🙄 Sorry, people like that, who don't even try to be empathetic, compassionate or understanding are a real pet peeve of mine and I've experienced similar sentiments, myself. 😞
Edit: hugs to you and all of us who wrestle with any of these various difficulties, and thank you to Cinema Therapy for understanding and helping us!
The symptoms Katniss often experiences (especially in Mockingjay) I relate to most are panic attacks and dissociaction. Katniss constantly loses track of time and ends up hiding in places for hours and has no idea how she found that spot. After my traumatic experience I dissociated for 2 months. I lived on complete autopilot and that fact I have no idea what I'd been doing, where I'd been for two months still terrifies me 12 years later. I developed enormouns anxiety & phobia related to my experience and I behave the exact way when Katniss found white roses after the bombing. It's exhausting and terrifying.
I deal with disassociation too along with CPTSD. I wonder if they could make a video about disassociation sometime in the future?
This is why I love Peeta. A lot of people made some pretty nasty comments about him, but he’s so kind and stays that way no matter what. He always does his best to choose kindness and compassion first, and that takes INTENSE strength.
After what happened in Palestine the scene where Katness goes to district 8 and watches a hospital being bombed and her having to explain it hits different. The rage and her grief is something one can relate to.
I just rewatched Mockingjay and the first thing I thought was Palestine. the hunger games don’t feel as dystopian anymore when you have people not asking for a ceasefire but supporting israel instead
Israel is defending itself.
@@tsaralexis9459 No? They are literally creating a genocide on a people who were in Israel first but we're forced out of their own homes 70+ years ago, much similar to how America created a genocide for the Native Americans, who were in America first. They are literally no better than America at this point. And They aren't defending anything, the people in Gaza can barely defend themselves let alone attack back.
@@tsaralexis9459 Speaking of, I just heard that Israel has dropped over 50,000 explosives on Gaza the passed 3 months, I don't see that as defending themselves, more like they are trying to wipe the Palestinians out.
What about what happened to Israel FIRST?
i suffer from inner city complex PTSD and i never had a word for what i was suffering through, but when i finally had a name for it I finally could face it. it’s an awful daily existence. I grew up in it until i was 14, i am 46 and still wake up at night and have to power through mental panic attacks and continue to do my job. Inner city violence, the off shoot activities that are plastered across media and society are constant triggers because i know that gangsterism is not a valid societal system and not sexy. But its all around us, everyday, from sports to music, to television… i have not owned a tv since 2003 and avoid listening to any radio. its a small coping lifestyle choice.
The Hunger Games Trilogy is one of the few films from the books that I have no complaints about. Reading the books as a teenager is incredibly a different experience when you read it as an adult. You learn how the capital creates a lot of generational trauma as well as personal trauma throughout all the characters, and you read how they've learned to cope as a result of the systemic oppression they're in, for better or worse. As a person who also suffers from CPTSD, the movies hit close to home in terms of dealing with your own darkness as you're trying to be the light in the world. It is a struggle that's hard to conceptualize, but I appreciate you two for handling the conversation with care.
Side-note: Alan, never give up your dreams of being a director. That short clip between you and your son looked powerful to me in terms of the directing and acting. I hope you continue to do amazing work.
The whole story of the Hunger Games is so intense and Jennifer did an incredible job, but your review of this has brought me to a whole new level of awareness of just HOW good she is!!!!!
i dove back into the world of the hunger games a couple days ago because of part 1 and the story just gets better each time. thanks for part 2 guys!
I dove back into this world this year too and now that I am older, I feel like I can appreciate what Suzanne Collins tried to tell us more than when I was younger.
@@laura-fw6gm same here!
I did the same
Hey chance!👋🏼👋🏼
Yes same! I saw the 1st part on hunger games by cinema therapy and wanted to watch it again and oh boy, that really was an amazing experience..
The vacant expression Katniss has in the final scene is the most real part of her performance. It speaks to the humanity she’s lost forever in her fight, and that despite winning for the greater good, she cannot really win for herself.
It’s the unfortunate nature of trauma that not everyone gets a real chance at a happy ending. For so many people the best they can hope for is getting through the end of each day and making it to your life’s natural end without giving it up.
I had PTSD (or so my doctors told me repeatedly--I kept telling them my trauma wasn't "bad enough" like there was some kind of objective metric). I never had waking visions like Katniss does, but I did have nightmares and they still pop up ocassionally. I liked how these books didn't say "we fixed it with the revolution" or anything like that. In the epilogue her and Peeta both still have nightmares and she tells her kid her coping techniques.
I really appreciated the Hunger Games trilogy because it seemed so true to my own experiences with trauma. And like you said, the reality of healing is more complicated than most cliche stories. There's something to be said about a portrayal of trauma in media that doesn't presume to be easy or simple or something you can "beat".
that's so true. Trauma will never leave you, like scars that can fade but they never truly heal. And that's what makes being a survivor of trauma all the more powerful. Cause you've seen shit and you survived. In case you see shit again, you know you've already survived it once and you can rely on these experiences.
I unexpectedly witnessed PTSD in action, and even though it wasn't anything super big it has stayed with me ever since. My godmother's father fought in the Vietnam War, and one day when we were having dinner for my godfather's birthday something fell over and made a loud, metallic clanging noise. He relatively kept his composure, but I can only imagine what was going on inside his head when he said that it freaked him out. It's always the little things that you don't really think about.
Yeah, when they say something freaked them out, I'm sure that's an understatement. My dad was a Marine in Vietnam and was also a martial artist and former police officer, and we learned never to wake him up by touching him, or to ever sneak up on him (my sister almost got knocked out the first and only time she tried, luckily he was quick and skilled enough to pull his punch at the last nanosecond), and that he disliked loud noises and fireworks and was always hypervigilant. He never talked about his experiences much and was a pretty stoic guy, but I'm pretty sure he was also an HSP and you could tell there were scars and deep issues under the surface that he worked hard not to let out. I can't even imagine what he'd been through.
Woah, that's intense experiences😰.
When I was a kid, the basic understanding I have of PTSD (and the very first time I heard of the condition and it's name) was through a fictional character named Flippy (that show was NOT for The faint of heart, let alone for kids, by the way😰) but conversations like this (and a certain Steven universe future episode) gave me a more realistic insight of The Happy Tree Resident's internal condition (which, from what I recently read somewhere, was crossed with Disassociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder)
I'm not sure if it's going to be mentioned in this video, but I think the single best change the movies made, was Cato breaking down at the end of the first movie.
"Go on! Shoot, then we both go down and you win. Go on. I'm dead anyway. I always was, right? I didn't know that till now. How's that? Is that what they want? Huh?"
This moment makes the audience realize that he isn't the real enemy, the real villain. He's a victim too. He may have volunteered, and trained his whole life, but isn't that tragic too? These kids being spoonfed propaganda and lies, being told that they're born for it, and they will be great. But if Cato had survived, he would have had to kill his friend, Clove. He would have to be raised his whole life, keeping others at arms length emotionally, so he doesn't get too attached.
The career kids aren't the bad guys, they're just as much victims of the system as the kids unwillingly drafted into this.
yes this 🙌🏻
Right? It's the best change. Cato is just another cog in the machine that continues the cycle of providing gruesome entertainment for the Capitol.
As an artist.. my family’s scapegoat.. There is a lot of advice you both give me more than once I needed to hear. Katniss is a character I have identified with for a long time. Especially with her C-PTSD because of my childhood as well as past domestic abuse. She is a reflection of find strength even when you have felt broken.
When I did comedy, my philosophy was 'everyones my best friend'. It gave me such a positive mentality for bombing, heckling, etc. The audience was never the enemy, only my own expectations.
"He just gestured at all of me"
Loved it
I think the actual books do a great job of describing the trauma that Katniss, and all the other characters, experience because of the Games. The movies did a good job of interpreting the books, but certain scenes in the books are just so descriptive. It would be amazing to have an analysis of the book scenes from the psychological point of view and an insight of why certain scene were interpreted in certain ways from a director's point of view.
I really wish you'd talked about her reaction to the suggestion that as retribution, the Citadel would be forced to go through a Hunger Games. I always found that a really intense part of the books and the films - that you have a choice about how to deal with the people who inflict trauma on you. She doesn't forgive the Citadel, she refuses to allow the trauma to continue, and it's the thing that breaks her and Gabe - he wants revenge, he wants to inflict the same pain back, and she wants it to stop.
It's Capitol and Gale.
@@bessieburnet9816 Cheers. Obviously I'm not invested enough to get the details right. Thanks for the correction.
And it was his willingness to inflict the same trauma on the Capitol that led to Prim's death.
26:19 “your friends and family play a specific role which is to love you, which is to be there for you, which is to mourn with you and suffer with you and let you know that you’re not alone” this made me tear up. I wish my family would show me they’re there for me and show me I’m not alone, they try but they don’t try hard enough, they tell me they’re there but they don’t show it
To be completely honest, I loved how the story had a realistic "happy ending". The actual leader of the rebellion being basically the same thing as the person she's replacing is quite accurate to how a lot of violent uprisings go, but they still got their democratic system in the end. Katniss marrying Peeta who has shown he loves and supports her through all the trauma, and who needs that love and support just as much as she does. Maybe I just love bittersweet in media, but there's something about ending in a place of victory while remembering the sacrifices that it took to get there... It's a very emotionally powerful way to end.
As a professional actor, I would like to expand on what Alan was talking about in terms of acting techniques. There are, actually, a number of different techniques that actors might use for accessing emotion. The Stanislavski system (and to a slightly lesser degree the Method) focuses heavily on emotional recall but, not all acting techniques involve using real-life memories or real experiences. Actually, for certain people, accessing real memories can be too psychologically traumatizing and it's healthier for them to access emotion in a different way. Other techniques (like Meisner or Chekhov) are basically about focusing so fully on your environment in the moment that you will react as if the scene is actually happening to you. It's more about acting on instinctual impulses than previous memories. Meanwhile, the Stella Adler technique mostly focuses on imagination and consciously creating a character's inner world. Stella Adler, herself, actually believed that focusing on personal memories was limiting to an actor's range. Then, of course, there is the Classical Acting technique which is much more cerebral and more about planning out the external parts of your performance in terms of voice, costume, makeup, movement, script analysis, and character analysis to such an extent that the internal stuff will either present itself naturally or simply give the appearance that it is (even though Daniel Day-Lewis is often thought of as a Method actor, he is actually Classically trained and uses a lot of Classical acting techniques).
Individual actors will, usually, learn a bunch of these techniques in order to find the one (or a combination) that ends up working the best for them.
I’ve only acted in a handful of things and never got any formal instruction (and often not much instruction from a director-we’re all amateurs. And when I did most of this I was a college kid in a small club and so were they), so it’s honestly nice to see stuff I was doing instinctively is 1) actually how it all works and 2) see names for these things
Thanks to this explanation-fascinating!
Not an actor over here, just a person with a BA in Drama. My profs discussed these methods, too, and were not fans of using emotional recall because of potential limits and the risk of draining the memory of the emotion and 'tapping out' that source. When preparing for a performance I tended towards the Adler approach. For me it was a big part of the process, a lot of fun, and made show time easier because it was simply becoming another person.
There's a story that Orson Wells was filming Citizen Kane, he, Kane, is in a rage. Wells did it so well that the crew was frightened. When the scene ended and he calmly walked off the set, they stepped back in featr.
He looked and said, "Acting. It's acting."
My director told me once that acting is about lending your body to the character so they can live in it, and for me that was everything.... so I take (or build) the memories of the character and let they be in that situation... so it's not exactly about how I would react neither, but it's closer to Stanislavsky technique
"I always think that there's someone in the audience who is having the worst week of their life, and I am going to help them remember that they can laugh and feel happy." As an education student who gets anxious before heading into a classroom, I will never forget that.
Cheers lads, and thank you Joel
As a teacher of 15 years, I am always nervous on the first day of classes, and often when I begin a class session too. But practice and purpose (which is what they named so eloquently here) will always guide you through. Very good luck with your career, you'll find your groove. It's truly one of the most rewarding jobs ever ❤️
Love that you guys address this, but there's another aspect of this series that I'd be curious to hear Jonathan talk about - the relationship between Katniss and Peeta. When I first read "Mockingjay," I felt like the ending was rushed and that the two were pushed together simply to satisfy the shippers. But now, years later, I'm not so sure. Is their relationship realistic, or is it fictionalized for the sake of the narrative? I honestly think this deserves it's own episode.
In the book Peeta loves katniss but Katniss doesn't know or wants to know love she damages already when we meet her. Take the I don't want children, its cause she doesn't want one it's just that for her it's too cruel.
In the book and and the movie the learn to love petta and she also learns to acceptes love and end up being OK with and realised she is allowed to feel more than just pain and sadness.
And what make it even better is that Katniss acceppting petta love and chosing to poursui her love toward Peeta is her choosing healing and peace after the trauma and accepting the past happened so no need to keep fighting the past.
Should she have chosen Gale she would have chosen resentement and anger and still being in pain.
She broke out of the circle of pain
I just reread the books, and it's very clear in book one that the author is shipping Katniss and Peeta, because Katniss very specifically sees Gale as a brother, doesn't want kids, and repeatedly states that while she doesn't know how she feels about Peeta she does kiss him a lot for the games. And then proceeds to get comfort from Peeta that Gale can't supply.
I also read the books and it seems like every time she and Gale kiss it isn't romantic. Like, Gale tests her out but she never seems to reciprocate, or she'll kiss him on the cheek. But he is two years older than her and that is a lot of time for teenagers, and Katniss just never seemed to feel that way about Gale. She deliberately goes out of her way to sacrifice for Peeta too, so it really makes sense that she realizes the extent of her feelings for Peeta, or rather that they just fit together, and that they have shared trauma that they both understand and can be there for each other. Gale was too much of an extremist, whereas Peeta was gentle, and Katniss needed Peeta's gentleness after the war.
@@badratymj9255 Your last sentences remind me of... I forgot the line, but it's something like, "I don't need Gale's fire. I am fire myself. What I need is yellow dandelions on the spring (Peeta). A gentle promise that tomorrow would be better." (???)
@@catherinepoteat I agree. Gale is too much like herself - a fighter, a provider, a pessimist (or you might call it realist bc their world really is that shitty). Peeta however is a healer - someone who dreams of what life could become and takes the steps to get there. While Gale keeps fighting at the end of book 3, Peeta understands Katniss and her desire to stop fighting and live in peace away from all the suffering. He completes her and steps in where she's not able to go on alone.
@@catherinepoteat gale is also a hella gaslighter and also one of the people that AGREED TO BOMB THE INNOCENT CAPITOL CITIZENS, meaning IT"S HIS FAULT PRIM DIED!!!!!! that was such a big part of the last book and one of the big pointers for katniss choosing peeta. like y'all seriously too blinded by the man's looks. he's a gaslighter and a murderer
26:00 Really ripped into me and I swear it'll stick with me for sure. I suffer from C-PTSD that has caused severe anxiety, dysthymia, and lots of mental anguish. Despite going to therapy so much, I always felt like something was missing and it's that second part that Jonathan mentions: friends and family. I try very hard to get better and do everything I can to be "normal" again and "get over" these things that I struggle with, but it's always been a lonely and solitary journey. I've severely underestimated how badly not having friends or family to love and support me in those hard times is on myself mentally. It's so interesting how humans thrive on love and connections, and without them it can be so hard.
I know I don't know you, but I'm here for you. Connection can be terrifying or feel impossible when you feel broken or in pain. I'm also on the healing journey and yeah it can feel isolating when everyone around you can't really understand your experience. But I'm here if you ever want to talk.
I was diagnosed with c-PTSD at 30 after being raised in an abusive home, hostile school environment, cult like religious experience, and medical neglect from my parents and the medical community. Katniss speaks to me deeply.
The whole Covid situation and having to do appointments over telemed made my primary doctor realize that the medical setting is incredibly traumatizing for me and inhibits my ability to effectively communicate. I’m very blessed to have compassionate and accommodating doctors but that trauma is still there subconsciously.
I actually work in education and I am about to do the practicum for my special education certification. My school, not knowing of the circumstances because it was diagnosed during Covid, tried to place me in the district that traumatized me for 13 years. My psychiatrist was not having that and happily filled out the accommodation paperwork to get me moved to literally any other district as I have proven I can be fine in districts I don’t have a history with.
12:26 you guys definitely make my week better. I'm from Myanmar and I'm currently living in Myanmar and the political situation is worsening with people dying because of the military, bombings, shootings and more... So this really hits hard, especially the scene where Katniss sees the hospital burning and says that. We also do the 3 finger sign as a show of our rebellion and what we stand for, and standing up against them.
Which is why I am frustrated with other Americans complaining about minimum wage when they are usually quite safe, driving vehicles, streaming media. I do not consider one poor until they are using water with their cereal instead of milk, take the bus, share a rented room, etc.
I pray things work out, but obviously it is not so simple. 80 years of war will take a lot of recovery, and whoever wins, better have some infrastructure plans in mind.
@@jeremybrummel3254 You can always find a worse situation that doesn't negate other situations. When the price for apartment rooms, medical care, food, toiletries and everything else keeps increasing, pay MUST INCREASE or there's a problem. At that point, you can't complain about homelessness.
@@jeremybrummel3254 You just expect people to magically be able to pay their bills with inflation on the same pay?
@@chocolatecharley99 Oh? Not sure if you knew, but you can save lots of money by simply renting a room of, say, Craigslist, and taking public transportation. I only need 24 hours a week on minimum wage in the valley of California, to make ends meet. Other people seem to expect to afford a vehicle and two bedroom apartment, or even afford to start a family, on minimum wage. Many even feel like they are entitled to be able to afford to live in big cities on minimum wage.
@@jeremybrummel3254 There isn't public transportation where I live
There's also this incredibly small detail I never noticed until now, but when Katniss is under the tracker jacker's poison and has a flashback of the mine explosion that killed her father, all of the miner's faces morph into that of her dad as they go in.
I was just diagnosed with c-ptsd by my therapist (cults are fun) and man... it's both validating and empowering to see an accurate representation of it on screen.
Thank you both so much for these last two episodes. 💜
Hey, I have CPTSD (not cult related) and recently joined some support groups. They’ve been invaluable in battling the isolation that come w CPTSD and people having no understanding of us. It may be really helpful for you too Just make sure the groups you join have good protocol around triggers and that you’re intention when engaging w the group so you don’t get overwhelmed/triggered
@@zkkitty2436 That sounds like it would be really helpful. Where did you find the groups at?
Great now I'm gonna see CTPSD as cult PTSD. Thanks
@@NotaPersin6504 you're welcome! 😂
I appreciate so much that Jennifer Lawrence's acting abilities are praised here because I agree so much and have seen that take as largely an unpopular opinion. From what I understand, Katniss as a character starts off seeing emoting as a vulnerability she won't allow outside of very few people, and JLaw plays that so well. Around Gale she's open and relaxed (at least until a certain something happens). Around her mom she's commanding and assertive. For Prim she's warm, sweet, and teaches via that lense in a way that hits home and kinda made me wanna cry. Outside of those people, until they've become safe to her or until she just can't keep it in anymore, she maintains a blank affect. That JLaw can still emote fear, anger, shock, through what are almost micro-expressions in a way that's nuanced and believable as an accident is incredible to me. She's not just acting with her face, she's acting with her whole body in a way that has to take so much brain power but you don't see that thought process happening. With Cinna in the first movie, her eyes look terrified, her face is making only the tiniest of twists, and she is shaking. SHAKING? I can't even wrap my head around how someone can tremble on command like that. It feels so accurate to me as a person desperately trying to hold everything in, and there's the sense there's so much to hold in, so it saddens me a little when the performance gets written off.
I appreciated the note about flashbacks and PTSD. For a long time I had the misunderstanding that if you don't have the one, you don't have the other, it needed to look like that, and it needed to be consistent. I am grateful for the reminder that it's not that binary because I'm still working to unlearn that. The work it takes to internally validate that to begin the process of healing from it, woof.
(I think there's the note about constructs and definitions? That a word isn't the be all end all of an experience, but without the proper language it's so easy, at least IME, for those struggles to be devalued and dismissed, internally and externally, and it seems to make healing harder. Language is medicine.)
So I appreciate too that the take here is that Katniss is 'successful' in overcoming, her power is her resistance to changing her core values and not giving in, that her happy ending is bittersweet and that's... I guess allowed? To be a victory? Because rebuilding and connection and love are still happening. Watching it, Katniss looked hollow by the scene in the meadow (and again, JLaw's ability to CONVEY that? Hi?). There's a sense of vacancy in her smile that didn't seem to be there before, and it was difficult not to draw a connection to her mom? Because the actress who played her mom is also, like, spookily good at looking dissociated and empty, and there's almost a sense of circular story telling where Katniss is a caregiver again while wrestling with her trauma and in a relationship with Peeta in a way that could be a matter of survival because for so long, Katniss's world was Peeta. Totally went over my head that, unlike her mom, Katniss is still working to connect to her child, that she's actively holding, whose face she focuses on, and that she even says "they won't ever go away...but I'll tell you how I survive it".
Katniss's relation to children is one of my favourite pieces, and it's thematically consistent, so it does make sense that her relation to kids is how they'd express that and not "just a cop out", which seems to be a popular opinion. I never fully agreed with it, but I didn't see the value there either, so this was really nice, and I'm excited to have gotten to change my mind. I feel like I'm leaving a lot of essays in your comment section, you guys are giving me lots to think about.
Really glad I watched this!! Thank you for your work!!
I was an abused child, so CPTSD. I had a wonderful therapist, who taught me, some wonderful skills. One of the best things that she said was, "When you get triggered, even after a long time, without, think about it as a program on your computer, that you were sure, got deleted, and there it is, again. So, instead of freezing, and self condemning, say to yourself, "OK, there it is again." Know that it can show up again, that is OK, recognize it, and delete it again. That reduces the power."
Knowing that the trigger can occur, less often, but it can, and that I have the power to accept that, and lessen its power, in itself, is powerful.
So glad you’re recognizing and acknowledging the differences between CPTSD and PTSD, despite the DSM’s rejection of CPTSD as a diagnosis.
I struggled for years to find a diagnosis that actually fit me, and when I read the Wikipedia page on CPTSD, everything clicked. I’m not weak or incapable of healing, I’m just someone who was dealt some serious early setbacks in life, despite my other forms of relative privilege. My life’s work is going to be digging my way out of trauma to get to a life worth living.
I had the same experience, I couldn't figure out why the information about PTSD (despite having some of the symptoms) didn't match what I was experiencing. I thought I was broken and then I read Pete Walkers CPTSD: From Surviving to Thriving and it changed everything.
Hopefully we will get the life we deserve after everything that's happened to us
Its a subdivision of the same diagnosis.....
@@aevum6667 They may be similar but there's enough different between the two that they should be recognized separately.
Anorexia and Binge Eating Disorder are both eating disorders but they are both seen as two different things. Treating treatment for them as interchangeable would be damaging.
It's a similar concept with PTSD and CPTSD. Some of what therapists do to treat PTSD is completely toxic for someone like me with CPTSD. If the distinction between the two was recognized within the USA, it would be a lot easier for me to get help I need.
It would also help if more therapists were open to being flexible with treatment on a case by case basis. Instead, most seem to be pretty ridged and not open to trying something outside the specific thing they have chosen for all their clients of a particular diagnosis. At least that has been the case for most if those that take my insurance.
" Let's go beat the dead CBT horse one more time."
As someone with CPTSD.. I can attest that sometimes therapy is through art. I role play.. a lot.. and parts of the elements of my stories mirror my real life horrors. It gives me.. control.. over them and allows me to work them out by standing outside of it and looking at it from a larger gaze. it helps.
I do the same thing, and for some reason looking at it from afar is like me empathizing with myself. I won’t let myself off, but if it’s someone else, whether I wrote them or just thought them up, I can forgive myself for not being able to protect myself.
I have cPTSD, technically I'm only diagnosed with PTSD but that's because like he said it's not recognized by a lot of people.
For a long time, I didnt know I had cPTSD or any mental health issues. As I got away from the abusive home I was raised in, I slowly began to see the damage and the trauma we had all went through.
Personally it was really hard to mentally prepare myself to even consider finding a therapist, because I was just realizing what I had been through, It was like a fog in my mind was slowly starting to clear and I was realizing what I had been through. Like the whole time I was in that abusive home, I was just focusing on surviving and not what was happening to me and not how it was hurting me. Even after I started realizing, I was still questioning myself on what exactly happened, like maybe I'm remembering wrong or maybe this isn't what really happened. I was able to confirm it with my sister, that what we had been through was wrong and horrible, and eventually I was ready to start healing. I was ready to get the opinion and validation of a professional on what happened and what is wrong with me. But I still needed that push because I was afraid that they would be too professional and I wouldn't be able to open up because of it. Or that the therapist would think because I was opening up that I was ok and didn't need help, like the first therapist I ever saw seemed to do. Or I would get a bad therapist and not want to go at all anymore, because I have heard of a lot of bad therapist stories.
Luckily I was finally able to push myself to try therapy. Part of it was when I found this channel I saw how nice and connecting and open a therapist Jonathan Decker was and I was like, man I want a therapist like this. Like a therapist that would be worth looking for. After 2 bad experiences (that didn't push me away) I finally found the therapist I have now who is amazing and I'm already seeing the healing and learning about how to deal with my anxiety and depression and cPTSD. I'm so happy I was finally able to get the help that I needed, because let me tell you, it was a struggle trying to do it on my own. My friend described it as walking on a broken leg without crutches.
It’s super validating to have a sibling if you had to grow up in an abusive home. While I dearly wish my sister never had to suffer like I did, at least we have each other to compare notes with, because sometimes abuse is so strange and wrong to non-abusive people that it’s hard for them to really understand. My sister and I can check in with each other and look back on our childhood abuse as adults: “Oh man. Did that really happen? What the heck. It really WAS that messed up.”
Best wishes to you on your healing journey. It’s a long struggle to wrestle with your childhood demons, but it’s worth it because of the freedom and relief it can bring.
@@catc8927 Yes exactly, me and my sister do the same. Looking back at it and seeing how truly messed up it was. I agree, I wish all my siblings didn't have to go through the crap that we did growing up, but at the very least me and my sister always had each other's backs.
Thank you kindly ^-^ it is rough but I know I can make it. I hope you have healed from your traumas as well, as much as one can anyway. Thanks again for the well wishes ❤
I was diagnosed with PTSD as a toddler. My psychiatrist said I was his youngest ever case. I’ve lived with it all my life and I really appreciate when there’s accurate representation, understanding and validation of it. Thank you both.
For someone who grew up around emotionally unavailable and hardly existent men in my life. It brings me such strange comfort and peace when I see these men cry about stuff I cry about. It's very healing and very peaceful. It's human. Love watching this as a current psych student
Dear therapy dads,
I'm sure your plans for the coming months are already chock a block, but I've just binge watched Arcane, aka 'desperately needs therapy, the TV show' where everyone is traumatised and often as the result of awful things happening for the best of intentions.
I'd love to see an episode on the show
Yes, i also LOVE Arcane 😍
Hahhaa “dear therapy dads”, I love this
Therapy dads is awesome. They have said they only cover movies because Cinema Therapy not TV therapy. 😁
@@susanrobertson984 that's fair, I didn't know that so I thought it was worth asking. Maybe in the future
@@susanrobertson984 to be fair, Arcane is like three movies back to back
For anyone gaslighting themselves into thinking they don’t have trauma, your experiences and emotions are valid. A situation can be traumatic for one person but completely fine for another. Don’t compare your trauma.
Amen! 👏
The moment when they’re told they’ll be reaped again is such a pointent and unsettling moment particularly in the books. The emotion and trauma that is brought up for Hamich, Katniss and Peeta is insane and honestly so hard to capture realistically.
What struck me in this scene is the smug and manipulative smirk on Snow’s face when he delivers this shattering news. He has spent an entire year thinking up ways to get even with Katniss and Peta , and now he’s rigging the game to make it almost certain that they will die after they felt safe. What a coldhearted bastard he was.
Hey guys,
There’s around 1800 comments here, but hope you’ll see this one.
I’m a recovering porn addict who lived a complex trauma caused by childhood and coming of age. You guys being nervous still made me laugh with you, cry with you, and… Heal myself.
Jono your comments made me stop wanting to pursue women and collect them like trophees. I want an actual relationship now, that starts with friendship THEN morphs into something more physical. Alan you cry so much and so genuinely that I connected with my true values instead of connecting with what I think will make people like me.
Thank you guys.
Please, continue to be nervous.
Just watching other people talk about PTSD and CPTSD so sensitively and compassionately is so comforting. I suffer from frequent, dreadful nightmares related to traumas I've gone through. I have intrusive thoughts which strike out of nowhere and can take me hours to shake leaving me emotionally and physically exhausted. It's very hard to not feel dreadfully alone but hearing other people talk about helps brings you out of your own head and opens your heart to others and yourself in the process. Thanks Alan and Jonathan 💗