[ SECRET POST #2212 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2212 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.


__________________________________________________



16.


__________________________________________________



17.


__________________________________________________



18.


__________________________________________________



19.


__________________________________________________



20.


__________________________________________________










Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 063 secrets from Secret Submission Post #316.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

OP

[(Anonymous)]

You're right that it is very much a Western-centric view, but the media I'm talking about is Western media - media produced in the same culture that embraces the individual rather than the community. Were this trope to be played in media from other, more collectivist cultures (say, Japan), I would have a very different perspective on it because the emphasis is on the family and the community and the individual's place and importance within that network. That is not the case in Western culture - we celebrate the individual, - and there ends up being conflicting messages: "I'm allowed and encouraged to be who I am and embrace the life I want to live, regardless of other people's opinions - but if my family of origin treats me like shit for being myself, I have to love and forgive them anyway, even when I wouldn't accept that treatment from anybody else."

Personally, I have no problem with this trope if the cultural background justifies its execution; the problem is its pervasiveness in Western families without examination. I'm tempted to believe this is one of a few holdovers from our Christian/Catholic roots, of which "honor thy mother and father" is (or was) a tenet of the religion. Which is a necessary rule to lay down when the stability of the community rests on the harmony of the families, but modern society is stable enough on its own. In media, there's often no real justification for giving a character a rocky relationship with their parents except to toss in a reconciliation plot. Taking the example in my secret, Myka would have been just as believable as a character if she had a loving and stable relationship with her family, and in fact might have made it more believable that she rushed to her father's side when he fell ill - at least for me. If they're just going to have the relationship start over with a clean slate, then why bother throwing in a reconciliation plot at all?

...I feel I may have lost track of where this comment is going... It's quite late over here :|a Anyway, my point is, I definitely see what you're saying and I agree that it is a very culture-specific problem. But that's why I chose a Western show and not an anime ;)

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

No problem :)
That's really kind of what I wrote in my first comment XD