Alec Mecklenburger
Dr. Bonnie Lenore Kyburz
Technical Writing
3 September 2018
Reflection to Scaredycat
Scaredycat
as a documentary was quite unique. It follows Andrew through the traumatic event of being mugged. Overall the message was how the director
deals with his PTSD. The documentary also touches on topics like racism, minimum
sentencing laws, memory and mental disorders. Each subtopic carries its own
message well also reinforcing the story of the documentary. At the start of the
documentary we follow his daily routine. At first it seems he has some mental disorder
as before he leaves he straightens everything in this home. After, he gets on a
get train and we see him sit across from a man of color. This causes him visual
discomfort and we then see him straighten a newspaper. This connects his odd
behavior to be triggered by stress. This stress is caused by people of color.
Then we find out earlier he was jumped by a group of men he believes to be
black. Now the viewer has a complete understanding about when he acted the way
he did at the start. He has a form of PTSD from when he got attacked. Later we
learn that only one of his attackers was colored and the others were mixed
races. Next, something very interesting happens and he calls one of his
attackers. During the phone call I felt sympathy for the criminal. The criminal
talks about his abusive past, his current status in prison and his fears about
life after as a convict. All of this because in the spur of the moment decided
to jump Andrew. The documentary then ends similar to the earlier train scene
with Andrew facing a colored man but does not moving the newspaper showing
personal growth. All in all, the presentation is great as chronologically it
starts soon after the attack, then goes further into the past by showing the
attack, then he fills in the missing information and ends by showing character
growth. This forces viewers to follow a similar journey that he did. The
director controlled when the facts were released controlling the viewers
emotions towards a seemingly black and white situation.
I like your focus on what you call "character growth." I wonder, though, if you might temper your use of the term "PTSD." Though this is a reflection that enables you to write your thoughts somewhat unfiltered, you still might qualify that claim with some phrases such as, "what seems like" or "possible characteristics of ...". That way, you aren't accusing someone of having a clinical disorder.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting that you say you felt empathy for the criminal. That phone call *was* very moving!