The story of the disembodied lady was probably one of the most intriguing and incredible stories I have ever heard. One might even say it is nightmare fuel. I even closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it must feel like to be “disembodied”, but I hardly grasp the feeling. Or rather the non-feeling. The concept itself feels like it is defying the nature of life itself, and hopefully one day someone will figure out exactly how and why this happened. If it is the result of a mental illness it is so strange that it would affect the body so severely.

It turns out there is a possible answer. I have been looking online and I found a story about a man who faced a similar problem, and he was referred to as Ian Waterman or IW. According to the article, IW lost his sense of proprioception after being sick with an undiagnosed fever. He woke up unable to control or feel his body, just as Christina had experienced. This fever was believed to have set off an auto-immune reaction and caused some type of neuronopathy, which is a disease or dysfunction of the peripheral nerves.

Like Christina, Ian Waterman learned to move his body with the help of his sight but collapses in a helpless heap once he cannot see what he is doing. Still, living and breathing while being unable to control your body, and feeling that your body is “dead”, truly sounds like a fate worse than death.

I recently finished my abnormal psych media paper and I really enjoyed looking deeply into a character’s mind to see what makes them tick and what psychological phenomenon they could be representing. To be honest, it’s only really fun when it is a character I’m fond of, such as from the books, shows, and games I’ve watched/played over the years. The character I chose to psychoanalyze for the media assignment was Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

A:TLA was a show I watched back when I was a little kid and had fond memories of, although I didn’t really remember it or watch the all episodes in their correct order. I got my second chance when Netflix added the show, and it was even better than I remember it. The storytelling was masterful, and the characterization felt natural. Initially, I wanted to discuss Prince Zuko and his deeply complex mental state. In the first book, he was an interesting antagonist but from book 2 onwards he would eventually turn out to be one of the greatest redemption arcs I have ever witnessed. But that would be a lot to unpack for a short assignment of 2-3 pages.

It’s a shame animated shows are considered childish, I think they have the potential for amazing storytelling and visuals that live-action shows cannot replicate. I find a good animated show to be far more soulful and expressive than a good live show because all the visuals are placed deliberately and therefore have meaning.

In A:TLA, when characters change and develop, it is done gradually and naturally and some of it is demonstrated through psychological phenomenon such as what we are learning about.

Personally, I never really thought about psychoanalyzing a fictional character from any books, movies, shows, or video games, but now I realize how important a someone’s mental state determines their characterization and, specifically, what psychopathological phenomenon they could be experiencing. Conversely, understanding psychopathological phenomenon can help people write their characters better. By doing this, they can seem more relatable and, very importantly, more human to the audience.

For example, the main character of “The House of Asterion” uses this type of characterization as well. Asterion knows he is different from the rest, and at first it isn’t clear why everyone avoids him. With the way Asterion was characterized and his viewpoint towards his existence, I thought Asterion was a person like me, albeit a very unfortunate one. Even when he is revealed to be the Minotaur, traditionally considered a “monster”, this did not change the fact that the audience can easily sympathize with him. Asterion never bore any ill will towards those who entered the labyrinth to slay him and I am not sure if he ever knew that murder was considered an evil thing, possibly because no one ever bothered to teach him otherwise. Because they saw him as a monster and treated him so.

Like any person, Asterion yearned for freedom from his labyrinth, even if it meant dying at the hands of his prophesied redeemer, Theseus. A lonely outcast born from cruel fate fits the tale of the Minotaur seemingly far better than a monster born to kill.

After reading “The Stone Boy” by Gina Berriault, the reaction to Arnold’s actions after his brother’s accidental death reminds me of another story that I read last year back in my senior year of high school. “The Stranger” by Albert Camus told the tale of a man named Meursault, who was thought to be uncaring and “reasonable beyond emotion” by everyone else. Although compared to Arnold, Meursault is entirely an exaggeration of apathy or a disconnect from one’s emotions but society’s opinion of them are quite similar. They didn’t follow society’s expectation of a grieving or pained individual and were made to look like monsters because of it.

When Meursault went to the beach the day after his mother’s funeral, he was considered a sociopath by society and most of my English class as well. Society considers Arnold to be a sociopath because he went to pick peas despite seeing that his brother was dead, and I noticed some people in our class thought so as well.

It would be a bit of a stretch to claim to know Meursault’s feelings about his mother’s passing or the fateful day at the beach where he murdered the man. We never truly get a glimpse into his emotional state of mind, unlike with Arnold. Taken at face value, Arnold is just like Meursault. People are too quick to judge him for what he did, but do not stop to think what a tragic accident could do a person, especially to someone as young and naïve as Arnold.