Ok, one more thing about Melon and I promise to be quiet for a while!
In the anime Melon says: āShe was my everything.ā when referring to his mother. The manga version of that scene is this:
I bring this up because it shows Melonās mixed feelings about his mother: On the one hand, he resents her for never acknowledging that heās a hybrid and when she does she puts a fairytale spin on it and she also abused him (chapter 181 people!!!).
But on the other, despite all that, part of him still loves herā¦Please let me explain!!!
This isnāt necessarily Stockholm syndrome (though I guess it could be??) but children having mixed feelings about their abusive parent(s) can and does happen. I guess itās that children always want love and praise from their parents(? Iām sorry if Iām not making sense here, my human development degree doesnāt cover this topic!).
Melon is no longer a child in the events of Beastars, but he may still struggle with what happened to him-not understanding why his mother abused himā¦That is an understatement, considering the type of abuse she subjected Melon to (SA) and thatās a whole can of worms in of itself but for the sake of mental sanity, letās just focus on the mental and emotional damage it likely caused Melon!
Similarly to all that (and I just realized it when looking over those manga panels and rewatching those scenes but!), Melonās mom decorating the house in a fairytale style and not letting him talk about him being bullied at school or him being a hybrid or even where his gazelle dad is could be interpreted as a form of gaslighting.
Florals, lace, likely bright or pastel colors everywhere. What does that kind of decor remind you of? Do they invoke a feeling of safety or nostalgia in you? Maybe it reminds you of a dollhouse or of your grandmaās house? (And yes I am actually asking you, Reader!)
This kind of decor is not a sign of danger (I mean home decor usually doesnāt mean anything but you can learn a lot about someone based on how they decorate their space) but in the context of the SA and everything else in Melonās childhood, it says this:
āWe live a perfect and beautiful life. Thereās nothing wrong here.ā
Thatās it. Itās deceptive.
Now itās possible Melonās mom is gaslighting herself too. Trying to convince herself that she is happy and is a good mother (itās hard to tell given how little we see of her and that she appears calm and nonchalant when we do see her but itās possible she also has mental health issues).
The thing is it doesnāt matter if the environmental gaslighting is directed at herself or at Melon because the effect is still the same.
It tricks his mother into believing everything is fine while also denying Melon the validation that heās a hybrid, that his father isnāt around, that heās being bullied at school AND that heās being abused by his own mother!
Even Melon seems to know that too, seeing as he describes it as a stage of āliving in make believeā. Itās also implied that he went along with it at the time because he loved it when his mom called him by his name and that he wanted to believe that his mother did love him (that it was the only real thing in their home).
Short answer to all this is a lot of what Melon does is driven by a deep desire for control, weather it be control over his life, his body or his actions or control over those around him (such as the Shishigumi). I donāt know if heās afraid of being gaslit like that again but I do think heās not willing to trust other people or let someone else be in control because of it.
Like always, please share your thoughts if you have any!
amandla
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
pixelskylines
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton