But this is 100% why I loved this series growing up.
My parents often excused any and all signs of unhappiness as just a facet of my personality. Now that I’m an adult who has access to proper help it’s startling to see how bad it was. It is impossible to look at my childhood and say I had nothing wrong with me. Or that my parents actions weren’t abusive.
And speaking to adults of their age, it was constantly dismissed. I presented all the signs of emotional abuse, and all the signs of my many mental illnesses. At no point did an adult approach me in concern. Never. I demanded help, me, not them, and I made sure I got it.
The idea that adults are infallible is incorrect, but often drilled into children. The series taught me that adults are seriously flawed. That adults don’t always (or even often) fulfill the promise of “doing what’s best for you”. Sometimes adults who are supposes to be caring for your well-being do a horrible job.
It’s not just hinted at in the series, its blatantly expressed. Its in your face and forces you to think about it. I’ve never seen anything else, marketed to children/teens, refuse to excuse adults for causing harm to children.
It was visceral, it was blunt, it was real. It made you uncomfortable, which you should be when you witness abuse. It made it very clear who was responsible for the things that happened to them.
The children never adopted a “be a bigger person” philosophy- in this case meaning the belief that you must, in order to be considered a good person, completely forgive, and take no action against the person who caused you harm.
They knew when things were amiss. And in the face of adult incompetence, they refused to be idle.
A Series of Unfortunate Events empowers children, it teaches them, it fosters critical thinking, and the reevaluation of behavior from adult’s.
2087
gummygunk
ellievsbear
andulkaphoto
snowghoul
jbbartram-illu
