This is the first of a four part series on glitches and trauma.
There is a cute animated movie called “Wreck It Ralph.[i]”
Thereare many stories, many deep themes of relationship within this film.The
story develops from the characters in various videogames and their interactions.
I am going to use characters from three video games within the movie.
The Video
games and characters within “Wreck It Ralph” are:
Penelope
–– she is a Princess in the game “Sugar Rush” but when the King (aka: Turbo)
messed with her “computer code[ii]”
traumatizing her, she became a “glitch.”
Turbo – a
racing man from “TurboTime” (aka the King,
in Sugar Rush) – who when his game closed became jealous of the other
successful games. He took over “Sugar Rush” by messing up Princess Penelope’s
computer code, which causes her to “glitch[iii],
[iv]”
Ralph a
character in the “Fix it Felix” game – His job was to wreck the building so Felix can fix the building. Ralph is
unsatisfied with his role as a wrecker and wants to transform his life and
become a hero[v].
When Penelope emerges in the film she is identified as the glitch, i.e.
a hiccup in the game. She became a “glitch” when King (aka Turbo) tampered with
her computer code. As a glitch, she is mocked, excluded and otherwise a person
non-grata.
Despite functioning as a glitch, Penelope had spirit and kept trying to
prove herself.[vi]
In psychology terms, she might fit into the borderline area of functioning. She
had strength and could function at a high level (she was actually a princess)[vii]
yet, the glitch in her coding, would cause interference at the most significant
times in her life. The glitch or growth bump became the reason people used to
avoid her or otherwise differentiate her from themselves. The glitch also
became a hit in terms of valuing her sense of self.
The glitch also became the holding space for her pain, for her trauma.
She did not fully understand the impact of the glitch/trauma. It seems to me
that when we create a holding space for pain, for trauma, the impact is that
the holding space becomes a block to healing, to reclaiming our spirit and our
energies.
The
glitch turned out to be the distortion introduced into Penelope’s coding or the
pain of the trauma of having her coding, her essence tampered with. Her peers
looked at her as defective. As the story develops, the glitch or growth trauma
is actually caused by a powerful, disconnected character, the King[viii]
(aka Turbo) who is an escapee from a non-functioning video game. When he came
to the Sugar Rush game, he was determined to be in control. He recognized Penelope
as someone who was not afraid to be herself and radiate her talents and was in
fact a princess. In his mind, she became a threat to him. He chose to damage
her … traumatize her – by mess up her computer code[ix].
She would now be looked upon, as defective and he could become the king and the
“big shot” of Sugar Rush.
The
king, being self-centered not a centered-self,[x]
tried to hide his act of hurting the princess, deep within the subconscious
maze of the forgotten world of both the princess and the community of Sugar
Rush. Scientists have said our “Brain can process 400 Billion Bits of information
but we can be aware of [i.e. focus on only] 2,000 of those Bits [at one time]”[xi]
So the glitch, the trauma suffered by the Princess is woven deep into the
subconscious hiding place within the maze of 400 billion bits. Like every
emotional element in the 400 billion bits of the subconscious, trauma/pain is
not dormant. The trauma, like a volcano, keeps intruding or leaking into the
present. Some in the kingdom knew of the heinous act of the king but chose to
be quiet … it could be dangerous to challenge the king, the person doing the
trauma.
Ralph discovers the trail leading back to
the cause of the glitch. He helps Penelope to over come the glitch by giving
the support of his love and caring. With his support, he enables Penelope to recover
her princess crown within the game.
In the second post, Friday 3/6, I will discuss some ot
the characteristics of glitching or trauma.
The third post , Monday, 3/9, will deal with ways to use
contrast to make positive changes, to neutralize glitches and trauma.
In the fourth post, 3/11, I will go into a
discussion of Breathing meditation and it’s transformative impact on life.
How about you ? Have you experienced
glitches? Trauma? Do you have questions that you’d like addressed about
glitches and trauma, please share your thoughts, questions, experiences in the
comments section.
[i] Moore, R. (2013). Wreck it Ralph. R. Moore,
Walt Disney Studios: 101 minutes.
[ii] Computer coding is the equivalent of that which makes us unique as humans, i.e. our spirit,
talents, mission which later react to observed and learned patterns in our
human environment.
[iii] Glitch
– the term glitch represents a trauma – something done to a person to hurt
them, cause them pain, interfere with their functioning in an open creative
manner in their life. This would be similar to Erickson’s breach of trust by a
significant person in your life. Erickson’s
breach of trust distorts or handicaps your progress to the next stage of
socio-emotional functioning.
[iv] Erickson and the basic sense of trust v. mistrust, Erikson, E. H.
(1963). Childhood & Society. New York, W. W. Norton & Co.
[v] Abraham-Hicks, the use of contrast to pivot and make real time changes in a persons life, Hicks,
E. J. and Abraham (2009). The Vortex: Where the
law of attraction assembles all cooperative relationships. New York City, Hay House.
[vi] Self-Validation is a powerful innate drive that is within all of us. This powerful self-validation
drive is part of our soul/spirit. It is active because as spirits we are always
connected with Source Energy. Source Energy is always validating us as both
part of itself and as the individual being that we are.
[vii] We are all a Princess or a
Prince
[viii]
The King represents
someone with a big ego. In fact his ego
ideal (Freud) is an aggrandized narcissistic reflection of the way he wants
to be perceived. Unfortunately, this overinflated egotistical perspective
borders on psychopathology. In order to feed his ego, he has to have control
over others. As a psychopath, you try to disconnect from source and from all
other human beings. The purpose of choosing psychopath path is a belief that
enhancing one’s own ego will be satisfying. The enlarged ego of a Psychopath is
doomed to failure because it misses the fact that we are all connected . So the princess was expendable, hurting her
had no significance to the king.
[ix] The computer code is the
computer programing that determines the character and level of functioning in a
video / video program.
[x] Self-centered is another way of saying Narcassistic personality, someone who only
thinks of their need. Centered-Self
is someone who has explored themself and been able to know their talents and
special qualities. Someone who is able to validate themself and radiate their
talents and qualities to the world.
[xi] Vincente, M., et al. (2006). What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole.
USA, Canada, South Africa, 20th Century Fox: Redefines Physics. Physics
looks at reality as a machine, Quantum Physics looks at reality as an
ever-changing organism.
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