If 1.) the MC is held back in life by the scars of a psychological trauma he experienced before the story started and the ramifications of those scars on his family and himself and 2.) the fact that he’s been held back is pointed out to him by the IC, is that a MC/Situation/The Past thing or an IC/Mind/The Preconscious thing?
Some things to check: It could be a MC Mind/Memories thing, either as a concern or benchmark. If the MC is squarely focused on dealing with the trauma, It sounds like memories to me. If the MC is trying to find true happiness by outrunning his memories, and no matter how fast he runs, they keep catching up, until he has to face them, then that sounds like a benchmark to me. Or an OS Mind/Memories thing if it is affecting everyone.
I’m pretty confident that the MC is Situation and the IC is Mind.
Perhaps I misunderstood. Who has the trauma, the MC or IC? And is the MC focused on dealing with the trauma or the problematic situation created by the trauma?
The MC and his family have the trauma. The IC is trying to get him past it because the IC is facing other problems for which he really needs the MC’s help.
Hard for me to tell, I’m sorry. Inside Out is an example of dealing with trauma where the MC is in Past and the IC is in memories. Most movies I’ve seen where the audience views the MC’s trauma has the MC in Memories like Memento, or the OS in Memories like Hamlet. Maybe someone else has ideas.
That’s my impression as well. I’m just watching Jessica Jones Season 2, and it’s all about her dealing with trauma, and it’s all the same thing – Mind character, dealing with Memories, Preconscious (alcoholism, rage), Subconscious (the desire for love etc.), Conscious.
@B_Newman are you sure the MC is not in Mind? (Not saying he has to be).
I’ve been through almost every trauma imaginable - intentionally so. In my experience, the thing that make a trauma traumatic are the painful, confusing, splintered memories that the mind tries so hard to reconcile against what is right in front of it. Those traumatic memories color every aspect of an individual’s experience. A trauma is subjective and can’t be seen from the outside, only the effects. From the outside, it looks more like stubbornness and irrationality.
That said, perhaps trauma is not what you are going after. The way you describe it, it sounds more like a dysfunctional family.
1 Like
In this story, the MC discovers that he is an alien, a space alien, with a bigger destiny. Coming to terms with that destiny starts with coming to terms with the trauma in his family. For that reason, I place the MC in Situation.
1 Like
This sounds good to me. I like how, as you mentioned in another post, the IC is pointing out that he’s being held back by the mental (Mind) trauma.
Question: was the trauma related to his being a space alien somehow? It’s easier for me to grasp this throughline if it’s all tied up with that Situation. (It might be kind of weird if, say, the Domain is being a space alien while the Concern is a totally unrelated car accident that happened ten years ago.)