This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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Truly there are few directors and writers out there that have managed to capture the zeitgeist of an era quite the way that George A. Romero was able to. For every single one of his films, spoke to a corner of the Human and American Condition that was of concern, and it did so in a manner that perfectly framed the problem and the concern, all while making the story/commentary timeless in nature. For we still examine the many messages and subtext he added to Night of the Living Dead, regarding civil rights and racism in America, and for that matter, Bruiser is a film that continues to grow in legend thanks to its powerful commentary on toxic masculinity in Modern America. But of course… of the many films he made, there is one that truly showcased his brilliance regarding his understanding our world… the iconic Dawn of the Dead.

For that motion picture truly understood the 1970s and to a certain degree, the excess that awaited us in the 1980s to a tee, and it was put on display by way of a story that saw people fight for possession and control of a shopping mall as the world ended around them. Which is a powerful allegory regarding how we value things and how consumerism means the world to us, and the movie’s message remains so relevant that even in 2023, we can still find moments regarding that commentary that reflect our modern world. Yet what is truly incredible, is that this timeless feature, has suddenly become more relevant and real in recent years, courtesy of some baseline story structure that in a way, was more prophetic than any of us could have imagined. 

Because courtesy of the pandemic, this movie suddenly takes on new life and meaning. Because in many ways… it reflects everything we’ve just been through and that makes for an uncomfortable rewatch that points out… that the living dead in this story could have easily stood in for Covid as well, since everything that went wrong in our world, went wrong in this film. Which may seem to be a statement that is grabbing at straws, but the proof is in the pudding. Take for instance, the news broadcasts in the motion picture, especially the opening credits sequence. For that sequence and it's many intense moments… feel way too familiar.

Courtesy of watching a medical professional be screamed at and over, and told he’s a buffoon by people who believe that facts, don’t matter, and that what he has to say is nothing more than manufactured lies and that the situation isn’t as bad as he’s making it out to be. Which is… everything we experienced from a television and social media standpoint in our own homes. For we watched medical professionals be ‘debunked’ and debased by so-called self-experts who literally knew nothing. They just thought they knew better, and we saw Fox News do something similar and much like in the film, not listening to the experts because some people didn’t like what they heard, only spread the virus further. Much like how the dead grew in number for the same reasons, and the eerie parallels to 2020 don’t end with that sequence.

For one of the central themes of the film and of much of Romero’s Dead saga, is that the living dead take over the world because of humanity’s inability to work as a central unit, and through ignorance and political and personal nonsense. All of which has sparked debate over the years as to whether or not the dead could really take over in a real-world scenario and well, the pandemic proved… they would. Because the collective of humanity, couldn’t handle doing something as simple as wearing a mask or shutting down the world and its economies for a few weeks to simply stop the spread dead in its tracks. Instead, there were fights about personal rights, worries about the economy and religious freedoms over bringing down a common foe. Which gives a simple message about disarray through arrogance new gravity and meaning, since Romero correctly predicted that in a crisis… we cannot work together to resolve it.
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Yet while those elements alone are enough to give this film new life and new relevance after all these years, even its visuals… make this motion picture a perfect encapsulation of the pandemic. For seeing empty roads and an abandoned shopping mall… immediately harkens back to the lockdown days of the pandemic. Where the streets were as empty as could be, save for those essential souls and where businesses stood vacant and empty, just like the mall that was home to our heroes. And of course, their being huddled around televisions, radios, and any news source available serves as reminder of our time at home as well. Since we were glued to devices for good news and hope, and heck, even just seizing the mall and having people fight for it… reminds us of those days. Since people went the extra mile to hoard something as simple as toilet paper. 

All of which, are elements that truly gives this nearly fifty-year old horror feature, new life in the 21st Century. For now, it isn’t just about the power of consumerism and its evils… it really is about how humanity… has grown selfish enough to not work together toward common goals. And how we let agendas and policies from people that care little about us, rule our lives, and because of that… elements that shock us and threaten us… can win. For Covid won the day, plain and simple, and that makes this movie painfully real and equally as important. Since seeing our foolishness in action in a story about the end of the world at the hands of living death, can hopefully teach us to change our ways and work as one when the next crisis arrives.   

There are a great many concepts that human beings cherish in this life. For instance, we are beings that believe deeply in the power of love and connection and that drives us to find a romantic partner that fills a special spot in our soul and friends that fill in the rest. Plus, we also cherish children and make sure we protect them and guide them in the hopes of having their generation lead us to a better tomorrow. But above all, what we cherish the most in this life, is tradition. Because every family out there and our species as a whole, harbors little quirks or big quirks that we pass down from generation to generation to keep alive memories and keep alive notions that would in fact, fade without such work, and we cherish these so much… that there are people out there that will push for them to stay alive and be passed down, even when they are negative in nature. 
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Which means that sadly… there is a dark side to the things that we cherish. Since we cherish love and relationships so much in this life that we will surround ourselves with the wrong people to be feel whole. And there are those who feel so pressured to be part of giving rise to the next generation, they’ll have a kid when they’re not ready or never wanted one in the first place and make life hard for that innocent kid and yes… there are traditions we take part in that are toxic and negative in nature and should stop, but don’t. But what’s truly fascinating and unfortunate about the darker side to the elements of life that we cherish, is that some of them have combined and given rise to subconscious traditions that cause more harm than good. Such as generational trauma. Where a child that grows up enduring unique abuse or is constantly exposed to negative emotions and toxic behaviors… imparts those same ugly elements upon their own children when they become a parent. 

Because sadly… those behaviors are all we know and we trust our parents to do the right thing and guide us the right way, so we accept that toxicity and treat it as a different kind of gospel and well… this is a concept we are only now really beginning to dive into and explore and understand from a scientific standpoint. Which means for countless generations this has existed and we’ve all taken part in it in some form or fashion and that does leave all of us wondering actively now… how do we break this cycle and this tradition so that we can start to remove the ugliest parts of humanity and really grow as a species. Well as it turns out, science is now working on that, and there are creative minds pondering upon how we remove it from our lives and believe it or not, Apple TV+ is host to a series that takes the time to explore how we can shatter Generational Trauma, and that makes Drops of God a supremely important series. 

For this is a story that really takes the time to explore every aspect of this problem. Since it establishes how it comes to life since we watch our main characters be subjected to it, and struggle with it as they grow older and try to get over it… only to fail when it returns to the forefront of their lives through the death of Alexandre Léger. For he makes sure to impart more trauma from beyond the grave upon Camille and Issei, and Issei even suffers from fresh bouts of it from his own parents. And while this aspect of the series does a phenomenal job of backing up the reality that this is something we accept and practice because it is all we know, it doesn’t take long for this story to really shine by pointing out how wrong this is and the pain and confusion it causes children and how it isn’t something parents can resort to. Instead, they need to be better, they need give their children the world and well… the show points out that the first step in breaking this cycle at any level is to recognize that echoing what our parents imparted upon us… is wrong. 

But it is more than just recognition that breaks the cycle, as evidenced by Camille and Issei’s journey. Since they take the time to confront their traumas and stand in front of them and acknowledge the pain it caused them… and resolve it. Resolve it in this instance by besting their father’s challenges and proving him wrong every step of the way, but that speaks as an allegory for how the rest of us can break the cycle. In that we too… should confront it, and heal from it, preferably with the help of a medical professional… but that we also most… carve a better path for ourselves mentally. One that separates us from the toxic past we know so we can embrace what could be. Which could involve cutting toxic family from our lives or it could involve forging our own path in life and ignoring our legacy and the nonsense that can sometimes come with that. But the important thing is… we recognize and change and embrace our agency over anything else. 

If anything, all of these elements make for a powerful journey. One that really does teach us plenty about generational trauma and offers some sound and simple ways to escape it, and it doesn’t hurt… that these lessons are buried beneath a story that ponders upon the wonder of wine and the majesty of finding our own path in life. Since that allows for the lesson to never be overwhelming, and that’s a big deal. since this is subject matter that can be quite heavy at times. But make no mistake about it, the message is never diluted, just handled with grace, and that only adds to the wonder of this series. One that speaks to a topic that remains taboo and offers us a great deal of powerful and uplifting messages as well. Such as how important it is to never let our past define us and to live in the present over anything else and enjoy that moment, because it will never come again, and you simply cannot go wrong with a story that takes the time to offer up those messages and offer us guidance regarding a problem that continues to plague humanity, when it shouldn’t. For with some effort… we could let go of our shadows and embrace our better angels and build that better tomorrow through kindness and understanding for the children we cherish.   

​Trauma is something that fascinates me and I feel the need to write about it as of late. You can blame a rewatch of Steven Universe: The Movie for this! So, snuggle in, grab some chocolate covered blueberries (they’re the literal best thing on the planet!), and take my hand as we go down this rabbit hole. Also, a standard warning as some of these topics can be triggering for anyone who’s been through trauma. If you’re also like me and kind of sensitive for certain topics, please give a look at DoesTheDogDie.com where you can search all media types for certain triggers. This site is amazing and helpful, and I highly recommend it as I use it quite often.

So for those of you who don’t know about Steven Universe, you should definitely look it up and give it a watch. The movie has so many in-depth looks into abuse and abandonment and so much more. In that I wanted to focus on two key things today: Pink Diamond and the continuation of the abusive cycle, and Spinel’s toxicity. In the series we finally get to learn a lot about Pink Diamond and what she experienced from the other Diamonds. Pink was seen and treated as a child and even given a playmate to keep her out of Blue, Yellow, and White’s business. Pink is often left locked in a room after misbehaving, seen throwing tantrums, and even punches a mirror and cracks it. Pink is treated like an annoyance and an outcast by her fellow Diamonds just by being herself. Because of this blatant mistreatment, Pink is hyper aware of their disappointment to a detrimental level. Eventually White Diamond even takes away Pink’s Pearl and gives her own in return as well as a new friend, Spinel. Here’s where things get messed up. Yes, Pink is essentially abused by her family, and instead of breaking the cycle of abuse, she instead perpetuates it. Pink straight up abandons Spinel, goes to Earth, starts a rebellion and fakes her own death to start a full out war with her own family. In the meantime, she lies to those closest to her, leads Pearl on, and continuously hurts her. She allows Pearl the illusion of them being equals and yet continues to undermine that at every turn. And then, when it suits her, she leaves them all, leaving her son to pick up the pieces of all her unresolved issues. Pink manipulates and abuses those closest to her, much like the other Diamonds did to her.

This cycle of abuse is only broken by Steven when he does the literal opposite of his mother. Steven is kind and empathetic instead of apathetic and cold. He genuinely cares for those around him and tries to make friends with everyone he comes across, even swaying enemies. And then you have Pink who quite literally threw her best friend away the second Spinel was inconvenient for her. Pink also did this to Bismuth as well. Only she went as far as to tell their mutual friends that Bismuth died in the war. Pink was just as selfish and cruel as the other Diamonds, and in some ways, she was a lot worse.

In the flip side, you have Spinel. A character who is broken when we first meet her. A character who literally couldn’t cope with what happened and instead became just as toxic as the person who broke her. Spinel is quite toxic in many parts of the film. She even admits to wanting to kill Steven because she came to know him more. Her volatile attitude and actions are the product of the abuse and abandonment she endured. While many don’t see abandonment as a form of abuse, it absolutely is. Long lasting effects of abandonment bleed into the everyday lives of those who experience it. Sometimes it’s so detrimental it causes extreme mood swings, violent outbursts, and verbal abuse. All of which Spinel exhibits in the movie. She’s easily reverted back into that negative headspace and so anxious about being abandoned that she violently attacks Steven. The thought of being left again is so terrifying that she’d rather hurt him before he can hurt her. As far-fetched as this all is, these are things that happen in real life and to many people. Spinel not only reminded me a lot of myself, but she reminded me of one friend I had in particular. This friend was so damaged by her upbringing that she’d often project her own issues out onto me, and similar to Spinel, was quick to assume I was going to stop being her friend the second I’d ever stand up for myself. These are incredibly toxic behaviors, even if the person isn’t aware of that. I think at one point we’ve all been that toxic person in someone’s life and it’s okay to admit that. Nobody is perfect and a lot of times we often view toxic behaviors as normal when they’re not. It’s one thing if a toxic person realizes their unhealthy behavior and works to change it. It’s another entirely if they know they’re being toxic and they continue to do so.

Similarly, I think Pink is extremely relatable to many as we’ve all had a person like her in our lives. Pink is a horrible person for a number of reasons, but she’s the worst because she never changes her behavior or sees that there is even anything wrong with it. Pink is the epitome of a toxic person and one who thinks their behavior is completely acceptable.

The duality of these two within the show speaks to how complex issues create even more complex issues. Pink perpetuated her family’s behavior into others, never once changing it. While in the end Spinel breaks the cycle and moves to get better instead of worse. Spinel could have easily lived in what Pink left her in. She could have easily chosen to live in the toxic dysfunction. But she chose to move on and get better. Because while it never feels like it at the time, there is an out. It does get better. Spinel makes the choice to get better. While Pink made the choice to run and stay as she was. Growing and changing are a part of everyone’s lives. While we may never undo the traumas that have been done to us, we can move past them. They will always be a part of who we are, but they do not have to define us. I have had my own version of Pink Diamond in my life, and I have been all parts of Spinel. Having something in media that can connect with someone the way that I have connected to this show is really powerful. It’s nice to see this on the screen, speaking to people on a personal level.