I do not believe you have to personally experience trauma to write about it. There are many writers who write about the Holocaust who were not actual Holocaust victims. Writers who were never raped who write about the psychological damage rape victims suffer. People who were never slaves who make movies about the horrors of slavery. People who were never veterans who create murals about war. I’m currently writing a novel about the era of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, who committed many atrocities against humanity ( genocide, murder, etc) but I did not live in the era of Trujillo, nor did I suffer under his rule. However, I’ve done enough research and interviewed survivors who still remember his reign of terror and I know my book is as meaningful as someone who actually did live in the dark age of Trujillo. The terror of Trujillo is my plot point.
Many writers and artists and musicians create works of art based on painful experiences they did not actually go through. We as humans have this wonderful ability- it’s called empathy- and it allows us to understand and commiserate with one another’s pain even when it didn’t personally happen to us. It’s why we can cry seeing images of war torn lands we may never visit. It’s why we get sad when an acquaintance tells us of the death of their loved one we never met. It’s why we can get angry over injustices committed- Trayvon Martin’s death may have hurt you even if you’re not black American, the captives in North Korea sadden you even though you are not North Korean, the Syrian refugees trouble you even though you may not carry Syrian blood, the water crisis in Flint angers you even though your tap water is potable. And you may even be angry and hurt enough to want to create a story, a poem, a painting, a song about or in tribute to these events- even though it’s not your own personal pain.
Yes, trauma can be a plot point. It is OFTEN the plot point in movies, documentaries, songs, art. It is the plot point of the memorial to 9-11. It is the plot point in movies like Schindlers List, Roots, Boys Don’t Cry, The Burning Bed… movies where I’m certain not everyone who was a part of the movie actually experienced the topic at hand.
To never create works of art about traumatic events unless you personally experience them closes dialogue. It makes these experiences hidden, dark, it makes victims afraid to come forth and say, “ Thank you for understanding my pain”. It gives the perpetrators power in knowing that they inflicted pain and it was never meaningfully discussed.
Now do I think the Sims is the best medium to use in writing about traumatic events? Probably not. For many people, The Sims represents escape, a happy place, a cartoon land where dark topics shouldn’t penetrate. But to tell someone “Don’t write this because you can’t because you never went through it” is perhaps not being open-minded about whether the person is intelligent or sensitive enough to handle the topic. If they write about the topic using sensitivity and common sense, research and respect, and use the appropriate trigger warning tag, then yes. Absolutely trauma can be a plot point.
This…..I needed this.
That’s maybe the reason why no one will like my other sims story ( not the medieval one ). However I can’t write about my own experience because I hate it and the story would be an incitement to hatred.
Lilysimsgames 