Random #Ghosts thoughts: I don't think it was just opening up about her trauma that led to Mary being able to pass over, but the fact that the episode before, for the first time, she allowed herself to get genuinely angry about something unfair and told everyone off for it.
Earlier in the season, we saw Annie trying to help Mary connect with her anger and feel comfortable telling people off for their hypocrisy and unfairness, but Mary was only able to do this to people who couldn't actually hear her (shouting at living people who can't see ghosts).
But then, in the third episode, after she finally opens up about her witch trial trauma in episode two, we see Mary get genuinely angry about Alison forgiving the other ghosts so easily when she (Mary) was the only one who hadn't done anything wrong. To her, that was unfair.
After finally addressing the trauma of how she was unfairly targeted by people wanting to blame her, when she had done nothing wrong, Mary, in this episode, was finally able to actually call out unfairness, chastise them, and say 'this isn't fair and I'm not happy about it'.
And not just do it from the safety of being a ghost, and chastising living people who couldn't hear her, but she actually went in on the other ghosts and Alison, who COULD hear her. That's a massive thing that we hadn't seen before.
I don't think it's a coincidence that she crossed over at the beginning of the next episode. Whilst I think opening up about her witch trial trauma was an important step, it was one part of a wider journey of finding her voice and realising she COULD stand up for herself.
That's why I think she crossed over, and I love that that was the route they decided to take on completing her journey, rather than simplifying it to 'she's finally talked about the witch trials, now she crosses over'. It was a bigger journey of self-empowerment and expression.
By tearing strips off Alison and the other ghosts in episode three, angrily calling out unfairness, she completed the journey of finding her voice that began hundreds of years ago when she, a vulnerable, slightly odd woman, was silenced by men looking for a scapegoat.
I have so many feeling about Mary, and her story, and her journey, how they both addressed AND respected her trauma, and how they decided to bring her story to a more complex and empowered completion than we expected.
This silly sitcom about silly ghosts has ruined my fucking life.
Anyway here's a thread I did on how #Ghosts addressed Mary's trauma WITHOUT exploiting it or using it as entertainment, and why that's revolutionary in a media landscape that revels in using women's trauma for shock and drama.
https://twitter.com/QueerlyAutistic/status/1582100201111552000?t=lGzITTuU7-Ze30Ts8KatYw&s=19
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
