Zack Cregger Film Maker
If you’re a scapegoat and managed to escape a highly dysfunctional narcissistic family, then maybe you might want to watch Zack Cregger’s films. Yes, I am talking about Barbarian, the movie about an inbred, monstrous woman, who locks people in cages and force feeds them baby bottles. And Weapons, probably the best horror movie within the last decade, where Glady Lilly, a parasite and proverbial narcists, abducts, seventeen children, locks them up in her basement, and sucks the life-force out of them. Disturbing, I know. But the one thing about horror movies, when done right– is that they touch on our deepest and darkest fears. Great horror movies help us to transcend, and I am not just talking about a spiritual awakening. I am talking about real cinema therapy. Something happens in our brains where we can live vicariously through characters such as Justine and Tess. As a result, we can resolve some of our traumatic issues. Yes, my friends, good theater is great therapy. So if you’re in the mood for a psychological deep dive into one of the best horror movies of all time. This video is for you.
Weapons, ranks number one in horror
I love Julia Garner. I guess I can relate to her because she is part of the soft-spoken club. Like her, I am often typecast as being timid and docile. And like her, I have steel in my spine and can pack a hefty punch, when I need to. I loved her in Weapons as Justine Gandy. Her grief was palpable. She had the weight of the whole town on her shoulders, because she was, in short, the scapegoat. She really did care for her students and was saddened when they suddenly disappeared. She also tried to make amends, apologizing in front of the town committee, but it was a little too late. They had already typecast her as being, well a witch. Worse, Justine Gandy starts to implode, blaming herself for the incident, when the real witch, Glady’s Lilly was living high on the hog. Georgina Campbell is another great actress. She brought the character Tess to life, making me feel a great deal of empathy for woman who constantly gets burned, for simply trying to do the right thing. But Tess is also a woman who is trying to escape cyclical patterns of abuse. We see this when she is abducted and locked in a dark basement for days, even weeks at a time. When she finally escapes, no one wants to help her or believe her for that matter. Sadly, this is the case for many scapegoats; their cries for help go answered.
Scapegoats are the heroes
Scapegoats tend to exhibit a strength that isn’t respected or admired in our society, vulnerability. Scapegoats are highly empathic, but also strong. When you think about it, scapegoats literally carry the energetic weight of an entire narcissistic family. In fact, the term scapegoats refer to a biblical passage where all the towns’ people, cast their sins and wickedness onto a goat, to then be sacrificed. Sadly, witches are also known to be scapegoats. Historically, they have been persecuted for being evil, wanton woman. In truth, many of these women were targeted simply because they were a threat to the status quo or they were rebelling against a corrupt power structure. In extreme cases, they were burned at the stake, to serve as a deterrent to others. In Justine’s case, she was simply the mule, forced to carry the weight of the town’s grief alone. But the weight can be too much to bear for even the strongest scapegoat. Justine falls back into bad habits, such as drinking far too much, and having an entanglement with a married man. Worse, Justine starts to beat herself up, truly believing that she is partly responsible for the missing children.
Barbarian and Weapons are movies about dysfunctional families
Tess is a proverbial, nice girl. She’s been burned far too many times, and we can see that she is really trying to turn over a new leaf. She refused to answer Marcus’ calls, and vets, Keith, the man she is forced to share an Airbnb with, for the night, a little too closely I might add. Towards the end of the night, Tess lets her guard down and realizes that she may have hit the jackpot. Keith was indeed a good guy. Good people suffering at the hands of evil is a common theme in Zack Cregger’s films. He puts such a huge emphasis on how people get burned for simply doing the right thing. Alex’s parents felt obligated to take in Gladys Lilly, a fake sister who they hadn’t spoken to or seen in years. Later Marcus invites Glady’s Lilly into his house, only for her to launch a wicked witchy attack on both him and his husband. In many cases a scapegoat’s ability to empathize might be rendered more of a burden than a gift. Tess, having been locked in a dark dank basement, and fed sour milk, through a dirty baby bottle, could relate to the A. J’s, pain. She knew how it felt to be imprisoned with no real means to escape. Tess needed to get him out of there, even if that meant risking her own life in the process. .
Cregger writes about scapegoats
The problem is that narcissists are takers with no off button. Much like Gladys Lilly, they need to suck the life out of people, not only for sustenance, but also for power. The other problem with narcissists is that they also have an addictive personality. And yes, their main drug of choice, is well power. While Justine seemed to have a substance abuse problem, James appeared to be addicted to drugs, and Marcus to junk food. Glady’s Lilly was high off power. She wasn’t the only one. Frank felt a sick sense of pleasure, torturing those poor women. And as the neighborhood went to shit, so did Frank’s character. The evilness within him grew, as he preyed on weak desolate women, knowing full well, that no one would come to their rescue. Or sadly, few people would care about their wellbeing. That’s probably the worst thing about being a scapegoat; no one seems to care. This is why characters like Justine and Tess couldn’t sit around and wait to be saved. They needed to take matters into their own hands and save themselves.
Breaking free
Only breaking away from narcissistic families isn’t easy. Yes, they are going to embark on a terrible smear campaign, but worse, they are going to send out their flying monkeys. Frank, had the Mother, an inbred, monstrous daughter, who wanted to hold people captive, in much the same way that she was. Worst, the Mother, like so many victims of narcissistic abuse, believed that being trapped, beaten, and caged was a form of love. She didn’t just want Tess to be her baby, she wanted her to be her main source of supply. In Weapons, it is Gladys Lilly who turns James, Paul, and even Archer into her flying monkeys. Entranced, and under her spell, Alex’s parents attack their son, the one person who they seemingly love the most. This scene isn’t just about narcissistic rage. It’s about complicity and control, and how the narcissists will do anything to keep their realm of power. The narcissist will create terrible environments where people need to turn on each other and even hurt one another for survival. A.J, turned on Tess, the second he smelled freedom; he threw her under the bus. Only the Mother needed Tess, so much, that she couldn’t let her die.
But the real hero was Alex. He was a victorious scapegoat. Afterall, a wicked witch moved into his house and turned his parents into zombies. Worse, she insisted that he be his evil sidekick, while she bewitched the town and stole children’s souls. Tess is the hero in Barbarian and like Alex, she too is the scapegoat. Only she knew that was never going to escape that basement, i.e., the toxic family narcissistic unit, without killing the Mother, and there for setting herself free. Alex understood that if he truly wanted to break free, he would have to beat a witch at her own game. That meant that he would have to get Gladys Lilly’s spells backfire. He did this by unleashing the imprisoned children, setting them, and himself free. But sadly, the Weapons ending wasn’t a happy one. All the children and Alex’s parents appeared to be zombified for life. But the victors Justine and Alex, seemed to have survived, almost unscathed, proving the extreme difficulties of breaking free from a narcissistic family. And why are scapegoats the real heroes.
.