The billy situation is a tricky one bc I’ve seen people who have suffered Abuse say they like him and say that they see his actions as a product of what Neil have done and how they may do the same thing without realising it’s wrong bc of the abuse they’ve gone through, so that reflects onto him too (I can’t remember the exact wording but) and some people say they hate Billy bc he is like their abuser.
yeah it’s really tough bc y’know, i do want to be there for abuse survivors but then there’s other survivors who will split my ass in two if i dare say “this blog is a safe zone for abuse survivors” where they’ll be like “you’re throwing the survivors who like billy under the bus” even though i said i’m willing to listen
To some extent, fictional characters are always a bit like getting a basic shape that is the same for everybody, but with lots of blank spaces in between to fill in. A bit like this here:
Thing is, every person is different.
We come from different cultures. We’re american, brazilian, german, polish….we’re from all over the world.
We’re at different stages of our lives. We are students, housewives, doctors, accountants, secretaries, cashiers…we live at home with our parents, we are parents, we’re single, married, we have kids, we don’t have kids, we’re straight or queer. Some of us are traumatized, some of us are not.
Some of us like pineapple on pizza. Some don’t.
And we bring ALL of that to the table: who we are, what we’ve experienced, what we know and what we don’t, what need to grow and learn. And it’s DIFFERENT for each and every one of us.
So once we start filling in those blanks? Even thought the base is the SAME for everybody, we still end up with completely DIFFERENT pictures:
And each and every one of these versions is true and valid….FOR THE PERSON WHO CREATED IT. Because it relates to THEIR experience, which is personal and subjective.
Sometimes we find common ground. Sometimes someone elses’ painting will echo our own experience, and we’ll be able to connect with them through that.
And sometimes we’ll just look at a picture and go “meh” or “ugh!”, AND THAT IS OK TOO.
So what this boils down to is this:
Some people are in a place where they draw strength from being angry at their abuser. And allowing yourself to be angry is something that some people absolutely need to do in order to process and heal from their abuse.
Other people are in a place where they need to move on to a more positive way of doing things and explore the concept of redemption and the idea of either receiving or granting forgivenness, which can be a healing experience too.
So yeah….fandom needs BOTH versions of Billy presented here.
The one that focuses on him as an abuser, the evil dragon that needs to be slain, as well as the one that focuses on him as the victim of abuse, the cursed princess who needs to be rescued.
Both have their purpose, both are needed.
Now…..all we need to learn is to respect each other and acknowledge that both versions of Billy are valid and that they can co-exist peacefully. They fill different niches, side by side.
I-want-my-IWTV 