CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Traumatic experiences may cause several problems in human life, it can bother somebody’s health both physical and mental health. Traumatic experiences appear as something that creates bad memories and trauma, according to Cafasso (2017) that the person who experience traumatic events may feel threatened, anxious, frightened, and unstable emotion. Those traumatic events could be a war, divorce, and witnessing somebody’s death (Cafasso, 2017). The condition that commonly occurs caused by traumatic events is named Post Traumatic and Stress Disorder or PTSD. It is a condition when someone’s possessed mental disruption because of outside event that happened in his life such as a shocking event, scary or dangerous event (Davidson in Yasin, 2016). This kind of mental illness could be identified through the symptoms that come out through patient’s behaviors and interaction.
PSTD as a mental illness caused by traumatic events often pictured in another form of life such as in a fiction life. A fiction story is an art work that mirroring the norms and human life values in which in reflects the event that taking place in a society (Dubey, 2013). In the correlation between the psychology and a fiction story or literature itself, Aras (2015) explained that fiction story deals with human beings and their emotion. It tells about human character as the component of the story, the
Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia perceptions of the world, desires, fears, conflict and reconciliation. It is not only arousing feelings towards the audience or readers but also helping them find the meaning of life (Aras, 2015). In this study, the researcher choose The Hate U Give movie as a fiction story to analyze PTSD by taking a look further not only through the psychological symptoms but also through cinematic aspects which is the cinematic technique used by the director to represent PTSD.
In the correlation to that, diagnosing PTSD in movie’s fiction story is not simply by taking a look to the symptoms, the cause, and the impact on characters’ life that could be seen through the behaviors, dialogues, and events. It is need further analysis on the way director put his cinematic effort to represent the issue inside his movie, including techniques needed such as lighting, shot, sounding and editing that may contain purpose and create meaning of the related issue. It is in accordance with the statement that, filmmakers responsible in managing to depict the disturbing nature of trauma through location shooting, voice-over, staged performances, professional actors and any other cinematic techniques (Sulaberidze, 2016).
Therefore, it is interesting to discuss post traumatic and stress disorder through visualized story which is movie that requires detail attention both psychologically and cinematically. In this study, the writer conducts further discussion on PTSD in the movie entitled The Hate U Give directed by George Tillman in 2018, as the additional information this movie is adopted from novel written by Angie Thomas.
This narrative story tells about the main character Starr, Afro-American girl who lived in the place where the social discrimination towards Black people still exists.
Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia She had lovely father and mother who put big responsible towards her family’s safety from discrimination by giving deep understanding about their worth in the society since the children still young.
The social gap that shown between black and white people started in the event when Starr experienced unfortunate incident with a white police when she was with his best friend, Khalil. Khalil was shot by the police with no clear reason and Starr witnessed it. Instead of gaining justice, Khalil status as a drug seller unfortunately gained more another discrimination in their law case since the law set the police free. The black community stood for Khalil’s justice; however, Starr as the victims both the only one witness stuck in dilemmas between her status as a student and teenager who avoid being a discrimination object but at the same time she wanted to stand for Khalil’s justice.
The story more tightens when Starr eventually decided to be interviewed in TV Show to tell the whole fact about the incident. Her statement about Khalil as a drug killer under the King Lord power as drug boss, put her under King Lord’s threat. When Starr finished her interview, King Lord waited her outside the restaurant where her family had a dinner. However, his threat plan did not run smoothly since the police came and almost arresting Starr’s father. That was second bad experience between Starr and police that created traumas in her life. Moreover, Starr also had traumatic experience when she witnessing her another childhood best friend, Natasha, who was shot by the King Lord. After all the incidents happen in her life, she experienced bad dream, felt insecure wherever she goes, and easy to angry. Although the story end
Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia with happy ending, but it cannot separated from Starr and her family struggle to went out from their problem and traumatic experience such as witnessing the death of Khalil, discriminated by her school friend, threatens by the King Lord.
1.2. Research Questions
Based on the background of study discuss above, the writer arranges two research questions of this study:
1. How are the symptoms of PTSD described through Starr’s character in The Gate U Give movie?
2. How are cinematic techniques representing the symptoms of PTSD in Starr’s character in The Gate U Give movie?
1.3. Research Objectives
Based on the formulated research questions, this study contains two research objectives:
1. To reveal the symptoms of PTSD in Starr’s character in The Hate U Give movie directed by George Tillman 2018
2. To know the cinematic techniques used by the director to represent the symptoms of PTSD in Starr’s Character in The Hate U Give movie.
1.4. The Uses of the Study
Every researcher must give contribution inside of his or her research so that the research will be useful both in the academic field or general knowledge in society.
Therefore, this study cope two uses of study, there are:
Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia 1.4.1 Theoretical Use
The writer hopes that this research will be useful in academic world especially literary criticism both the field of psychology of literature and movie criticism. The writer also hopes that this study can be one of references that can be used by other researcher who want to have similar discussion and want to apply similar theory and approach.
1.4.2 Practical Use
In the field of practical use, the writer hopes that this study will give broader understanding to society about Post traumatic and stress disorder especially the one that represented in a movie. So that society will gain clearer picture of Post traumatic and stress disorder through the visualization in the movie that will help them more aware about Post Traumatic and Stress Disorder.
1.5 Limitation of the Study
In order to limit the discussion, the writer only focuses on discussing Post traumatic and stress disorder based on the symptoms, causes and impacts in Starr as the main character in the movie and discussing the cinematic techniques used by the director in order to represent the symptoms of PTSD in Starr character in the movie The Hate U Give.
