Let’s talk about M’s Stockholm Syndrome [SPOILERS]
Okay everyone, so I’ve been seeing a LOT of hate towards Minnie. I’m not saying it’s not warranted, she does some horrible things, but the conversation doesn’t seem very nuanced, and I haven’t seen mention of the fact that she is CLEARLY suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
For those of you that don’t know, “Stockholm syndrome is a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.”
Minnie was kidnapped, forced to be a child soldier, she tried to escape with her sister, and honestly, I know that she said she chose to murder her sister because she “poisoned her mind” (which right there threw up a huge red flag for me, because that’s a phrase commonly used in cultish brain washing), but I honestly think that Lily gave her a choice, kill your sister, or I kill both of you. I know we all like to think we’d be brave and noble, but honestly... we don’t know. So she kills her twin, her mirror image, and her mind shatters. The only way she can even begin to pick up the pieces of her broken psyche is if she TRULY believes that she did it for the greater good, that she did the right thing. And we’ve only seen Lily be harsh so far, but like any abuser, I’m sure she had moments where she was kind to Minnie, and made her emotionally dependent on her.
I’m copying this part straight from Wikipedia, honestly it’s worth a read:
From a psychoanalytic lens, it can be argued that Stockholm syndrome arises strictly as a result of survival instincts. Strentz states, "the victim’s need to survive is stronger than his impulse to hate the person who has created the dilemma." A positive emotional bond between captor and captive is a "defense mechanism of the ego under stress".[4] These sentimental feelings are not strictly for show, however. Since captives often fear that their affection will be perceived as fake, they eventually begin to believe that their positive sentiments are genuine. The conception of Stockholm syndrome has grown to include victims of kidnappings or hostage instances, domestic or child abuse, human trafficking, incest, prisoners of war, political terrorism, cult members, concentration camp prisoners, slaves, and prostitutes.[4] It is believed that women are especially prone to developing the condition.[19]
Typically, Stockholm syndrome develops in captives when they engage in "face-to-face contact" with their captors, and when captors make captives doubt the likelihood of their survival by terrorizing them into "helpless, powerless, and submissive" states. This enables captors to appear merciful when they perform acts of kindness or fail to "beat, abuse, or rape" the victims.[4] Ideas like "dominance hierarchies and submission strategies" assist in devising explanations for the illogical reasoning behind the symptoms of those suffering from Stockholm syndrome as a result of any oppressive relationship.[19] Partial activation of the capture-bonding psychological trait may lie behind battered woman syndrome,[20] military basic training, fraternity hazing, and sex practices such as sadism/masochism or bondage/discipline.[21]
Most of us won’t really be able to understand Minnie because we haven’t been kidnapped, tortured, and forced to kill a sibling. I’m not saying that she’s completely innocent of all of her actions, but honestly when discussing what a horrible person she is, I wish people would keep this in mind. I hope I would be stronger, I hope I’s be able to resist, but I just don’t know. None of us do.
Comments
Minnie is definitely a victim, but she's not innocent whatsoever either She's just as guilty as the rest and I'm not saying that maliciously. I'm just saying it as the fact of the matter. We see it everyday. People with fucked up stories fail to adapt and project that same lifestyle they were victim to onto others. It's an unfortunate cycle. When they're about to suffer the consequence, no one wants to hear anything about what they've been through. It doesn't hold up in court and it won't hold up now.
It's not as black and white as people on the outside of situations like these love to make it seem. I agree with everything you said, but in this fight, we can't afford to pull our punches. If she continues to come at me a certain way, I'll be forced to kill her or allow her to die. Clem is not the one who can save her.
She has yet to see Tenn. I have a feeling if they reunite, it will open her eyes. Otherwise I'm gonna have to break Vi and Tenn's heart. I feel bad for her, but I can't afford to show mercy to every one who ends up being a victim to the system.
It honestly won't surprise me if we are given the same chance to try to make things right with Minnie in the way we couldn't do with Marlon.
You broke it down pretty amazingly, about how she had to justify that trauma by believing it was the right choice for the group and for herself.
With that said.... Fuck her lol.
oh 100%, I'm not gonna risk Clem or AJ in an attempt to "redeem" her, she's still dangerous and still needs to be held accountable. buuuuuuuuuut if we can get her help without risking our lives I'd go for it, or if we have a decision to execute her vs show mercy. She hasn't killed any of the group yet, she seems reluctant to do so. She didn't come to the raids, and she let us go before. But the blind hatred I've seen for her and people calling her a selfish bitch/coward has been grating
I heard Stockholm syndrome is very nice this time of year.
Guess! That! Reference!
Edit: tfw you miss out a word in a sentence over the forums and you’re gone for half a day before returning to realise the mistake, leaving you with the deep urge to kill yourself
Are you sure about that?
Ok. So she has stockholm syndrome. Can I proceed to hate her and want to kill her now?
She is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? Oh poor little Minerva. Now - who the hell cares? That's not an excuse for anything she has done. I won't suddenly drive her to therapist and give her a candy if she makes a progress. That bitch has to be taken down.
Generally Negan, Governor, Carver, Alpha, Beta, The Stranger - all of them probably suffered from some other shitty syndroms. Why aren't we crying over them?
I really hope you don’t have the same opinion for people in real life that you do for people in this game. People with mental disorders really should be offered help with their issues before being condemned.
You do keep in mind that there are hardly any people in TWD world that are doing bad things because they are purely bad? The Governor used to be a happy father and husband, The Stranger (the one who kidnapped Clementine) also used to be a happy father and husband. Negan probably was a decent man at some point. Alpha was probably a happy mother. Beta was famous actor and NBA player.
This is TWD world, not real life, and I'm not just gonna make a therapy to every single bad person I see. Whatever happened to them before, they are a threat to Clementine and the group.
Does it suck? Yeah it does for sure, but life was never fair. It is even more unfair during an apocalypse in which you hardly ever can let yourself take the chances.
Because none of them were a hot girl?
Because Minnie is a TEENAGER who was kidnapped, tortured, and forced to kill her twin. Those other people were adults, EVERYONE in TWD world has suffered severe trauma, but not everyone is kidnapped then brainwashed/indoctrinated into becoming a child soldier. That does a special kind of mental damage, I feel like many people don’t understand how insanely powerful it is. AND she hasn’t done anything nearly as awful as what those other people did. In fact, she let Clem go originally. Let her escape, but once Clem was on the boat, Minnie felt like she had no other choice. Again, I still think she’s in the wrong, but that’s not a good comparison, and it sure as hell has nothing to do with her gender. I’d say the EXACT same thing if the genders were reversed.
How do I reply to multiple people in one post? ? anyway check out my comment above responding to the “because she’s a girl” thing
Time to give an honest answer now that I’ve thought about it. I feel like she regrets what she did, and would take any chance to join back up with the school once she finds out that the delta has for the most part been dealt with. She did seem to struggle when she told us that she killed her sister, which is strong evidence to suggest she didn’t want to do it, she just saw it as a necessity.
Therefore, should she be punished in the next episode? Absolutely. But does it need to be death? Probably not.
Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V someone's line from the test and then pick the "Quote" option. It's on the left from that smile.
Well i’m not too sure you would?
I know that Minnie isn't well in the head. As cruel as it sounds, in the realm of The Walking Dead that's all the more reason not to show mercy when given the chance. * Please note, this is strictly in this fictional universe. I'm in no way implying that those with mental illness are beyond help in real life.
It's been demonstrated time and time again in TWD universe that if left unanswered, it will result in the deaths of more people. Minnie killed the closest person to her according to the story itself so that she could return to Delta while they were escaping. We could claim an unreliable narrator and suggest that Lilly gave her an impossible choice somehow, however Lilly at this point is rather frank about what she's capable of and was telling the story. Minnie was the one making up lies ( by saying Sophie died a hero ).
If anything, Minnie will be even more dangerous with the number of people that were killed in the attack on Delta. Even those that held back, and used 'knockouts' instead of deaths, might've just been murdering those people as they'd be unconscious or injured when the explosion occurs.