We take a look at the importance of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children…
Pop culture offers a mirror through which we subconsciously see ourselves.
When characters who are otherwise unstoppable (e.g.
The X-Men) face adversity, they give us someone to identify with.
Supernatural perils suddenly become metaphors for our own experience.
Preternatural powers or not, pop culture desperately needs more stories in the vein ofMiss Peregrine.
Heres why…
Who are the peculiars?
The same can be said for the invisible Millard, levitating Olive, and super-strong Bronwyn.
Fiona can make plants grow just by waving her hands.
Claire eats from the back of her head and Enoch can breathe life into clay figures.
The headmistress, Miss Peregrine, is an ymbryne who can transfigure herself into a peregrine falcon.
Some of these peculiarities are more obvious than others.
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A reminder that different doesnt have to equal alone.
Within a time loop that no non-peculiar can enter, they find safety in numbers.
Think of the time loop as a Comic Con of sorts.
We realize we are not alone in this non-normative universe.
Shining a light on bullying culture, one peculiar at a time.
In the world ofMiss Peregrine, peculiars could once live amongst non-peculiars.
It was a world so afraid of otherness that frightened them into retreating.
Most victims also take the harassment silently because they are terrified of retaliation.
This is especially common in a workplace bullying situationwhich further reinforces that bullying is not just a grade-school phenomenon.
Fear of termination forces most victims into their own time loop of silence.
Hiding in plain sight: the peculiar way.
Peculiars withdraw like many bullying victims.
Miss Peregrines also touches on a more ironic defense: hiding in plain sight.
It was the only way to survive as themselves.
Unfortunately, even those who struggle to fit in dont always succeed.
When (peculiar) victims become perpetrators.
The book also reveals another disturbing reaction to bullying, which is the victim becoming the perpetrator.
Shedding light on the effects of prejudice.
Peculiar children were often abused or abandoned as a result.
Raising awareness about the trauma because of bullying.
It explains her howl of: Youre not the only one who wants to kill me!
The same can be said for bullying victims whose trust in people disintegrates.
Residual trauma keeps playing over and over in the victims memory as a reminder to keep his defenses up.
Mistrust becomes an instant reflex.
We will always need stories like Miss Peregrine.
An isolated person can only go so far when it comes to fighting the ills of bullying.
The fandoms that grow around such stories in the pop culture sphere also prove that people are responding.
Provocative subjects like bullying can only be discussed when it is no longer shrouded in fear.
Making this discussion public is instrumental in raising awarenessand through stories likeMiss Peregrine, pop culture has that superpower.
Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children lands in theaters September 30th.
