I don't know what it is, but there's a weird fascination we have in media regarding little girls and surreal, dreamlike breaks from reality. Whether it's this game, the Terry Gilliam film Tidelands, the comic book I Kill Giants or the obvious influence from Disneys animated classic Alice In Wonderland (or its real life pseudo counterpart starring my girl Felicity Huffman "Phoebe In Wonderland"), there seems to be this concept, this trope, that will never die, and that is "little girl + trauma = fantasy wonderland". And I'm not complaining, by the way, I love this trope, but it is something I'm starting to see a little too often, and it makes me a tad uncomfortable how comfortable writers are becoming with it, because frankly my trauma is not the basis for your next project. My trauma was awful, not fun.
I suffer from some things, most notably suicidal tendencies (including attempts in the past, including one at a very early age), severe depression and moderate dissociative spells. I've got what they call the Premium Unwell Package! Because of these things, perhaps this is why I react a lot more to this trope, especially in the case of something like Fran Bow. Fran Bow walks this line of being, and I guarantee it's purposeful, either schizophrenic or real, and it's beautiful because of that. You can take away whatever you want from it since nothing is really set in stone. BUT, as a little girl who was in and out of therapy and on and off medication well into her teenage years, who suffered from bouts of hearing things and also spending most of her time alone in her head in a world that actually wanted her, Fran Bow really hit a nerve with me.
The writing is tremendous, and the art style is what first drew me into the game. In fact, Fran Bow has a little medal for being one of the first games I added to my Steam wishlist when I bought this laptop a few years ago. I actually regret, in hindsight, how long it took me to finally get to it. And Fran Bow excels partly because it isn't just a point and click game. It's puzzles aren't ridiculous obtuse to the point of being incoherent and in need of a guide, and it's got numerous little mini games within it, which give you some variety in between all the pointing and clicking. It's telling you a very specific story, there's no filler, the music is wonderful and ethereal and I love every. single. frame. Fran Bow is the sort of game that reminds me why I loved playing point & click games as a kid, because when done right, boy are they great.
But I wanna touch on something, and that is, again, this trope of little girl and trauma resulting in a break from reality (or, in Frans case, a possible break from reality, since it's never made specifically clear whether the beings she's interacting with are real or not). Little girls have a hell of a time fitting in, or at least I did. For the better part of my childhood, I had no friends, and all my hobbies included things like reading and hanging out with any animals I could find. Nobody liked me, especially my own peers. My teachers didn't understand me (granted a lot of that could be chocked up to the ever ignored autism diagnosis that every single teacher insisted my parents get me tested for) but they at least liked me, some more so than others. My own family didn't understand me, nor did they ever attempt to. I was pretty lonely. And I'm not saying little boys don't have these exact same issues, because I know they do. Loneliness doesn't care about gender. Mental health doesn't care about gender. If you sick, dawg, you sick.
But, what that meant was that I essentially spent a LOT of time alone and in my own worlds, either in my head in daydreams or worlds I created through art and stories, or art and stories I partook in. I never felt at home in this world, so I made a world where I COULD feel at home, and frankly, I've never really left. That's why this trope speaks to me so strongly, especially in regards to Fran Bow, because, much like her, I was a terrified child (though, I never murdered my parents, much as I may wish SOMEONE fucking had, just to stop the abuse) who preferred a reality that wasn't "reality". I could really see a lot of my childhood self in her, and it pulled at my heartstrings even more. In a way, I think this game, and this trope in general, is a way for me to work through my own trauma, and when you're doing that in a medium such as gaming, which is highly interactive and can be extremely personal to the player, it really hits home and works.
Fran Bow is a wonderful story, and I'm elated to hear that they've begun art production on a second title. It's the first game in a while that I'd easily play through a second time, and it's the first time I can recall in recent memory that I can honestly say that I wouldn't have minded if the game had overstayed its length and gone on for a few more hours, because I could live in that world. Fran Bow is a delight, even if it's a gruesome delight, and I hope that someday, I too can fight skull faced demigods with my talking cat and our magical skeleton friend, because that's truly the ONLY life worth living.
