Facing Emotions

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Lillian Cheng

Facing Emotions is an animated piece that addresses an emotion most people don’t want to talk about: depression. Lillian Cheng focuses on how self-deprecation can lead to depression and sadness, affecting more than just the individual. Through the figure of a cute little creature navigating a dark world, Cheng shows a progression in which self-blame affects not only the creature but also his surroundings and involvement with other characters. Facing Emotions employs extremes to show that self-blaming is not the answer. In fact, Cheng goes as far to state that if we stay in this emotional state, the outcome could be more deadly than we anticipate. Just because one is sad or depressed about something does not mean it is one’s fault. It is not until we can break the chains of self-blame by means of communicating with loved ones that we will can escape this emotional setting.