G-Spot

 Trigger Warnings: Part Deux

I was thinking about trigger warnings this morning and my view and understanding of them is morphing daily. When someone tells me to keep the tissue handy for a book or a movie, that’s technically a trigger warning. It means (for me anyway) that something’s going to make me cry. But it doesn’t have to be something sad or involve a death like in the classic Brian’s Song or Love Story, or Marley and Me (the latter of which I have yet to see because 

*SPOILER ALERT* 

I heard the dog dies and I just wasn’t in the mood to cry. This and I’m not that big an Aniston or Owen Wilson fan). But I digress. A tearjerker book or movie could just be a romantic movie or something sweet that makes you go awwww. When I think of trigger warnings I don’t think of cathartic or cleansing or enjoyment (like I get at watching a sad movie). I think of something traumatic that triggers one’s anxiety or another drastic emotional response. I guess I just wasn’t thinking of crying in response to something sad, or bittersweet or romantic as a drastic emotional response. And again, it’s all about choice. If I choose to watch (or in the case of Brian’s Song, re-watch) a tearjerker after being warned it’s a tearjerker then that’s on me. 

There may be a Part Trois as I keep getting the hang of this.

Individuals already affected by trigger warnings or other empathetic allies who want to stay informed are probably well aware of this site, but just in case you’re not: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/