Understanding The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories // Seven Out Ten

[@toriestrella]

I'd go out on a limb here and suppose that the self-mutilation symbolises confronting one's own physical gender dysphoria. Every now and then, I find myself resenting parts of my body that I deem not feminine enough, sometimes to horrifying extents such as imagining myself crushing my ribs and cutting down my shoulders. It's a recurring thought pattern that, once it starts, I have to confront in order to accept myself as I am and allow myself to heal. Over time, these recurring patterns become such that you learn what tends to trigger your bodily gender dysphoria, but also how you tend to work with them in order to just move on with life. I feel mastering the self-mutilation mechanic in order to solve puzzles here reflects that.

[@SevenOutOfTen]

Thanks for sharing this

[@MetalGearRaxis]

That's a good point. The better you are at the game, the more you understand the puzzles, the less you have to hurt J.J.

[@Reqviemus]

Bit late to the party, but I wanted to comment on how gratitious the self harm mechanic felt. I think that the game comments on it best itself in the last vital conversation with the plushie. The lesson was, that after every injury, every moment of pain she stood back up, she healed and managed to go further and achieve more despite the pain. Narrativelly, hurting yourself wasnt the point, healing from it was. I found it actually inspiring, although I admit that without getting to the end to get that perspective shift, it can feel kinda gratitious. (And still it feels appropriate ven then, since for the bulk of the game we are exploring JJs self hate and pain, but, again, ending is needed to give context to that)

[@JiltedValkyrie]

Posted this elsewhere also but.. finally got to this game all these years later. Just beat it on Twitch to an audience. I read out aloud all the text messages in-character. It got me good by the end... ended up doing a big ol' cry in front of my audience. It was actually very relatable to me and felt more honest about the subject matter than western writers try (Tell Me Why). One of my favourite all-time games now. Ended up finding a sealed copy of the CE on Switch after already buying the Steam version on sale and had a little FK plushie with me on second stream. And now here I am with fabric about to make the cosplay. Loved this one to bits (no pun intended). I have so much connection to JJ and this game. So much so that I read the game came out on my birthday right after beating it.

[@plantingcrows5753]

Hi there, I stumbled across your video after watching the Scary Game Squad play The Missing and I think you analyzed it very well. To go out on a limb as both an art history student, who has to analyze visual symbolism often, and as a person who has dealt with similar feelings I wanted to talk about the jack in the box babies. I think they might represent how people can spring upon you with immature and harmful thoughts (due to the baby and you know the dismemberment) and the suspense in dealing with people, inevitably waiting for that fallout, from the suspenseful jackinthebox music to the hiding in plain sight

[@SevenOutOfTen]

I really like this theory, thanks so much for sharing it!

[@061Hitachi]

She is the only child and those creepy babies are manifestations of her mother expecting her to continue the family name.

[@SevenOutOfTen]

Ooh I like this interpretation!

[@Peppermint_747]

This is spot-on, the song that plays when they're lurking around is called "Mommy".

[@JiltedValkyrie]

This is my head canon now.

[@leticiamg123]

I think the game's narrative shines the most when it's not just trying to show creepy monsters and making obvious references to su****e. The mutilation analogy was quite clever though, so was the fact that J.J. viewed herself a monster hurting her friends and family. I find it simply astonishing that a cis-straight man had such a good grasp of what it feels like to suffer from dysphoria. Some lines I will probably never forget.

[@SevenOutOfTen]

I couldn't agree more.

[@JiltedValkyrie]

Good writing is good writing. Tell My Why did a terrible job and was on-the-nose. This was subtle and inventive. It felt more natural and relatable.

[@PhilEllwood]

So glad I got round to watching this after putting it off. A great exploration, made even better by the insightful comments left by other viewers.

[@AestheticGamer]

I really enjoyed the video, and wanted to comment one additional thought. I think maybe outside of every other reason, I think the gore and violence is part of Swery's views on the world as a Buddhist monk. Swery is a trained professional monk in Buddhism, and I feel some aspects of the game reflect the four noble truths of Buddhism. These are: 1. Suffering, pain, and misery exist in life 2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires 3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases 4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path I think if you view the game through the filter that it has Buddhist beliefs (which as Swery65 is literally a Buddhist priest, I don't think is much of a stretch at all to say there's maybe some Buddhist beliefs and filters in the game and it's vision) the game's depictions of pain, mutilation, and suffering make a lot more thematic sense. The first and second noble truths include that everyone will go through pain, but only those who are dissatisfied with life will suffer. Life is forever changing, and you can never permanently keep what you strive for (if you desire beauty, you will age and lose it, if money, you will need to spend and eventually will lose it in death, if you desire a dream, you may never be able to accomplish all you want to in a single lifetime, etc). I think J.J. wants to be their ideal image of themselves, and the actuality of their physical self is causing them great pain, they are dissatisfied and thus are suffering. Now, the Eightfold path includes to become aligned and "right" for yourself in the following: view intention speech action livelihood effort mindfulness concentration The idea for the Eightfold path is that if you can align yourself to be personally in-tune with yourself and correct your path in all eight of these areas, you can find inner peace. I personally think the game is about J.J. finding themselves to become more aligned with who they are rather than hating themselves because of who their ideal is they can't actually reach (IE, who we play as during the whole game is her ideal self, but not her physical self in life, which is causing great distress for her), which the journey tackles each of these areas in some way and helps her accept who she is, inside and out. Just my thoughts.

[@turbocat8329]

I wish I could have something to add, but I don't. I can say that this is a really great video.

[@Spikeygal]

Holy fuck, Swery. I haven't played yet, I didn't know about the gender aspect. My take would be that the themes of mutilation in that context are raw and honest, completely merited, but that take will vary a lot from person to person. Fucking kick ass video.

[@Quotate]

Great Video!