Lilo & Stich’s gloomy parallels to ‘ACEs’ and classism
When you’re young and naive you tend to overlook the dark details woven into your favorite things. Boy did Lilo and Stich go over my head as a youth.
Trigger warning: Sentiments about child neglect and suicide included.
Don't get me wrong I love Walt Disney’s Lilo & Stitch(2002). If I were to roughly guess I’d say I watched the movie upwards of a dozen times as a kid. So make no mistake I will not be taking anything away from the quintessential franchise. But that's just my point, I’m not a kid anymore. I've grown to understand quite literally that everything happens for a reason.
Yesterday, the final days of my Disney Plus subscription drawing near- support the WGA by the way- I decided to try and rehash some childhood nostalgia in revisiting Lilo & Stich.
Still as enjoyable? Absolutely.
But wow did the deeper messages buried behind an adorable little girl and her pet alien go over my head.
For starters, there is no doubt in my mind that the main character of the film, Lilo, suffered from ACEs. Short for Adverse Childhood Experiences- ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood(0–17). ACEs have been linked to the causation of monumental social and health-related issues later in life.
“instability due to parental separation or household members being in jail or prison”
-A direct example of an Adverse Childhood experience according to the CDC.
Lilo comes from a broken family
Lilo has no parents or outside family apart from her older sister Nani, who has to take on more of a motherly role than that of a sister. As a result, she struggles with authority and tries to directly sabotage her living situation by lying to Child Protective Services about her treatment.
This is all just a desperate attempt to find any sort of friendship or sense of belonging elsewhere. Lilo is a poor soul adamantly seeking value- better yet- anyone who values her more than her pet rabbit who ran away at the beginning of the film.
Lilo is already conscious of the fact that she comes from a broken family and even unfortunately talks about wanting to die. These are details I just glossed over as a child, but this is huge in what it alludes to.
Lilo watches her sister-the only family she has- suffer from anxiety and borderline depression constantly. Lilo witnesses Nani almost instinctually turn down a date from someone she has a crush on. Just butterflies? Maybe…or, does Nani know that she doesn't have time for a love life outside of providing for her sister? The guilty tone and demeanor in Lilo's reassurance to the boy that her sister is into him is a clear indication that Lilo knows she's a burden. Their financial hardships are also something Lilo is aware of as she witnesses Nani lose her job.
Childhood trauma is a two-headed beast, the first head being the trauma itself and the other being the helplessness in these traumatic situations due to adolescence. Lilo had absolutely zero chance of bettering her situation hadn't her otherworldly companion shown up, which opens up a whole new can of problematic worms.
Stitch
Stich: verb
make, mend, or join (something) with stitches.
Once again I'd be foolish to assume coincidence here. The whole purpose of Stitch’s character was to make mends to Lilo's otherwise hopeless situation.
Where do I begin? Stitch is a byproduct of classism.
I mean I get why humans were afraid of Stitch he is a ferocious monster. But his own planet condemning him due to his upbringing despite being hideous monsters themselves showed similarities to classism.
In the opening scene particularly we learn that Stitch was essentially born to lose. Stich is the product of being dealt a bad hand, and instead of seeking to understand him, he’s immediately imprisoned.
In both of their respective worlds, Lilo and Stitch are social pariahs.
Lilo is notorious for violent behavior, and failing to meet her obligations(Showing up to dance practice). A crystal clear result of her hardships at home limiting her societal potential. She struggles to fit in, and Bubbles(a burly CPS agent) is frequently called to her house as a result. Additionally, Stich's narrative was basically written for him from birth. He is viewed as a crass and vulgar outsider with no place in society.
Admittedly the film's story does get a lot more positive, but hell it is a Disney movie after all, of course it does.
But the difference between a movie and real life is that less fortunate children don't receive a magical alien from the sky to appease their daily lives.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
I can't stress enough that this is not some type of condemnation of Disney movies with deeper meanings. Art imitates life, and beautiful stories such as Lilo & Stitch more than likely brought hope to a struggling generation of kids.
However, in this case, hope and betterment come in the form of theory, not practicality.
Meaning that in theory, Lilo & Stitch can serve as a conduit of representation and a beacon of hope that things can get better. But two victims of circumstance coming together to wreak even more havoc as a duo will not work and is not practical for real-world success. It is possible to overcome adversity, yes but don't let confirmation bias cloud your judgment of just how extremely detrimental an effect ACEs can have.
Many times, these rags-to-riches stories are the exception to the rule and not the rule itself.
Make no mistake, there is such a thing as too much trauma.
It is very important to be able to recognize ACEs and how to get help for those at risk.
“The first step to helping young people at risk for ACEs is for everyone in our communities to better understand these experiences”-CDC.gov/violenceprevention.
