Jack Stauber’s Opal: A Tale of Trauma
And it’s impact on children
Jack Stauber
He is someone you may not have heard of, he’s a musician and YouTube creator whose songs you may have heard if you frequent the internet, but he has been a creator for much longer than the existence of TikTok.
His extensive discography has been so impactful and iconic, but today I want to write about my favorite Stauber creation, Opal.
Opal is a twelve-minute short created by Jack for Adult Swim, centering around a young girl and her relationship with her family. This article will contain spoilers, so I suggest you watch the video before reading further!
We begin the film with a scene of our main character at a dinner table with three other people. They sing the words, “We see you, Opal, your troubles are miles away,” they then each greet her individually. The mother says, “There she is,” the father says “That’s my girl,” and the grandfather simply says “Hello Opal!”
She touches the burger on her plate, as if not knowing exactly what to do with it. Picking up the burger, she gets on the table and begins to dance. Her family cheers for her and congratulates her. Her eyes wander towards the house across the street, as the window on the top floor…
