This piece is inspired by the works of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'. This piece is a monologue that talks about the nature of depression and who it can affect a person. It set on a beach after the world has ended and follows a young boy who is talking about his painful exsistence.
A person’s perception of life is generally based upon that person’s experiences with life. Give a person terrible experience and what will happen? Influenced by the franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion and the nature of depression, I sought to express the futility of life in a method that conveys how my audience may feel during times of difficulty.
The setting of this piece “…no shadows to distinguish each grain... hues of faint reds… everything is dead “, was heavily inspired by the movie, The End of Evangelion, a thought-provoking film with the pessimistic view on life that life is unfortunate, and you must accept that. This setting symbolises the bleakness Male feels, making him more believable to an audience. This impact of perception from experiences is seen in life today. Listening to a podcast from a Vietnam Veteran, I learned that was how their war ended. Soldiers returned home as husks of themselves. They had seen and done terrible things, lost hope in life and people and believed life was a painful thing that they were the cause of “I just keep letting me down”. Unfortunately, many veterans later took their own lives. I developed Male around this perception. His constant glances toward the grave-like mound allude to his guilt towards a death at his own hands.
The piece was intentionally crafted to be initially confusing. To leave the reader questioning what they had just read. This reflects my purpose – many people can't make sense of heavy mental issues because they don’t know what is happening or why. They feel lost and alone “NO ONE IS COMING” not knowing how to deal with what's happening to them or others around them, “NOTHING HELPS”. So many don’t know how to fix the issue, instead they continue to wait for something to change for the better, “Maybe it’ll change this time… this time? this time…”. Repetition and punctuation give the definition of insanity.
I chose a monologue in a post-apocalyptic setting to enable my audience to engage with Male as they hear and see his pain. By working through their confusion at his thoughts they come to a greater understanding that they are not alone in going through these issues no matter where they are.
