A futuristic wasteland, the setting for an encounter between a sci-fi hero and his arch nemesis. As the hero and the protagonist get closer to fight, they sense an attraction to each other,..and begin to passionately kiss. Sounds like a good setup for a Fantasia Film Festival film, right? So the story goes from Neil (Michael Johnston, Teen Wolf), a young freshman who spends his time writing fan-fiction set in the world of Vanguard, his favorite series. An outsider at school, taunted and made fun by cooler kids with cooler reputations, Neil is lost within his world of Vanguard, penning his own stories, bringing the homoerotic subtext to the forefront, but too ashamed of sharing it with anyone.
Neil’s bashful and low self-esteem demeanor is put to the test when he meets the free spirited Julia (Hannah Marks, SOUTHBOUND), a tough as nails fellow fan fiction writer who takes Neil under her proverbial wing and compliments his writing. With Julia’s pep talks, Neil finally gains the courage to upload his Vanguard fan-fic to a popular site designated to hosting a community full of writers. Against the site’s 18+ rules, Neil acts like he’s older, and like Julia, becomes a part of the fan-fiction community, quickly finding his voice and a following. He’s sent private messages by an older man named Denis (Michael Ian Black, WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER), asking Neil to do a live reading for the group at an upcoming Comic-Con, a situation that he knows can only lead to disaster, given his age.
While this setup might seem a little childish to some, what SLASH is able to do is very accurately shine the light on what it truly feels like to be an outsider. It’s a film that brings back memories of feeling like you’re not good enough or that what you’re passionate about, according to others, isn’t worth a damn. With every action by the confused Neil, we feel for the guy and it’s heartbreaking at times to see him set himself up for disaster, just because he wants to find his own voice and figure out who he is and what his place in the world is. SLASH doesn’t beat you over the head with any of its messages, instead, it allows you to experience them alongside him. The closer Neil gets to Julia, the stronger the attraction gets, leading to more confusion within the young man. Is he gay, is he bi? The truth is, like so many young people figuring themselves out, the answer isn’t all that clear and SLASH really succeeds at portraying that teenage confusion that comes with growing up.
Filled with very realistic performances by Johnston, Marks and a memorable and less creepy that anticipated performances by Michael Ian Black, SLASH is a film that shows the painful reality of growing up while trying to find yourself in a world filled with obstacles. It’s a film that is about truly finding yourself a nd your voice and facing any obstacles in your way. A truly touching film.
It is becoming clearer to psychologists, therapists and healers that the inner child has more of an influence over our lives than we were previously aware. This part, although living in our subconscious mind, is a living conscious part. It is the child we once were and it holds all our hurts, disappointments, traumas, anger, negative feelings and sadness.
We may not all have experienced trauma or extreme difficulties, but we have all experienced upset and possibly hurt to a greater or lesser degree. Often these past pains are reflected in our current life circumstances. That bout of depression, that anxiety, those panic feelings, those critical thoughts, those issues with food, that fear of intimacy and so on. These are all brought on by your inner child, because that part has not healed and it wants you to know. It wants you to go back and give it a hug, it wants you to listen and help, and it wants your love. When upsetting or sad things happen to us as children we don’t just forget about it. It becomes suppressed within us, and at a later date will manifest as illness, bad days, the blues, anger, fears, self-sabotage or something else.
So to undo the conditioning or upsets from the past we have to connect with our inner child, we then have to help heal this part which will in turn free us from all that seems to disable us.
Connecting with the inner child is a relatively easy exercise which you can do right in this moment. To fully heal your inner child takes time and possibly the revisiting of many childhood memories where you would help the child to release trauma, pain or even something little which felt big to you as a child at the time. This form of healing is hugely valuable and can change your life in an instant. We identify fears that we have had for years and learn to love and accept ourselves from an adult perspective.
We build upon our fragile self-esteem and learn to comfort ourselves in healthy new ways. Your inner child wants your adult self to give it love, attention, acceptance, and protection. It is fragile and vulnerable.
This inner child is playful, fun, and very creative. Many of us have rejected our own inner child and need to go within to find and then nurture this fragile entity within us. This is a process and takes some time to do. If you are open to the process of healing and integration that will reconnect you to your amazing inner child you need to realise that this can be a frightening process. Several negative and sometimes terrifying feelings can resurface from within. Again, one must be responsible enough to self- monitor and to know when it is time to seek out a therapist for the appropriate help.
The goal of inner-child work is to bring out the beautiful, precious inner child and learn to love it as a parent loves a child. Once these lost parts have been acknowledged, accepted, and feel safe you will begin to feel more “whole” and find a sense of joy and happiness that you never felt before.
Tom and Christine Moran, MA, MIACP, MNAPCP, experienced facilitators, counsellors/ psychotherapists and supervisors.
“Although this workshop was difficult for me, I felt supported by the facilitators and the setting was beautiful for the deep therapeutic work we were doing. It was a safe and powerful experience. Thank you both.” – Emma
“In January 2018 I attended an inner child workshop facilitated by Christine & Tom Moran. On my journey there I was feeling anxious and unsure almost afraid of what to expect. When I arrived at the new beginnings centre, my fears were alleviated immediately; it was lovely to be greeted with the smell of fresh coffee and homemade scones.
We were all invited into the purpose built dome, my breath was taken away, I loved it. As the session went on I don’t know what had taken me over “was it the gentle music, the safety of the group” or a connection with my inner child, I found the warmest healing tears come down my face. I am struggling to put the feeling into words of what I experienced, the freedom and the joy I felt was amazing. Later in the session I connected with the 5 yr old within me and to give her a voice was powerful.
I can still connect with the feelings the healing; the freedom that I got in touch with on the day. I promised myself and my inner child on the day that I will never allow anyone to Shame, Hurt, or humiliate or disrespect me ever again. Thank you to all at new beginnings for providing me with such a safe loving healing place to connect with the whole of me. I love me.” – Sylvia