A little bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika

wingsoutstretched:

Thank you, Morgan. Thank you, show. I’ve actually been talking about this privately with another abuse survivor over the past couple of days, but this makes me so incredibly proud of this show, of what it was and what it could be, that I need to say something.

Because yes, the person you ‘are,’ the person who people meet for the first time and get to know, is so influenced by the past trauma they’ve endured. And even if they’re reluctant to share it, even if they don’t talk because they’re afraid you won’t understand or you’ll reject them, those lived experiences have changed you, have helped define the person you are. 

I am the person I am, and I’ve made the choices I’ve made, in part because of the trauma I’ve endured. I’ve emerged stronger, yes, but I won’t pretend that I’ve not been in other, crucial ways, been influenced by that. And for this show to give us someone as rich and nuanced as Derek Morgan and tell us that he is shaped, in these ways for the better, by the abuse he suffered gives hope to abuse survivors and negates the stereotype that abuse has a strictly decimating effect.

Basically, I’m applauding Jim Clemente for giving both voice and agency to victims throughout this episode, not just for the victim-of-the-week, but for Morgan, too. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.