Amazon’s Undone Series — Analysis of an Underrated Masterpiece About the Self and Reality
Have You Heard of This Rotoscoped Animation With Themes of Psychology, Mental Health, Human Experience, and Timey-Wimey Multiverses.
The Undone series (2019–2022) is not what I would call your typical animated series. On the surface, it melds rotoscoped animation with reality, but beneath that, it delves into the realms of psychology, mental health, and the human experience.
Its creators, Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg grapple with heavily intertwined themes of trauma, time perception, and the boundaries between realities and people, using what I personally consider beautiful animation, music and story-telling.
I want to showcase Undone from two angles, psychological implications and philosophical themes. This way we can let surface the beautiful undertones of this series!
I cannot recommend enough the fandom wiki dedicated to this series.
From a Psychology Standpoint
Perception of Time and Reality
At the heart of the story lies Alma Winograd-Diaz, our protagonist, and her unique ability to perceive time non-linearly. She gains this ability after being involved in a car accident. The line between objective reality and subjective experience becomes blurrier and blurrier as the series progresses, asking us as viewers to question whether Alma is going through a mental breakdown or experiencing a real rupture of spacetime. This angle mirrors the real-world debate on the nature of reality, naturally making us think about how our perception of time and events may be more complex than it seems.
Grief and Trauma
With life scarred by the sudden and deeply traumatic loss of her father, Jacob, Alma deal with unresolved trauma and gives us a glimpse through her eyes at how trauma can shape our perception of reality, experiences and relationships. Is Alma's journey a form of a coping mechanism or is it an introspective exploration of a deeper truth? The portrayal underscores the complexities and stages of grief, and how it can distort, magnify, even redefine one's understanding of the world.
Mental Health and Stigma
Parallels are drawn between Alma's experiences and her grandmother's schizophrenia diagnosis. The lines usually separating the mystical and the medical are thoroughly blurred, making us doubt the nature of what Alma's experiencing. Vital questions arise about how society perceives and treats mental health, where perhaps there is not enough room for mystical experiences within our understanding of mental health, without them being automatically pathologized.
Relationships and Identity
Alma's relationships – with her sister, mother, and boyfriend – are central to the narrative. Through these interactions, viewers get a sense of Alma's struggles with identity. Is she defined by her experiences, her familial history, or how others perceive her? The series subtly posits that our relationships both shape and reflect our personal identities.
The Spiritualy Mystical
Indigenous beliefs play a significant role with many of the presented experiences framed in a shamanic context. It is suggested that there may be aspects of human experience that originate beyond the empirical and the scientific. Weaving a narrative that plays on the borderline between the psychological and the mystical, Undone prompts introspection on the intricacies of the human experience.
From a Philosophical Standpoint
Undone is a rich playground for philosophical exploration. From the nature of reality to the fluidity of time and the essence of the self.
On The Nature of Reality
Is reality an objective, shared by all in the same way, or is it a subjective unique and individualistic journey?
Alma challenges the conventional understanding of an objective reality. Reality becomes moulded by our perceptions, beliefs, and experiences, back and forth through time. The eternal battle between the beliefs of realism (fixed, observable reality) and idealism ( reality is constructed by our perceptions) rages on continuously in the series.
Time and Its Fluidity
Time is most easily understood when assumed to be linear, where we have a past, present, and future. Undone offers a skewed perspective of fluid time where events from different points in time can coexist and intertwine. Philosophers like St. Augustine have grappled with the concept of time throughout history, questioning its linear nature and pondering on its relation to the soul and God, suggesting time is present in, and measured by the mind.
Determinism Or Free Will
As Alma explores her past and future, the series poses an essential question: Are our actions predestined or can free will really change our fate? The strong tension between Alma's experiences and her father's intentions plays out this age-old debate, making viewers question the extent to which anyone has agency in their own lives.
The Self and Identity
Is Almna defined by her relationships, traumas, genetic predispositions, or unique perception of time? The series touches on the concept of the self, echoing philosophical inquiries by thinkers like Descartes ("Cogito, ergo sum" — I think, therefore I am) and Hume’s notion of the self as a bundle of perceptions.
Life, Death, and the Beyond
Alma has numerous interactions with her deceased father, and other family members living in the past thanks to her journeys through time and reality, touching upon the ideas of life after death, reincarnation, and the cyclical nature of existence.
The Interplay of Science and Spirituality
This juxtaposition of the worlds of neuroscience and mysticism raises questions about the separation between the two realms, and whether they can coexist and complement each other.
Beautiful Soundtrack Line-up
One cannot speak of Undone without mentioning the beautiful soundtrack, with some track melancholic while others make the heart race! Here is a playlist to get you started on the journey:
Final Remarks
Not only entertainment but a catalyst for profound philosophical reflection. It encourages us to wonder about the complexities of existence, time, and the self. By doing away with the lines separating the known and the unknown, the series offers a rich tapestry of ideas, making it a philosophical masterpiece in animation.
References
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