PTSD In The Film, Black Snake Moan

In the film, “Black Snake Moan,” (Brewer, 2007) numerous events transpired over the course of a few weeks creating an enthralling story. The main characters of this film included Rae, Ronnie, and Lazarus who all formed a close family bond under unfortunate circumstances. This film began with Ronnie, Rae’s boyfriend, preparing to go off on duty in the military. At first glance, the viewer gets an insight of how Ronnie and Rae’s overall relationship is like, which is quite explicit and unconventional. Rae has an uncontrollably high libido which causes her to do whatever she must to fulfill her needs and desires. The viewer also gets an insight into Ronnie’s unfortunate form of PTSD. As Ronnie leaves to go off to the military Rae is left heartbroken

Over the course of the first night of Ronnie leaving, Rae managed to become quite inebriated and completely blacked out of her current situation. Throughout the evening Rae was sexually abused by multiple men, and Ronnie’s friend, Gill, abused her to the point that Rae was borderline dead.

After those events occurred, the viewer is introduced to Lazarus who had recently been heartbroken by his wife, who had cheated on him with his little brother. Lazarus found Rae in the middle of the road a mile from his house. He took Rae in and got the medical equipment he needed to heal her wounds. Over the course of a few days of Lazarus caring for Rae, Rae's true colors came out. The viewer gets to see flashbacks from Rae’s abusive sexual history and her powerful libido. Lazarus believed he could cure Rae of this evil by chaining her to his house and not letting her escape until she understood the importance of taking care of herself and conquering her unhealthy drive. Over a week period, the viewer learns more information about Lazarus and Rae. Rae was sexually abused by her stepfather causing her to act out on impulses to accomplish

Rae had PTSD because she had been sexually abused by her stepfather; because of this unfortunate event, it caused her psychological distress throughout her life. Ronnie had PTSD which was produced by any vast noise. Unfortunately, the film does not give an insight as to why this disorder had developed, but the viewer can infer what may have occurred in his life. An article called “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007) stated that PTSD could trigger various things that transpire over one’s life. If those events do not seem to fade away and are continuously relived through an individual, that is where PTSD is developed. In the article, it stated that people who possess PTSD relive the traumatic experiences through nightmares, flashbacks, and could also have difficulty sleeping. These symptoms are detected in Rae throughout the film because she would often have reoccurring nightmares of her stepfather walking close to her causing her awakening violently. For Ronnie when he heard loud noises he would feel the urge to vomit and have his chest feel tightened. These symptoms may have developed because he felt like he could not escape his current situation. The article also stated that people usually have three common symptoms when PTSD is established, the first one is reliving the traumatic situation or becoming unsettled when a