Child abuse comes in many forms. It’s a horrifying cycle that can continue for generations. It’s a painful cycle for a child. The constant fear in your own home. Yet the need to search for a safe space within your nightmare.
The 2020 short film “Opal”, directed by Jack Stauber, captures the horrifying truth behind child abuse using claymation.
The sad truth behind this film starts with a burger. Opal is at a table with her family and a burger placed on a plate right in front of her. Her family does everything they can to validate her. “There she is,” says the mother. “That’s my girl,” says the father. “Hi Opal,” says the grandfather. Yet Opal still hesitates to interact with the burger slightly poking at it. She gets the final push she needs from her mom, “Go on, you can do it.” This brings joy to Opal’s eyes as she understands what to do with the burger. Dance. With great merriment, Opal dances with the burger. Opal dances until her eyes happen to peer out the window. There is a dark house that captures her attention. Her family instantly shuts this down, “What do we always say, don’t mind the house across the street, Opal. It’s not where your attention ought to be, Opal.” Opal is then sent to bed before she gets back up and sees the dark house again. Despite her family’s best efforts, the house releases a sound from the attic that draws Opal’s attention.
When Opal enters the house, she sees a man watching TV, which makes her afraid. She accidentally steps on a wrapper, and the Old Man calls out to Opal, thinking she is someone called Claire. Opal responds to the Old Man’s demands for Claire to get him cigarettes. She tries to give him the cigarettes, and the Old Man loses his mind, and says she isn’t Claire, and tries to capture her. Opal runs and when she gets to the second floor of the home the same music that lured her into the house is heard. Opal’s eyes go wide with fascination as she approaches a door. Before she gets to the door, she is stopped.
It is at this point Opal sees a man encased in a chamber of mirrors. He does notice Opal, but at what cost? The man is completely trapped in his appearance and has a constant need to be seen. “I’ve gotta be seen by someone out there, and now I sit here in my reflection chamber, fixing myself so that all can savor.” The man is searching for validation, desperately, to the point of relying on a child for emotional support and stopping her from leaving.
While the mirror man has distracted Opal, the old man has been making his way upstairs. Opal runs. The old man yells and this startles the man encased in a chamber of mirrors causing him to shatter one of his mirrors.
Opal is terrified and finds herself in a room with a woman who pulls her down. The woman starts rambling and claims “I forgive every single one of you every night, it’s a virtuous cycle.” We can tell the woman has problems, her actions and appearance are consistent with someone who has substance abuse issues. The lady almost admits to being a problem before backing down “I feel terrible for all the things I… feel terrible.” The lady then sings about her need to have someone relying on her “Mama needs a little girl to fall in her arms, mama needs a mama’s girl to take care.” After her song, we even see flashbacks to some of her abusive actions before dropping a bottle of alcohol. She calls Claire powerless and raises a hand to Opal before she runs off.
Opal finally makes it to the attic. She walks over to the window expecting to see her real home. Safety. Yet all she sees is a billboard for “Opal’s Burgers” with a healthy-looking family. It is at this point where reality sets in and Opal realizes she is Claire.
Everything she believes is a lie. She is not Opal. She is not safe. She is not healthy.
She is scared and helpless in this home.
For anyone who has experienced emotional, physical, or psychological abuse in a family setting it is easy to relate to this sad reality. This Adult Swim short film has a lot to unpack in just 12 minutes. It is a horrifying story that all comes back to a burger. Claire is a malnourished child who seeks validation and simply wants to be seen. She knows she can’t find this in her home so she finds peace in an imaginary family. At the end of the day, you can’t live in your imagination so she is forced to face her real family. A family that relies on her. The grandfather needs her for cigarettes. The father needs her to validate his existence. And mother needs Claire to hold back her hair. That’s not even the beginning though. The mother also needs Claire to be weak and powerless pulling her down physically and mentally. This is to help her feel as though she is in control. Claire also never talks in the film, only ever having a couple noises escape her mouth. She has no voice.
To truly understand this short film you must compare Claire’s imagination to her reality. In Claire’s imagination, all she wants to be is seen and cared for. Her imaginary family is constantly saying her name, looking at her, protecting her, feeding her, and taking care of her. It is all of these elements that Claire lacks in her actual family. The short film even goes as far as to make Claire seem slightly more healthy in her imagination, but as she makes her way through her home she starts looking worse and worse. Her hair turns lighter even thinning out and her skin loses color and is no longer smoothed over.
Jack Stauber is an intentional director. The Opal stone is commonly used as a stabilizer. In the short film we see that Claire is used as a stabilizer for her family, to the point of constantly needing her. Opals can also represent desire, hope, and freedom so it is hard to find the name a coincidence. Claire is wanting freedom and uses her imagination not only to give herself a mental break but also to give herself hope. She desires a family who cares.
Opal stones are also delicate and are considered living stones, to take care of this stone it needs water every so often. Without proper care the stone will crack. At the end of this short film when reality sits in for Claire, we see her bent over on the ground having a breakdown. The lack of care from her family causes her to break.
This short film is truly heartbreaking when you start dissecting all the elements of it. Stauber has a true talent to convey such a complex topic in only 12 minutes. If you haven’t seen this short film you can watch it on YouTube for free.
