mary woodburn

my favorite scene😌

my favorite scene😌

Imo, y’all should be grown enough at this point to understand the behavioral patterns of struggling teenagers. I think a lot of people don’t fully understand the damage this girl suffered from that kind of upbringing. Maybe because it lacks rage and noise? Because being silent is exactly what she was taught to be, so it’s not that obvious to people?

Mai was taught to shut her emotions down. They were constantly minimized, punished, ignored, or suppressed just so her father could climb the career ladder. To her parents, everything else was more important than she was. How could she possibly learn to be open with herself and communicate her emotions in a healthy and respectful manner? This is a skill you learn. Realizing that the very people who were supposed to teach her emotional regulation are the reason she struggles with it is deeply hurtful. (I also got the vibe that Michi is trying to redeem herself now that she’s separated from Ukano’s influence? Idk.)

Mai acting like she doesn’t care about anything and seeming emotionally numb is just a coping mechanism. How do people not get that? It’s a way of protecting herself. Imagine your own parents not caring about what you think or how you feel. That kind of environment plants the belief that your authentic self has no value. That’s scary. She was never taught how to recognize or process her feelings properly.

And we’re still talking about an underaged girl here. Someone who is struggling and doesn’t feel safe enough to communicate her needs, which is unbelievably sad. The last thing anyone should take away from that is that she’s ‘boring’.

Expressing needs, vulnerability, disappointment, or affection can feel extremely uncomfortable when you grow up like that. Self-expression only works when you are in a safe environment, and unfortunately, Mai never really had that in a deeper sense. Beyond the image of being a rich only child, most of her interactions must have felt emotionally superficial and conditional.

It seems that now, as a teacher at the Academy, she’s starting to reflect more deeply on those issues and slowly grow beyond her past. Especially with the flashbacks of her parents basically forcing her to be friends with Azula, someone she didn’t even like.

Working closely with children and potentially their parents as well will probably give her an even deeper understanding of how harmful ideas about education, discipline, and values can shape a child’s mental health and behavior at school.