Stockholm Syndrome

It was time for Eaden's monthly movie night at Garret's barn, and Wheatley was bored.

It had been fun at first, back when Garret had found a projector and DVDs, but all these movies were exactly the same.

They all had the same plot: Beautiful Princess, Handsome Prince, True Love's Kiss. It was very repetitive, and not once had he seen the girl save herself. That was gender discrimination, that was.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle….

Garret had informed them that they would be watching a film called Beauty and The Beast, or as he called it: "Stockholm Syndrome the movie". Wheatley had been about to ask what "Stockholm Syndrome" was, but then the movie had started.

Little town, it's a quiet village. Every day like the one before…

Wheatley supposed this was a nice change. The lead girl seemed smart for once, and she wanted more than marriage, but adventure? Nuh-uh, his life with Chell was all the adventure he needed.

There's something sweet, and almost kind…

Wheatley wasn't always the fastest when it came to these things, but he felt he had set a personal picking-up-on-things record with this. Belle was falling in love.

Wheatley groaned inwardly, he thought Belle was smarter than that! The Beast had imprisoned her, denied her food, and tried to use her for his own gain. Who in their right mind would love somone like-

Oh…

Oh no..

As soon as the movie was over, Wheatley borrowed Garret's computer and jumped on the search engine. He was pretty sure he knew what Garret had been talking about…

Stockholm Syndrome

Stockholm syndrome is a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.[1] These alliances, resulting from a bond formed between captor and captives during intimate time spent together, are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims. The FBI's Hostage Barricade Database System and Law Enforcement Bulletin shows that roughly 8% of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.[2][3]

Wheatley felt sick. He didn't know why these Disney movies kept reminding him of his past, but finding out there was a fairy tale based on cryosleep was nothing compared to this.

"These alliances….are generally considered irrational…."

Was that all his romance with Chell was? A bizzarel mental condition? Some sort of unconscious manipulation on his part? It was just like the movie!

He wanted to talk to Chell , good heavens he wanted to talk to Chell, but if she did have Stockholm Syndrome, her reassurance would mean nothing. He needed to do this on his own.

Examples

As Wheatley read through the next section, he realized he was wrong. The people in the examples were delusional, loving their captors despite the fact that they would never change.

Believing the abuser would love them back even though they were incapable of that feeling.

Belle was different, she had seen good in The Beast, helped him rediscover his humanity. And in the process, they had fallen for each other.

Wheatley sighed with relief, Belle didn't have Stockholm Syndrome, and neither did Chell. In both cases, they had simply fallen in love. It was crazy and impossible, but it was love.

Wheatley smiled, that had actually been a pretty good movie, he just wished he could see how Belle and Beast dealt with having kids…

Oh no. Kids!