Hattie Earle: What pop culture gets wrong about PTSD

It seems like the term ‘trauma’ is everywhere now; it has become one of the central lenses through which we view our experience. However, trauma as a medical diagnosis – PTSD – is very young. It only entered the diagnostic mind in 1980, based largely on research from the Vietnam War. The returning soldier is a familiar character across American popular culture forms, especially film and television. And their depictions follow a narrow model, both instantly recognizable and mostly inaccurate.

This talk addresses the direct representation and erasure of traumatized veterans, while also considering the wider representation of trauma at play in popular culture. Beginning with a brief overview of the relationship between the Vietnam War and trauma, I show how vets are either ignored or painted in offensive, inaccurate ways. And finally, I will attempt to answer the question ‘so what?’ What does this mean for vets, for comics, and for our understanding of trauma?

Content note: some images of combat and violence; sustained discussion of trauma and PTSD.