Thank you for coming back to read part 2 of my WandaVision and Grief blog post!
From the first two episodes of the show, we can clearly see Wanda struggling to adapt to the drastic changes in her life with the loss of Vision, the man she loves. You can see she is in a stage of Denial, struggling to even accept the reality that he is no longer her, the life they could have had will never happen, and no matter how powerful she is, she is ultimately powerless to change the real world outside of her internal (made external) reality she inhabits.
You can see the ‘What could have been?’ continue to play out throughout the third episode, especially with the emergence of her pregnancy. Even the accelerated rate of the pregnancy itself, with her going from finding out she’s pregnant to giving birth within the space of a single episode, could be due to the panic she may feel with the beginning of the real world starting to creep in.
The grieving process is not something that can be hurried or rushed through. Rather it’s something that is different for everyone. Naturally when the loss involves a significant relationship like the loss of a partner, especially when its unexpected, the grief is accompanied by the ‘What if’ questions which make the denial stage more desirable and harder to manoeuvre through.
It’s not until we see the third episode that we begin to see Wanda making her way towards the next stage of the process, Anger.
With Anger there isn’t really a baseline to who or what the bereaved person finds themselves angry with or at. Whether it be the situation itself, the person or thing (if any) that was involved with the loss, or even, as seen in Wanda’s case those around who try to offer help and support that she isn’t ready to accept.
For Wanda, we can see why her alternate reality is desirable, after every heartbreak and loss within her lifetime as it was, this is the only and first opportunity for her to live the peaceful life with the man she loves. It can be something that we see with those who are left behind, how difficult it can be to reach the point where they can see what is truly happening, especially if the real world contains only sadness and despair.
The fourth episode shifts the focus from Wanda to the reality around the world she has created, so we don’t see an awful lot apart from what we have already viewed in the first three episodes. But what we do see is the people who want to help her, whose motives differ from the majority and see Wanda for who she truly is, which is a woman who is grieving.
It’s through the anger that is clearly building, anger with Geraldine (or Monica) who was simply trying to reach out to support Wanda, and offer understanding that the cracks really start to appear for Wanda and the life she has created. If she lets Geraldine into this reality then she has to acknowledge that it’s not the true world outside of West View. And through acknowledging that West View is not a true reflection of the reality she would have to face the reality that Vision is gone.
You can feel the panic as she sees Vision for what he is at that time, but you can also see the effort and energy she puts in to ignoring this and continuing with her pretence.
I think this is due to fear, fear that when she lets this go she will have nothing left, her actions are in anger but also this fear of letting it all go. This highlights perfectly why this journey is so individual and cannot be rushed, it also highlights that all we can do for those grieving is to simply try to be with them during this time, as pushing them to do anything different or even seek support can often cause them more distress if they themselves are not ready to acknowledge what is happening in this reality.
Part 3 coming soon!