In The Connecting Betrayal, screenwriter Vivianne Rosenberg crafts a gripping portrait of a lady teetering between previous traumas and current longings. Winner of the Best Script Award for Drama on the Dallas Movie Awards, the screenplay is each intimate and expansive — rooted in deeply private expertise but brimming with international relevance. Through Valerie, a lady confronting the invisible tremors of adoption, menopause, and digital deception, Rosenberg explores the slippery line between connection and betrayal. In this interview, the multilingual author and multicultural storyteller opens up concerning the autobiographical threads behind the script, the psychology of household love become concern, and the braveness it takes — for each character and creator — to face the mirror of midlife transformation.
Valerie’s journey is rooted in questions of identification and autonomy. How did you develop her emotional arc to replicate the complexities of midlife, grief, and self-discovery?
The hormonal adjustments that ladies expertise throughout menopause can result in self-doubt and a insecurity. As a end result, girls of their 50s might start to query their goal in life. My personal experiences with the complexities of a midlife disaster impressed the event of Valerie, a personality who spent her life with the one man she met in faculty. As we age, all of us face grief and loss by household and mates, and Valerie’s journey displays this common expertise.
The script touches on adoption and the sensation of disconnection from one’s origins. How did you strategy the psychological nuance of Valerie’s childhood trauma in shaping her grownup selections?
The adoption of my eldest daughter by my second husband when she was simply six years previous impressed the adoption theme in my script. She skilled a whirlwind of feelings – confusion, pleasure, and anger that I hadn’t sought her permission. Despite my efforts to create a secure and safe life for her and her siblings, she felt psychologically susceptible and couldn’t comprehend why her organic father had given her up. The childhood trauma of abandonment continues to have an effect on her even in maturity.
Similarly, my character Valerie carries the deep scar of trauma into maturity. The silent affected by her previous shapes her, main her to hunt love, consideration, and want in ways in which finally lead her down a damaging path.
Themes of Betrayal & Family Dynamics: One of probably the most intense dynamics within the script is between Valerie and her youngsters. What impressed the portrayal of a household that concurrently loves and fears for each other?
Valerie’s youngsters, accustomed to seeing their mom as a pillar of power, sweetness, and mind, have been deeply alarmed once they witnessed a stark transformation in her character. She turned argumentative, susceptible to outbursts, and appeared to have misplaced her standard composure. This uncharacteristic conduct was a far cry from the mom they knew and liked, and it instilled in them a rising sense of concern and fear for her well-being.
This intricate household dynamic, the place the roles have been reversed and the kids took on the duty of caring for his or her growing old father or mother, mirrors my very own experiences with their older father and our grownup youngsters. It highlights the complexities and challenges that come up when growing old father or mother’s psychological or bodily well being deteriorates, and the tough selections that their grownup youngsters should make with the intention to guarantee their security and well-being. The emotional toll on each the father or mother and the kids may be immense, and the scenario can typically result in emotions of guilt, resentment, and helplessness.
The title, The Connecting Betrayal, is compelling. What does ‘connection’ imply on this context, and the way does it turn out to be a pathway to betrayal?
Great query!
Valerie’s life is marked by a collection of betrayals, beginning with being deserted by her organic mom as an toddler. She is then adopted by two lesbian moms and grows up with no father determine. In faculty, she befriends Brinda, who later betrays her by having an affair with George. Finally, Valerie falls in love with Luke, who seems to be utilizing an alias on social media. She finally discovers the reality and falls in love with a police officer from South Korea.
Social Media & Modern Relationships: The youthful man Valerie meets on-line serves as a catalyst for each romance and chaos. What message have been you hoping to convey about on-line intimacy and generational vulnerability?
While it’s satisfying to attach with new folks on social media platforms, it’s essential to take care of a stage of warning and keep away from oversharing private info or turning into emotionally invested in on-line relationships. Remember that not everybody on social media is who they declare to be, and a few might have ulterior motives. Think fastidiously earlier than sharing delicate info or agreeing to satisfy somebody in individual, and at all times prioritize your security and well-being.
How does the script replicate the stress between fashionable types of connection (like social media) and conventional household buildings?
My script explores the convenience of connecting with anybody by social media and the potential risks of being deceived or lured into dangerous conditions. It highlights the misperception that on-line interactions are protected as a result of lack of bodily contact. While conventional face-to-face conferences enable for a real evaluation of character, social media interactions can create a false sense of safety. The script additionally touches on the challenges of navigating on-line relationships inside immigrant household buildings, the place communication could also be restricted, and conventional household buildings, the place on-line interactions could also be considered as taboo.
Psychological & Criminal Layers: The intersection of private trauma and worldwide crime is a daring narrative alternative. What led you to mix psychological drama with a worldwide thriller construction?
Realistic fiction, with its relatable characters and conditions, turns into extra participating when an sudden twist is launched. This shock factor elevates stress, provides complexity, and permits the narrative to discover deeper themes, making the story much less predictable and extra thought-provoking.
Valerie is pressured right into a psychiatric analysis by her youngsters — a deeply unsettling and morally advanced act. How did you need audiences to really feel about this breach of autonomy?
I needed my viewers to really feel emotional, and that in the event that they know somebody they look after who wants assist, they will have the braveness to intervene. Valerie’s grownup youngsters knew their mom wasn’t herself, and she or he was happening the mistaken path. They intervene for good causes. And it highlights the act of intervening, have an intervention out of affection and respect, for his or her mom’s total well-being.
Creative Process & Personal Voice: You’ve spoken about drawing out of your life experiences. Were there particular feelings or reminiscences that discovered their method into Valerie’s story?
The basis of my writing, and Valerie’s character arc specifically, is constructed alone emotionally scarring experiences with psychological sickness, alcoholism, intercourse habit, and suicide.
As a multilingual author with a multicultural background, how does your identification form the sorts of tales you select to inform — and the voices you heart?
My humble beginnings and upbringing abroad had a major impression on my early identification formation. Traveling from the Philippines to San Francisco as a younger youngster, coupled with an immersion in music, artwork, meals and literature from the ’60s to the ’90s, fueled my creativeness and formed my worldview. I turned a dreamer, consumed by ideas of my aspirations, the folks I’d encounter, and the locations I’d go to. These experiences instilled in me a robust sense of self-expectation and ambition from a younger age.
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