Self scratch

9 MINUTES

Fixating on her body, a woman grapples with strange distortions of the self

The short animation Self Scratch captures a young woman’s anguish and fading confidence through her deteriorating relationship with her body. The mirror becomes a battleground as the woman’s perception of herself and grasp on reality begin to erode. She scratches her scalp, revealing dandruff; examines her armpits, finding hair. She tears at her broken fingernails, which scrape against her shrinking body. Shards of a shattered mirror find their way into her hands, but strange, small creatures that bounce along her skin, trying to piece the broken shards back together, hint at the part of her that seeks repair.

Self Scratch is inspired by the Chinese filmmaker Chenghua Yang’s personal experience of a breakup, during which she alternated between manic and depressive episodes. Reflecting on this period, she writes: ‘The fear of talking to others caused me to talk to myself a lot. The words accumulated in my heart but did not come out of my mouth.’ Yang found solace in exploring her suffering through drawing – and a way out of the darkness. Her emotive film sheds light on this journey, illustrating with raw emotion the impact of mental illness on the physical body and the many ways it can distort one’s worldview. Yet, Yang’s creation hints at hope: at the film’s close, the woman’s red hands gently, softly trace the contours of her body, as if feeling it for the first time.

Director and animator: Chenghua Yang

Producer: Benoît Ayraud

Website: Lardux Films

Explore more

Photo of a person walking on an empty city street at sunrise, casting a long shadow amidst tall buildings.

Jaywalking man

Even before I got hit, I’d come to find unexpected bliss in waiting at street corners

by Lawrence Everett Forbes

Illustration of a room with a plant on a table, soft coloured walls and a window with curtains.
POETRY

‘You are me; I am you’ – a trans poet’s evocative message to her former self

Video by On Being

A person with long blonde hair in a beanie and coat, facing away from the camera, wearing a brown backpack in a blurred busy street.

How to anticipate and cope with mania

If you have bipolar disorder, you can learn to play an active role in managing your symptoms and live a fulfilling life

by Kim Pape & Sheri Johnson

A Miami Beach police car with flashing lights surrounded by people and photographers at night.

Gun world

Is it possible to feel grief and survivor’s guilt after a mass shooting that didn’t occur?

by Jess Keefe

A group of people outdoors looking serious, with one woman wiping her eyes in the centre. Trees and buildings in background.

The hidden calculations that determine whether you will cry

We think of tears as an overflow of emotion, but an evolutionary lens shows they’re a rational form of social signalling

by Daniel Sznycer & Debra Lieberman

A mountain peak with a walking path and hikers, under a clear blue sky with scattered clouds.

The benefits of thinking about deep time

On a walk through the Welsh countryside, I travelled through 4.6 billion years of Earth history – and you can too

by Richard Fisher

Illustration of a simple cartoon figure with a bob haircut wearing a green crop top and red skirt on a light background.

Growing pains, bras, size, sex – a group of women get candid about all things boobs

A film by Subarna Dash and Vidushi Gupta

Close-up photo of an elderly man with a beard wearing a black cap, lying in a hospital bed, looking content.

After four decades in prison, Big D contemplates the brave new world that awaits him

Directed by Laura Tejero Núñez