Bug Therapy? Oh boy, that feels good. You wanna get that sanitizer in there. I love that we're so close. You can separate from time to time! I grind my own beans. Mortals... Ugh. Thanks for coming. Y'all ready to share your deepest, darkest secrets? Nope! (Spider mumbles nervously) Okay. Hey, welcome to the group. I'm Dr. Pill. Oh, I'm not in the group. I'm not crazy. But- uh. But if... um... you are. Ma'am, we try not to use the word- Crazy? Crazy about coffee. Did I tell you I'm addicted to co
ffee? I love it, but it makes me so jumpy. Yeah, don't worry. He'll be back. Now, let's all join hands and you can tell us why you're here. I'm back! Got my coffee. Got a refill? Swung by Starbucks. They were busy,
went to Pete's, went to Phil's, then I chose Coffee Bean. Settled on Coffee Bean. No, no, no, no, no. Not- That's not good! I- uh- I don't hold hands. Ugh. Here we go. You don't know where these hands have been, really. You know? Yeah, I think we do. Ew. Let's skip the hand thing. Tel
l us why you're here. No, me? No, I'm fine. No, I don't have a problem. It's okay. We're all here to support each other. Can you get off of me? But I love you. And I love spending time with you. But I can't breathe! We'll get to your couple's issues in a minute. I'd like- What? We don't have couples issues. Did you tell him we have couples issues?! No, no, I didn't tell him anything. I might have sent one email. You tell him right now we do not have couples issues. Okay, okay. Okay. Can I text h
im? Where did you guys meet? Let me guess. Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Pete's, Dunkin Donuts. The other Starbucks. I'd really like to hear
from our new member. What'd you order? Cappuccino, espresso, latte, double latte, cafe au lait Americano, macchiato, Piccolo latte- You know, you're really kind of clingy,
you know what I'm saying? Maybe you should talk to somebody. I think we always do it to you. Oh, come on! Now I gotta clean those. I just cleaned my ears. Somebody, get me a Q-Tip! I know you'r
e not supposed to- C'mon, what really brought you here? You can tell us. No, you see, what happened was there was a spider and I tripped. And you know what? Your group looks so full. I don't want to take up anyone's time. Yeah, yeah, I get all that. I'm good! Ask her over there. Are you praying? Is that what you're doing? I am God. People should be praying to me and they don't. That's my problem. For the love of God, woman. This is not about you. Everything's about me. Let me get this right. You
're a praying mantis,
but you don't pray. I see... Oh look! A crow! Oh, my God! You're praying now, aren'tcha? Yeah! Hey! What is our only rule? No laughing. I'm out. How is this girl ever going to feel safe? If she's afraid you're
just going to laugh at her. [Spider breathes nervously] Ew. What's- what's- What's going on there? What is that? He can be afraid of spiders. Has anyone told him he's a- Shh Like I said, no problem's too weird. Ehh. That's. That's kind of too weird. Yeah. It's okay t
o not be okay. This group is about acceptance. Right... Who's that? Like you guys accepted me. Who said that?! Oh look, I see him. There
he is. The stick! Look at the stick! See? Right next to the leaf. Right over- oh. I think he's there. It's like I'm not even here. You know? Did anybody even address me? No. Anyway. You are kind of invisible, and your little pet leaf doesn't help. Well, I see you, Stickbug, and I'm glad you're here. And how's he doing? Mm. He's still afraid of autumn. When all
the leaves die. [crow caws] Oh, that was scary. Is everyone okay? Stupid crow! I spilled my coffee. I wasn't afraid. Are you okay? Yeah. I had your back. I had ya covered. Are you okay? That was scary alright. Wow, I thought you guys were goners. He's circling back! We need to get out of here now! The good news is, we're not lunch. Wait- wait! Sorry, lady. Out of time. My name is Citronella. And? And um my problem My not very big problem is... No judgment. Safe space. Just spit it out. Well, I'm
a mosquito and I faint at the sight of blood. [all burst out laughing] Ha ha ha. Oh, it's not that funny though,
'cause it's a safety issue. Ohh! Oh-ho-ho! How's that for a safe space? Who's laughin' now? Hehe! It's me. Wait. Is that blood? Oh, it happened again. I'm back. Got my coffee? Wait. You're a mosquito and you faint at the sight of blood. Yeah. [laughing] Ahh! Hey! I dropped my coffee. Yeah. Citronella, if you want to join the group, I think a spot just opened up.
Comments
i was really expecting this to be a wholesome animation about how going to therapy is ok but boy was i mistaken.
As someone who’s been to group therapy, if everyone had laughed at my problems I would’ve left immediately, they literally said the only rule was don’t laugh. From the beginning she’s pressured to open up about her problems instead of being given a moment to feel secure by the group.
So each bugs I’ve learned so far with their issues: Fly - Germaphobic of one self (kinda see why on different levels there) Praying mantis - self center and fear of crows (mostly dying I think) Grass hopper (from what I can guess the type of bug the Starbucks guy is) - addiction of all types of coffee The couple (dragon flies I’m guessing) - one that has issue of clinginess and the other clearly seems depressed and wanting to be left alone to feel free Stick bug - feeling invisible (irony there) Leaf bug (I’m guessing on the stick bug’s pet) - fear of autumn (mostly dead leaves) Spider - literally arachnid phobia (ironic he is a spider which makes me question it but it is interesting) Mosquito - faints from sight of blood
Hmmm… don’t want to be mean but I kinda dislike the end. I feel like it was rude to laugh when it was supposed to be a safe space. And the killing of the grasshopper was not funny in the slightest. I like the animation and approach to it but I feel the ending wasn’t satisfying and left me feeling more empty than I started it.
Man, I thought that Pillbug was just a really good Dr. Phil impression, but it actually WAS him. This is so wonderfully animated and I would honestly love to see this as a series or a full movie. The characters all have unique personalities and vibrant colors.
While I appreciate the simple message of the short film, I think they could have spent more time developing a story about each of the characters. It felt as though they barely scratched the surface of each of the bug's problems. The group as a whole rejected Citronella and her issues. Dr. Phil preached about being accepting, and he laughed at her problems with the rest of the group. Even at the end when everyone was squashed, Dr. Phil's character was like "I guess we can take you in now." Like what? Where's the sense of community? I like the concept and I was excited about this short film, but was left disappointed. That being said, happy mental health awareness month <3 wishing everyone who struggles the best
We need part 2 where Citronella finds a good therapist because this short animation's ending has a potential to discourage people hesitating about starting therapy. And sometimes it takes time to find a therapist that is right for you.
If I was Citronella, I would never come back to this therapy group. I hope if this is ever made into something larger, that will be addressed and everyone (including Dr pill) will have some character development and learn to deal with their problems.
As someone who goes to therapy myself and is scared to talk about my negative feelings, I'm a bit disappointed with this short. Putting aside the fact that Dr.Phil is problematic, the message at the end was delivered poorly. Them laughing at her for being scared of blood just threw the message of this being a safe space right out the window. I know the way the characters are was met to be "comedic", but it doesn't sit right with me, a few of them feel like stereotypes. And why was it implied that the main character joined them at the end even though ALL of them laughed at her. Overall, beautiful animation, poor message.
Y'all realize that this means Dr Phil has a bug-sona
WOW, I am surprised this does not have more attention! The animation is absolutely stunning and it has a cool premise with amazing talent behind each character. Love to see what is to come with this!
I feel like this film could have benefitted immensely from a Sensitivity Reader or two early on, I feel like that’s all it could’ve taken. For a short film about group therapy, psychological issues and acceptance, it’s coincidently very cynical to the point of being dismissive and even discriminatory lol. To me, it’s not at all a portrayal of real mental illnesses or struggles— virtually everyone who attends the therapy is portrayed as a delusional caricature to the point of looking stupid— and is so unforgiving about its one-note characters that one is literally killed off for a laugh and no further reaction despite technically being one of the friendlier characters to the protagonist. Plus I get the protagonist saying “ew” to the spider and fly was intended to reference human feelings about the irl bugs, but it felt kinda messed up considering they’re both all anthropomorphic bugs and implied to be mentally ill lol. To top it off, it’s unfortunate that all the short seems to hinge on is Dr. Phil’s bug self-insert and then building around it. I think the animators and modelers did a solid job, though. Sorry to critique the writing so hard, but I was like… Damn 😞💔
I don’t think the message was conveyed super well, but man that animation was incredible
I'd watch a whole movie about these characters! So cute and charming
Are the dragonflies based off the fact that they usually kind of cling together when they mate as if they were a clingy couple??? That's so cool!!
If this is turned into a full movie, those other bugs better get their act together, cause making fun of someone's fear and laughing at it, even when you said this place is a safe space ain't okay. If I told someone "hey I have a fear of snakes" in group therapy, and they started to laugh at me, I'd want to leave too. This entire short sums up every fear I had about group therapy, but the thing is instead of showing that it isn't like that, it just confirms the fears someone might have about it, which not only discourages someone from seeking help and finding a community of people who uplift them, but also just makes it feel like a waste of something that could've been a very powerful and validating message. If they had started laughing, but as Citronella was going to walk away, said "That's all you were afraid to tell us about? None of us were gonna judge you for that!", and reminded her that her feelings are valid, and her phobia is valid, it would've been so much better. Really hope you guys fix this, because laughing at someone's trauma and emotions doesn't help them get better. I joke about my issues all the time with friends, but they don't laugh because they think my issues are stupid, they laugh because they understand how I feel and can relate to it. Friends who laugh at your issues solely to invalidate them are jerks. - sincerely, someone who went to group therapy!
this is why im scared of group therapy. actually therapy as a whole. i have a lot of mental illnesses and im scared of people laughing at me. i dont like having attention on me and id just rather suffer alone and bottle everything up and make jokes about it lol
nothing like celebrities to badly explain therapy
This was so awesome! I loved every second of this. I hope this gets turned into a feature film soon!
what a cute lil hypocritical therapy group (man, even the therapist is judgemental) anyway, love the animation and the character designs