"Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug & Catnoir": The Complexity Of Chloe Bourgeois

Abuse is a complex issue. One that a lot of people don’t understand (victims and non-victims of it). Due to this, representing abuse within a text is tricky. And that’s a major issue. Representing abuse accurately in media is a crucial way of educating people on the subject. It teaches people how to approach the topic and also what behaviours to expect.

Obviously, there isn’t one single type of experience. There also isn’t one single way of helping a victim of abuse. It’s a complex issue but the more it is accurately represented in media, the closer we get to bridging the gap in communication between victims and non-victims.

Does “Miraculous” Accurately Portray Abuse?

I’d say so. I think the biggest thing working in the show’s favour is that there are numerous characters experiencing abuse. Three, to be exact: Chloe, Adrien and Kagami. Each character experiences abuse in a slightly different way (although a common factor seems to be neglect) and they respond to the abuse in vastly different ways.

Chloe mimics her narcissistic mother in an attempt to gain the love and affection she never received growing up. Adrien establishes very low standards for how other people can treat him. Kagami is socially inept.

All three characters have been negatively affected by their abusive parents. Chloe turned into a heartless bully, Adrien is practically a doormat and Kagami is incapable of making friends on her own (the other party has to be able to see past her awkwardness in order to be her friend).

All in all, this seems like a fairly diverse portrayal of abuse. It mostly stays in the territory of emotional abuse and neglect (but it is a show aimed at seven-year-olds so that makes sense). But the characters themselves are diverse.

Chloe

Chloe is possibly the character that the fandom is the most divisive on. On the one hand, she has potentially the worst experiences of abuse and she has what looks like the setup of a redemption arc but on the other hand, she is so nasty that it’s hard to like her. You may sympathise with her and want better things for her but how many of you actually like her? How many of you would actually be friends with her in real life?

It Is Not Your Responsibility To “Fix” A Toxic / Abusive Person

Let’s also get another thing out of the way before I go in depth into her characterisation. I, in no way, endorse exposing yourself to people who don’t treat you well. I don’t care if they have the most tragic backstory in existence. If someone doesn’t have the decency to treat you with respect and kindness, you shouldn’t have to interact with them.

The idea that a tragic backstory makes it your responsibility to be with someone or worst of all “fix” them is incredibly toxic. You have every right to cut ties with someone who hurts you. It is on them to fix themselves, not on you. Never on you.

So while I sympathise with Chloe, until she has shown that she can coexist with other people without bullying them, I will continue to see her as a bad person. Is she misguided and acting out as a result of her abuse? Absolutely. Should other characters cater to her needs and put up with her behaviour? Absolutely not. That would be a terrible message to send to kids. It would lead kids to believe that they are responsible for other peoples’ health and wellbeing. The only characters who should be responsible for Chloe are her parents.

That aside, Chloe is an incredibly complex character. One who simultaneously inspires intense dislike and sympathy.

Chloe’s Abusive Background

Growing up, Chloe was neglected and emotionally abused by her mother (Audrey). Audrey didn’t even bother to remember her name. To top that off, Chloe’s father is a spineless, corrupt politician who caters to her every need. Chloe received neither discipline and boundaries nor the love of a mother. This, combined with her incredible wealth and power (through her father) gave her an inability to respect most people in her life. It is almost impossible for her to hold herself accountable and she doesn’t care enough about anyone else’s opinion to listen to their complaints. The only exception to this rule is Ladybug.

This means that Chloe, at 14, is a heartless bully who uses her wealth and power to terrorise the people around her. She expects everything to be handed to her. And at the same time, she is desperate for her mother’s affection and so she mimics her in an attempt to be recognised. This furthers her downward spiral into being a narcissistic, selfish and downright delusional bully.

To everyone, except the audience (at specific moments), she is a two dimensional mean girl. She is not careless or unintentionally harsh, she makes it clear that her goal is to hurt people. She makes it clear that she does not care about the people around her and will do whatever it takes to get her way.

And while I would love to see her grow and develop into a better person, I don’t think it’s bad writing or a bad message if she remains a terrible person by the end of the show. Growing up in an abusive family is traumatic. And unfortunately, sometimes victims of abuse will cope with their trauma by continuing the cycle of abuse. They will deal with the pain and hurt in their past by hurting other people.

It’s sad but it’s true.

Should Chloe Get A Redemption Arc?

I love redemption arcs for victims of abuse. I think they serve as a wonderful message. A beacon of hope. But not every abuse victim has to be redeemed. Especially in a show that has other victims of abuse who break the cycle, it’s fine to have a character who doesn’t. It’s sad but it also serves as a message to kids.

It teaches kids that sometimes people who have been hurt become toxic. It teaches kids how to deal with toxic and abusive people. How to recognise when someone won’t change. And most importantly, it teaches kids that it is not their responsibility to change someone else. Their responsibility is to look after themselves.

These are great messages. And so while I would love a redemption arc for Chloe, it is not out of character or unrealistic for her not to get one. Yes, she improved as a person. She gave the miraculous back and showed genuine regret but that does not mean that she deserves to be rewarded. She made a mistake and, under the guidance of Ladybug, she made amends. That’s wonderful. It shows that she’s growing as a person.

But remember, at this point, she may respect Ladybug but that’s it. She hasn’t stopped bullying people. She hasn’t stopped disrespecting and disregarding her only friend. She’s still incredibly narcissistic and selfish. In fact, she only wants her miraculous back because she likes the glamour of being a superhero.

Redeeming her at this point would tell kids that so long as a person has at least one good characteristic, they can be as terrible as they want. That’s not a good message. A better message would be if she truly put in an effort, without expecting instant rewards and learned to genuinely care about other people. If she changed her behaviour and stopped being a bully.

However, if by the end of the show, she remains unredeemed, that’s still okay.

Adrien + Kagami

I’ve already written about Adrien and Kagami’s experiences with abuse so I won’t go into too much detail here. You can read my first review by following this link.

Adrien reacts to his abuse in the exact opposite way to Chloe. He is sweet beyond belief. Some people even think he’s a Mary Sue (he’s not). Clearly, this is an example of someone breaking the cycle. Even though his father kept him isolated and deprived him of love and affection, Adrien never lashes out at innocent bystanders. His father’s behaviour upsets him and traumatises him but he continues to be sweet to other people. And instead of internalising the negative messages Gabriel tries to instil in him (like telling him he’s better than everyone else and should cut his friends out of his life), he continues to reach out. He continues to accept friendship and companionship whenever it is offered to him.

The one downside is that he has incredibly low standards for his friends. He has been so robbed of love, affection and companionship that he is incapable of rejecting it. Despite seeing through both Chloe and Lila, he continues to be friends with them. Yes, he is sometimes assertive and open with his disapproval but he still allows these people into his life.

Kagami, on the other hand, is socially inept. Due to her isolation, she genuinely doesn’t know how to interact with other people. Adrien befriends her because he’s a sweetheart. But with every other character, even ones who are normally sweet, she struggles to communicate. In fact, it takes Marinette being a creepy little shit, going through her phone and seeing an app for how to make friends for her to realise that Kagami has no ulterior motives. She isn’t messing with Marinette, she’s just trying to make a friend.

Despite her abusive mother, she remains confident and assertive in her desire to make friends. She is also assertive in her desire to confess her love to Adrien. You may not ship Adrigami but you have to admit, her having the confidence to go after what she wants is amazing. She is actively defying the messages that her mother has tried to instil in her. Instead of allowing her mother to isolate her, she is actively reaching out and creating genuine friendships.

Kagami breaks the cycle.

Final Thoughts

There are two main reasons why I’m happy whether Chloe gets a redemption arc or not. 1. Her characterisation is set in a way that makes both options seem logical. 2. There are other characters who deal with abuse and are able to break the cycle. Since there are three characters with abusive parents, having one of them not being able to break the cycle kind of makes sense.

In fact, by not giving Chloe an easy redemption arc, the show is telling kids that they don’t have to always forgive and forget what the toxic people in their life have done. It allows kids the opportunity to see that it’s okay to want to distance themselves from someone who is toxic. And that it’s not their responsibility to fix another person. Their responsibility is to take care of themselves and look after the people who treat them well.

I like that message. I think it’s quite underrated, especially in regards to children. It’s so easy to simply demand that a character be forgiven based on their tragic background. But I think that most people forget that Chloe is based on real people. She isn’t completely detached from reality and so there is a huge chance, that most of the audience will come across at least one person like her.

And for when that happens, it needs to be known that it is okay to not allow yourself to be sucked into someone else’s toxicity. Just look at Sabrina. I’m sure she thinks that Chloe is a good person deep down. They certainly have some good memories. But does that mean that Sabrina should just put up with Chloe’s toxicity and abuse? No. She’s a victim just like Chloe. And she has to look out for herself because when she doesn’t (like in the show), she gets hurt.

That’s a relationship dynamic that happens in real life. In fact, that’s how abuse often works. The abuser will be manipulative, demeaning and hurtful 90% of the time and then there will be a brief honeymoon period to trick the abuse victim into thinking their abuser actually values them. We shouldn’t forget that. Chloe is a victim, yes. But so is every person she has bullied. She is not and should not be above criticism. Yes, she has the potential to become a better person but she also has the potential to become an even worse person.