#The Postman

[victusinveritas]

Deep in an Oregon forest near the Clackamas River, stairs to a power house for the Oak Grove Hydroelectric Power Station. Stretching around 1,000 ft and climbing about 600 feet.

These stairs were the once featured in Kevin Costner's The Postman.

[funstealer]

Clothing from "The Postman" (1997)

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[superbdragoncollection-stuff]

Hey, if you're running out of The Handmaid's Tale quotes to use, The Postman book is right there.

After the apocalypse, a man named Gordon picks up a postal worker uniform to protect himself from exposure. He gets mistaken for an actual postal worker, and begins a con to survive that he is a federal representative.

He accidentally revives the United States of America by showing that government is not this monolith, that federal workers are not evil scheming goblins. They're us. We are the ones who create society, we are the ones who build government. And without our support it goes away.

"It's said that 'power corrupts,' but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable."

"Of course we can establish constitutional checks and balances, but those won’t mean a thing unless citizens make sure the safeguards are taken seriously. The greedy and the power-hungry will always look for ways to break the rules, or twist them to their advantage."

"It was called ‘the Big Lie’ technique, Johnny. Just sound like you know what you’re talking about—as if you’re citing real facts. Talk very fast. Weave your lies into the shape of a conspiracy theory and repeat your assertions over and over again. Those who want an excuse to hate or blame—those with big but weak egos—will leap at a simple, neat explanation for the way the world is. Those types will never call you on the facts."

Its about how the US government did not collapse because of a single disaster but a dozen different causes and people deliberately dismantling our systems and attacking FEMA workers.

It is in the same category as The Handmaid's Tale. Instead of just women's rights, it's about civilization and government.

The bad guys are a bunch of right wing militia guys who deliberately trashed the US to fulfill their sick twisted fantasies.

Our hero is believed because he is providing a service. I guarantee you people know he is lying. But his con is very clever, he doesn't push it too far. All he is doing is delivering the mail, not threatening local warlords(directly). I guarantee you people know he is lying and they tolerate it because he delivers the mail.

[randomlittleimp]

Watching The Postman. You're really weird you know that,?

[holasoymqri]

players,admins,characters

ENGL:Roblox character drawings :>

ESPA:Dibujos de personajes de Roblox :>

I feel like I'm missing MORE characters but since I already published it lol

Siento que me faltan MÁS personajes pero ya que, ya lo publique jsjsjsj

[gameo-archive]

"This was basically just George talking about the postman and the straydenation group name + shoutout. “Are they stray Jayden’s” George we love you and are forever proud you worked out the group name 👏🏻 "

Where do you think the Dead Letter Office is and how does it work? And why is the Postman the ultimate villain for constantly scaring two teenagers with PTSD?

[sketchro]

A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara

[baddingtonbitch]

The Postman (1997)

[fishermanshook]

Heart Felt Letters (postman x reader)

j1KIEN2 on Pinterest

This is just a little drabble, I’ll probs continue this tbh.

Victor isn’t sure the last time his heart beat this fast for someone.

He isn’t completely sure if a moment like this every really happened to him before.

But there’s a first time for everything, right? He thinks to himself as he douses his pen in ink again, checking that he didn’t collect too much.

Once the letter is finished, he licks the top and places a small upside down heart on the letter. Completely sealing it.

The Postman lowers himself onto one knee and gives the letter to Wick. There’s no need to communicate about its whereabouts anymore. He’s delivered notes like these enough times that he doesn’t need to hide his little smile anymore. These notes that are filled with lovely words that have sent your heart pumping and your stomach full of butterflies.

There’s a first time for everything, except you can’t count the last time you’ve had to read another letter that ended with;

“Yours truly, XXXXXX XXXXXX.”

note: wrote this while listening to “Butch 4 Butch” by Rio Romeo, I LOVE TJID SONG SO KYCU YOU GUES

(2023)©️fishermanshook — do not steal, translate, plagiarize, or repost my work on any other platform

[gregorygalloway]

Il Postino premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 1 September 1994 (it was released in the US in June 1995).

Massimo Troisi had purchased the rights to Antonio Skármeta's 1985 novel Ardiente Paciencia (which had been based on Skármeta's 1983 film of the same name) and sent his adaptation to director Michael Radford. Radford was unhappy with the script, and began working on changes with Troisi and Anna Pavignano, who changed many elements of the source material, including shifting the location from Chile to Italy, shifting the timeframe from present to the 1950s, and the protagonist from a teenage fisherman to a middle-aged postman.

Troisi, who had long-standing health issues, postponed heart surgery to star in the film. The 41-year-old died 12 hours after shooting had been completed.

Il Postino was a commercial and critical success, receiving 5 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Radford), Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It received the Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score (Luis Bacalov).

[nayru-s-clay-tablet]

Just a quick shout out to @maldrea-shoots-stuff -- the many awesome references on that blog were so so SO helpful in finishing this Patreon comic -- especially in regards to figuring out colors (my greatest weakness (ಥ◡ಥ) ).

If you need any BotW references, it's a great place to check out!

[arconinternet]

Fiasco (Book, Robert James Parish, 2006)

You can digitally borrow it here.

[prettymorgueboy]

I went to the amusement park and all I have to show for it is victor.

[superbdragoncollection-stuff]

The Postman

The novel is much better than the film. It's about a man in a post apocalyptic environment accidentally rebuilding the United States by being a dedicated civil servant. He pretends to be a postal worker.

Twenty years after World War III, Gordon is robbed and finds an old postal uniform in an abandoned truck. He takes it to protect himself from exposure, and is accidentally mistaken as a postal worker by a nearby settlement. He then decides at the next settlement to deliberately pretend to be a postal worker representing the "Restored United States". People are desperate for hope and believe in him. They remember fondly the old days of mail, and the postal workers. But more than that, the concept of the United States as one unified country is revived, how we're all the same.

Funny enough, the author actually brings up several obvious points about how this could be a scam(which it is at first!). In the best scene in the novel, he shows off his uniform, which they point out he could've taken from a corpse, and he shows off documents that he could've faked. The thing that makes them believe him is he legit DOES bring the mail! You can easily see that as desperate as they are for hope, there are people who see through his lies, but don't bring it up because he's providing a vital service.

He also deliberately doesn't push his luck. This scam is quite clever: he claims to be from the restored United States, but that he's a scout, there won't be anyone else coming for a long time. He's just here to deliver the mail, he is not threatening local warlords' powers. He fakes a document of rules the "new congress" "created", but they're all simple things that don't mess with local authority for the most part. So there's no reason for the warlords to challenge him.

What ends up happening though is he accidentally creates a revolution: the Restored United States becomes real through Gordon's efforts.

Civilization and it's symbols are what the book is centered around. By being a symbol, Gordon is accidentally able to recreate the country. It shows that government isn't some nebulous entity, it's a construct made of people, and that people can repair it as much as we tear it apart. It's not Gordon who overthrows the warlord, it's the common folk. He shows them, and reminds them, of what they used to be, and what they can become again. There's a heartbreaking scene where he visits a town that's having a dog fight. It's horrible, but what makes it so is the mounting depression Gordon instills through his disapproval. The mayor of the town thinks to himself, "what's happened to us? I was a member of the ASPCA!" The dog fight is stopped as they remember. It's not through some grand act Gordon brings about a revolution, it's a reminder of the good things the government does. It delivers the mail, and fixes the roads. Civil servants are the backbone of society! Through this little scam Gordon accidentally reminds people of what they are.

One of the best things about the book is Gordon. He's not a goody goody, he's a con man! The film casts Kevin Costner, when they should've cast Michael J Fox. Gordon is a former college student and national guard trooper who just wants a place that's civilized: he wants to find someone who's doing *something* to rebuild! All he wants is a place with electricity, showers, and hot food. He is NOT mad max. I think the writer was commenting on tropes of the time, Gordon HATES living in the squalor of the apocalypse! He doesn't think of himself as a hero, or a decent person. He acts pretty decently for a con man, and in fact constantly kicks himself for not being a ruthless monster that he views as being better for surviving this world. He survives not through gunplay, but through his wits and his skills. He kills few if any people that I recall. He's a scholar, not Mad Max. You feel sorry for him a lot, he's just some guy who wants somewhere to go, and a leader to follow. Yet he also retains a "civilized mind" as the book calls it. He laments this fallen world, how the US sent probes to Jupiter, how they were building genuine Artificial Intelligence before the war, and now they were reinventing serfdom. He's moved to tears by the little last stands made at the end of the war, by the last efforts of the mailman who's uniform he took. He's just a guy who wants to go home, but there's no more home left. And yet through his idealism, through his memory, and his wits, he recreates the world he lost.

I would put the book weirdly into the same category as The Handmaid's Tale, which I have yet to read. It's difficult to articulate; rather than the central theme being women's rights, The Postman is about civilization, yet spoken about in the same way as the Handmaid's Tale. The Handmaid's Tale was a commentary on the 1980s evangelical Christian ultra right wing nationalism that made itself known under Reagan. Women's rights falling apart was not an irrational fear: it happened in Iran in 1979. Check out photos of Iran from the 60s and 70s, women are all wearing western clothing, smoking, going to college, Iran was a very modern country. There is an American movie filmed months before the revolution which has a female police officer as a major plot element.

The Postman is criticizing the same types of people, and there is real similar precedent. Reagan was talking about government being "evil", and his administration deliberately destroyed and undercut tons of government social safety nets and services. He fired so many air traffic controllers it was years before they could train more! The right wing is STILL trying to dismantle the postal service!

In the novel, civilization and government wasn't destroyed by the war itself, it was the conditions that came after. There is a faction of these nutty hyper survivalists who are all but stated to be white supremacists; basically every ultra macho racist misogynistic doomsday prepper you've seen. These guys deliberately destroyed reconstruction efforts and ruined what remained of society. Just like the Handmaid's Tale was a commentary on right wing politics of the 80s, I think The Postman is commentary on the exact same part. It really drives home that civilization, and government itself, is a positive thing despite its flaws, with more good than bad. The heroes are dedicated to rebuilding lines of communication, recovering all that was lost. We see over and over again that while we've stumbled, it wasn't government that destroyed civilization it was barbarity and cruelty, a *lack* of government. Society can train armies, create medicine, build roads and towns, and stop people from being hurt and dying. The war itself didn't even destroy civilization, it was neglect and the destruction of order. These people aren't trying to merely survive; they *are* surviving, they want to *live*. And that means rebuilding everything that was lost. Building cities, fixing libraries, and having dedicated civil servants. There's no hope that help will come from elsewhere, we must take action into our own hands. The book emphasizes that government is not this alien monolith, it's us, it's people, and without people, everything falls apart. It is so effective at delivering this message, it drives home a very moving and nuanced view of patriotism. Our heroes are farmers, workers, and postal workers. They're not rich folk, or macho men, they're everyday citizens who want things to get better. Our hero is a skinny little con man! "Don't you want more out of life?"

One can even argue the book is a battle between two views of the United States of America specifically. The survivalists have a right wing view of the country and the world, might makes right, individualism or death, manly man things, greed is good, and how everyone should be "independent". One of them is a former stock broker for crying out loud! Others are these ex military guys, many of whom rape and pillage. Gordon and his friends have a more left wing view of government, equality for all, might *for* right(if might is even in the equation), the ants must work together and stand together, that the smallest among us deserve as many rights as the largest; united we are strong, knowledge is power, and community is for the benefit of all, for justice, for peace, and for the future. Our hero is a lanky college student turned postal worker, others are a coalition of scientists, feminists, and *hippies*.

The book is surprisingly progressive with regards to women's rights. There's weird 80s attitudes toward feminism, but I would argue it's much more charitable than others. It's very clear the author does care about women's rights, and his heart is in the right place, he just doesn't quite grok all the issues. He puts feminism firmly on the side of the heroes. The female lead who is declared to be a feminist is depicted as naive, but it's more about her than feminism itself. And it feels more like the characters than the narrative. The one who calls her "an old school feminist" is a middle aged scientist, and Gordon is very jaded. His attitude is more about how he doesn't want anyone else to die more than being anti feminist. And the reason for her naivety might be more subtly implied to be that she learned her attitudes purely from books rather than lived experience. She manages to get female soldiers into an army at one point, and the problems aren't with that itself, but the army overall is in trouble. By contrast, the villains want to completely annihilate women's rights as a whole, again, A Handmaid's Tale. The ending has a segment that I'm not sure where to fall on, but I think remains in that thought that the writer very clearly has his heart in the right place but doesn't quite understand.

The book is, to quote another post I saw, filled with infectious optimism. Gordon is a fun hero who's not some macho loner, he just wants a bed and a hot meal, and accidentally causes a massive revolution. It's about how government is what we make of it, and is a force for good more often than not. We have to create the future, or others will do it for us.

[208tinyhorses]

Alternate universe where Kevin Costner's The Postman was a big hit voice: It's crazy how the biggest cultural impact of The Postman was inventing Body Father pornography.