oh no live blog of Lala land
starting with a traffic jam and the NOISE is a terrible start
the ACTUAL SONG is maybe worse, this is like. Sparkling Elevator Music.
the extras are selling this dance sequence
this movie is banking hard on my having feelings about Hollywood and California that I absolutely do not have
blah blah struggling actress, L5Y did it better
Another song!! it is also. Bad.
why are these songs so nothing
why is the lead actress either not strong vocally or being coached to be not strong vocally
it's all very aesthetic so far but there's zero warmth? it's trying SO hard to be Golden Age Musical but it's missing all the fun, somehow
Lead Girl's friends insisted she come out to a party and then DITCHED HER?? and left her to walk home alone while drunk?!? they are roomies this is gonna be awkward as hell
...I am fifteen minutes in, this is all somehow worse than I expected
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After many months of sporadically yelling my thoughts in various posts.........it is time.
*turns out there's like, so much competition for being the worst dad in this galaxy
**a biased account from someone with their own very mid dad
Read on for an unnecessarily lengthy argument and just make sure to picture me like this the whole time
The Evidence:
Similarities/parallels between them
Shapeshifting -- They both transform so fully and easily from rebel mode to fancy rich asshole and back again throughout the show. Others do as well, but not nearly as often as they do and not nearly as sharp contrast from one thing to another
Quick tempers -- Evident from the way they snap at each other and the people they work with
Familiar framing -- There’s nothing accidental in this show. I believe the below photos draw a very deliberate, if subtle, parallel between them. We don’t see any of the other rebels using a stick like that, and Luthen's doesn't seem to actually have a function besides making youtubers believe he's a Jedi (I have a whole spin-off conspiracy theory on that we can get into some other day if you ask me)
Blonde -- Obviously. Though it seems Vel's hair is changing for season two. Perhaps a hint that she is trying to distance herself from her father's influence? (okay this part is mostly a joke but then I talked myself into something)
Also, this brand new page from the Dawn of Rebellion visual guide book that made me go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! because, you know, proximity is everything. It would have made much more sense for Kleya to be on this page and Vel to be beside Cinta on the next page, right? Nope, not if there's a deeper connection here!
Their first interaction
Even before we meet Vel, Luthen predicts to Cassian exactly how she will react to them being there
He first tries to greet her with a big fake grin. Big time dad behavior to act like none of the past shit between you has ever gone down. But Vel remembers, doesn’t buy the act
Basically their interaction is just very familiar and informal, then breaks down quickly because of their attitudes toward each other
Vel is being very childish for most of it, pacing around, not keeping eye contact, then fully acting like a kid who doesn’t want to pick up their toys (see above picture)
Which then brings the Big Dad Energy from Luthen - "LOOK AT ME!!" he yells. The dadest dad behavior to ever dad. I can so easily picture this from my dad. "Look at me when I'm talking to you! Do what I say!" You have no choice but to shut up and obey unless you want to lose your allowance heist mission
Maybe he does actually care?
The night before the heist, Luthen is acting very strange, so much so that Kleya calls him out for being nervous. This is understandable given the stakes. BUT!
“They’re either going to be okay out there or they’re not” from Kleya is interesting. Be okay, rather than do okay. Like she knows he’s particularly worried about their safety, about one person’s safety especially?
And Vel’s mentioned in the very next line, reminding us of their connection again: "Vel's the only one who traces back" -- could be because she’s the only one who’s seen him, but who would actually be able to “trace” that??
Vel's need for approval
Veeerrryyyyy familiar to every eldest daughter constantly ignored by dad, seen most prominently in her interactions with Kleya
First right after the heist -- "Where is he?" ... "He read your message." "I really thought he'd be here?" Oh? Why's that? Why would he be there unless it was personal? Unless there was some sort of expectation of praise for the job well done, or comfort after losing so much of the team?
Later, before Ferrix, Vel won't give Kleya the information about Maarva's death until she secures the "I'll make sure he knows where it came from" promise from her
Rebellion is a family affair
"But Chip, Vel can't be related to Mon and Luthen!" Why not? There's nothing really that says Luthen isn't/can't be Mon's uncle
In fact, it might even make it easier to understand how a prominent Senator who's outwardly so centrist and careful could get Luthen's attention -- they always knew each other!
Anyway, a visual aid made months ago by @jedi-valjean, outlining the possible family tree, along with what seems to be the typical Chandrilan matriarchal naming conventions:
Vel Sartha, nepo baby
Vel absolutely does not have the experience or the stomach to be leading a mission like Aldhani. Why did he let her? That's right, nepotism
Hints to this in both her interactions with Kleya -- first "this is what revolution looks like" and then "You're off the rails. You're lucky he's not here"
She's clearly not ready and messing things up, but she's not facing any consequences for it because of her proximity to Luthen
Their second interaction
The convo on Ferrix is less loaded but still interesting
Vel looking at him and greeting him with a hint of "oh so you do acknowledge that I exist....but only because I have the information you need"
Again, the way they talk to each other is oddly informal for a boss and subordinate. Plus at the end he gives her tasks like a dad handing out chores
(also seems to like saying Cinta's name to her. supportive of his daughter's girlfriend, that gets him some good dad points)
Luthen's talk with Lonni
pound for pound, this is the most important part outside of their first interaction
As Lonni comes down in the elevator, Luthen congratulates him on becoming a father to a "healthy, beautiful" daughter. Tells him he must be pleased
Lonni thinks he's being threatened, asks "Do you ever think how it might feel from my side?" And Luthen tells him "I think about you constantly."
This. Shit. Makes. Me. CRAZY.
Because Luthen *was* Lonni. Just a guy with a daughter, trying to fight for something better
Also he sacrifices Kreegyr and all his men just to keep Lonni’s cover from being blown. Obviously that’s selfish on one hand, he gets to keep his spy, but also….Lonni’s daughter gets to keep her dad. I don’t think Luthen's just saying that to appease him. “You love your daughter," he says. The whole thing hits home for him and he thinks about it constantly
Basically the whole scene is a conversation between Luthen as he is now and Luthen as he could have been -- “Your investment in the rebellion is epic. A double life. Every day a performance.” He’s TALKING TO HIMSELF
And what does Luthen sacrifice? "...Kinship....Love" -- the love of his family? His kin? He may have his daughter in his life but they're hardly more than coworkers because of what they have to do. They're both sacrificing a real relationship with each other
"I burn my decency for someone else's future" -- he's sacrificed being a good father to fight and make a better future for his daughter!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The shoutout to his ego not having a "mirror" calls us back to Vel and Cinta's conversation, another probably deliberate thread supposed to connect them in our minds
"You'll stay with me, Lonni" can mean both that he's not letting Lonni out of this and, again, that he's always thinking of him (always thinking of that other version of his life)
The Conclusions
Putting together all the evidence and the fact that no one in the show seems to know about the connection between them, I can basically come to two possible conclusions:
Vel didn't find out this man was her father until she was already an adult
She knew him as a child but then he began making his calculations and left her and her mother
Either way, they would have gone years without interacting and thus it would be easy to hide their true connection once they've been reunited. And either way, their relationship would be as strained as it appears. Vel would want to have his attention and approval in a way she never did before, and Luthen would feel guilty enough to give her a job she hasn't really earned.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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