#can't say i hate this piece

[jacquelinemerritt]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame vs. The Prince of Egypt

Originally posted September 21st, 2014

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is actually similar to The Prince of Egypt in a lot of respects. Both films deal with the nature of faith, racial discrimination, and class warfare, and Hunchback also does a fantastic job at showing the atrocities committed in the name of the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. Hunchback’s score is also phenomenal; Hellfire is absolutely brilliant, and its use as Frollo’s motif just adds to how sinister of a villain he is. So what’s wrong with Hunchback then? That I can actually narrow down into two categories: The Romance, and The Comic Relief. (Yes, I’m doing this film differently than The Lion King; work with me here).

The Romance

I’ve heard the arguments for why Quasimodo shouldn’t end up with Esmeralda. And they don’t hold up. Sure, it’s realistic that the ugly guy doesn’t get a pretty girl. Sure, the film did work to establish Phoebus as Esmeralda’s primary love interest. Those are both valid points, and they would both matter if it weren’t for one thing: the film makes us watch as Quasimodo has his dream of romantic love crushed.

Oh, well, THAT’S sure a fucked up message you’re sending, Disney. Apparently ugly guys cannot ever find love beyond platonic relationships and have to accept that that will never change!

It’d be one thing if Quasimodo hadn’t fallen in love with Esmeralda. There’s really no reason for him to be in love with her; everything he does for her could simply be considered a mark of friendship. But this film goes out of its way to directly state that because of how ugly Quasimodo is, he will never find romantic love. Ever. Hell, I’d be okay if they had set up Quasimodo as someone having a childish crush. But he’s very much in love with her, as the voices in his head (aka the gargoyles) make clear.

The only thing I find redeemable in the romance is Quasimodo’s full acceptance of Esmeralda loving Phoebus. That’s a bit of interesting drama that if played correctly, could have turned into a much more interesting story; namely, a story about Quasimodo accepting that being a “nice guy” won’t get you the girl if she’s not romantically interested in you. But instead, it focused on Quasimodo’s devotion to Esmeralda, and made that devotion into one of the key forces that drives the plot.

The Comic Relief

I want to preface this by saying that not all the comic relief in this film is bad. Some of it is fantastic, in fact.

The scene above, The Court of Miracles, is the perfect kind of comic relief for this film. It walks the line between being zany and creepy absolutely perfectly, with a bunch of flamboyantly dressed characters happily dancing and singing about how they plan to kill Quasimodo and Phoebus. It’s a nice, funny interlude that still doesn’t break completely from the gloom and darkness present in the rest of the film, while still providing quality humor and a nice break from Frollo’s rampage. Compare that, to this:

That song does not belong in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It just doesn’t. Nothing about that sequence fits the tone of the film at all, and it ends up just serving as a distraction from the fantastic main story. And the same can be said about any scene containing the gargoyles. I wouldn’t mind there being a quirky sidekick in this film if it was Esmeralda’s, Phoebus’, or even Frollo’s sidekick. They could both be aware of the gravity of the situation and try to make it easier to bear by joking about it. But the gargoyles are completely disconnected from the rest of the plot. They are stone creatures only Quasimodo can see, and their job is to make witty commentary on Quasimodo’s love life; at no point except the final sequence do they interact with any of the main story in any substantial way.

What The Prince of Egypt does better

Everything. The only thing The Prince of Egypt doesn’t do better than Hunchback is criticize the Catholic Church for the Inquisition, and that’s because The Prince of Egypt is set in (surprise) Egypt. Prince of Egypt has a better score (only by a little though), it has better characters and character development, it has better animation, it has a better romance (which thankfully is treated as incidental, since it is only incidental to the plot), and it has much better comic relief. Hotep and Huy are much funnier than the gargoyles, and they fit much better into their story than the gargoyles.

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[raticalshoez]

"Back when you cared about me."

"I still care, Etho."

//

DISKAKWKDNWKW SECRET LIFE HAS BEEN FULL OF BOAT BOYS WHAT THE HELL WHAT THE HELLLLLL /pos

[ghastlyaffairs]

for something as trivial and simple those feelings sure are hard to get rid of

also made a gif a version for fun + alt version with no tears under the cut

the gif is in very low resolution...this is a feature (i could make it bigger but that would require saving each frame individually and than glueing it all together. also i feel like low resolution suits it better. aesthetically and fits the mood)

[shima-draws]

Me: Hehe Sanlu!!!!

Fandom: Oh but Zoro? Where's Zoro? What about Zoro? Including Zoro in this. Adding Zoro here because. Zoro tho

Me: KICKING YOU IN THE SHINS STOP THAT

[boar-cry]

so hold on to what little you're left with, lest you lose that too.

( the Truth is you never learned how to let go. )

( 1 , 2 , 3 )

[skrunksthatwunk]

actually i'm still thinking about the moral orel finale.

he has a cross on his wall. do you know how much i think about that bc it's a lot.

a lot of stories ((auto)biographical or fictional) centering escape from abusive/fundamentalist christianity result in the lead characters leaving behind christianity entirely. and that makes complete sense! people often grow disillusioned with the associated systems and beliefs, and when it was something used to hurt them or something so inseparable from their abuse that they can't engage with it without hurting, it makes total sense that they would disengage entirely. and sometimes they just figure out that they don't really believe in god/a christian god/etc. a healthy deconstruction process can sometimes look like becoming an atheist or converting to another religion. it's all case by case. (note: i'm sure this happens with other religions as well, i'm just most familiar with christian versions of this phenomenon).

but in orel's case, his faith was one of the few things that actually brought him comfort and joy. he loved god, y'know? genuinely. and he felt loved by god and supported by him when he had no one else. and the abuses he faced were in how the people in his life twisted religion to control others, to run away from themselves, to shield them from others, etc. and often, orel's conflicts with how they acted out christianity come as a direct result of his purer understanding of god/jesus/whatever ("aren't we supposed to be like this/do that?" met with an adult's excuse for their own behavior or the fastest way they could think of to get orel to leave them alone (i.e. orel saying i thought we weren't supposed to lie? and clay saying uhhh it doesn't count if you're lying to yourself)). the little guy played catch with god instead of his dad, like.. his faith was real, and his love was real. and i think it's a good choice to have orel maintain something that was so important to him and such a grounding, comforting force in the midst of. All That Stuff Moralton Was Up To/Put Him Through. being all about jesus was not the problem, in orel's case.

and i know i'm mostly assuming that orel ended up in a healthier, less rigid version of christianity, but i feel like that's something that was hinted at a lot through the series, that that's the direction he'd go. when he meditates during the prayer bee and accepts stephanie's different way to communicate, incorporating elements of buddhism into his faith; when he has his I AM A CHURCH breakdown (removing himself from the institution and realizing he can be like,, the center of his own faith? taking a more individualistic approach? but Truly Going Through It at the same time), his acceptance (...sometimes) of those who are different from him and condemned by the adults of moralton (stephanie (lesbian icon stephanie my beloved), christina (who's like. just a slightly different form of fundie protestant from him), dr chosenberg (the jewish doctor from otherton in holy visage)). his track record on this isn't perfect, but it gets better as orel starts maturing and picking up on what an absolute shitfest moralton is. it's all ways of questioning the things he's been taught, and it makes sense that it would lead to a bigger questioning as he puts those pieces together more. anyway i think part of his growth is weeding out all the lost commandments of his upbringing and focusing on what faith means to him, and what he thinks it should mean. how he wants to see the world and how he wants to treat people and what he thinks is okay and right, and looking to religion for guidance in that, not as like. a way to justify hurting those he's afraid or resentful of, as his role models did.

he's coming to his own conclusions rather than obediently, unquestioningly taking in what others say. but he's still listening to pick out the parts that make sense to him. (edit/note: and it's his compassion and his faith that are the primary motivations for this questioning and revisal process, both of individual cases and, eventually, the final boss that is christianity.) it makes perfect sense as the conclusion to his character arc and it fits the overall approach of the show far better. it's good is what i'm saying.

and i think it's important to show that kind of ending, because that's a pretty common and equally valid result of deconstruction. and i think it cements the show's treatment of christianity as something that's often (and maybe even easily) exploited, but not something inherently bad. something that can be very positive, even. guys he even has a dog he's not afraid of loving anymore. he's not afraid of loving anyone more than jesus and i don't think it's because he loves this dog less than bartholomew (though he was probably far more desperate for healthy affection and companionship when he was younger). i think it's because he figures god would want him to love that dog. he's choosing to believe that god would want him to love and to be happy and to be kind. he's not afraid of loving in the wrong way do you know how cool that is he's taking back control he's taking back something he loves from his abusers im so normal

[kacievvbbbb]

Watching Dressrosa and seeing Zoro watch Luffy's colosseum battle on the screen I was suddenly hit by the fact that in a Modern AU he'd probably be the most obnoxious kind of soccer fan.

You know the one that probably picks a new favorite team every match and is only a soccer fan when they are actively watching soccer. I can honestly just imagine him screaming at the screen and being all dramatic at the team talking about honor and shit. No actual practical knowledge of soccer though.

I just think he and Mihawk would just be the kind of people that like sport in a Modern AU they are athletes themselves but they also just like competition and adrenaline and so sports. Except Mihawk atleast attempts to possess a basic knowledge of the rules and plays of sports he watches while Zoro will watch a sport he's never heard of in his life, chooses a random dude that's "got guts" and root for them so wholeheartedly you'd think he's supported them all his life.

All this to say that goth family watches the World Cup as part of "family bonding time" and

-Mihawk is rooting for 3 separate countries, the 2 that his data says are statically most probably going to win and his home country cause he has some "patriotic pride". He watches intensely but never actually reacts to anything.

-Zoro is rooting for whichever team is playing against whatever team Mihawk is repping at the moment. He has no stakes in this longterm whatsoever exceot that he gets his fill of trolling Mihawk, sports adrenaline and on the rare occasion his team wins he gets to be a smug asshole to the man who raised him 😌. He screams at the T.V so much you'd think he had money on the line.

-Perona liked the idea of styling cute matching jerseys so much so that she forgot how much she hates watching sport. She is very bored and unhappy and hopes that somehow both of them lose. She judges the outfits (the jerseys) of different countries and their coaches on a scale that only she really understands but all must suffer through.

-Shanks is there because this is the only time Mihawk will hold his hand even though he is squeezing so hard his bones might be ground to dust. (the only indicator that Mihaw is affected at all by what is happening). He's bar hopper he's used to seeing random sports he doesn't understand played on green fields running in the background of his mild buzz to drunken fool binge. He's just glad to be included.

[madmachaca]

I have seen some Shanks hate outside of tumblr and I don't, won't, and can't get it because he is adorable???

Like:

"He may be evil"

What? With this face?

"His fans are so annoying!"

Understandable, my dude (still, lame reason to hate a character, tho), but have you considered:

"he isn't THAT strong, nor the strongest character in the series"

And how does that affect the bermuda triangle????

Also:

"He is gonna die"

Maybe. He would remain cute, tho:

[beanghostprincess]

Law would love "House" and Sanji would love "The Bear" yes, but have you considered both of them watching Love Island together

[ducktracy]

reminder that if you're not watching Crayon Shin-chan then you are living a hollow and empty life. this is not edited. this ripped straight from the movie (Movie 8: Jungle That Invites the Storm, highly recommend for fellow Masaaki Yuasa lovers)

if you need further convincing: these monkeys run an animation sweatshop

[kyoupann]

Every day I open my gmail inbox and I see that people are still giving kudos and commenting on my Missing Pieces fic and it fills my heart with so much joy but also HOWWW are you finding it? 😭because it somehow doesn't make sense in my mind that you're finding it through the Ao3 tag search

<update> sept 7th

Anyways, I reread Missing Pieces after almost 4 years and I can say that I understand why y'all are still giving it love <3 I was being too harsh on myself, so thank you. If you want to read a "Wind is Four's descendant" cozy, feel-good, with secret family lullaby included, read Missing Pieces! 🙂‍↕️

[casterhex]

holy shit anon that's crazy! I wonder if, you know, there might be a reason for that? almost as if they're like, allegorical or something...

in all seriousness I make no secret in private what inspired me to work on this current project, I just can't be open about it here cuz Tumblr doesn't like that kind of thing (hence why I had to censor this ask instead of answering it). however I can say now it's not meant to be a glorification/sympathetic portrayal of that kind of person or event. I should also clarify mark and ian are their own fictional entities – while there's obvious visual similarities/personality traits lifted from real accounts, the characters they are and things that happen to them and because of them are different enough for me to feel comfortable separating the two. I felt some complicated emotions doing research and decided to try and make some art about it.

(& if it needs to be said me posting silly/affectionate content about mark and ian shouldn't be mistaken for woobifying the real world counterparts – or even mark and ian themselves. they're kind of supposed to be funny in some ways, that's part of their complexity. the silly drawings are also what keep me sane while I attempt to write an actual serious story, a process which is difficult, indefinite and requires a lot of patience)

[leatherbookmark]

our flag means death S2E3: the innkeeper

[ofmdsalt]

decided to go looking for the video essay these tags are talking about.

it's this one, btw, if you'd like to check it out. i highly recommend it as it brings up some salient points as to why the slashed budget and subsequent move from Hollywood studios to New Zealand change the writing and composition of the show from utilizing more wide shots to show off New Zealand's nature as a means to drive interest in tourism.

i wanted to check out the line these tags are talking out "Izzy says it's his job to manage Ed's moods" and then moves on.

this is not the right line and not the right read of what this reviewer was talking about. what the video essayist says is "Izzy's job, as Izzy describes it, is to manage Edward's erratic moods and thus assuage and protect Edward's crew."

the video does a good job at talking about how misplaced and misused Izzy's arc is in the show with other commentators echoing how they'd wished Izzy had remained this vestige of toxic masculinity within the lens of piracy to then be killed off. because why go through all this effort of giving Izzy an arc of redemption and acceptance and using him as a literal metaphor of the spirit of the ship (the unicorn figurehead) then to kill him off? there seem to be too many metaphors in this kitchen methinks

i could go on but i'd probably just be rehashing what the video already said, so again. highly recommend people check it out.

[chenziee]

A Comprehensive list of my outsider POVs or; a list of people who have Suffered™

NAMI - Good friends (don't) kiss | Revelations (we could do without) | 3D2Y

PENGUIN - A Burst of colour (happy birthday)

SMOKER - Just a quick supply run

NPC - Boyfriends (do) kiss | "Woman trouble" Open for Business (gen, Black Maria)

LAW - See no evil (zosan)

BEPO - This is my BDSM dungeon

COBY - Not so bad

USOPP - The (s)we(e)t taste of revenge (lawlu, zosan)

KID - At the bottom of the sea

CAESAR - Minding his own evil business

SHACHI - Please don't ask | The Power of the revolutionary army top executive

ABSALOM - HIRED! (icepaulie) | 'WHITE KNIGHT' CAVENDISH IN TROUBLE?! (bartocav)

PEDRO - Bringing dawn

SANJI - Princess Monster

YAMATO - Drastic Measures

BIG NEWS MORGANS - World Economic Journal: Grand Line Edition

ONIGIRI - Hopeless

ACE & SABO - Menace

KOTATSU - The Plight of the (not) house cat

HAKUBA - Front-Row Seat (bartocav)

NDA, WIP, planned:

Tate

NDA

Yamato

Sanji

Honorable mention: not in his POV but SENGOKU suffered the most hands down - Take out as in on a date, right?

[crownedwille]

I've come to the conclusion that loving young royals doesn't mean I can't be critical about it, maybe especially bc I love the show so much I have such strong feelings about it, good and bad and I can love parts of canon and agree with it and appreciate it but I don't have to love it all. I have accepted that it's okay if I don't accept the ending and I don't have to force myself to support it. It's okay to not agree with all of canon and it's okay to not side with all of the creators' intentions/views. Loving a show doesn't mean you have to take everything the writers say on face value and that's the only version that is allowed to exist. Canon isn't everything and fandom is about curating your own experience that makes you happy and not miserable. You don't have to dismiss canon in every aspect and ignore it entirely, that's certainly not what I want but there is a fine line between being canon respectful, allowing some parts to exist and sometimes, yes, you just have to say "fuck canon" and move on for your own sanity and wellbeing