#film analyzed

[edwinisms]

you know. I think the reasons it feels so literally narratively wrong when people refer to charles as being straight (such as in interviews where his love life comes up and so on) are that A) he’s never deemed outright straight in the show, so it’s just an assumption that he must be straight by default (which is silly in a show like this), and B) what he says following edwin’s confession. I know I’m biased, but even when I try to look at it as neutrally as possible, the way he reacts in general and the specific words he uses just don’t sound right when you imagine them being said by a Totally Definitely Straight guy.

first of all if you actually listen to it instead of absorbing the scene superficially it’s not particularly a rejection at all, and the actors have stated that themselves– it’s not him saying no, it’s him saying “I can’t give you an answer right now, but I will eventually”. that’s not an interpretation, that’s literally just the truth of what he said (and again, the actors agree). can you imagine a straight guy saying that, or possibly even more damning, “we have literally forever to figure out the rest [“the rest” meaning anything that goes beyond the kind of love charles already solidly has for him]”.

imagine you’re a straight man who’s unwaveringly confident in his orientation and your gay best friend confesses his feelings for you. you would not respond with the implication there is a “the rest” to figure out. since the main, obvious obstacle would be your solid lack of attraction to men, that’d probably be essential to your response– it wouldn’t be a “I can’t say–“ it’d be a “I can’t be–“. and on top of all that, I feel like the whole thing would have to sound far more apologetic– “I’m sorry, I love you and that’ll never change, but I just can’t love you the way that you love me.” something like that, right?

tldr: this is a rare instance in television where assuming a character is straight by default makes Less sense than the alternative. and charles’ choice of words in the confession overtly suggest that he is, at the very least, unsure of his orientation.

[hyunjining]

looking through my gif tag and remembering that i’ve made gifs for she-ra, the owl house, kingdom hearts and schitt’s creek like wow kpop has been dominating my attention so much i forgot my true identity as a queer media blog

[absolutebl]

Hi P'ABL! Regarding the first "real" kiss scene of Phaya and Tharn in The Sign Ep7. It felt like it was shot in a very different way that a lot of other BLs go about that moment. No closeups, no slow-motion and no 150 angles. It was obviously a choice and knowing your interest and knowledge of cinematography I wanted to see if you had an opinion on why the director chose to do it this way. Thanks!

The Big Kiss Scene in The Sign

(+ why it's different from all the kisses before & after)

I think they were going for a couple of things.

Tropes in play with this filming choice

They are activating 2 powerful BL motifs (boys contemplating water and central aperture framing).

The first has been used already in this series, but mostly by one of them alone, not as a couple. This is the first time they exist together at the edge of water without peril, drama, or death.

The second is actually really common in a lot of yaoi, but so far this show hasn't been staged in this manga way. So it was kinda fun to see and I think it is significant.

Visuals in play connected to the story

Here's what else I think is happening.

The director is using the center and balance of this moment to indicate how the characters have chosen to move towards each other at last, both physically and emotionally. They are meeting each other on the same plane of existence. As equals.

That plane is also a moment where water and sky meet each other in harmony. This kiss is a kind of emotional climax, it is the center point of the narrative. Hence all the effort put into centralization.

Visuals in play connected to the characters

They are coming together in a place that symbolizes both of their elements.

The water (contained and tamed in this particular pool form) representing Tharn and the naga (water snakelike deity).

And the soaring symbolic staircase to the skies representing Phaya and the garuda (birdlike deity).

The kiss is separated out from the filming style to be used int he following sex scene because this kiss is about their mythological selves.

I think we are backed away from the intimacy of this (physically by the distance framing) because we are meant to see it as more symbolic, more regal, more like they are two deities engaging in a spiritual pact.

The sex scenes that follow is more about their current bodies and the selves of this lifetime. Their threads had to be intertwined again on a different plane of existence visually first, before it could become carnal. In other words, both their mythological selves and their corporeal selves had to be in agreement and alignment.

This contrast to what comes next is being used to telegraph to watchers that this kiss is that moment of peace and harmony (and it's probably not gonna last very long).

(Incidentally Tharn means water and Phaya = ruler/chief. )

Thanks for such a fun question!!!

(source)

[lilliesm]

to have the sensation of watching dead poets society for the first time again

[bright-omens]

We don't talk about this scene (^^) enough. Yes, we talk about it and how much it hurts and how upsetting it is, but we don't talk about it.

We don't analyze it. We don't break it down to the littlest details. We just say it's sad and leave it at that.

We don't talk about how Miles's first instinct was to have one last party with his friends before anything else. We don't talk about how he wore sunglasses to hide the fact that he was crying, possibly in an attempt to not burden them with his problems. We don't talk about how even when he's found out, he tries to act like it's nothing and even tries to hold back his tears and emotions. We don't talk about how when Nina comes in and sees him like that, he can't even bring himself to explain again. We don't talk about how Agatha can't even understand what's happening because of how drugged up she is and how that must be impacting Miles even more. We don't talk about how the last thing he says is, "Miles is in a scrape again." We don't talk about how that phrase alone can tell us so much about his personality. We don't talk about how this scene as a whole tells us so much about how he is, as a person. This scene tells us so much about Miles and no one acknowledges it. Why? Miles is such a beloved character, but no one says anything about this sene other than "He deserved better." Why? He definitely deserved so much better, but why don't we talk about this scene more? Why don't we analyze it more? Michael Sheen's acting skills in this scene were phenomenal (I swear, after watching this, I never want to see that man cry again), and it just gets chalked up to sad. Yes, it's sad, but there's so much more going on underneath the surface too, if you look hard enough.

Overall, this is just a great movie and I wish it got more attention and I wish Miles had more screentime

[bookshopbentley]

if you go back and look at The Scene in e6 , when crowley says “ you idiot , we could have been us “ aziraphale turns away from him . now , i have an evaluation for this ( because of course i do ) . aziraphale physically turns away from crowley twice that we see ( i’m pretty sure ) . once , by the duck pond when crowley requests the holy water . and the second time in the bentley when aziraphale told crowley he goes too fast . so i think the subtlety of aziraphale turning away a third time is a BIG prompter for crowley to kiss him in the first place . because he’s seen this film before ( and he didn’t like the ending ) . maybe , just maybe if he actually does something this time things could be different .

[jdsgothwife]

i could talk for paragraphs about how i think jd developed a james dean esque bad boy persona because it was what veronica wanted because she wanted to escape from her life... idk if anyone would be interested in that though

[pyr0cue]

everyone who thinks longlegs is the best horror film of 2024 or even the decade needs to sit down and watch a list of 20 other films personally prepared by me (self appointed horror expert) and then write a 10 page essay with 10 cited sources about transphobia and transmisogyny in film and how it affects the real world.

[trashsfanficgarden]

Rather than viewing Jake's choice to depart from the Omatikaya as solely a selfish decision to protect himself and his immediate family, we could also consider that he might be reacting this way due to some serious trauma from the first film. Remember, Jake's direct actions and his hesitation to fully side with the Omatikaya and the Na'vi until the end caused the destruction of the Home Tree and the death of many people. Now, the RDA is coming directly for him with a Recom-team that can pass freely through Pandora without setting off the defense mechanism that kept the clan safe. So, Jake made a rushed decision to leave them, likely driven by the fear of being the reason they lose their home again.

thanks for coming to my ted talk

[sade-alicious]

people may call certain things “overreaching” in analysis, but i think they forget that in cinema everything is intentional. especially in big meaningful productions like stranger things

[kenobihater]

1917 - dir. sam mendes / mental cases - wilfred owen

[thebaddymanmp3]

I wish my university’s film professors talked more broadly about animation as a film medium in lectures instead of the dept just offering one specific course about it because I think that animated features like the spiderverse series especially should be discussed in academic conversation with studies of the evolution and genre-redefining innovations of contemporary black film and media. not just in terms of on (and off) screen representation, but also in terms of how they stylistically break conventions of animation as a medium, and of superhero film as a narrative genre

[sixty-silver-wishes]

me: google scholar will you please give me papers analyzing "caligari" from a disability lens google scholar: no but we have sigmund freud

me: please I don't want any more sigmund freud

google scholar:

sigmund freud

[cyberdragoninfinity]

you may find art wherever you go in the world, and sometimes it is indeed the anime about teenagers playing card games, and to me there is something so wonderful about that

[gayrogues]

the scene in evil dead 2 where ash gets his chainsaw arm is a metaphor for bottom surgery. i will not elaborate

[rabbidrabbitt]

Alright new ATSV discussion:

No Expectations

Alright so we all remember the infamous “No Expectations” graffiti done by Miles in the first movie, made to express his feelings about now growing up with everyone having these expectations of him.

That was a main theme of ITSV and continues into ATSV. Miles is expected to keep good grades at this new school, he is expected to be able to do big things, but also once he is bit, he is expecting himself to become a great hero in such little time, and those high expectations he gives himself are crushed by the low expectations of those around him (Gwen, Noir, Penni, etc). It’s not his own drive and expectations of himself, but the expectations of others that bring him down, the idea they had that he was just a kid, that he was not ready, but when it came down to it, he proved them wrong, he saved the day, he sent them all home.

Following this into the second movie. The expectations now of his parents wanting him to be this perfect kid, to do what they think is best for him even if he doesn’t think so. Miguel and the rest of the Spider Society having the expectation of Miles to listen and stand idly by whilst The Spot takes everything he loves. The expectation to be Spiderman, to make those big sacrifices, even as a kid.

But no, as he says, he’s going to do his own thing.

Now back to The Spot. Many people have pointed out that he looks eerily similar to the Graffiti in his final scene.

The crooked stance, the black and white figure with the colours all in the back. Only difference is the colours are darker, more dull, and scribbled over. It gives almost an anti feel to it all. As it’s stated in the art book, Miles and The Spot are characters meant to mirror each other. They are two halves of a whole and compliment one another.

The Spot is the expectations. And not just the expectation of Miles to be Spiderman, to push aside his youth and innocence for the sake of others, but also the expectations of himself to become nothing but a villain.

The Spot was isolated from society the moment he was merged with the dark matter, in his own words, his own family wouldn’t even look at him, he was shunned. It wasn’t his fault and he had no control over what happened. We also know from the art book that he wasn’t really taken seriously by his peers as a human either. He’s spent his whole life chasing approval and wanting to live up to peoples expectations. And now the only expectation he can achieve is his own to become Spider-Man’s nemesis, to finally be taken seriously, to be the only thing society has left him to become.

Miles represents growth and change, that freedom of making your own choice, of being who you want to be

The Spot is conformity, twisting himself into what he was forced to be.

I Hope this made sense, feel free to leave your thoughts!! :DD