#my profs before the thesis phase: if you think about analyzing your fav movies for this think again you might hate it afterwards

[scarefox]

The fact that I wrote my bachelors thesis about Jongwoo and how Moonjo broke him, how Jongwoos mental health spiraled through the plot and how the creators chose to show it to the audience via audio-visual storytelling (<3) which ENDED WITH ME getting broken down by the dramas complexity, it's many meta levels and Jongwoo my beloved unreliable narrator shenanigans nobody can decipher. In hindsight it was the worst drama to analyze while I was already burnt out, anxious and depressed af during a global pandemic, but simultaneously it also was the best drama for that theme because it indeed is one of the best displays and metaphors of mental illnesses.

Already at the time I was aware of the self irony, still had a lot of fun with picking everything apart. It is now one of my comfort shows lol... even though the thesis phase was horrible and didn't end well. My profs said I had some good points and methods. But in the end I couldn't finish uni so I never presented the work and never got their full feedback. (grade was mediokre bad imo because I couldn't finish spell checks and formalities at the end which is one of the most important parts of a scientific final paper unfortunately.... and my profs were salty that I used easier to access online sources more than old outdated books but hey I kind of mainly wrote that thing for myself not for the public 🤷‍♂️ ....)

Anyways, one thing I wanted to share from my analysis: I counted the times and situations Moonjo uses "Jagiya", generally as an indicator for when he directly manipulates Jongwoo, vs how Jongwoos behavior and mental health changes over time.

Just to understand the significance of "Jagiya": Moonjo uses it kind of as trigger word but also to get this emotional trust bond with Jongwoo (despite Jongwoo says he hates it, he still feels flattered at first). He always uses it when he wants Jongwoo to do something or to think a certain way. He almost just uses it when they are alone. When Jongwoos boss and girlfriend are present in the bar scene, it's even the first time Moonjo calls Jongwoo by his actual name. With Mrs. Eom they call him (room) 303

(do not reupload or use without my permission!)

Well, and based on that I looked into how these scenes were shot and differentiating from each other. Like camera work, frames, colors, effects, sound, hard cut / soft cuts, transitions etc. IT WAS A LOT, way too much I didn't anticipate going into it. I only watched it once then, to keep the impression fresh, which is adviced for movie analysis of 'scene impressions' to not delude it by your own thoughts and knowledge. BUT THE THING IS... Strangers From Hell changes a lot when you watch it again!!! You find so much more details all of a sudden, when you know how it ends.