#something something marc and steven wearing white and always having a presence

[mrcspectr]

OH YEAH I CAME IN HERE TO SAY SOMETHING RIGHT. so. i just answered an ask about jake on my blog and had an Idea TM. i'm p sure we've talked about how jake at this point largely doesn't do things for himself unless he can reason it out as something for the system as a whole (i.e. cab business, making money for them). And i had a revelation that he probably did that with his clothes, his hat, his facial hair preferences. Told himself it was to make himself look different enough that ppl wouldn't so immediately recognize him as being the "same person" as Marc and Steven. But when he puts on the hat, and his suit, his gloves, when he really looks like him. Like Jake. It's more affirming and comfortable than anything in the world. Thinking about the first time he picked out his own outfit from Marc and Steven's pieces, trying to turn it into something different, something him. The first time he stole bought his own clothes for himself, getting a suit fitted at a tailor, to his liking . brb c r y i n g

Screaming and flailing my hands at you.

Because yeah. The way he dresses is so distinctly different from Marc and Steven. His dress shirt stays cleanly tucked, buttoned up to the neck. His tie's been tightly knotted by a practiced hand. His pants have been tailored, the jacket perfectly fitted to his exact frame. There's nothing sloppy about the way he looks, it's professional without being overly flashy. It's very personal, very Jake. It's such a contrast to Marc's simplistic, monochrome wardrobe, Steven's goofy patterned shirts.

And then there's facets of it that serve a more specific purpose. The gloves, which symbolically create more of a distance but are also practical: he wouldn't leave fingerprints, not in his car, his own weapons, not even anywhere in that hospital. His collar, pulled up high against his neck, and his hat, pulled low over his face. When he walks, he hangs his head a bit, and the two cast a shadow over his features. It's subtle, but intentional.

He protects himself from being seen, but he's also protecting Marc and Steven from being associated with what he does. Jake's a man that lives in their shadows.

It's a theme that I often relate to whether or not he'll end up getting his own armor. Because if he does, and it ends up being the black and white suit like I hope, it's a cool opportunity to incorporate the theme of shadows and darker undertones into that costume.

[marcspectrr]

I just wanna talk about the color symbolism in moon knight for hours okay.

Throughout the entire show, it's Steven who wears dark colors, and it seems to contradict his character at first. With black symbolizing things like power, death, mystery, and grief, it doesn't initially match up with his presence on screen -- not to mention that it's the color in opposition to white (which is Marc's whole thing that I'll get to in a second).

Power, but Steven feels powerless against his 'sleep disorder'.

Death, but he's not the one surrounded by it, not really.

Mystery, but Marc is the one the audience is unsure about, the one figuratively and literally hiding in the shadows.

Grief, but he's supposed to have the "happy, simple, normal life".

So. Then you further consider the symbolism behind black, when it represents simplicity, sophistication, comfort and strength, more specifically strong-willed when pairing it with a personality type.

Simplicity, because at first glance, Steven is the one who has the simple life. He's meant to, that was the whole point of him, not only to Marc but for the story, to have something so mundane be juxtaposed against his alter's life.

Sophistication, even though it can sometimes counter simplicity (as it's supposed to, in this case), because even if Steven seems to be a bit of a mess at first, when you boil it down, he does have sophisticated facets. He has refined knowledge on complicated subjects and ways of the world (Egyptology, poetry, etc.) -- though not directly cultivated through experience, at least not to his awareness.

Comfort, because, as much as it goes without say, his 'purpose' is comfort, at first. He has the soft edges to make up for Marc's rough ones, he is the one sought out when the anguish becomes too much to handle. He is the very opposite of the majority of what Marc received in his life.

Strength, because without getting too emotional lol, with comfort comes strength, as it balances out the pain. Steven is the one who's helped Marc through the worst moments of his life, ("You saved me. I survived because I knew I wasn't alone. You were always there, alive, full of hope."). Through everything, Steven is the one who gives Marc these little shoves to keep going, sometimes without even noticing, steadily pushing him along and keeping him whole. Marc sees Steven as all the things he can't see in himself, the most notable thing being strong, I think, because of all of this ^.

The color black itself is necessary for all colors to have depth. -> By being shown wearing it and/or mixing with Marc's lighter hues when they're co-conscious, Steven gives Marc his depth/all the qualities he can't and won't allow himself to have.

Now. For Marc. He is shown always wearing lighter colors and if we're focusing on white, depending on the culture, white is linked to things like purity, innocence and peace. Once again, it seems contrary to Marc's character.

Purity, but he loses it once he loses his brother, really. Enlisting in the Marine Corps, becoming a mercenary, becoming a weapon for Khonshu, all of it contaminates him with unrelenting guilt.

Innocence, but he loses that too at a young age, mostly through the abuse he endured growing up, then further wiped away with his work as a mercenary, etc.

Peace, I mean...need I explain this one? Marc Spector and peace? Nah. The moment he's given the opportunity, he denies it, selflessly, almost like he doesn't know how to exist in it.

Now it gets better. White is also tied to things like new beginnings, cleanliness and isolation.

New beginnings, because we're seeing the end of Marc's dichotomy with Steven. Their lives are no longer these separate paths, instead they're beginning to bleed into each other, the walls crumbling down. Marc is beginning to learn to embrace his fractured mind, to see what keeping the wall up was doing to Steven, etc. (Also, one symbol for new beginnings being a crescent moon, the very shape pressed against Marc's chest whenever he's fulfilling his servitude agdjfjfk)

Cleanliness, because childhood discipline, military background, never 'settling down' from his work, etc. We've seen his setup in the storage unit and his "I can't believe you live in this frickin' mess" in Steven's flat, I think it's fair to say he's an organized guy, almost rigidly so. Additionally, this color can allude to him carrying the cold and sterile environment of his past with mental institutions with him, unable to shake those particular traumas.

Isolation, because of his tendency, his impulse, to detach himself from the world. His dad turns a blind eye to the abuse so Marc begins to pull away, eventually running away from home. Layla cares and becomes close, too close, so close he fears she might see the things he can no longer hide, along with being in the line of fire with Khonshu, so he sends her divorce papers (without signing them, yes, it's IMPORTANT) and essentially ghosts her -- runs away from the next thing he ever got to a home :'(. Steven is the one he's been isolating himself from for the longest (that's a whole other rant). Isolating also coincides with hiding and when you think about it, white is the hardest color to hide behind (think, black is absorption and white is reflection).

My main point; I will never get over how this show flips certain symbolic archetypes on their heads. Less obvious is always better! Every shot is so visually layered it physically hurts lol. It's unspeakably nice, too, to watch something where you can tell the people who worked on it actually cared about it :') (funny how this is a marvel project huh)

Alright. If you made it through this post and would like to further fall down this color rabbit hole, feast your eyes on this and this, courtesy of @sparklingbinjuice @blipityblopityyy and @mrcspectr