#specifically not harmful in any way and meant to be unserious

[tokyosmega]

i love tumblr culture so much. of course my favorite youtuber and an online cryptid are going to fight at a tumblr convention in toronto. you cant find this shit on any other hellsite

[analysis-by-vaylon]

Illusions, clowns, and "Trickstar": the ideas behind the magic of Star vs. the Forces of Evil -- and the real meaning behind Ludo's name.

I don't think it's controversial to say that that the writers are well-versed in fictional depictions of magic. After all, the show stars a magical princess from another dimension who uses all sorts of hilariously-destructive spells. But I think the writers are also fans of stage magic. (Warning: this is quite a long post!)

Magic tricks -- commonly referred to as illusions -- have been performed by clowns and magicians, both amateur and professional, on and off the stage, all over the world for centuries. Many clowns in Western literature, including Shakespeare's, have their origins in the famous Italian Renaissance commedia dell'arte.

I bring up the Italian tradition specifically because of The Clowns, a film directed by famous Italian director Federico Fellini, which I believe has had an influence on the show through the creative director for Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Dominic Bisignano, who also writes and directs episodes.

Notably, Dominic Bisignano uses a still from The Clowns as the header image for his blog -- in fact, I asked him about it just to be sure. This is evidence, in my opinion, of the film's artistic influence on the show; if you've seen "Bon Bon the Birthday Clown," that much should be obvious. But we can go a step beyond that and prove that, broadly speaking, stage magic and clowns are not only thematically important in the show but also crucial to the development of Star and Ludo.

Sprinkled throughout the show, there are often key lines of dialogue that not only hint at something larger in scope than the current scene but also provide a clue about the writers' intentions. Let's take a look at one of those key lines of dialogue from "Storm the Castle":

Police Officer: You like magic, little girl? Star: Uh ... I guess. Police Officer: Oh, me, too! Heck, I used to go to Vegas every weekend -- all for magic! The thing about magic is if you don't use it wisely, you can lose everything.

The mention of Las Vegas is an indication that the police officer is talking about stage magic, but his words take on an ironic meaning given the context of Star's use of real magic. With this scene, we have the show's first clear connection between stage magic and real magic, and the message is that magic is dangerous -- a recurring theme throughout the show and especially in season two as Star struggles to learn how to wisely use her magic.

Besides in "Storm the Castle," there are other references to clowns and stage magic. A clown briefly appears in "Royal Pain." In "Cheer Up Star," Star tries to cheer up Marco by performing stage magic; similarly, in the same episode, Marco tries to cheer up Star by dressing as a clown. The two most significant episodes, however, are "Bon Bon the Birthday Clown" and "Trickstar."

In "Bon Bon the Birthday Clown," we see Ludo in rare form: competent and terrifying. I've written previously about Ludo's development and the importance of the clown-related imagery in that episode -- the trick candles are symbolic of resurrection, for instance -- but it's no accident that a dead clown was chosen as the crux to build this episode around, and it took me a while to figure out why.

You see, it's all hidden in plain sight -- it's right in Ludo's name.

Plenty of people have pointed out that ludo means "I play" in Latin -- but I think we can go farther. I've said before that the show's writers choose their words carefully, so let's take a look at the word. As you can see, ludo has many denotations:

I play (a game or sport). I frolic, behave playfully. I practice, amuse myself with. I sport, play amorously. I mock, mimic. I tease, ridicule. I deceive, trick.

What's one simple verb that we could use to connote all these meanings simultaneously?

"I clown."

That's the verb we've been looking for. Oh, yes -- did I mention that there is a clown named Ludo in The Clowns -- which, incidentally, is also known by its Italian name I clowns?

(Also incidentally, the word "illusion" has its roots partly in the word ludere, from which ludo is derived.)

Now here's the deep irony of all this: dressing as a villain, Ludo starts off as an unserious, clownish figure in season one -- and later, dressing as a clown, he reveals himself as a genuinely sinister force to be reckoned with in season two. It's quite the reversal.

By the way, Ludo's not the only character based on this concept; Buff Frog is based on the buffoon, who traditionally appeared on the stage with puffed cheeks.

Anyway -- what does all of this mean for Ludo's future? I believe his role in the story is to play as a foil to Star -- her royal jester, you might say. Whether that is as a continued enemy or an eventual ally remains to be seen; I believe there are many paths the story could take. Who knows? By the end of the season, Ludo may even be able to stand toe-to-toe with Toffee. In the meantime, Star has her own journey to make, and we see that in "Trickstar."

Star is the stage magician to Ludo's clown. As I've already noted, Star dresses up as a stage magician in "Cheer Up Star," and "Storm the Castle" makes another comparison between her magic and stage magic -- but it's in "Trickstar" where this comparison is on full display: Star is contrasted with an actual stage magician who, funnily enough, also knows real magic.

Given the series' philosophical view on magic, it's not surprising that a joy sucker would choose, out of any profession, to become a stage magician. Magic is a creative force that can bring people joy -- just as Preston Change-O's tricks do -- yet it can also be, as both Preston and Ludo show, a destructive force that robs people of their happiness.

Star is caught between these two duelling forces. By the way, did you notice the decoration on the cake? It looks suspiciously like her winged wand, does it not? That yin and yang symbol is not coincidental; this episode is thematically concerned with Star's development along the path to using magic wisely and mastering both “good” and “evil” magic.

Star makes a mature decision in this episode: she gives Preston Change-O a chance to prove that he's stopped hurting people, and when he violates that promise, she steps in to stop him and reveal his harm to others -- even at the cost of her reputation. Star is plagued with self-doubt afterwards:

Star: I'm not sure it was worth ruining Sensei's birthday just to be right.

But Sensei, finally proving himself worthy of his title by dispensing some wisdom, is the one who admits that Star was right to do what she did. As others have pointed out, this has far-reaching implications for the Mewman-monster conflict.

Finally, with regard to "Trickstar," the title of the episode undoubtedly references the mythological figure of the Trickster. Preston Change-O is one such figure -- but might Star herself be another? As a potential "boundary-crosser" between the world of Mewmans, the world of humans, and the world of monsters, she might conceivably unite all three. Or, like Loki, she might take on a much more sinister role; "Baby" foreshadows the possibility that she may become like Eclipsa. Only time will tell for sure.

Last but not least, I'd like to say a little about the writers' use of illusions as a tool in narrative fiction. Since the writers are so familiar with magic tricks, it seems only natural that they would employ that trickery when writing and storyboarding. Indeed, many viewers have already noticed how often they use misdirection.

One recent example of misdirection comes at the beginning of "Trickstar." Marco says,

Hurry up, Star! I don't want us to miss the cake.

Meanwhile, Star walks into frame carrying an enormous gift. Star's gift is meant to distract us from the dialogue -- since, as I noted earlier, the cake is thematically important. The writers put extra emphasis on the cake: don't miss it, they say. (Indeed, as a future post will reveal, there is far more to that cake that can be covered in one post alone.) That is classic misdirection, and that's one example of how the writers use it. There's no doubt in my mind they make use of other magic tricks in storytelling as well.

What really fascinates me, though, is that the show's writers seem keenly aware of their position as the magicians on stage.

You see, Star and Marco and Ludo aren't real -- but we care about them. We care about Star and Marco's relationship and whether or not they'll stay friends or become lovers. We now feel genuinely threatened when Ludo appears. We laugh when the characters do something comical, and we feel sad when the characters cry. The writers cause these illusions, like any good fiction, to feel realer than real.

And if you ask me, that's a damn good magic trick.

Thank you for reading this (quite lengthy) analysis post! I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to send me asks if there’s something in the show you’d like to see analyzed!

[thetrumpdebacle]

Sign at a protest outside Trump Tower in New York City, February 8, 2018. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

There could be a blue wave in November, but if that doesn’t happen, Democrats might see the result as fraudulent.

As they look ahead to November, Democrats should be in a good mood. Any opposition party ought to do well in a midterm against the party that controls both the White House and Congress. President Trump’s low approval ratings, generic polls that put Democrats ahead of Republicans, a string of special-election victories (with the prospect of winning, later this month, a Pennsylvania congressional seat that was thought to be safely Republican), large numbers of retirements by incumbent GOP members, and a court-ordered redistricting in Pennsylvania all give added reasons for optimism.

But as the 2016 presidential election reminded us, nothing is certain in politics. If the economy remains robust, Trump manages to avoid a damaging trade war, and the Democratic base that has stayed home in recent midterm elections isn’t as energized as party leaders hope, then low turnout could lead to a very different outcome than the one most liberals currently envision. If so, how will Democrats who are, as the New York Times noted on Sunday, “convulsing with outrage” at the president react?

The answer provided by the Times is that they won’t be inclined to accept any outcome that doesn’t at least give the Democrats control of the House of Representatives. Another unexpected Republican triumph, like Trump’s upset of Hillary Clinton, won’t be treated as just bad luck by the opposition. Anger is likely to bubble over into more street protests as well as a refusal to treat defeat as anything but the result of more Russian mischief-Making.

While Republicans would dismiss this attitude as the petty complaints of sore losers, the prospect of another disputed election illustrates more than just the always-precarious fortunes of political parties. It’s clear the Democrats have become so invested in a misleading narrative that has essentially absolved them of responsibility for their 2016 defeat that it’s not clear they’ll accept anything short of decisive victory this year a legitimate result.

Another unexpected Republican triumph, like Trump’s upset of Hillary Clinton, won’t be treated as just bad luck by the opposition.

The distinction between the clear proof of Russian attempts to influence public opinion in 2016 and the lack of any evidence that these efforts had any appreciable impact on the outcome has been lost on President Trump. But it may be that many on the left suffer from the same myopic view. Trump continues to regard the entire discussion about Russia’s activities as well as the probe being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller as an attempt to delegitimize his victory. But many Democrats also seem to think that if it is true that Russia did anything in 2016, their minimal and largely ineffectual trolling put Trump in the White House.

As the Times’ own Upshot column noted last month, objective measures of Russia’s efforts in 2016 by a series of studies of social-media trolling and disinformation show that it probably had zero impact on the outcome of the election. But after the Democrats spent the last 16 months doubling down on the collusion narrative, that point is lost on a Democratic electorate boiling over with anger about Trump’s outrageous conduct as well as the conservative policies he has been implementing. Convinced that the first step toward evicting him from office will begin with a midterm sweep for Democrats, they might not be able to peaceably accept any alternative outcome.

Is there anything Republicans can do to ameliorate this situation, one that would likely have an impact on the way many Americans think about the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump seeks reelection?

There’s no undoing all of the damage that has been done by cynical efforts to disparage and discount the 2016 election by those who were unhappy with its outcome. Too much of the Democratic base is focused solely on “resistance” to Trump rather than mere opposition. That will mean that an attempt to impeach Trump must be considered a certainty if they do win the House next year, even if their chances of gaining a conviction in the Senate would be near zero, even if they did somehow also gain control of the upper body.

But it must also be acknowledged that Trump has it within his power to do something to undermine a 2018 Russia narrative. The first thing he can do is to stop talking as if Democratic accusations that he is a proto-authoritarian are true.

His approving comment about Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s move to become a “president for life” is likely to have been — like so much of what comes out of Trump’s mouth and Twitter account — an appalling and ill-considered quip rather than a serious expression of U.S. policy. His next remark, in which he said, “I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday,” may have been equally unserious and meant as a joke of some sort.

But if there was ever anyone who ought not to be joking about a dictatorship, it is Donald Trump. While his fans will call it a brilliant example of trolling, such words also fuel exactly the kind of mistrust in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system that Russia desires and that makes Democrats think they are right to view GOP victories as the work of foreign agents rather than the votes of fellow Americans.

Trump should also publicly and specifically order the intelligence community, the State Department, and the Justice Department to take all necessary steps to curb Russia’s efforts to influence U.S. elections in 2018.

We know he has refrained from doing so because he resents the claims that Russia handed him the election and always resists doing what opponents expect of him. But the longer he waits to make some public gesture on this issue, the more it will harm his party as well as the already shaken faith of many Americans in the integrity of the system. A continued refusal will only buttress the narrative that he is soft on Russia and doesn’t respect democratic principles.

Far from bowing to his foes, a concerted public effort to nip Russia’s largely ineffectual trolling in the bud will be the best way to bolster Trump’s legitimacy and to undermine his foes’ attempt to paint him as Vladimir Putin’s satellite.

As things stand now, Democrats are well placed to make major gains in November. If they do, we won’t hear much about Russia, no matter how much the Putin regime invests in the effort. But if the economy and the Democrats’ lack of message other than “resistance” lead to an unexpected GOP win, then the lack of proactive measures now by Trump will result in an already toxic political culture growing even more dysfunctional.

Jonathan S. Tobin

— Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org and a contributor to National Review.

@jonathans_tobin

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via The Trump Debacle