Grief, Turnabout Big Top, and gay implications you may not have noticed (AA2 spoilers)
In my opinion, grief is one of the central motifs in Justice for All, and, notably, it’s expanded on a lot in Turnabout Big Top.
Turnabout Big Top is where we find out what Phoenix has been trying desperately to avoid discussing for the entire game up until that point: that Miles has apparently committed suicide. It’s also where we find out that Franziska is there to get revenge against Phoenix for Miles, rather than her father, as the player (and the protagonists) have been led to believe.
Phoenix and Franziska aren’t the only pair of characters grieving the loss of a loved one. Turnabout Big Top’s plot hinges on Regina and Acro’s responses to losing Bat. Interestingly, the ways Regina and Acro handle their grief for Bat bear some striking similarities to how Phoenix and Franziska handle their grief for Miles.
Part 1: Phoenix and Regina
In this analogy, Phoenix and Regina act as foils for one another. Both Phoenix and Regina have responded to their grief by trying to avoid it.
Granted, the way Phoenix tries to avoid his grief is basically the opposite of the way Regina tries to avoid her grief. Phoenix repeatedly acknowledges that Miles is gone and never coming back, but he is extremely uncomfortable discussing Miles in any way, to the point of begging Maya never to talk about him again:
On the other hand, Regina talks about her father, Léon, and Bat – and what happened to them – in a way that is so matter-of-fact that it can be kind of jarring. However, she still hasn’t quite come to terms with the full, permanent implications of what death really means.
“Wait, hang on,” you might be thinking. “I thought the problem was that Regina literally doesn’t understand how death works.” I don’t think this is the case, and I don’t think that Phoenix does, either.
Here’s what Phoenix thinks after Regina gives the speech about how people become stars when they die, right after she gushes, “I’ve got a feeling that everyone is doing great up there in the sky!”:
Moe also suggests that he thinks Regina is avoiding reality, complete with “this is an important concept” red letters:
And I think Regina herself might kind of know what’s up, too:
Regina: I might not be able to see my Dad for a while, but… I know I can wait until I see him again.
Maya: That’s the spirit. Even though he won’t be coming home…
Regina: Don’t do that Maya. Please don’t look at me that way.
While some of these examples include Regina’s grief for her father, the way Regina reacts to what happened with Bat seems to be very much in line with how she reacts to loss in general. Note that she also claims that Bat “became a star,” just like her father and Léon:
Acro: “Your brother became a star.” Regina believed in that so purely, that she would laugh innocently when saying it…
So I’ve included these as examples to illustrate the pattern of how Regina understands and responds to losing those close to her, Bat included.
Part 2: Franziska and Acro
In the same sense, Franziska and Acro are both grieving for their brothers, and both of them channel their grief primarily through anger.
Both Franziska and Acro’s character arcs center on them pursuing revenge against the person they consider responsible for their sibling’s death.
In both cases, that person couldn’t reasonably have expected that their actions – defeating Miles in court and putting pepper in Bat’s scarf, respectively – would lead to someone’s death.
That doesn’t make much of a difference to Acro and Franziska, though.
Similar to how Phoenix and Regina avoid their grief in very different ways, Franziska and Acro have starkly different ways of handling themselves emotionally.
Franziska’s anger and aggression is all upfront. She insults people. She hits them. Phoenix and Maya outright call her “mean” at least once. Acro, conversely, is an incredibly sweet, gentle person, who presents himself in a very calm, friendly way – but underneath it all, he’s still angry enough to literally try and kill Regina.
And I think the comparison here speaks for itself:
So, we know that Franziska and Acro are grieving the loss of their “little brothers.” What was Regina’s relationship to Bat, again?
Maya: Umm… Who is Acro’s younger brother?
Moe: Sean Dingling… But everyone always called him Bat. He fell in love with Regina.
If you follow along with the comparison, what does that make Phoenix’s relationship to Miles?
Most of the elaboration on Phoenix and Franziska’s grief happens in a single scene. It is the first scene where Franziska ever refers to Miles as her brother, and it is also when we learn that Franziska blames Phoenix for Miles’s death.
The very next thing you do is meet Acro and learn about his grudge against Regina. If the juxtaposition of these two plot threads is coincidental, then it’s a hell of a coincidence, imo.
Turnabout Big Top tends to get ignored or overlooked by the fandom for reasons that are very understandable (to say the least). But I do think that it’s a surprisingly interesting case – and if you’re a fan of Wrightworth, it might be worth giving it a second glance!
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