Cloud Shea

Serving film hot takes, one post at a time

[chlo-cloud24]

Confession:

I want to see Rosamund Pike and Michelle Dockery star in a lesbian romance film together. Those two together scream Hollywood power couple.

[chlo-cloud24]

Cave of Reflection Scene Analysis

Having rewatched Barbie Mariposa (the original, mind you) recently, especially the Cave of Reflection scene, the parts of the reflections and how the three fairies react to them really struck me as an adult.

In this scene, the reflections can be seen as an insight into our minds and ego, but it can also be a metaphor for your inner critics and insecurities. How the fairies react to them can be a metaphor for how we deal with the mental side of ourselves.

Rayla was just not meant to be the one to find the antidote from the get-go, since the aversion she showed her reflection in the cave hints at her lack of inner stillness required to properly reflect in the final challenge, in addition to a lack of true understanding of herself, thus volunteering to stay behind was a wise choice.

Rayna, on the other hand, was able to reflect meaningfully with her reflection, but when the reflection highlighted how her pursuit of the antidote were for all the wrong reasons (prestige, a relationship with the Prince she was crushing on, wealth, etc.), it made her stop and think about why she was taking on that pursuit. The encounter also pushed her to willingly defend Mariposa from her own reflection when it insulted her friend as well as volunteering to stay back as well, a start to (Rayna's) budding maturity.

Mariposa was the only one to reflect with AND reason with her reflection during the final star test, even as it was flinging barbs at her regarding her introverted nature and insecurities about fitting in. In the end, she was able to refute her inner critic in this encounter as she reasoned why the star she selected was the antidote that would save the Queen, and by extension the Kingdom. Special points to her for using her constellation knowledge to her advantage and introspecting on how the lone star is akin to her usual loner status (both with a revolutionary purpose). She is rewarded for her success with a new set of wings, a physical manifestation of this inner growth.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[chlo-cloud24]

Tika Headcanon

Everybody be hating on Tika for being wary of Antonio and Ro's relationship, but ever considered this? (P.S. it's only my headcanon)

The fact that there's only one elephant on the island suggests that Tika's whole herd was killed before Ro, Sagi and Azul found her?

Upon seeing Antonio for the first time (the first human since Ro became her friend mind you), when she says "it must be bad" and "let's run and hide", maybe her herd was poached and she was the only one to survive?

Even with the romance thing, some bull elephants tend to be hostile to calves that aren't theirs, so ever considered that shortly after Tika was born her mum was courted by a musth-y bull elephant that chased her away (this being before the whole adult herd got wiped out from the island by aforementioned poachers), thus she was scared that history will repeat itself when Antonio and Ro get together?

Driving it home for me would be in Tika's admission to Ro about hiding Antonio's note, her line "I didn't want you to leave me" IMO supports the theory that her mum let the musth-y bull chase her away before the two elephants courted each other, plus the line "B-but you love the prince" hammers home how the mother elephant probably had to choose between her baby and the bull that was courting her.

Ever thought about any of that? Thank you for coming to my TED talk