Waymond
So i have been rewatching Everything Everywhere All at Once, on repeat since i watched when it released, its become a sort of comfort movie. i can recite the lines from this movie 1:1 if that gives you an indecation of how much i have seen this. anyways thats besides the point, i wanted to chat about comic releaf and how this movie does it perfectly with Waymond.
by the way, pls bear with me, my writing style is more narrative based than anything else. think of this as a trip into my brain lol <3
life is hard, we all deal with it in different ways. some people deal with it dead on, and try to analyse it all, and decided things based on facts. but some, some very interesting souls, wholeheartedly reject this and seek wholeness in the fact that they dont need to see it all to understand it all. i myself probably fit somewhere in the middle, i feel very happy when i understand things and try my hardest to understand alot of things. but i find alot of safety in the idea that there are just some things that need to be joked about and not analysed at all.
When we meet Waymond he is in a bad place, his marriage is falling apart, his daughter and wife are feuding and to put a cherry on the top of this cake he is ablivious to this all, instead living life as if it was fine, its not, but he is still dancing and making costumers laugh.
Waymond fits into group 2, the people that dont need to know everything, everywhere all at once (see what i did there). BUT this must NOT be taken as these people not understanding the world or being somehow stupider bc they pick a different path. rather it should be taken as just another way to exist.
many comic releaf characters are only that, no 3 dymentionality, just there to cut the tension. this used to work well when movies were shorter and not as in demand. as we start to see things over and over they get boring, we all know this. the thing is though, we need comic releaf in every movie somewhere.
okay lets do an exercise, think of your favourite movie, now think of any scene in that movie serious or otherwise, i can take a shot in the dark and say that if you told a friend about this scene alone they wouldnt think much of it, bc they dont have context, they dont have a build up to any of this. now take a scene that has a moment of comic releaf, and tell this to your metaphorical friend about this scene, i can say with 90% confidence that they will for sure understand that scene better. what i am trying to say is that comic releaf makes things more palettable.
Waymond for almost the whole movie is kind of a joke... he isnt very serious and when he is its out of character for him, but come the 3rd act and its revealed that Waymond is doing all of this by choice, as the world just needs googly eyes every now and then.
this reveal hits so well on 3 levels. level 1 it informs the viewers more on Waymond and forces a reevaluation of him, level 2 it changes how Michelle Yeoh's character, Evelyn looks at he current situation and level 3 makes the comic releaf 3D!!! not only is he doing this to make it easier on himself but also on everyone else. this builds his character of just being a father and caring person, even with his costumers, he is just doing this to make them happier.
when i look at this movie a few things come to mind, 2 scenes the intro to the rocks where its just silence and text to read, the whole saga with the sausage fingers and Waymond as a character.
in closing, im very happy that The Daniels made this. this movie that was really funny, really insightful and really did give me my favourite character in movie history. I wish the them all the best and hope they keep knocking out BANGERS like this one
anyways thanks for reading, hope you have a good day :3
okay so that was really nice to write out, i havent been able to flex my writing muscles for a while, i am dyslexic and its just very energy consuming but very very fun to do when it comes together. its been real, doog signing off