“You and your father cast large shadows,” Frigga tells Thor in a deleted scene from the Dark World. Yet it was the first movie that showed this, repeatedly. Second born son to a king, Loki was born into the position of the spare heir. So easily overlooked and disregarded when you have both a strong king and a powerful heir. I unabashedly love the way the director showed how Loki felt about his place in his family, about how he measured up against his father and older brother.
We start with Thor & Loki as children, on equal footing (visually) as they both gaze up at their father.
Then comes the coronation. Loki is below his father and above his brother. But he is miserable. The camera shoots down at him. Then shows him looking up at his father and down at his brother. Thor is below him only symbolically, for he is about to take the steps up - past Loki - to take the throne, where he will forever be above his younger brother.
Next is my personal fave, sadly a scene that got chopped up even as it perfectly conveys how Loki sees himself. After Thor’s coronation is disrupted and he and Odin argue in the weapons vault (a scene in which Loki is silent, he has no voice in the exchange between Odin & Thor), Loki finds Thor brooding. They sit side by side until Thor rises to make his case for their going to Jotunheim (”no Thor that’s a terrible idea, don’t do that sit down” - me). Loki remains in place, still and silent, again having no voice as Thor cajoles his friends. Up until this -
“You’re not going to let my brother and me take all the glory, are you?”
“But you are coming with me, aren’t you?”
“Yes, of course. I won’t let my brother march into Jotunheim alone.”
And as Loki jumps to his feet to declare his intention to go with Thor, he stands on a lower step. Below his brother. Staring up adoringly at him.
They go to Jotunheim (didn’t i tell you to stay home??? you never listen), get dragged home by Odin. Odin & Thor argue again, standing on a platform elevated over Loki. Loki tries to speak up this time only to get roared into silence by his father. The look of shock on his face speaks volumes. From then on, he’s again silent, watching, looking up. Left out.
Thor is banished. Loki confronts Odin in the vault. The truth of his origins come out. This is the crucial scene where Loki’s visual position shifts. He is, as always, looking up at his father.
Then, suddenly, Loki’s above him. Loki’s the one looking down at his father.
Well shit. This was unexpected. With Thor being cast down to Midgard, and Odin fallen at Loki’s feet, Loki has now been elevated higher than both of them. He receives Gungnir and sits on Asgard’s throne. Everyone is below him. He visits Thor on Midgard and stands above him, looking down at him as he informs Thor of his new standing.
But still Loki’s not happy. He can’t lift Mjolnir (duh, you tried to lift it after you told a shit ton of lies, you dumbass), Thor’s friends won’t obey him, Asgard’s watchman still stands above him, looking down. Loki claws and fights dirty to try to hang on to his elevated position just long enough to prove himself in Odin’s eye. Not to keep his position mind you, he’s only fighting to try to raise himself up a notch, trying to gain enough ground so he’s no long standing below Thor & Odin, silent and watching. This is all he wants. Though how he goes about it leaves something to be desired, but I digress.
Thor returns, Odin awakens and here we get to the most dramatic visual representation of how Loki see his place in the scheme of his family -
You can’t get any lower than this. Loki’s always looking up, with others looking down. In one moment of sheer despair, he chooses to escape this position by falling down so far that he won’t have to see anyone looking down at him again.
I love watching this movie (and crying bitter tears of feels afterward).
