A post from twitter upon someone learning about the upcoming She-ra live action.
This right here is why I'm worried about this new adaptation. It's not that I don't want them to lean into certain aspects of the 80's version. It's not that I even need to watch it (or like it). Whatever happens in the live action will mean nothing because we'll still have SPOP 2018. But ever since spop came out in 2018, there have been countless people who's main critique is the fact that Adora is a lesbian (also that they didn't find her to be feminine enough but those two kinda go hand in hand). There are so many reddit threads, tik tok and twitter posts, and conversations in other corners of the internet that love to talk about how horrendous it was that they made the main female character in a show a lesbian. That there's a FMC that has no attraction or romantic ties to men. So that's why I'm worried. It won't ruin anyone in the fandoms experience, we'll still have SPOP. We'll still have catradora. But it still would suck so bad to see these kinds of conversations start making rounds across the internet again.
Adora (and Catra, but Adora as the main character especially) was so huge for the queer, and especially sapphic, community. And to erase that would suck. I completely get that in the original show she wasn't queer, and if that's what they're sticking to that's fine. But a lack of a sapphic FMC will make a certain group of people very happy.
And to anyone who really, really hates the 2018 remake for reasons that are valid and not homophobic: that's fine! I get it, sometimes certain media just isn't someone's cup of tea. But we all know what really made everyone mad. It's blatantly obvious and no one tries to hide it.
My heart dropped when she sent me the twitter video of Adora in the new MOTU movie. I cant tell you how ive been struggling to grasp this all day. If I was worried about the new movie before, I am quaking in my boots now.
She-Ra has been such a blessing and a light in the queer community, and to see it being erased and have that erasure celebrated is a gut punch.
God forbid a woman love whoever she wants!
It doesnt matter, because we will keep celebrating our She-Ra, and we need more people to join us.
What makes this whole situation worse is that She-Ra was recently taken off Netflix, which makes this erasure of the 2018 version all the more easier. We can try our level best to archive it on the internet, but it will never be enough. People will always find a way to shove queer people under the rug, and it makes me so, so angry.
A post from twitter upon someone learning about the upcoming She-ra live action.
This right here is why I'm worried about this new adaptation. It's not that I don't want them to lean into certain aspects of the 80's version. It's not that I even need to watch it (or like it). Whatever happens in the live action will mean nothing because we'll still have SPOP 2018. But ever since spop came out in 2018, there have been countless people who's main critique is the fact that Adora is a lesbian (also that they didn't find her to be feminine enough but those two kinda go hand in hand). There are so many reddit threads, tik tok and twitter posts, and conversations in other corners of the internet that love to talk about how horrendous it was that they made the main female character in a show a lesbian. That there's a FMC that has no attraction or romantic ties to men. So that's why I'm worried. It won't ruin anyone in the fandoms experience, we'll still have SPOP. We'll still have catradora. But it still would suck so bad to see these kinds of conversations start making rounds across the internet again.
Adora (and Catra, but Adora as the main character especially) was so huge for the queer, and especially sapphic, community. And to erase that would suck. I completely get that in the original show she wasn't queer, and if that's what they're sticking to that's fine. But a lack of a sapphic FMC will make a certain group of people very happy.
And to anyone who really, really hates the 2018 remake for reasons that are valid and not homophobic: that's fine! I get it, sometimes certain media just isn't someone's cup of tea. But we all know what really made everyone mad. It's blatantly obvious and no one tries to hide it.
My heart dropped when she sent me the twitter video of Adora in the new MOTU movie. I cant tell you how ive been struggling to grasp this all day. If I was worried about the new movie before, I am quaking in my boots now.
She-Ra has been such a blessing and a light in the queer community, and to see it being erased and have that erasure celebrated is a gut punch.
God forbid a woman love whoever she wants!
It doesnt matter, because we will keep celebrating our She-Ra, and we need more people to join us.
Hordak: I am a genius with knowledge of future alien technology. I built guns, reinvented cloning on this planet (failed but still), built an interdimensional portal, and had enough military cunning to take over a good percent of the planet in only a couple decades. I am one of the smartest people on this planet.
Also Hordak: What? No. Of course Entrapta doesn’t like me back. You’re crazy.
Glimmer: She spends all her time with you, makes clever gadgets to help you out, revolves her entire life around you, and tried everything to comfort you when you got sick that time. They're totally in love with you!
Also Glimmer: Bow, tell him I'm right, and that he's crazy for not seeing it.
Writing a big project is some special kind of torture. "Why, yes, I've solved the plot hole in chapter 14 and I would deeply love to share the character development in the late-season arc."
Shame that I'm only six published chapters in and all the cool stuff I want to share would ruin the surprise!
(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS! Also, TRIGGER WARNING: There is a lot of talk about rape! Be aware!)
Curry Barker’s Obsession is an unprecedented smash hit for horror. I mean, horror has been doing exceptionally well as of late what with films like Sinners, Iron Lung, and countless other films receiving rave critical reviews, positive audience reception, and/or lots of money… but Obsession is getting all of that at once. Critics love it, fans love it, and it’s set to earn back 25 times its budget. Made for less than a million bucks and as of now it’s predicted to close its theatrical run with $250 million dollars. It is one of the most profitable films of all time, and it’s well deserved! This is a well-worn story given fantastic presentation and featuring incredible performances from a cast of people who aren’t distractingly famous.
A great horror success like this must of course have a great villain, and boy does this ever have one. No, it isn’t the incredibly creepy version of Nikki brought out by the One Wish Willow that kicks off the plot. The true villain of this story is, in fact, the protagonist Bear. In fact, he might genuinely be one of the single most disgusting and reprehensible characters in recent memory.
Motivations, Goals, and Backstory: All Bear wants to do is ask out his childhood friend Nikki, but he lacks the courage to do so. To that end, he uses a One Wish Willow to make her obsessed with him and only him. It’s a very simple motivation with a very simple solution, but it’s not this simple start that’s important; it is the lengths Bear goes to to ignore everything that is wrong so that he can enjoy the fruits of said solution. At every twist and turn he makes sure to ignore anything that might help him in his situation if it jeopardizes what he has with Nikki. It ends up being equal parts pathetic, idiot, and truly disturbing for reasons that will soon become clear.
Performance: Bear would not work as a character at all if there wasn’t an exceptionally strong performance behind him, and Michael Johnston doesn’t disappoint. He manages to inject just the right level of pathetic wet puppy charm into Bear that it’s easy to get sucked in and least have a tiny bit of pity for him, and even when that pity evaporates Johnston still manages to make Bear chillingly compelling. People have rightfully been praising Inde Navarette for her performance as Nikki, but I don’t think that performance would hit quite as hard if she didn’t have such an excellent partner to bounce off of. Her phenomenal acting would just not land if Bear wasn’t holding his own, you know?
Evilness: Bear is quite literally the reason women choose the bear.
While he at first comes off like a pathetic, insecure, desperate manchild who is just incapable of having a spine and spitting out his true feelings, he pretty quickly grabs a sled and starts sliding down the slippery slope. He’s put off by Freaky Nikki at first, but he pretty quickly gets over it and then continuously has sex with her and does so little to actually solve the obvious problems that it’s genuinely callous. And then comes a moment where everything is explicitly laid out to him in terms he couldn’t possibly ignore, and the response he gives…
This guy is a fucking 5/5. He might be one of the single biggest pieces of shit in modern horror. Just a wholly selfish, vile, and irredeemable chud.
Final Fate: After getting all his friends killed and Freaky Nikki has completely lost it, Bear decides the only thing left to do is kill himself and end the wish. In a moment of true selflessness, a moment of self-reflection that shows that these horrific experiences have finally made him realize what a cunt he was, he downs an entire bottle of his pills so he can free Nikki from her tor—HAHAHA oh my god I can’t keep going with a straight face, of course Bear pussies out and tries to save himself by vomiting up the pills, because he is a fucking irredeemable asshole.
Too bad he didn’t count on Freaky Nikki using the One Wish Willow to make him love her with all his heart… his heart which is now in the process of stopping, since he’s so in love he forgot to vomit them up. He drops dead, Nikki is freed, and now all she can do is scream at the carnage as she is surrounded by the corpses of her most cherished friends. What a happy ending!
Keep in mind that Bear could have avoided all this if he had paid attention at numerous points instead of continuing to selflessly exploit a woman for his emotional and sexual gratification. Dude ruined half a dozen lives because of how much he sucks and he couldn’t even die properly, with even an ounce of dignity.
Standout Scene: It’s hard to single out just one moment, but I think the entire opening sequence that establishes his character and then sets him up to be sympathetic so all the rug pulls later hit harder is what I’m going to go with. We some him flubbing a practice date, establish he’s a complete pussy who can’t ask out his dream girl, and then on top of everything else he comes home to find his cat dead. You can’t help but feel bad for the guy… and that’s what makes how evil he ends up being even more disturbing.
Best Quote: For most of the movie, there is a level of plausible deniability Bear can be granted. He’s stuck in a bizarre supernatural situation he doesn’t understand, and while that doesn’t make his actions any less gross, pathetic, and creepy I could at least see a few shreds of sympathy afforded to him since he radiates such a pathetic, hopeless energy.
And then comes the scene where Nikki lays it all out for him. Freaky Nikki is asleep, which gives her a brief moment of control that allows her to explain her situation and how she is essentially a prisoner in her own body, that Bear isn’t with her and is loving a shadow, and then begs him to kill her to free her from the suffering. His response?
Coldly replying, “What’s so bad about being with me?”
Let’s be clear: Before this, he was at best a massive scumbag. From the point of view of his friends he has been taking advantage of an emotionally unstable woman going through an emotional breakdown, and he has been pretty placid and unquestioning with regards to the morality of his wish. He had sex with Nikki a lot, and even if he’s too stupid to realize it at first we as the audience can understand he is raping her. But this right here? This single line fully and completely erased any shred of sympathy I had for Bear. This is where he fully and completely embraces his role as a villain protagonist, and it makes every ounce of suffering that occurs after entirely his fault.
It’s also the most blatant, glaring sign that tells the audience that Bear doesn’t actually care about Nikki. He coveted her, lusted after her, and was fine enjoying her stripped of agency and obsessed with him until she started killing his friends. The fact he is so utterly cowardly that even with the numerous instances of disturbing behavior exhibited prior to this moment, and he still says that… he’s a true bastard.
Final Thoughts & Score: Bear is one of the single best villain protagonists in recent memory, and is a big part as to why Obsession is as good as it is. I mean, a story like this can’t work if half of the main characters
I like how at the start, it’s actually easy to be sympathetic towards him. His cat dies tragically, he has an unrequited crush on a girl, he lacks the confidence to say anything to her, and his friend gives him awful advice… He’s trying, but he’s pathetic to an almost endearing degree. And then he gets the One Wish Willow and in a fit of irritation due to his own cowardice, he magically roofies his crush and despite all the red flags pretty quickly enters a “romantic” relationship with her, complete with lots and lots of sex (read: rape). And despite the numerous points in which he is confronted with how awful what he’s doing is, he steadfastly refuses to grow and change, selfishly clinging to his disturbing relationship. In fact, he practically embraces being evil, and even in his final moments his cowardice and selfishness rear their heads and ensure the ending is black as coal.
In terms of vileness, I actually think he’s comparable to Humbert Humbert, the villain protagonist pedophile narrator of Lolita. Both of them are completely deluded into believing their actions are right, and that their constant rape of their victims is not only not rape but also better than any alternative for them. I mean, should they not love this? Is death or harm truly worse than their love? While I wouldn’t say Bear is quite as bad as a serial child rapist, being someone who strips a woman of her autonomy so he can fuck her repeatedly and then just ignore her pleas isn’t too many steps down from that if I’m being honest.
Bear represents the true pathetic banality of evil. He is a very real, very unpleasant person plopped into an extraordinary set of circumstances. One Wish Willows aren’t real, but pathetic “nice guys” who would objectify a woman and strip her of her free will if it meant getting their dick wet are all too real. The true horror of the film comes not from the increasingly unsettling actions of Nikki, but from the spinelessness and cruel apathy displayed by Bear, his lack of desire to free Nikki if it means losing her as his possession. He’s a selfish, pathetic, miserable, twisted little monster, and that’s precisely what makes him so compelling. I think he’s a 4.5/5, just a truly reprehensible man who destroys the lives of everyone around him in ways that never cease to be compelling.
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