when the film has themes of complicated relationships and the place you grew up and the cyclical nature of having a suicidal parent and sibling relationships and grief
let's talk victor, his red gloves, war and the angel.
I think the anti-war nature of Del Toro's Frankenstein is more than obvious. I also think the near-constant presence of Victor's leather gloves was a great detail. Aaand I'm quite sure I know the angel from his visions. And I may have a theory on how all those things are connected.
At first, I assumed the gloves' symbolism was obvious: red like blood, but also the constant concealment of Victor's palms as a metaphor for detachment, especially since we know how important hand-to-hand contact is in the movie.
But, given the way GDT draws from the Bible, would it be such a great stretch to bring up another (quite famous) pair of metaphorically bloodied hands?
In Matthew 27:24, Pontius Pilate attempts to argue for Jesus' life and save him from crucifixion despite the rioting crowd. Clearly that doesn’t work lol. He gives in, says, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves", and publicly washes his hands as a symbol of ceremonial cleansing/withdrawal of responsibility. Which is. Extremely ironic, given the fact that it is Pilate that confirms Jesus' death sentence. Even if he tries to deny that. And doesn't Victor, too, attempt to shrug off the responsibility for his creation's suffering from the very start?
But, ah. The colour red. Blood, yes, but also — what was the second Horseman of the Apocalypse's horse? Red. And the Horseman was War.
Once again, this movie fucking hates war!!!!!! It depicts it as pointless, monstrous, loathsome!!!!
And do you know who Victor's angel is? The one from the visions?
I know this man because I have been obsessed with him for ages
Judging by his armour and sword, that is most likely Archangel Michael — the "Warrior" Archangel. The one God created to "be like Him" (his name literally translates to, "Quis ut Deus?" a.k.a. "Who is like God?"), the one whose devotion was so absolute he allegedly battled his own brother and was the leading force behind Lucifer's banishment (carrying out their Father's will).
Archangel Michael is the leading patron saint of war. Literally. Of warfare. Of military. Of policemen. Of violence. There is a reason why he's always depicted armoured and wielding a sword.
And... I don't know, I just think there's something to be said about the fact that the embodiment of Victor's ambition, his haughty dreams, his perfect visions is the saint patron of war, all the while the actual creation, the "failure" he comes to loathe, starts his readings with the Bible, the literal creation of man, and ends on Milton's Paradise Lost, which details the fall of Lucifer.
I think there's something to be said about Victor following the supposed call of the archangel of violence, all the while renouncing the tender-hearted creature that, in the novel, famously tells him, "I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel (...)."
edit:
i'd also like to include these excellent additions by @anamelessfool @angelsarecomputers @dark-whimsy and @britsgovernmentmh
I love little camera tricks like this. This is art.
The way they show Carmy come into the shot so your focus is drawn to him, and then show him close up and slowly pan the camera over the crew to land on the beat on Sydney, lingering on her just a bit more at the line "you've been waiting" before panning to Tina.
It's like another version of the same thing they did at Marcus' mom's funeral with that sydcarmy "look closely at each other" shot.
someone pointed out that carmy's cousin michelle may be divorced from her husband. I couldn't stop thinking about seeing him and claire at the wedding and how they both were so giddy to say 'oh it's going to be a s*itshow and that's just what Bearzattos do' but it was a quiet calm progressive event. and they're all still close and still family and whatever, but it's so interesting that claire and this man are both so regressive and I wonder if claire is going to also have her relationship end
I don't think they're divorced, he told Frank he's married to Michelle. I think she just had to go back to work. They implied she's an actress in New York. I think he just said he stayed and she left as in she left the wedding, not left him. I think it's most likely that they both weren't available to film on the same day and Sarah Paulson had to leave, cause she wasn't under the table.
They showed Michelle and Donna at the start and made it seem like shit would go down.
Then Carmy started panicking right before running into Donna and you could see how things could quickly turn bad.
But Syd saved the Bears, once again. She got Carmy out of there, talked to Donna and made her feel normal.
That was kind of the whole point of the "Bears", Syd always saves the day and keeps everyone in check and keeps the Berzatto's together. She's the peace that was missing from that family.
Syd is the bear. Syd is the peace. While Claire could barely even manage to get on kid out from under the table, Syd basically saved Richie, Carmy, and Donna from a crash out.
Just noticed that when Sydney mentions Claire, the background noise for Carmy becomes horns, sirens and vehicle buzzing. And after she says she appreciates him, the background noise for him is mostly the birds chirping🥺
One of the things I noticed about The Bear is that every first episode has a SydCarmy moment that defines the rest of the season. It is always a moment where it is just the two of them, and what happens usually has a major effect on how the season turns out. First season it was the meeting between Carmy and Sydney, and it was her being hired on at The Beef that finally got the restaurant moving in a direction of professionalism. In the second season, it was Carmy’s failed attempt at asking Sydney out in the first episode, and that failure lit a fire in him that helped kickstart a speedy reconstruction of their new restaurant. Third season, it was Sydney and Carmy together after he got out of the freezer, and it was her disapproval of Carmy contacting Claire and trying to make up with Richie, that ended up building up his guilt towards Claire, which added on to so many of his other traumas that he was refusing to deal with.
This time around, the defining SydCarmy moment of season 4 epi. 1 was a very poorly timed confession. In the start of their conversation, Carmy apologizes for not being good enough, which Sydney disagrees is the source of the problem. Here, she speaks frankly. It’s the chaos that the article speaks of, and she tells Carmy how she does not like it either. Who is the main source of the chaos- Carmy. Carmy is hearing a double meaning. You don’t like Chaos and I’M the chaos…so you don’t like me? He tries to get confirmation. Does she really associate me with chaos, which she just admitted to not liking? He then asks her if she thinks he likes chaos. She pretty much confirms his fears when she tells him how he could be so good if he didn’t have this need for mess. He is the chaos, the thing she openly states that she doesn’t like. And that hurts him. Badly. He tells her:
“Congrats. That knocked the wind right out of me.”
Sydney is confirming his worst fears. That she doesn’t feel the same way about him. And that hit him right in his soul. Sydney, at that moment, doesn’t understand the enormity of what this moment is feeling like for him, and she continues on with the conversation about his love of chaos:
“You don’t need it.”
And Carmy really replies with “Air?” because the dude is truly stunned at this moment.
As the conversation continues, Carmy tries again to defend himself about how he doesn’t like dysfunction. He is trying to convince her that that is not him, do not associate me with something you don’t like. When Sydney asks what does he likes, he takes it upon himself to push further, further than he ever gone before with her because he truly thinks that she is confessing her dislike of him. He tells her “I like this”, what they have, being together at this moment. He likes HER. But Sydney scoffs at it and criticizes his delivery…and Carmy took that as confirmation of his worst fears. He ducks his head and tells her “That hurt”, and after she walks off, he stares longingly at her, eyes slowly watering.
Carmy spends this season believing that Sydney rejected him, and when you really think about it, she kind of did. Just by the way she looked at him when he tells her “I like this”, I do believe she understood that he was referring to what they have, but she was not in the mood to consider any of that because Carmy has been dismissing her for too long for her to give anything other than a negative reaction. She doesn’t want Carmy as he is now, someone so miserable to be around, and she tells him so. She can't take him seriously. Say it without all that misery attached to it. Unfortunately, Carmy takes this as a complete rejection, and this changes so many things for him.
Carmy has an incredibly complex relationship with food. In his desire to impress his brother, he goes to school for cooking and discovers that he is really good at it. So good that for the first time in his life, he is being recognized and openly praised for his skills, and he took much pleasure in being the best and besting his competition. It was his way of proving to his brother that he is good enough to work at his restaurant, because that is truly what is this was all about. Carmy love of cooking is not only tied to his ego, but also who he shares it with. He became the best cook in the world so that he could be worthy enough to cook alongside his brother. After his brother died, Carmy took it upon himself to continue on at The Beef and make it successful, but Carmy had so many shortcomings while also still dealing with his brother’s death, that his attempt wasn’t going well at all…until Sydney showed up. It was Sydney who turned The Beef around, but she also transformed Carmy. She showed herself to be the perfect partner. Incredibly knowledgeable about cooking, so much so she could finish his sentences. She was very business savvy and a great leader, he knew he could depend on her to lead it, especially when the pain of reality got too much for him. She took the spot of the person he loves to cook with, and that inspired Carmy to dream for more and fight for his old dream- the dream to build up his own restaurant, and he does. And all of this is because of Sydney. She became his muse.
Working with her made him love working at the restaurant, he even admits to Claire that Sundays are his least favorite days. The days he doesn’t get to see her. Sydney fueled his creativity. Not only would he design dishes based on what she was wearing, but he also took out his drawing tools just to draw out the imaginary dishes for her and impressed her with it. What she desired, he worked hard to get it for her. Much of his motivation throughout these three seasons was trying to be the best for her. Now, in season 4, Carmy is confronted with the possibility that she might not feel the same way. That she might even dislike him a little and in his mind, and this changes everything. Carmy saw how unhappy she was while he was trying to get her a star. He definitely noticed how she never signed the partnership agreement. Dude probably started to think that maybe he got ahead of himself. Maybe she does not want to be with him as he does with her, and there was even a possibility that she plans on leaving him eventually. Carmy probably correctly predicted that the thing Sydney wanted to tell him was that she was leaving. The argument at the beginning of season 4, probably confirmed his worst fears. She didn’t sign the agreement because she was never going to be a permanent member. She was one day going to leave him like she did in the first season, and probably sooner than he would like. So he starts preparing.
This leads to some serious soul searching for Carmy. Carmy was truthful with Sydney when he told her how he didn’t want to do this without her. If he could not make her happy then she will eventually leave, and if that happens, then being the owner of The Bear was not something he wanted to do. The Bear was a restaurant he originally created that he and his brother would own. It then became the restaurant that he wanted him and Sydney to own. It was never something he wanted to go in by himself, and none of the people that currently work at The Bear, not his sister, not Richie, not any of the Faks, were what he wanted in a partner. Sydney was it and if Sydney was not going to be part of it, then that was that. His motivation left him this season. He wanted The Bear to succeed for the people who worked there, but he did not want to be a part of it. Cooking, by itself, never gave him much enjoyment. The love of cooking was sharing that love with a special someone, and that special someone, in his eyes, does not feel the same way.
In episode 1, Richie new hires implement an effective system that is bringing life back into The Bear. Despite that, in episode 2, Carmy is incredibly depressed. He starts thinking of his mistakes and trying to make things right, and for the first time, considering leaving the place he worked so hard to build. So he starts backing off and allowing Sydney to take more control. He starts seeing her talent as not a competition( he is still a competitive person after all) but as a sign that he isn’t needed. He seeks to apologize to Claire, something he probably would have done a long time ago, but didn’t do because he was respecting Sydney’s wishes. He starts listening to his crew and giving them what they needed to succeed. He starts to explore his other interests and is fully focused on finding himself outside of the restaurant. He created an updated agreement, removing himself completely from the equation because at this point, he figures that since he is the wrong thing in The Bear, the chaos that Sydney doesn’t like, removing himself is best for everyone.
And his fears get confirmed when Shapiro calls him while Sydney is at the hospital. This time around though, Carmy is prepared to lose Sydney. He isn’t going to freak out like season 2 and 3 Carmy definitely would have. He accepts that she doesn’t feel the same way and plans accordingly. He seeks out Claire as he eases on to a possible future without Sydney. This is happening all the while, Sydney has no idea that Carmy has given up on them as a partnership.
And when she finds out, it crushes her. Something interesting to note is that Carmy finds Sydney outside, and when he asks her about what’s going on, she replies how she “is getting some air.” Carmy leaving her has left her similarly breathless, the same way Carmy felt when he believed she turned him down. It is a great way to show that the strong feelings between the two are mutual. She does want him as much as he wants her, but she keeps him at a distance so well that it has fooled Carmy into thinking that she doesn’t.
And in their big confrontation, Carmy is confused as hell. Why are you upset at me leaving when I am chaos to you, something you didn’t like? Why are you upset when you were going to leave me anyways, now you have a restaurant of your own? And Carmy tries to explain to Sydney what he feels about cooking. He tells her that hasn’t been enjoying it lately. He doesn’t have anything to draw from anymore. There is a Sydney sized hole that he feels he no longer has, so that enjoyment is gone. It’s gone because he believes Sydney is leaving for Shapiro, so it’s best if he leaves and let her keep the restaurant because the love of it will leave with her anyways. And through the argument, with Syd not getting it, he lays it on her and explains why her owning the restaurant is for the best, why this is a great opportunity, and why he wont leave her in this mess and will make sure the business is okay. And Sydney, damn Sydney. She pulls every excuse out in the book why she isn’t happy with him leaving to avoid the main reason. She made it out as if him leaving her a failed business is why she is so upset, but after he promises that he will make sure it doesn’t fail, she couldn’t use that excuse anymore. As he cites the reasons why this is a great opportunity for her, there is no happiness there for her, because none of that matters. She loves the crew, she enjoys the business, but the one and only reason she chose to stay and sink with the ship was purely because she wanted to stay with Carmy. And sadly, it’s at the end of their confrontation when Sydney finally gets to the real reason why she is upset. She doesn’t want to lose him. And we get cut off once Sydney finally admits the real reason why she hates seeing him leave, and we miss how Carmy reacts to it too, but the way he stares at her as she is crying after Richie interrupts, he might be putting two and two together.
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