what age were you when you realized Kiki and Kristen are both mirrors of Shaye and represent two sides of herself, Kiki being the part of herself she feels protective and sympathetic towards while Kristen is the side of herself she can’t stand; addicted, exploited, and objectified. Kiki’s burnt face mirrors Shaye’s disfigurement beneath her mannequin mask (since she was burned badly in the train accident that caused a gas explosion when it hit her car), and being discarded and left behind (left on Shaye’s doorstep, which resembles Shaye being abandoned by her close friends after her accident). Kristen being exploited, sexualized, and victimized by the Hollywood industry and her Kah addiction she takes on to cope are all things that heavily mirror Shaye’s behaviors just the same, even down to the way Kristen’s face is messily scribbled to resemble long eyelashes and lipstick and matches the same feeling Shaye’s mannequin mask in a sort of “desperate, uncanny beauty” sense. It’s easier to love Kiki because she’s only “someone like her”, but Kiki isn’t Shaye, and it’s easier to take out her frustration on Kristen for things she doesn’t like about herself because they’re things she’s deeply insecure about within her own self. Both of them are still mirrors of her, two sides of the same coin and two abused dolls Shaye adopted into her life via her Save Abused Dolls program, only she keeps the two of them with her as housemates and almost like her children. Kiki is often met with a sort of playfully stern response from Shaye despite her mischievous doll antics whereas Kristen receives a more aggressive and impatient reaction from Shaye despite the lack of difference in both Kristen and Kiki’s mischievous behavior overall. Kiki and Shaye are inseparable and are the notable duo while Kristen almost plays the part of a third wheel to their dynamic, seen as a burdensome presence a majority of the time rather than another beloved figure in Shaye’s life. Watching the SSJ triggers comp and other triggers outside of the DVD in general really unearthed a lot of tropes and things you start to notice the more you watch the triggers with the idea in mind that a lot of the content is intentional even if it is absurdist, satirical and obscure art.
Loading...
