so ticked off when I hear "the youth is too leftist" or "young people are radicalized". bitch if we were, we'd be seizing the means of production. i personally think we aren't left and radical enough
I want to talk about this scene from S2E2. Specifically how both Sara and Simon end up quietly hurting each other
Note: I love them. I'm just pointing out the small disconnects they have because they've such unique character traits and arcs through the story
đHe has a reminder set for her 18th birthday!
Sara turns down dinner with her brother and mother. She also points out plainly how her friends' gift is a better brand than the jodhpurs Simon and Linda bought.
Simon's face falls. And Sara notices! I don't think she's very clear on why he's suddenly upset. So she tries to salvage the situation.
Salvage it by suggesting getting the cash refunded because it's not a rude idea in her mind. Why would it be? Her friends suggested it just that morning.
Notice Sara tries to explain WHY she'd like the refund. She admits everything's expensive at school and she could use the cash especially because "they don't get I can't afford..."
But Simon runs away from his feelings. He immediately dials Rosh and Ayub so they can wish Sara face-to-face. Good, right?
Nope. They spend three seconds wishing her and then the rest of the call is focused on Simon's date with Marcus.
Why? Maybe because Rosh and Ayub are Simon's friends, not her's and they're excited to hear from him. But Simon also doesn't do anything to redirect the conversation back to Sara.
It's fine though, 'cause Sara has her own friends for the first time in her life! They wake her up with robust and happy faces, and an entire cake with candles, singing just for her!
But when they give her the jodhpurs, her smile drops. Her immediate worry is that it's so expensive. They reassure her, that it's okay, everyone contributed a small amount of 100-200 SEK, as they do for everyone's birthdays!
So Sara would have to spend at least 100 Kroner every time! (the idea of giving her family's gift back for some cash makes sense to her in this respect).
Basically, both Sara and Simon are facing different issues and are unable to talk about it, or don't push it. Sara already yelled once at Simon in S1E6. It's not fun. She doesn't want to have to do that. So she lets it go.
đ
Also, I think one of the reasons why Sara believes it's okay to be with August especially after what he did to Simon, is because Simon doesn't outwardly show how much the video affected him.
(there are many thoughts that fuel her actions wrt august)
She truly believes it's in the past. I believe she hasn't seen the video and so doesn't know how visible Simon is in it.
if Sara could observe with her own eyes how Simon is genuinely suffering (if he didn't feel like he has to be the man of the house and protect his sister and mother from everything) Sara might have understand better.
But all said and done, they love each other. The birthday scene doesn't end with Sara and Simon feeling awkward and at odds. It ends with Simon goofing around and Sara chastising him like an older sibling would.
tldr: Sara and Simon find emotions messy, face their own problems, and have trouble communicating clearly
"back then, everyone could afford servants" actually classism error. most people could not afford servants. the lower economic classes, from which upper classes hired servants, outnumbered the upper classes adn should have been counted
There's a LOT of good things (and thing I personally love) that came from the assassination on Brian Thompson, but I think one of the best (and a personal favorite) is that it brigde the devide between republicans and liberals, especially those from lower classes, and it forces the 1% to see (and hopefully engage in) the conversation on class divised
Another Eat-the-Rich Film, "Parasite" is an Exploration of Class at Its Deadliest
The wait is (finally) over! My review of Bong Joon-Ho's materpiece, "Parasite" is now live!
Content Warning: Parasite contains depictions of severe class disparity, violence, grooming, and extreme manipulation. Viewer discretion is advised.
Spoilers for Parasite ahead!
In January of 2020, the English-centered film industry was put on blast for not giving foreign language films their proper flowers. Director Bong Joon-Ho, already celebrated by Hollywood and audiences alike for previousâŚ
Iâve seen a lot of people talking about how the exorcists look like demons, and while I do understand where the complaint is coming from I also wanted to talk about how them looking like that kind of supports the narrative.
Iâm going to start this off by staying this is from a perspective looking at the narrative presented to us in the Hellaverse, not any specific religion because 1) I am an atheist who doesnât have the knowledge or background for making any calls on that and 2) the canon hasnât confirmed this adheres to a specific belief system. Thereâs Adam and Eve and Hell and Heaven and yes, but this show arguably works as a parody of all of that.
Now that thatâs established, I want to bring up one of the main points in the show: the idea that those in Heaven and Hell arenât that different. In Helluva weâre shown the experiences of hell-born, and we even see cherubs later on who seem to fulfill the parallel role of them in Heaven (with the IMP vs CHERUB fight.) We also know that Lucifer was an angel in this canon. So some of the characters with the most authority in those domains are from the same stock.
The main difference seems to be punishment. Lucifer was punished for his actions and was given those who were deemed âSinners.â The Hell born seem to be just natives living there and many seem to be products of their environment. So while Sinners may be âbadâ and Winners âgoodâ, all those born in Heaven or Hell have no reason for being there.
Whether exorcists are brought to heaven or made there, there is still that view of superiority. The way Lute talks makes it clear sheâd be willing to kill the hellborn if she could, despite them not having done anything to be there like the Sinners. Itâs similar to how some people born into high economic status view those born into lower. Itâs just luck of the draw but now you have access to different opportunities and that influences the way you view others. Those born in Heaven probably look at those born in Hell and argue that if hellborn arenât bad, then why does Hell suck? Ignoring the fact that Hell is established for the purpose of containing Sinners, who often end up being more powerful that the majority of hellborn.
Even some of the Sinners likely fall into that issue where people who gave to endure harsher environments may have to resort to more extreme measures to get by, and then punishment for it just causes them to need to do even more because their conditions worsened. As seen with the rate of people who keep returning to prison. With Hell some may have fallen down this path (think of Angel, who was born into a crime family, itâs likely a lot easier to fall into drug addiction then when you have access and more things youâd like to forget, but drug addiction can be a slippery slope and the other stuff he needed to do to survive basically condemned him.) Obviously not all Sinners fall into this category and are just monstrous pieces of shit, but they likely isnât the case for everyone.
Then, once you get to Hell itâs essentially a larger prison, except you arenât separated and are given powers, causing some of the more malicious individuals to rise up and acquire power, making it even more of a nightmare for everyone else. This continues that cycle of having to do certain things to survive. Similar to have in jail that fear of getting hurt by some violent people make you align yourself with slightly less violent people. Except now in Hell thereâs that added issue: thereâs no escape.
(Also, Hell is a prison but you STILL have to pay rent and work to survive, so you really get the added stress of both worlds.)
Anyway, this whole cycle causes a similar effect to the growing class disparity we see in many countries. Those on top (Heaven) continue to have power while those lower have to deal with most of the burden. Reinforcing that belief in exorcists that Heaven is âgoodâ and Hell is âbadâ because they are unable to see the full picture. They just see it as âthey blew their shotâ without thinking of why that may be or considering the people who didnât even have a choice being thereâ like how some people blame others in poverty for being that way because âthey are lazy.â Thatâs not even remotely the full picture. But because certain things come easy for you itâs hard to understand why it canât come easy for others.
Exorcists are then given the excuse and opportunity to kill others, people who they believe are lesser than them. And some take genuine joy out of it, yet they continue to see themselves as the âgood guysâ because thatâs what they are and the others âdeserve it.â And this shows how when some people are given the opportunity and reason to be assholes theyâll take it- millionaires donât HAVE to exploit their employees, but they view it as being to their benefit and helping the bottom line.
So now, both exorcists and those in hell have reason and excuse to be violent, albeit for very different reasons. Yet because of this exorcists are still âgoodâ and those in hell are âbad.â And this is largely because of the lack of consequences for their actions. Heaven reinforces their behavior, before episode 8 there was no push back from Hell, so they could continue to use their reasoning as an excuse to kill others.
Theyâre blind and donât see it though. They only see the world from one perspective, which is ironic given the exorcist mask is missing an eye. They can put masks on and hurt others and then take them off without dealing with the consequences. They âgo downâ to the level of the very people they despise and then write it all off, because they have the comfort of taking their masks off at the end. Of having a choice.
Itâs also interesting how their masks donât resemble sinners but Hellborn. Which almost reminds me of mocking anotherâs culture while actively hurting them. They may not be able to physically hurt hellborn, but theyâre still viewed through the same lens as Sinners. Theyâre still âbad.â So exorcists can don caricatures of their appearances, go around âpretendingâ to be them by committing violent acts, and when theyâre done they can take it off. As Iâm writing this Iâm now thinking about how in the past black-face has been used to reinforce racist stereotypes, making racist caricatures.
This also camouflage in a way, maybe they were previously asked to âfit inâ before things got all crazy, and when told to look for âdemon disguisesâ they all fall back onto the stereotype and dressed up like that.
The usage of exorcists wearing demon-looking masks could be them both âplaying badâ while also clearly showing the fact that at the core people arenât so different. For as much as they hate those in hell, theyâre just as likely to fall into the same traps and patterns as them.
Having written this all now, I wanted to bring up Vaggie. Vaggie who took her exorcist mask off to show sympathy for someone only to be punished and marked with an âXâ that mirrors her mask. Vaggie who previously was part of the âeliteâ, where she could forgo consequences until she couldnât for not following them and was cast out, being permanently marked. Vaggie, who was previously allowed given the gift to âplay badâ due to being in Heaven, but when she was cast out âplaying badâ wasnât an option anymore. Taking off her mask canât get rid of mistakes anymore, and now she has to display them for the world to see.
I donât know if the âXâ was intentional on her part or irony, but if she did choose it it could also be her recognizing her role in the system. Her realizing she canât go back and using the âXâ to remind her of what sheâs done. Because she doesnât have the luxury of pretending sheâs a good person anymoreâ she doesnât want to forget.
