Idk if you’ll talk about object cringe but if you do can you do an analysis on Brainy and where all of his self loathing came from? The last episode hurt me a lot and I’d really like to see you talk about it
Hi! I would be Happy to do an analysis on Object Cringe. I’ve been meaning to make one for a while now, especially since there’s so much to talk about with the new episode.
So Episode 3 of OC3 was our first really big example that Brainy doesn’t think very highly of himself. But there was one thing that really seemed familiar about the way Brainy addresses his own self hatred.
See, when Brainy begins to make it clear to Planky just how badly he feels about himself, he states that everyone’s hatred towards him is justified because he did something bad in the finale (Which was, of course, turning everyone into inanimate objects)
Brainy goes onto say that no one should be defending him because he’s responsible for his own actions, and therefore worthy of the hatred that he’s gotten.
And while he’s kept a lot of this guilt to himself so far, this isn’t the first time he’s brought it up.
At the very end of episode 20 of object cringe season 1, Brainy says to Planky that everyone still hates him, but “at least they hate me for a good reason”. Which implies that he believed almost immediately after the incident that he deserved this hatred. He believed that they had a good reason to hate him, and clearly he still holds this belief.
At the time, Planky dismissively says “I guess”, as he’s unable to argue. And the same thing happens again in OC3 3. Planky clearly doesn’t blame Brainy for what he did, saying it was “only natural” after all the hate he got, but he cannot deny that it was a horrible act, and therefore he doesn’t know how to properly give Brainy the support that he needs.
When Planky asks if Brainy Wants people to hate him, he says no. But he still believes that the hatred was deserved. What he wants is to be Different. But it’s clear he doesn’t believe that he can be. He says “maybe someone will be kind enough to lie to me, and tell me that I am [different]”. Brainy wants someone to tell him that he isn’t the way that everyone sees him, but even if they did, he believes it would be a lie. Once again showing that Brainy feels the way people see him is justified.
Now this is where Chocolate Bar steps in, and we are later given a calmer, more controlled explanation of how Brainy feels, as he’s no longer in such a panicked state.
Despite the fact that we’ve established Brainy has been holding onto these feelings for quite some time, it’s clear that not everything is the same. Brainy goes onto say that since most people think he sucks, then that’s probably the truth. And that he sort of feels the way that others seem him. This, coupled with the fact that he tells Planky that he really is a sore loser, shows that some sort of change has occurred between this episode, and the finale of season 1.
In the season 1 finale, Brainy speaks up about how unfair his treatment is. He says that his one small mistake caused so much hatred, and that it was unfair. But he now no longer seems to believe this. He tells Planky that he *is* a sore loser despite the fact that it’s clear he didn’t always believe this. As I’ve already stated, the start of this change seems to be the end of the finale, when he believes that everyone finally has a real reason to hate him. Over time it seems that has grown into something bigger. Brainy, as the title of OC3 episode 3 seems to suggest, has internalized all of the peer abuse that he’s faced. As he says to chocolate bar, he cannot see himself as anything other than what he’s been told his whole life.
When Chocolate Bar tells Brainy that he needs to do what will make him happy, he begins to cry, saying “I’m not gonna be happy”. At this point Brainy believes there’s no way for him to feel good. And that makes a lot of sense. Every attempt that Brainy has made to make things better has been met with failure.
When he befriended Planky, Planky instantly got hurt because of him. When he won Object Cringe, he was immediately attacked. When he stood up for himself, it made everyone hate him far more and caused all the self loathing issues that he has now. Every attempt at a better life has failed, so it makes sense that he’s given up on the idea of getting better entirely.
There are a couple things to suggest things may start to get better for Brainy. When Brainy starts to cry at the end of the episode, Chocolate Bar moves to comfort him, just as Planky has done in the past. It seems that both Chocolate Bar and Planky struggled a bit to be there for Brainy this episode, but they each made up for what the other lacked. Chocolate Bar clearly struggled to comfort Brainy in the last scene. He second guessed himself and eventually settled on an awkward, half embrace, unlike Planky who was much quicker to physically comfort Brainy in episode 20.
Planky couldn’t comfort Brainy verbally in the way he needed, but Chocolate Bar was able to get him to talk in a way that seemed much more effective.
My hope is that the two of them will be able to help Brainy through his issues together. Along with that, the other characters seem to be more aware of what they’ve done to Brainy. As Flaggy was called out for her harassment, and Note’s behavior towards Brainy has been suspiciously kind lately.
I’m very excited to see where Brainy’s development goes from this point onward. Thank you so much for asking me to talk about it!
