#story interpretation

[stone-cold-groove]

Get to the point with Cliff’s Notes. Ad for Cliff’s Notes reading interpretation booklets - 1968.

[luckydragon10]

One Interpretation: Dum Dum MV

I was looking around for some story interpretation for Jeff Satur's new MV that just dropped, couldn't find what I wanted, had to do my best to work through what I'm seeing and all my feels.

First, the video:

NOTE: THIS IS HIGHLY INTERPRETIVE. There's no one true way to interpret a music video like this. I'm going with the interpretation that I enjoy the most.

As much as I love everything Jeff does, I'm a story slut through and through, and this story lit my brain on fire.

On my first time watching, I was struggling to figure out what the story was saying. I felt like I was getting a lot of little pieces and clues, but they weren't forming a coherent picture for me.

Then like a lightning strike, "AHA!" I got it at the very end, BAM, right when this big gasping moment happened:

The story that came together for me:

Businessman!Jeff was murdered, brutally (stating the obvious here). Then somehow, some way, he was able to come back to life. The means and reason behind this are unclear, and what he comes back as is also up for interpretation, but for me it reads as Zombie!Jeff.

Visuals that support my zombie feels:

The scenes with the red windows with clawing hands

The washed out, faded hair, reminiscent of life being sucked away

The dance moves, which I know people are ragging on hard, but which to me read as "baby zombie relearning how to move"

^-- this basically comes from every zombie movie ever.

He doesn't go on his roadtrip of vengeance right away after his reanimation. He does some development first, learning how to move, getting tattoos, stockpiling weapons, etc. He also has to sing about it.

I also feel like there's a little bit of a choice that Zombie!Jeff has to make. Is he going to live his second life for himself, or is he going to pursue vengeance?

The DUALITTYYYYYY.

What happens if he does pursue vengeance? What does he lose? Does he lose his soul? Give up his chance at heaven? For me, the sky imagery supports the choice being made between heaven and hell:

Later, after he exacts his revenge, there's definitely a resolution and a CHANGE that occurs, when we see Zombie!Jeff drop like a puppet with its strings cut:

That's going to break my heart every time I see it. Ugh.

But, for me, storywise, here's the most important thing: It's only AFTER Zombie!Jeff collapses that we then see Businessman!Jeff gasp.

Big AHA! moment.

At this point, how I interpret the story is fuzzy and depends on whether I'm looking at it optimistically or pessimistically. And how that works has to do with the timeline:

The optimistic interpretation is a sequential timeline: After Zombie!Jeff gets his vengeance and then collapses, Businessman!Jeff comes back to life. Maybe his mission was actually what he had to do to regain his real life.

The pessimistic interpretation is non-sequential: After Zombie!Jeff collapses, he's finally dead for real. What happens then in the video is that we the viewers jump backwards in the timeline to see the moment Zombie!Jeff initially reanimated, taking his first zombie gasp, his lovely zombie life just beginning. Was he given a choice between following vengeance or living peacefully? Perhaps the cost of vengeance would be this second half-living life, a price to pay?

This is a face that says "my vengeance is worth any price":

Whew. Still having feelings over here. I actually hope Zombie!Jeff is okay, living his best undead life. 🥺🙏

[chronicbeans]

I'm interested in hearing what your peeps' takes are on the Backrooms. Not the Kane Pixel version, but the original post's. What would your expansions be on this as a writing prompt?

I've always liked the idea that there are other people in the Backrooms with you, but they're practically like ghosts to you. You walk through them, can't talk to them, can't see them... but, you can hear them interacting with the walls and their footsteps on the floor. So, for all you know, those noises are creatures that you'll never see. However, they're just other people, who are just as scared as you.

[salmonrants]

No Two People Read the Same Story.

Wow. I’d forgotten how new fandoms tend to explode over ship wars.  Chill, people, the show's not over yet.

I see a lot of arguing about character and scene interpretations. Here's the thing - everyone's interpretations are valid.  Writer, Actor; Fan. I forget who said it but it's a quote that stuck with me:

No two people read the same story.

They went on to explain how everyone who reads a story interprets characters and scenes differently because we view them through our own life experiences. And since that's all different, even when we're reading the exact same book, or watching the exact same tv show, we end up with totally different opinions about what's happening in it.

So. Take a breath.  You're not wrong, but neither is the other party.

There's an old fandom of mine, and an old ship from it that was definitely not an official canon ship. It was the 90s and gay relationships barely existed on America television. Anyhow, the actor of the one character admitted - years later - that when he read the script he felt it read like his character fell in love with another male character.  And he acted it that way. You ask the script writer and most fans and they'd tell you this was strictly a friendship. But to the actor, his character was in love. I'm not telling you what ship. Lol. But it's an interesting note on how interpretations vary and play out even in cast or on screen from the script.

So, everyone is valid, and it's okay to interpret differently.  Just please remember, bashing isn't the same as criticism. Arguing isn't the same as discussion.  Fandom should be a good experience for everyone involved. Check your hate at the door.