I was rereading your post about that scene where Ryan goes into the bathroom and the entity tears his ear and it's soooo heartbreaking he really thought it was the real Naim 😭 😭
It did make me think it feels like in the movie Naim is usually aware that it's the entity and not the real Ryan, while Ryan gets tricked by it way more. Do you think there's a reason why?
Also curious how you picture the first time Ryan ever sees the entity and how that went down??
Love your posts!! You have a way of making things even more painful than they were in the movie ahahah.
agreed, it looks like ryan is tricked by the entity far more than naim. obviously naim knows how the entity 'works' a lot sooner than ryan does so he's aware basically from the get-go that there is A Thing that looks like ryan but isn't ryan. ryan unfortunately doesn't have this privilege, he encounters the entity at least twice before he realises what's going on or starts to suspect that entity!naim is not real naim
from memory i'm pretty sure the only scene where ryan is 'tricked' onscreen is the bathroom scene at school. this scene in particular i think is really delish because if you all recall, it takes place directly after the bus scene. ryan shoots naim a flirty 'come hither' look before ducking into the bathroom. naim moves to follow, but becomes seemingly self-conscious after seeing how crowded the corridors are, and then turns to leave. imo it is established that the entity can appear to you while others are around, but only hurt you/interact with you if you're truly alone. there's a reading certainly that naim doesn't follow ryan into the bathroom because he think it's the entity and not real ryan, but i don't think this is the case at all. i think naim chooses not to follow because he's anxious about being caught, being seen. the moment where he decides not to enter the bathroom is directly preceded by this little glance-around after a girl walks behind him. to me it really reflects their first kiss, naim catching sight of his reflection and then flinching away.
this is interesting to me because i think naim is self-conscious of and frightened by his queer identity in a way that ryan simply isn't. ryan has been (clearly) getting with other boys for some time, he's a lot more certain in his identity. for naim, the entity coaxes him into a sense of safety, security, comfort—it says i see you, i see what you are, and then violates him. conversely, ryan's experience of the entity is much more about community and acceptance, it's naim asking him on a roller rink date!! we know from their conversation in the mill that ryan is really desperate for affirmation from naim, any kind of sign or hint that his queer feelings are reciprocated. this is what he's missing with hunter, a sense of commonality, togetherness, community.
all of that to say, i think that ryan is more consistently tricked by entity!naim simply because it provides him with a different experience than entity!ryan does for naim. ryan has been the closeted gay kid in this small-town shithole for god knows how long, and for naim to come along and give him reciprocity and tenderness and love is so novel and exciting. i think he's lulled by the entity because he desperately wants these things. in naim's case however, he's still coming to terms with his queer identity and we know from his dialogue with the counsellor that these feelings have been upsetting and scaring him for a long time. the thing that the entity is offering him in the moments before violence is recognition, and it's recognition of a part of himself that he's spent his entire life fearful of, hiding from others, and rejecting. he's less enticed by the entity because it represents something he's deeply frightened of, while ryan is seduced because it's offering him something he's been reaching for and grasping at for a long, long time.
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