sequels kiss my ass. but i will never not think about this specific excerpt from the og stranger’s 2 script
ok and on that note: allow me to parse through what exactly is (and is not) going on between the three of them
idc what the reboot trilogy has to say. murder polycule is the laziest possible read on their dynamic. consider this instead: found family—if the family you found fucking sucked. something something three people who have nothing and nobody else in life find each other and create their Own community something something. as in "this group embodies all the complexities of family, from love to hate"
LIS & NAOMI
toxic, codependent friendship erring on the side of sisterhood (neither one of them grew up with sisters. now they emulate that role in each other's lives)
lis loves naomi. also she's scared of her
naomi loves that lis loves her. so she dotes on her in a way that reinforces the positive feelings that lis has for her
whenever lis is caught in the middle of naomi and charlie's power struggle, she will almost always side with naomi. this is bc she fears her (but don't ask her about it). they present as a far more united front than they really are
two women and the man they torture etc etc
NAOMI & CHARLIE
slept together once and this made everything worse. he never expresses any interest in her again, and this drives her nuts. she can’t get what she wants out of him. what she expects out of everyone (subservience, worship, etc)
this is funny insofar as naomi absolutely pretends like they are together, even and especially because they are decidedly NOT
constantly fighting for control over the group (see also: lis)
they make each other worse i am so serious these two together are The Problem. just lis and charlie or just naomi and lis is NOT a problem. but charlie and naomi need to be kept in separate enclosures
no they would never sell each other out. yes they will always have each other's back. no that does not mean they like each other
CHARLIE & LIS
genuinely best friends 4 life. reboot trilogy u can argue with the wall these two are not together
charlie would replace dollface if naomi died. he would not replace pinup girl if lis did. do you see what i'm saying
they're polar opposites. they don't always get along. they're incompatible to the point of absurdity—and despite all that, they're still each other's Person. you know
lis is the only person in the world that charlie genuinely loves (well. in his own way). she's his weak spot
lis is the charlie-whisperer. you don't get him. he doesn't get himself. but SHE gets him
i write all the strangers as living on the Outside—on the fringes—of community. at their core, the reason they can kill people indiscriminately is because each of them, for varying reasons, has rejected society. they have no social or familial ties beyond each other. nothing tethers them to the so-called "social contract" that keeps most people from committing overtly amoral acts, such as murder. they're outcasts. they're literally strangers. whatever
lis and charlie have deep-seated issues with the world around them (pertaining to homophobia, racism, ableism, and religion). they've been rejected because they don't fit into society's (heteronormative, eurocentric, neurotypical) mould. but compared to them, i've always written naomi as being shallow: a woman with little depth. she's a shitty person because she grew up living the wealthy white person life, completely detached from / desensitized to the struggles of others. her privilege and her status make her nasty, and that's The Point.
she hasn't been othered; she's the prototypical american white girl. what she's doing is othering herself by believing in her own superiority. class division taught her that she's different. class division taught her that she's above it all—including other human lives.
lady went to expensive private schools. grew up an only child. was always put on a pedestal. etc etc. she's not part of society any more than lis or charlie, but it's her privilege that isolates her, and it's her privilege that instills in her the implicit belief (bc trust: she's not smart enough to psychoanalyze herself or recognize her own privilege) that she can do whatever the fuck she wants to others. up to and including murder
and. not for nothing. that's why She's the one who initially coerces the group into escalating from home invasion to murder. that's why she's the one yapping and antagonizing and playing the part of psycho bitch: she assumes (nay—absolutely BELIEVES) she can get away with it, the same way she's gotten away with everything and anything in life. just by batting her little blonde girl eyelashes
the strangers sequels keep making the man into a terminator gym bro. and that's such a bust take when in the original he's clearly an out of shape loser who only levels because he's the biggest person in the room
[ p. 86 ] her bloody hand squeezes the knife. in a quiet voice she sings: ' i don’t care if it rains or freezes ... ' / [ p. 89 ] ' ... as long as I got my plastic jesus. ' he sings to himself the same song that kristen sang minutes ago. / [ p. 96 ] ' i don’t care if it rains or freezes, long as i have my plastic jesus ... ' kristen sings softly to herself, and the man watches her lips say the words they both remember.
snowghoul
vaporwave
origamiaround
kianamaiart
prguitarman
tangentwithtanner
