It demands that we stretch our definitions of heroism and villainy, of love and hate, of good and bad, dark and light-and think of just how complicated and indiscrete and messy those things are…. But surely that’s not the sole reason why many of us engage in literature or film or narratives? At least that’s not why I’m here.
This whole paragraph, man. Just, THANK YOU. Obviously I can't speak for everybody, but it seems to me that fiction is very much meant to be a mirror for ourselves. ERGO, the point is not to Other the "bad" people and only accept the "good" ones (i.e. the people we'd like to think of ourselves as being), but examine the very meaning of those concepts (the meanings WE give to them). I could sit here and cast judgment on Bonnie/Damon/Elena/whoever for whatever they've done, but I'd only be willingly distracting myself from the possibility that I AM those people and would do exactly what they did in that circumstance. Does that make me a bit of a terrible person? (That's the question, isn't it.)
The infringement of free will for the sake of “love” is grafted into the very origin of vampires on this show, so basically the fabric of the universe is defined by it.
Ugh, yes. Yes yes yes. As fucking stupid/offensive as some parts of that episode were, it was SO important in setting the story's themes in stone (mind the pun) -- this is about a cycle of abuse. And most harrowing of all, that abuse does not exist in the absence of love, but as a product of it. Will Our Heroes ever break out of that cycle? Who knows. I wish the best for them, truly.
This is the sign and signifier of a parent’s love, their gift to their children: death. Death is their gift.
LET'S GET MARRIED
Despite Damon (who is literally the king of unreliable narrators, I’m not sure why anyone would take any of the things he says on that porch as gospel), the show was not presenting this choice as “good”, or even heroic, or purely selfless, or kind.
lmao, right? Man, I've seen so much debate about the show supposedly "telling" us to think that it was "the right thing", and - not to undermine the validity of other people's interpretations - but I literally do not see that at all. I think that's only possible if you assume that there is supposed to be ANY reliable narrator within the text, at all. Which, there isn't, so you have to take it for granted that every major decision any character makes is inherently steeped in moral ambiguity? (And as a viewer, it saves you A LOT of stress, trust me.)
And a resounding yes to IV. It is good to my soul.
In conclusion: This is a stunning post. Everyone in this fandom should read it tbqh.
bviously I can't speak for everybody, but it seems to me that fiction is very much meant to be a mirror for ourselves. ERGO, the point is not to Other the "bad" people and only accept the "good" ones (i.e. the people we'd like to think of ourselves as being), but examine the very meaning of those concepts (the meanings WE give to them). I could sit here and cast judgment on Bonnie/Damon/Elena/whoever for whatever they've done, but I'd only be willingly distracting myself from the possibility that I AM those people and would do exactly what they did in that circumstance. Does that make me a bit of a terrible person? (That's the question, isn't it.)
YES. THIS. The minute I don't identify with the characters in a book or a television show in some way, shape or form, is the moment that I stop watching and stop caring. And I don't know, does that make us terrible people? Like, I recently watched Young Adult, have you seen it? Anyway, I was chatting with friends and they absolutely hated it (as did many reviewers), and I had the opposite reaction. I honestly felt that watching Mavis Gary was like watching myself having a vivisection onscreen, I just identified with her a lot because of how unashamedly flawed she was. That film literally rendered my one good friend and I speechless because we were suffering from serious over-identification with kind of a monstrous character. And it was one of my favorite cinematic experiences of last year because of it. I don't know, I am not going anywhere with this except to say that I GET YOU AND I AGREE.
Ugh, yes. Yes yes yes. As fucking stupid/offensive as some parts of that episode were, it was SO important in setting the story's themes in stone (mind the pun) -- this is about a cycle of abuse. And most harrowing of all, that abuse does not exist in the absence of love, but as a product of it. Will Our Heroes ever break out of that cycle? Who knows. I wish the best for them, truly.
NO BUT SERIOUSLY, LET'S GET MARRIED. Dude, I don't know if these kids will ever break out of it - sometimes I think this story is just going to be the biggest of tragedies.
And as a viewer, it saves you A LOT of stress, trust me.
RIGHT? Let's just embrace the ambiguities, people, and the fact that there is no such thing as an omniscient and 100% trustworthy narrator who is an actual character - like that is a thing that cannot exist.
It demands that we stretch our definitions of heroism and villainy, of love and hate, of good and bad, dark and light-and think of just how complicated and indiscrete and messy those things are…. But surely that’s not the sole reason why many of us engage in literature or film or narratives? At least that’s not why I’m here.
This whole paragraph, man. Just, THANK YOU. Obviously I can't speak for everybody, but it seems to me that fiction is very much meant to be a mirror for ourselves. ERGO, the point is not to Other the "bad" people and only accept the "good" ones (i.e. the people we'd like to think of ourselves as being), but examine the very meaning of those concepts (the meanings WE give to them). I could sit here and cast judgment on Bonnie/Damon/Elena/whoever for whatever they've done, but I'd only be willingly distracting myself from the possibility that I AM those people and would do exactly what they did in that circumstance. Does that make me a bit of a terrible person? (That's the question, isn't it.)
The infringement of free will for the sake of “love” is grafted into the very origin of vampires on this show, so basically the fabric of the universe is defined by it.
Ugh, yes. Yes yes yes. As fucking stupid/offensive as some parts of that episode were, it was SO important in setting the story's themes in stone (mind the pun) -- this is about a cycle of abuse. And most harrowing of all, that abuse does not exist in the absence of love, but as a product of it. Will Our Heroes ever break out of that cycle? Who knows. I wish the best for them, truly.
This is the sign and signifier of a parent’s love, their gift to their children: death. Death is their gift.
LET'S GET MARRIED
Despite Damon (who is literally the king of unreliable narrators, I’m not sure why anyone would take any of the things he says on that porch as gospel), the show was not presenting this choice as “good”, or even heroic, or purely selfless, or kind.
lmao, right? Man, I've seen so much debate about the show supposedly "telling" us to think that it was "the right thing", and - not to undermine the validity of other people's interpretations - but I literally do not see that at all. I think that's only possible if you assume that there is supposed to be ANY reliable narrator within the text, at all. Which, there isn't, so you have to take it for granted that every major decision any character makes is inherently steeped in moral ambiguity? (And as a viewer, it saves you A LOT of stress, trust me.)
And a resounding yes to IV. It is good to my soul.
In conclusion: This is a stunning post. Everyone in this fandom should read it tbqh.
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YES. THIS. The minute I don't identify with the characters in a book or a television show in some way, shape or form, is the moment that I stop watching and stop caring. And I don't know, does that make us terrible people? Like, I recently watched Young Adult, have you seen it? Anyway, I was chatting with friends and they absolutely hated it (as did many reviewers), and I had the opposite reaction. I honestly felt that watching Mavis Gary was like watching myself having a vivisection onscreen, I just identified with her a lot because of how unashamedly flawed she was. That film literally rendered my one good friend and I speechless because we were suffering from serious over-identification with kind of a monstrous character. And it was one of my favorite cinematic experiences of last year because of it. I don't know, I am not going anywhere with this except to say that I GET YOU AND I AGREE.
Ugh, yes. Yes yes yes. As fucking stupid/offensive as some parts of that episode were, it was SO important in setting the story's themes in stone (mind the pun) -- this is about a cycle of abuse. And most harrowing of all, that abuse does not exist in the absence of love, but as a product of it. Will Our Heroes ever break out of that cycle? Who knows. I wish the best for them, truly.
NO BUT SERIOUSLY, LET'S GET MARRIED. Dude, I don't know if these kids will ever break out of it - sometimes I think this story is just going to be the biggest of tragedies.
And as a viewer, it saves you A LOT of stress, trust me.
RIGHT? Let's just embrace the ambiguities, people, and the fact that there is no such thing as an omniscient and 100% trustworthy narrator who is an actual character - like that is a thing that cannot exist.
♥♥ THANK YOU *hugs*
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