[screaming] Veronica Mars the Movie
Herein lies my screams
+ VERONICA. She is still in there, buried under years and years of recovery that angry girl is still there.
I would have liked for them to have addressed her working for a law firm that defends people she hates? It's like in New York she forgot about her place in the class warfare that made her - and that is what made her feel so very un-Veronica in the beginning for me. The outfit change alone was very much a CLASS change - like in the New York scenes she was S3 Buffy and then she embraced her inner Faith once she found her 'accessories' Pandora's box. And I found it so honestly interesting and fascinating that they kept New York (of all fucking places) a pristine, clean space - almost on the level of scifi-future-reality, while Neptune stands out as this space that is steeped in Noir and corruption.
The thing that I've never liked about the Piz/Veronica pairing is that Piz could never fully understand the space that Veronica occupies? It's not about loyalty or choosing one guy over the other - that wasn't it at all for me even in the first viewing - but that being with Piz in so many ways allows her to shut her eyes to the corrupt system that she built armor her whole life to fight and defeat. I can't fathom a Veronica that would honestly work for a Big Law Firm. (And yet still judge Mac for working for Kane? Like seriously wtf? Double standard. Someone should have called her out on that, honestly.)
And I think - bear with me - I think that what Veronica has always represented for me is White Feminism. Not in a bad way or a good way, but with all the pitfalls and mishaps that First World Feminism has. It's so easy to want the job in New York and straighten your hair and wear a nice suit and forget that you were once an underdog because you can present yourself as the blonde law-school grad and people will take you seriously. Neptune reminds her - and us, I hope - that just because you're wearing that nice suit now, doesn't mean that there isn't nasty shit going on somewhere else. And how long would Veronica be content in that position? Supporting the system she hates? Metaphor her as an addict if you want - the one thing that Veronica is addicted to the most is tearing down the foundations that hold lies in power.
I have so many feelings about Veronica's feminism and I'm doing a hash job of it here because it's 4am and I've been awake and active for 22 hours. But I hope this is a conversation that fandom starts having once the shippers have their fill. By all means, have your happiness - I'm right there with you - but after a few weeks I hope we can get down into the gritty of what Veronica Mars has always been about and why the narrative is so pervasive, shocking, and important.
Veronica Mars is one of the most important series' that I've ever watched. I'm eternally grateful that the writers and actors and everyone involved ensured that the film kept this message. (I would have liked more POC in general, but the 09ers are always the Individualized Baddies, while POC fill the marginalized spaces - with Veronica somewhere in between trying to assert her own power, tear down the 09ers, and somehow respect those that do not have her privilege. There wasn't nearly enough of the last in the third season or in the film - but that underlying construct was still there, and I am grateful.)
+ LOGAN YOU SHAMELESS IDIOT YOU.
I have very little to say about Logan overall? I think it's completely in-character that he can be sitting next to Veronica, watching video footage of himself and his ex, and be both completely enamored of both women simultaneously. Logan Echolls loves to be in love. He loves to prove his love; with his fists or with grand gestures, or with whatever the lady needs. He is in love with Veronica from the minute she stepped off the plane. He's also not going to hide or be ashamed of the way he loved Cassie. Why should he? It doesn't change the fact that Veronica is part of his skin. It never does. It never will.
Also all the boys jumping in to fight for Veronica's honor was a cute touch. I love seeing Weevil and Logan in the trenches together (though I am mightily disappointed that they didn't speak to each other BECAUSE THAT'S MY SHIP) - but it was nice to see Wallace pitching his lot in along with them. Wallace always occupies a different status than the other men in Veronica's life - because she keeps him so separate - and I like that as adults, he is renegotiating the terms of their friendship to allow him more space. Oh and Piz. Piz. I'm so sorry. You're life is so awkward.
+ WEEVIL MY BABY MY BABY YOU ARE SO HOT HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO STAY SO SEXY YOU ARE SHAMELESS WITH YOUR EYELASHES AND YOU OOZE SEX HOW DARE YOU FML
I'm going to break down into sobs so just bear with me.
Veronica and Logan are in very different places in their lives, but they still love each other and that's it. As Dick said, "I wish Logan could quit you." They are each other's addictions. They are epic love.
Veronica and Weevil are something so fundamentally different.
Veronica and Weevil are mirrors.
You can argue with me and tell me all the reasons why Logan is Veronica's mirror and I'll nod and agree because I'm a good fangirl and I know that they have their parallels.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE FILM AND THE SERIES AS A WHOLE BECAUSE HOLY SHIT WEEVIL AND VERONICA ARE FUCKING MIRRORS OKAY?
The fact that we see Weevil halfway through the film and he's completely embraced the life that Veronica is struggling to hold onto, but by the end she is sitting at her PI desk and he is back on his motorcycle.
"A leopard never changes it's spots."
And they don't. Veronica gets soft, Weevil gets soft. Veronica gets angry, Weevil gets angry. They are such reflections of each other - they show each other what they want and what they can't have. Weevil with his precious baby girl and his new life and it's everything Veronica ostensibly wants for herself... and then they both lose it. They lose the Middle Class Dream because there's a greater narrative at play that wants Weevil in the dirt, so Veronica throws herself down into it.
AND THEN THE VOICE-OVER WITH HER LOOKING DOWN AT WEEVIL GETTING ON HIS BIKE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME AND THEY ARE EMBRACING THEIR SPOTS.
And that is the saddest moment in the film, the moment when Veronica smiles down at motorcycle gang-leader Weevil - because that is the moment when you realize that they are both willing to lose everything to do what they think is right. At the end of the day - for both of them - what they stand for and what they fight for is stronger to them than any bond. It is what Piz will never understand (and Logan ALWAYS struggles to understand, as much as he simultaneously relies on it) and what Weevil will always, always know about her in ways that the others cannot. Fighting against Lamb 2.0 and whomever is pulling his strings is more important than wives or jobs or babies or anything. Because it isn't just about them. It's about the 7 (11?) other innocents who had police paraphernalia placed on their person. It's about Sacks dying. It's about so many things other than themselves and outside of themselves.
But what is so utterly effective about this Narrative is that - Weevil being a gang leader is not romanticized. It's sad. It's awful what the world is doing to them - the choices that they are being given and the values that they are either having to sacrifice everything for, or give up.
+ MAC AND WALLACE
Cuties. I wish we could have seen more of them or gotten more of their story. I hope that Mac is working with Veronica now - but I also like the idea of her being a Kane employee and them all laughing about it over coffee. Wallace being an educator is a really good step - since the last time we really saw him, he was volunteering for Invisible Children, so we know that he's drawn to kids and education. It's hard to imagine him as not being the mechanical engineer that he always wanted to be, but I imagine that his experiences volunteering in Africa may have been the culminating factor to change his life's direction. I love the idea of Mac and Wallace staying bros after Veronica left. I want fic about them having beer dates and teasing each other about their love lives and being really good bros forever. And banging.
+ KEITH MARS FOR PRESIDENT.
That is all.
Actually the most flawless character to ever exist.
Bravo, sir. Bravo.
+ Dick. I'm glad he was finally diagnosed with depression and seems to be getting treatment? The last episode of S3 gave us A LOT more than anything else in the entire previous seasons to explain his behavior and I wish we had gotten more of that. The fact that Logan is still living with him makes me think that his depression is not completely under control and I could see Logan's treatment of Cassie being very highly influenced by years of living and coping with Dick's depression. There's a reason why Dick occupies slot number two in Logan's heart and I hope that someday Veronica sees what Logan can see in Dick. (I just have a weird soft spot for Dick, okay?)
Seeing all of the back up characters was awesome. There were so many lovely call-backs. I already miss Gia because I really liked her in S2 and was disappointed that she didn't appear in S3 at all. So nice to see her again. Could live without Madison, but the closure there was nice.
I don't think I have anything else to say at this point except that I am drained and pleased and WANT MORE.
+ VERONICA. She is still in there, buried under years and years of recovery that angry girl is still there.
I would have liked for them to have addressed her working for a law firm that defends people she hates? It's like in New York she forgot about her place in the class warfare that made her - and that is what made her feel so very un-Veronica in the beginning for me. The outfit change alone was very much a CLASS change - like in the New York scenes she was S3 Buffy and then she embraced her inner Faith once she found her 'accessories' Pandora's box. And I found it so honestly interesting and fascinating that they kept New York (of all fucking places) a pristine, clean space - almost on the level of scifi-future-reality, while Neptune stands out as this space that is steeped in Noir and corruption.
The thing that I've never liked about the Piz/Veronica pairing is that Piz could never fully understand the space that Veronica occupies? It's not about loyalty or choosing one guy over the other - that wasn't it at all for me even in the first viewing - but that being with Piz in so many ways allows her to shut her eyes to the corrupt system that she built armor her whole life to fight and defeat. I can't fathom a Veronica that would honestly work for a Big Law Firm. (And yet still judge Mac for working for Kane? Like seriously wtf? Double standard. Someone should have called her out on that, honestly.)
And I think - bear with me - I think that what Veronica has always represented for me is White Feminism. Not in a bad way or a good way, but with all the pitfalls and mishaps that First World Feminism has. It's so easy to want the job in New York and straighten your hair and wear a nice suit and forget that you were once an underdog because you can present yourself as the blonde law-school grad and people will take you seriously. Neptune reminds her - and us, I hope - that just because you're wearing that nice suit now, doesn't mean that there isn't nasty shit going on somewhere else. And how long would Veronica be content in that position? Supporting the system she hates? Metaphor her as an addict if you want - the one thing that Veronica is addicted to the most is tearing down the foundations that hold lies in power.
I have so many feelings about Veronica's feminism and I'm doing a hash job of it here because it's 4am and I've been awake and active for 22 hours. But I hope this is a conversation that fandom starts having once the shippers have their fill. By all means, have your happiness - I'm right there with you - but after a few weeks I hope we can get down into the gritty of what Veronica Mars has always been about and why the narrative is so pervasive, shocking, and important.
Veronica Mars is one of the most important series' that I've ever watched. I'm eternally grateful that the writers and actors and everyone involved ensured that the film kept this message. (I would have liked more POC in general, but the 09ers are always the Individualized Baddies, while POC fill the marginalized spaces - with Veronica somewhere in between trying to assert her own power, tear down the 09ers, and somehow respect those that do not have her privilege. There wasn't nearly enough of the last in the third season or in the film - but that underlying construct was still there, and I am grateful.)
+ LOGAN YOU SHAMELESS IDIOT YOU.
I have very little to say about Logan overall? I think it's completely in-character that he can be sitting next to Veronica, watching video footage of himself and his ex, and be both completely enamored of both women simultaneously. Logan Echolls loves to be in love. He loves to prove his love; with his fists or with grand gestures, or with whatever the lady needs. He is in love with Veronica from the minute she stepped off the plane. He's also not going to hide or be ashamed of the way he loved Cassie. Why should he? It doesn't change the fact that Veronica is part of his skin. It never does. It never will.
Also all the boys jumping in to fight for Veronica's honor was a cute touch. I love seeing Weevil and Logan in the trenches together (though I am mightily disappointed that they didn't speak to each other BECAUSE THAT'S MY SHIP) - but it was nice to see Wallace pitching his lot in along with them. Wallace always occupies a different status than the other men in Veronica's life - because she keeps him so separate - and I like that as adults, he is renegotiating the terms of their friendship to allow him more space. Oh and Piz. Piz. I'm so sorry. You're life is so awkward.
+ WEEVIL MY BABY MY BABY YOU ARE SO HOT HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO STAY SO SEXY YOU ARE SHAMELESS WITH YOUR EYELASHES AND YOU OOZE SEX HOW DARE YOU FML
I'm going to break down into sobs so just bear with me.
Veronica and Logan are in very different places in their lives, but they still love each other and that's it. As Dick said, "I wish Logan could quit you." They are each other's addictions. They are epic love.
Veronica and Weevil are something so fundamentally different.
Veronica and Weevil are mirrors.
You can argue with me and tell me all the reasons why Logan is Veronica's mirror and I'll nod and agree because I'm a good fangirl and I know that they have their parallels.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE FILM AND THE SERIES AS A WHOLE BECAUSE HOLY SHIT WEEVIL AND VERONICA ARE FUCKING MIRRORS OKAY?
The fact that we see Weevil halfway through the film and he's completely embraced the life that Veronica is struggling to hold onto, but by the end she is sitting at her PI desk and he is back on his motorcycle.
"A leopard never changes it's spots."
And they don't. Veronica gets soft, Weevil gets soft. Veronica gets angry, Weevil gets angry. They are such reflections of each other - they show each other what they want and what they can't have. Weevil with his precious baby girl and his new life and it's everything Veronica ostensibly wants for herself... and then they both lose it. They lose the Middle Class Dream because there's a greater narrative at play that wants Weevil in the dirt, so Veronica throws herself down into it.
AND THEN THE VOICE-OVER WITH HER LOOKING DOWN AT WEEVIL GETTING ON HIS BIKE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME AND THEY ARE EMBRACING THEIR SPOTS.
And that is the saddest moment in the film, the moment when Veronica smiles down at motorcycle gang-leader Weevil - because that is the moment when you realize that they are both willing to lose everything to do what they think is right. At the end of the day - for both of them - what they stand for and what they fight for is stronger to them than any bond. It is what Piz will never understand (and Logan ALWAYS struggles to understand, as much as he simultaneously relies on it) and what Weevil will always, always know about her in ways that the others cannot. Fighting against Lamb 2.0 and whomever is pulling his strings is more important than wives or jobs or babies or anything. Because it isn't just about them. It's about the 7 (11?) other innocents who had police paraphernalia placed on their person. It's about Sacks dying. It's about so many things other than themselves and outside of themselves.
But what is so utterly effective about this Narrative is that - Weevil being a gang leader is not romanticized. It's sad. It's awful what the world is doing to them - the choices that they are being given and the values that they are either having to sacrifice everything for, or give up.
+ MAC AND WALLACE
Cuties. I wish we could have seen more of them or gotten more of their story. I hope that Mac is working with Veronica now - but I also like the idea of her being a Kane employee and them all laughing about it over coffee. Wallace being an educator is a really good step - since the last time we really saw him, he was volunteering for Invisible Children, so we know that he's drawn to kids and education. It's hard to imagine him as not being the mechanical engineer that he always wanted to be, but I imagine that his experiences volunteering in Africa may have been the culminating factor to change his life's direction. I love the idea of Mac and Wallace staying bros after Veronica left. I want fic about them having beer dates and teasing each other about their love lives and being really good bros forever. And banging.
+ KEITH MARS FOR PRESIDENT.
That is all.
Actually the most flawless character to ever exist.
Bravo, sir. Bravo.
+ Dick. I'm glad he was finally diagnosed with depression and seems to be getting treatment? The last episode of S3 gave us A LOT more than anything else in the entire previous seasons to explain his behavior and I wish we had gotten more of that. The fact that Logan is still living with him makes me think that his depression is not completely under control and I could see Logan's treatment of Cassie being very highly influenced by years of living and coping with Dick's depression. There's a reason why Dick occupies slot number two in Logan's heart and I hope that someday Veronica sees what Logan can see in Dick. (I just have a weird soft spot for Dick, okay?)
Seeing all of the back up characters was awesome. There were so many lovely call-backs. I already miss Gia because I really liked her in S2 and was disappointed that she didn't appear in S3 at all. So nice to see her again. Could live without Madison, but the closure there was nice.
I don't think I have anything else to say at this point except that I am drained and pleased and WANT MORE.