#anyways i was too lazy to find more quotes so these excerpts are from both anne carson's translation of the oresteia

[thinkershipman]

SHAUNA SHIPMAN: AN ORESTEIA

#yes everything is about greek tragedies to me what about it #shauna is literally The Epitome of Tragedy i cannot stress this enough #her whole life is drenched in grief #and shame and loss and guilt #THE DESPAIR #what's that quote by khaled hosseini?? #about if you had just opened your mouth and said something at that one pivotal moment your whole life might have turned out different?? #but you didn't say something?? you stayed silent instead?? #also richard siken's someone has to leave first quote that everyone on this hellsite should know by heart <3 #That is the Epitome of Tragedy thank u mr hosseini #thank u mr siken #the inevitability of it all. the inescapability. what if you just - #but you didn't. you didn't and that is why you suffer #anyways i was too lazy to find more quotes so these excerpts are from both anne carson's translation of the oresteia #and robert icke's extraordinary modern-day production of the greek tragedy #shauna shipman #shauna x jackie #yellowjackets #parallels #web weaving

[z-haven]

Memory In The Letter ep 1

(just thoughts and some quick readings done)

Memory in the letter references The Siam Renaissance which is a 2004 fantasy film that's an adaptation of the 1986 thai novel Thawiphop by Thommayanti. Thawiphop is about a young woman who went back in time through a magic mirror.

Sounds kinda familiar doesn't it? Aksorn doesn't go back in time but through the mirror he can see that Songjam is from a different time period.

One of the important things about this novel is that it's used as an example of Thai nationalist thought. Basically absolute monarchy is dismantled and nationalism is promoted. Films during 2020 were also used to promote Thai patriotism and this was through a series of war films endorsed by the Prime Minister during that time. But really the series isn't about war films but someone like Aksorn who loves literature would also appreciate the use of films for imagination/promote a message/learn about history, the world etc. Which is in contrast to how his father would view literature and film for that matter. Maybe Aksorn's father represents the monarchy where it's total obedience and Aksorn is resisting that.

There's also De Profundis by Oscar Wilde. So I did a quick read up on it (too lazy to read the entire thing anyways) and found some stuff I could relate to this episode.

Both Oscar and Aksorn's mothers died.

While Oscar is a writer, Aksorn is aspiring/hoping to be one. I don't know if he started yet.

There is a quote from the letter "I am completely penniless, and absolutely homeless. Yet there are worse things in the world than that. I am quite candid when I say that rather than go out from this prison with bitterness in my heart against the world, I would gladly and readily beg my bread from door to door."

If we focus on the bolded part of the quote and words 'homeless' and 'penniless' this is how it relates to Aksorn. We know Aksorn is not 'homeless' but he has 'shunned' his family home. That home has become a 'prison' for Aksorn just like Wilde has his own prison as well.

Maybe it's a stretch but I'm finding someone 'similar' between Oscar/Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas) and Aksorn/Songjam.

Oscar had written that letter to Bosie but was not allowed to send it to him. But let's say that he was allowed to send the letter - Oscar is trapped by the prison he's in, there's a distance between him and Bosie and to bridge that distance he writes a letter to him. Aksorn and Songjam are 'close' in their developing relationship and that they could sit against the mirror and converse with each other but there is a distance in that they are from two different dimensions where they cannot access the other one (as far as we know).

There's also one thing that I've noticed which is the use of mirrors. We see it in the series as a barrier between dimensions and it's used as a time travel device in Thawiphop. However there's also references to it elsewhere, specifically with relation to Oscar Wilde. I found this excerpt through a translation of Oscar Wilde's Salome:

"No, no, you would not have that. .... But I will look at you no more. Neither at things, nor at people should one look. Only in mirrors should one look, for mirrors do but show us masks." (edited to focus on the last sentence).

Through Memory and in the Letter and Salome I'm sure they're both referencing mirrors in the sense of reflecting an image. Before the comet hit, Aksorn would view the mirror as something used to show his reflection. In Salome, the mirror is used symbolically as something depicting an absence of masks. The character sees all else as fake and the mirror as showing him reality. Maybe the reflection shows what we are like inside.

However, ever since the comet hit his apartment, Aksorn no longer sees his reflection but the mirror has given him access to a whole new dimension. We're not able to see Songjam's world as yet so I'll address it through Aksorn's side. Aksorn is sort of living two lives now. The one where he goes about his daily life that Songjam cannot be a part of and the other where it's just Aksorn and Songjam and no one else. If anyone else enters his room, would they see Songjam or their own reflection. Is access to the world through the mirror only for them?

I've heard this series is only 6 episodes so I'm interested in seeing how this mini series progresses.

#slightly edited #memory in the letter #memory in the letter the series