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sneakerdoodle · 4 years

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On Second Citadel and unity

It was interesting to me that, after making Junoverse a very poignant gender utopia (and general lgbt-utopia, too), Kabert went ahead and made their second storyline so heavily centered around bigotry and discrimination (dealing with topics of ableism, mysogyny, homophobia). now, obviosuly, Junoverse is not even remotely free of inequality, and as far as the mentioned topics are handled this utopia is not disability-friendly, with prosthetics not being readily available with no charge, which, like many other things, strips people of their autonomy, turns them into a rich man’s plaything. But here inequality is arguably explored from the point of exploitation of one human being by another, of abuse of power (interpersonal and social-scale). Whereas Second Citadel opens with an episode about two knights - a disabled one and a woman one - both of whom struggled for similar reasons, so there is supposedly little power imbalance here. And yet they do not see eye to eye, even more so, one of them furthers the other’s discrimination. We can speculate that that’s Sir Caroline’s effort to fit in - strengthen the sense of her hard-earned belonging by othering someone who never got that right to belong. Which doesn’t make it any less infuriating and damaging, but sets the tone of the story very well. There is no strong thriving off the weak. There are just people infinitely rejecting one another on the basis of their differences, often under the weight of their own rejection.

The topic of ostracization and discrimination is tackled in almost every arc of SC, but the idea of othering extends beyond it. The central conflict, the ongoing war is between monsters and humans - and while we’re more familiar with the human side of it, while we may learn more about the history of their conflict and who wronged whom first and worst, for now we’ve seen both humans and monsters express deep disgust for each other and one another’s way of living. And then the same happens on a smaller scale, within one species: we see the mutual disdain between Northerners and Southerners. Sir Caroline is different not only as a woman but as a foreigner; the Cinderclasp episode made it far too clear that the attitude to foreigners in the South is no better.

And all of that unravels against the backdrop of pretty phrases about unity that get repeated over and over. “Strength in Unity”. “Two in unity, simple, strong”. I believe those are not instruments of irony, however, but keys to the central message, echoes of this societies’ past and - hopefully - foreshadowing of their future.

Sir Caroline twists the meaning of that unity in order to keep her authority:

ANGELO: Sir Caroline, I really don't think-- CAROLINE: What is the primary edict of our Citadel, Sir Angelo? ANGELO: Strength in unity. Of course. CAROLINE: And the sooner you all remember that, the safer humanity will be in these Northern Wilds. Hypocrites. The lot of you. Unified only when it’s convenient. No better than monsters in that way: greed governs all, and everyone just does what they want to get what they want. If you just listened to authority, real authority, you might actually be safe.

And that happens to highlight what unity is not: giving up one’s autonomy and approach and unique competence to fit into someone else’s model of desired reality.

Here Damien’s words about perspectives come into play. However labored and uncomfortable they were, showing his inability to not fixate on what separates others from him, they are important as a piece of the meta puzzle: they make us think of inherent value of different experiences.

DAMIEN: My kind, kind friend. I agree that it is a shame that we cannot trust these men. They would be valuable allies, as Sir Caroline was – for moving through the world as she has, in a life quite different from ours, has clearly gifted her with ways of thinking that you and I would never come to. ANGELO: Very true, very true. DAMIEN: And so I am certain that given Marc’s...situation, he too must have a perspective of great value in our mission. But the simple fact is that he cannot be trusted.

The importance of these lines is backed up in Lady of the Lake, when Caroline is instructed to use specific characteristics of her subordinates and turn them into strength that would aid the mission. We are told over and over that true unity is in embracing our differences, valuing them and working together to make these differences work in everyone’s favour.

There is something to be said about quite careless exploitation of Damien’s neurodivergency of course, but that is once again the warped verison of true unity, showing what unity is not, but also simultaneously giving us some idea of its potential. At the core, behind Sir Caroline’s personal errors, the message is kinder, broader. We are told again and again that the importance of the unqiue approach, unique way of thought, unique operation of our minds can enrich our shared experience and cooperation beyond measure.

So when later on Sir Caroline instead tries to suffocate any challenge to her authority, any alternative point of view, it comes as the biggest whiplash.

And of course, when discussing the monster-human antagonism in this vein, the Moonlit Hermit arc gives some truly invaluable material. Rilla and Arum’s interactions are strongly based on the differences of their approach to the world, with Rilla’s being a rational one and Arum operating on what can be called intuition, spiritual sense and probably instinct. He despises attempts to rationalize the free broad flow of the universal energy.

And what we see is two of them coming together, sharing their views of the world and finding something useful, fascinating, beautiful in the point of view that seemed so unthinkable before. That culminates in the truly breathtaking scene of their discussion of the nature of music, whether it’s magic or math:

RILLA: I mean..why can’t it be both? ARUM: Nonsense. RILLA: No, I mean...maybe that’s what makes music special. It uses these predictable scales and measures and combines them with some unpredictable, something-- ARUM: Magic. And what comes out isn’t really either. It’s...more.

“It’s more”. Can’t overstate how hard this hits. And the parallel between this theory and Rilla and Arum’s relationship is more than on the nose, proving to us once again that the idea of unifying our different experiences and perspectives as something incredibly valuable, something that creates something new, rich, priceless, that is more than just a sum of the two, is central to the narrative.

What is interesting to me in the Moonlit Hermit arc is the distinction that is made between the monsters and the humans. Humans are supposedly rational while monsters speak of magic and the Universe - what a fun narrative is that! Monstrous spirituality... And then later on we have Damien raging at his saint, yelling “It is only monsters who listen to their heart above all!” - but apparently it is not.

The new season offered some helpful context to that, specifically - the Thought Stream. Obviously referencing the Tarot, it has four suites resembling the Minor Arcana while what can be called the Major Arcana is not a part of the deck usually but something that appears unpredictably (specifically: Olala’s card that does not belong to the Wilds, Wastes, Frosts or Mirrors suit).

The four Tarot suits (Swords, Cups, Wands and Pentacles) represent different areas of our life, separated: Intellect, Emotion, Spirituality/Creativity and the Material. Mind, Heart, Spirit and Body.

The four suits also correspond with the four elements. And Water is the one corresponding with Heart, with our emotions. I do not think it to be a coincidence that Saint Damien - the one encouraging his follower to listen to his heart, teaching him tranquility i.e. not losing oneself in the stream of emotion, the one teaching how to let one’s heart guide not stir - has water and the waves as his symbol.

So if Damien is Heart, Rilla is definitely Mind: she is analytical, a determined problem solver. I believe Arum represents the Wands: the Spirit and the fire - and that it is a symbol connected to monsters’ society in general.

Wands suit deals with passionate creation, with realizing one’s vision, bringing something into the world. That seems in line with the monstrous philosophy in general. They talk of one’s place decided by the Universe, they say one is justified in their actions as long as they truly do what they want, follow where their passion guides them. There is quite a bit of hypocrisy there as we can see in the Spiral Sage arc, the monster society may just be keeping the platitudes while giving in to the power of the strongest no matter the Universe’s place for the weak - but the ideal is still there, and it is one Arum seems to follow wholeheartedly. (Hence his interpretation of Damien seemingly abandoning his path as a lack of character.)

The same idea - one’s place in the Universe - is brought up again in the first part of “The Fool in the Garden of Death”, showing this belief spreads beyond monsters’ society, into the Western Wastes. None of the elements, be it Heart or Spirit, are strictly one species’; however, we’re dealing with different cultures and ways of life people are most accustomed to, prioritizing different aspects of life. And we’re being shown that maybe engaging with each other is what those cultures are supposed to do.

The Thought Stream’s deck is made up of four suits corresponding with four ends of the world, four parts of it. Where in Tarot we have aspects in Thought Stream we have places. This reinforces the concept of different aspects of life, different ways of approaching it, corresponding with specific societies.

Each of the suits is given an identity, but all of them make up one deck.

After all, what’s one aspect of a being without all the rest? Reign of just one’s Mind, Heart, Spirit or Body - how long can it last before turning destructive?

True strength is in balance of different elements - in unity that recognizes the value of each of them.

I have a theory that the ideals of the Second Citadel are the forgotten and revamped mottos of the beings of Fort Terminus: “two in unity” being not two partners but two worlds, monster and human, coming together to create something that is more, something new and powerful and full of potential. Capable of building something as impressive as the Bridge. I also have a theory that the Bridge is a parallel to the Tower of Babel. Which brings us to the idea of a divided world unable to see past the differences between societies, and through that losing the power that unity used to give it.

Showing the world where difference is shunned and leads to ostracism, where people that come from different places fail to acknowledge each other’s humanity and refuse to embrace their differences, where two species fail to accept the other’s way of living and deny the enemy their humanity/monstrosity, the Second Citadel storyline is offering a greater value as an endgoal: embracing difference and diversity, seeing strength in what sets us apart from each other, and recognizing that we all complete one another, like the four aspects of our own being, like four pillars upon which the sky rests. Deny one single pillar’s importance and wait for it to come crashing down on you. It says: to know true strength, we should welcome any and all experience, all of the unique perspectives, celebrate the differences that make our shared existence so much richer and make us so much more capable to deal with challenges of life. Strength in unity - not in uniformity.

#this got long and i blame kabert for their splendid writing #the penumbra podcast #tpp #second citadel #analysis tag

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theskyexists · 4 years

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Gideon the Ninth

the thing i like about this book is that it starts at breakneck speeds and continues at only slightly lower velocity

which is good because once they’ve arrived things could have got real boring because Gideon is no analytical genius and Harrow does not trust her one bit with an inch of plot

(I like that Gideon’s ‘dumb’ - with which i mean, ‘not curious’ - though she’s of course extremely alert, incredibly emotionally resilient and of course - an incredible fighter - and quite sneaky)

it’s a puzzle and you get tossed the bits. the fact that it’s an empire and then Gideon talks about invasion armies four chapters on and it becomes clear that a-ha you mean the Real Deal - a Real Empire huh?

the fact that Gideon knows nothing - is told nothing - is kept from all possibilities of gaining information on other places or politics or how things are going is a handy little choice

the other thing i like about this book is that (apparently) this is enemies to lovers but i don’t actually hate Harrow

she’s horrible to Gideon in a way but there’s such an expectedness about it and appropriate emotional response from Gideon that i copy Gideon’s emotions on her - the contempt and wariness and pure desire to simply fucking win. they’re ‘clean’ and merciless.

another thing i like about the book is that it is very good at introducing a lot of characters in a way that you can recognise them later

another thing that i like is that it has a ‘plot’ which on the face of it seems very hmmm basic or ordinary but it’s not what it’s about - it’s about Gideon - and that’s why the story doesn’t devolve into an uninteresting concept. also, every time it seems to - we get a little look at the complexity that implies a genuine mystery. the sci-fi nature to it all makes this so sparking and interesting

doors locks keys key rings yeah

the fascinating thing is that Gideon COULD be in two completely different minds about Harrow. she has an animal response to her being in danger and to helping her - that is to say she has an animal response TO help her. she fantasises about killing her or hurting her but what really keeps her going 100 reps in is winning/getting Harrow’s regard for something she’s done completely independently.

Palamedes and Camilla seem nice. Like Harrow’s and Gideon’s functional counterparts.

I absolutely love how Harrow takes everything supremely seriously - she is a True Necromancer - inherently CREEPY and FORBIDDING and POWERFUL. and Gideon does Not take in seriously at all and the clash is so wonderful - it’s such a tongue in cheek meta way to do this ....necromancy genre stuff

it SEEMS like humanity was dying and they found a way to re-animate the dead and gain immortality in the lab and that’s what they built their theocratic information-poor ‘resurrection’ space-faring imperial nation on. and they got there doing truly ABOMINABLE things to people

how big ARE your biceps. jpfjfkldsfk Jeannemary......

Gideon misinterprets palamedes’ interest in Dulcinea for attraction but really he knows she’s his main competition and she’s a mastermind. calling it now.

they work together and learn to appreciate each other. But i can’t remember if i’ve been told what Harrow had done to Gideon....

Abigail and Magnus did not ask for permission did they....

Harrow had walked in on Gideon at exactly the wrong moment when they were nine (hah). Hmmm. And her parents were dead from that moment on if I understand correctly? And it broke their relationship. Gideon saw her do something that convinced her that Harrow was a monster. right? I have suspicions.

It’s so CLEVER how Gideon and thus we the audience, do not know SHIT about the magic system - because it makes it so deliciously interesting. Fortunately it’s not frustrating yet to have all that information withheld.

I think Harrow underestimates Dulcinea - and Gideon learns not to. But Harrow knows she is being manipulated.

I just laughed out loud LOUDLY. Gideon is such a snarky jock chad and Harrow is a deeply sour nerd. juice

‘nice to know the other houses are also creeps’ lol

‘probably because you asked’ - ‘that’s all it takes’ - and it’s all she ever demanded! oh GOD. fuckin hell. Harrow did not get that? did not understand that to be friends all they needed was to be free of coercion?? lolololol

‘What are these theorems for?’ Harrow explodes. For this very outrage Harrow! the shock! the realisation that you care - really care about this other person who would have given her life for your ambition! you’re not learning about necromancy - you’re learning to truly trust to each other to the depths of your souls and cells. (edit: i was partly wrong)

the eighth breed batteries - genetic match - yikes that’s so creepily put.

i love how the characters are finding out constantly at exactly the same time as the audience is - but the audience - if they WERE quite quick on the uptake would have had cause to know already - just like the characters.

Another thing i really like about this book is that the building has enormous character - and the character has grown on me enormously as well despite my inability to visualise descriptions very well.

Another thing i really like is that Gideon crushes on all the hot or kind girls.

I just laughed most heartily. That fuckin line from Gideon to Palamenes with the Fourth as witness was so got.damn. well-timed writing ahahahahaa

all the nicknames for Harrow are so good ‘my midnight hagette’ pffjfkjf

The Fourth’s terrified anxiety at the facility suddenly transforms it into a horror story. exceptional

WHAT THE FUCK

so what the fuck sets a cavalier/necromancer pair up for death by bone abomination??? and if Harrow had not suggested they switch - would this have happened???

WHAT ! THE! FUCK!

so i was completely wrong. it’s not about permission (the fifth had it), it’s not about being ahead in keys (the seventh were), it’s not about cavalier and necromancer trusting each other (the fourth did) - i don’t believe its about weakness because the fifth weren’t weak

this just went in a horror direction i cannot understand and it really fuckin sucks that the fourth were RIGHT to be so scared. and also i really liked them - esp jeannemary

and also i there really seems no rhyme nor reason to any of it

that little bit of flimsy from the Second House with ‘Gideon’ on it implies some sort of loop to this where the roles shuffle - since the experiment lines up exactly with Harrow’s expertise as well - and so does the incinerator in a completely different way

Gideon thinks she’s failed because she ‘let’ jeannemary die - she thinks Harrow thinks this too - but that’s not true at all - Harrow is much more practical than that. But Gideon is traumatised.

i so badly want to know what the FUCK happened when they were nine.

There is miscommunication between Gideon and Harrow but it’s so - it’s so obscure in a sense - so much from a Gideon point of view that there’s only glimpses of Harrow’s multi-faceted elements. ‘don’t make fun of my-’ WHAT? her social awkwardness? her inability to be the tiniest bit vulnerable - or social - or in any way anything but her own most sharpened tool? - and relate to others in the same way - them being tools as well? She was trying to explain herself but Gideon REFERENCED that she can never forget that she hates Harrow - what does that mean??? is it the incident? is it the fact that Harrow has always had the power to hurt her? and used it?

the whole CONCEPT of a cavalier and necromancer is so delicious but so foreign to Gideon and thus us as a romantic concept that it’s only hitting me now - it’s everything you’d want from an institution set up for devotion. if this was made into a film or a series the very concept would draw thousands and it would become a fanfic AU genre.

things really are happening a LOT. i feel Gideon’s exhaustion acutely

GIDEON DID IT??? I THOUGHT HARROW DID!! BUT THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. it’s EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE - I thought Harrow’s parents would have done something horrid to Gideon and Harrow had killed and reanimated them out of an animal sense of protection for her enemy/playmate. BUT OF COURSE - it is Gideon who always acts with an animal tendency towards protection of Harrow - even at nine years old?

goddamn the Ninth House was a fucked up place for a child though. why would they treat the only other child like that what the fuck.

......I’m starting suspect that Gideon’s origins may also have been....related to some kind of greater nonsense...

WRONG AGAIN. Harrow just killed them. LOL. WRONG AGAIN. The whole family tried to kill itself but Harrow refused to. WOW. (wait i remember that they told us before that it was suicide? right?)

because she opened the door.

and she has to become a lyctor BEFORE - something. i do believe that something’s coming out of the no-longer-locked-tomb. unless Harrow really is just trying to prevent the infertility problem of her house

ok so Harrow was nine and Gideon was eleven. so Harrow is two years younger. Gideon is 18. Harrow must be 16. wow so fuckin young. did Harrow really blame Gideon for the deaths of her parents - or did Gideon THINK that - just like she thought the same about Jeannemary?

yeah yeah Dulcinea is a dangerous hawk who’s killed her own cavalier or something. but palamenes is a BITCH for not filling Gideon in

oh im so glad that Dulcinea isn’t. but that does explain why ‘Pro’ knocked the Eighth out - that was Dulcinea wasn’t it? herself? or was he ‘alive’ - his spirit somehow fused to his corpse?

THE TIME HAS COME TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING

HMMMMMMMM - WAIT IS GIDEON THE THING FROM THE LOCKED TOMB THOUGH. ALL THE STUFF ABOUT HER GOLD EYES AND RED HAIR AND WEIRD PHENOTYPE. DO THEY ALL HAVE FALSE MEMORIES

naw that’s nonsense.

I knew it. I KNEW IT. Harrow is an extremely vulnerable over-thinking mastermind stupid idiot who doesn’t understand Gideon AT ALL and who is super easily hurt.

jezus fucking christ what a fucking burden to bear for Harrow - to know that she was born at the cost of the lives of TWO HUNDRED CHILDREN. jezus fucking christ. ‘i was tired of being two hundred corpses’ MY!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she was suicidal at 10 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!! is it any wonder that she was always fighting literally FIGHTING Gideon and being so horrible. AND THEN SHE WATCHED HER PARENTS KILL THEMSELVES RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BOOK

they sure made her sympathetic - and so much of that was obvious from the start that she also seemed secretly sympathetic from the start

well at least Harrow knows that she treated Gideon completely unfairly and horribly all because she hates herself

i cannot tell whether Harrow is in love with the girl who is the Emperor’s end or she’s scared shitless. whether she wants to live forever to see her wake up because she wants to see the glory or because she wants to stop her

GIDEON HAS THE EXACT SAME QUESTION AS ME AAAAHAHAHAHAHA

that dynamic of Harrow playing everything straight and Gideon going - hold up this is funny.

ok so why didn’t Harrow tell her this before i wonder. because she couldn’t bring herself to unless she was forced to - to keep Gideon? hm

i was wrong again. i mean - it was clear from the very start and from Harrow’s crush on the Emperor’s greatest enemy that the Empire is a sickening construction leeching off the deaths of millions but! i guess i though there was going to be a horrid sacrifice at the END - but instead there is yknow - it’s horrid all the way through. it’s just that nobody seems aware of how horrid it is except Gideon who makes jokes about it - so you just accept it.

the blood and bone and fat and corpses and death are all actually indications of profoundly fucked up things! who knew!!

it seems that dulcinea is not actually dulcinea and still the hawk that killed everybody - because that still wasn’t explained was it - nor the ability to animate pro

so much is happening and it is very good. i think the lyctor liked Gideon because she reminded her of her own. but shes a ruthless immortal who’s been in pain for ten thousand years. and she hates her maker

‘the vengeance of ten billion’? sounds like they sacrificed a lotta people for these powers

so but why did she kill the fourth? and why can she control bones when she’s from the first house?

making the so-likeable sympathetic weirdly compassionate but ruthless dulcinea the villain - it’s brilliant. all the kind things she’s said and done for Gideon. that psychopathic compartmentalisation

Ianthe - the lyctor fighting another lyctor. Had they ever fought?? and the Emperor had Hands. but there are only a couple remaining. and she was hiding in the Seventh House... what did the Hands die of. god do i want to know those histories. Cytherea is ...mad about having been lied to....

Gideon - always wanting to save others. even Ianthe - a deeply horrible person by all accounts

YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TO ME - YOU WILL NOT DIE HERE - GIDEON WHAT AND WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU.

so the whole reason Ducilea knocked off everybody in the building one by one is because she needed the emperor not to be suspicious. isn’t he gonna be just that now??? but it doesn’t matter because these fight scenes are surprisingly epic

the sheer fucking POETRY of Gideon being the last dead daughter of the Ninth House to become one with Harrow’s fate - GOD

wow im sad

what a way to end her pov

The Emperor seems crazily benevolent for a guy who apparently tricked his first lyctors into undeath and sacrificed (implied) 10 billion people and allowed horrible necromantic sins and experiments. who runs an empire on death and has children conquer planets

Gideon’s yet unexplained origins, phenotype, disappearing body AND the fact that she survived tear gas at age one + a whole crazy siphoning with only mild negative effects, and Cytherea kept being cryptic about her origins/death/etc., and that Gideon from the past, gives me a semblance of hope. but im just not sure how book two from Harrow’s pov is gonna hold up without Gideon’s sense of humour

I really loved this book for how all the personal dramas of the characters were perfectly spooled out until everything became clear

anyway this book was - very good

i just wish UHHHHHH that if you absorbed somebody’s soul they actually fuckin stayed with you and didn’t just fucking actually DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but what a worldbuilding MASTERPIECE - and how MASTERFULLY ABSOLUTELY MASTERFULLY UNWRAPPED - in bites and pieces and flecks and tosses - and FAST - it explains why the start is so fast because it NEEDS TO BE - and by the end they go in for longer explanations - i think there’s ONE explanation for something that could plainly be inferred - ONE in the whole book.

this magic system is so fucking DOPE!!!!!!!!!!!

#i fucked up my sleep rhythm #my stuff #vidi #sorta #ninth #i devolved into writing most of my responses to the 3/4ths of the book down #gideon the ninth

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peanutdracolich · 7 years

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Peanut Dracolich Watches Horror: Saw

I had never seen Saw. What I had heard led me to believe it led to a period of gruesome torture porn as horror films and was itself a film about gruesome torture and ‘oh look bloodshed the horror’. It was not.

This was in fact a pleasant surprise. It did not rely upon gruesome showings of severed limbs and cut open stomachs, but understood that hey the implication is more horrific. It was instead Psychological Horror of the locked in a room murder gamey type. I enjoy this horror in manga and stories. So this was a pleasant surprise.

It was also a badly done example of this type of horror. The villain relied too far on luck and people acting extremely stupid and in some cases extremely uncharacteristically stupid. The film was sloppy with details, that in the sort of puzzle it was presenting you would and should be looking at. While some of these were inconsequential (ok in the long run it didn’t matter that the dude instantly dried off) it was jarring from the mystery and the horror and the film asked me to look for it. It lacked the fun that made Child’s Play enjoyable despite the bad (and I’d say Child’s Play wasn’t worth the time) leaving it unsatisfactory.

Ultimately I expected a film at about The Omen’s quality. Nothing that I’d be wondrously impressed by, nor anything that would make me groan. Instead I found it profoundly disappointing even by those standards and would put it closer to Uzumaki; though it did do many things better than Uzumaki it invited the critical/analytical brain and it should not have done that. Unlike The Omen, Alien: Covenant, and Prince of Darkness I feel no need or desire to ever watch this film again.

Still the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and my screaming loathing of Adam as an annoying dolt... I mean my scene by scene are below the cut.

The Good:

The Bear Trap story: It’s not surprising that they picked this for the 10 year anniversary poster. This story was in fact chilling and horrific (if not scary but horror and scary are not always the same). It was the best part of the film.

The creepy doll: The puppet is creepier than Chucky. it just didn’t really get to do much in the film to capitalize on it.

Cary Elwes. I like him. And his character was actually likeable despite his flaws. You root for him which is necessary in this sort of film.

The Bad:

The Music. It slips from mediocre horror movie track to feeling like it's a laughtrack telling me when to be scared, attempting to manipulate my emotions with all the skill of an auditory jump scare. Yes suddenly loud/creepy tone as they reveal the object. I'm so scared.

Adam. You need to like him. You need to be torn between Cary Elwes's character killing him or not, you need to want him to survive. He annoyed me throughout the film until the last 5 minutes. The only reason to want him to win is because you want the monster to lose more.

The resolution: While the very last 3 minutes are good, the events that lead to the resolution are a cluster of stupidity that just leaves a bad taste in the mouth (especially as it was coming from Cary Elwes who had been smart before that).

The start: It starts off on the wrong foot with Adam being annoying and stupid. This means it makes a bad first impression it has to fight against, and while the Bear Trap scene does that... well it just means it had an uphill battle to reach the bear trap scene and then unfortunately goes back to Adam.

The Ugly:

The 'frantic mode' accelerated footage. At first I thought it was supposed to be time skip, but no apparently it's just supposed to be some stylistic 'things are happening frantically' and it doesn't work well. Show them being frantic, that'd have worked better.

The details. Details are important in this type of plot, and the movie ignores things like 'he has another tool' or 'he should be soaking wet' and it detracts heavily from it; sometimes as just 'nitpicks' that would normally be shrugged off if it was not a movie that demanded that sort of attention, and sometimes as ‘your plot hinges on stupidity because you didn’t show this as failing’ which just leaves a bad taste at the best of times.

And now my unsatisfied play by play

Saw (Film)

Nice start. Immediately gets into the creepy with waking up drowning in a bath. Character loses points for 'I'm probably already dead'. You've got a chain on your foot, and you woke up in a life or death situation, you shouldn't be jumping to that yet. Actually I just don't like the dialogue thus far.

Music does its job to try and trick me into thinking a dead body is scary. Those burns on the face of the man with the gun are... supposed to be muzzle burns? Every line from main character makes me like him less. And I want to know how he got here drowning without the doctor noticing something. I mean the water wasn't rising, it was over his face. He should have been drowning well earlier if he was put in first.

And you question the doctor on why he knows that 'if your kidneys were stolen it'd hurt like hell'. Adam you annoy me. Every line from your mouth has annoyed me. You are an idiot and it's only 6 minutes into the film.

Still Adam and the doctor Lawrence are trapped in a shit hole room together, with tapes in their pockets, and padlocked and chained to a pair of pipes. The tapes so to play them, though, and the dead body in the center of the room has a cassette player so.

Adam is stupid some more... also surprisingly dry. Like his clothes aren't wet at all. Does this film not understand how water works? I don't think this film understands that water is wet.

Tape is ok. Gravely voice is so so effect for horror, music accents it well. Still it's basic serial killer threat of you might die in here. Which yes you woke up chained up in a room that's to be expected. The Doctor's tape is more fun. He has to kill Adam! Adam knows this. Doctor also seems to have a better idea what the puzzle is going on than Adam, but I feel that Adam never knows what the puzzle is going on. Ok, it finally does something scarier than 'locked in room' (scary irl but the stakes are low in that the monster has already won, the danger can only decrease); the fact that his wife and daughter (I'm guessing) are threatened adds danger once more, something more than just the madman has already won.

Adam is surprisingly cooperative with the man who just got told to kill him. And there's a bad bit of humor/gross out with Adam reaching into the bowl of the toilet instead of checking under the lid first and having to deal with disgusting poop water. They find hacksaws, but Adam breaks his and the iron chain is just too thick and hard for the rusty old piece of junk. Lawrence realizes that they're supposed to cut their own feet off.

We get a campfire story about a serial killer from Lawrence. Thus far film's best thing is average music. Still murder games/torture is creepy. Um Lawrence, technically speaking putting someone in a situation that will kill them if they do nothing or if they try and escape is murder. There is no technically not a murderer here. Don't say stupid stuff, I want to like one of you.

Still we learn some stuff from the murder game stories. Jigsaw, the killer, likes to watch. Also Dr. Gordon had a patient that looks like the dead dude on the floor, and an underling who was Ben in Lost. I don't trust Ben. Ben just has a villain face. Oh and Jigsaw left Lawrence's penlight at the scene of one of the crimes. Fun. Apparently his alibi was that he was having an affair. I currently suspect Ben.

I have mostly not commented on the 'campfire stories' but they're not actually bad. The reverse beartrap is actually creepy. The puppet works. And if the film can keep this quality (instead of the first 10 minutes) it'll be pretty good. the fast movement thrashes of the victim and attempt at frantic is more headache inducing than scary, though, and I am unsure if I'm supposed to think it's a long time (which the fast forwarded motion implies) or just 'panic mode' which makes more sense with the time. The sounds and movements of the man as she cuts him open to get the key is effective. The rummaging in his stomach less so. And then we get frantic mode again as she takes off the helmet with the key.

The puppet appears and is creepy. Far creepier than Chucky was. But I've not been scared. The only story with tension was the woman's thus far, and now that it's gone I feel unsatisfied as I didn't get the fear hit.

Adam is a dumbass. But picking up a piece of broken glass realizes it's a two way mirror and then starts throwing shit at the mirror. In all the stories the rooms were very carefully prepared so that there weren't just random tools, in this one there's a good number in Adam's reach and he's just chucking shit at a camera where it won't hit. Lawrence believes that they have to play the game... and Adam is a total dumb ass again. He needs to keep his mouth shut. I enjoy the film much more when he does.

We are now 1/3rd through the film. I don't feel primed for horror. I don't feel any desire to stop typing. The movie has been 'better' than Child's Play thus far, but simultaneously it's been less fun because Child's Play at least made me laugh at its serious attempts, and this makes me... want to read Japanese murder porn manga because they get a better hit.

Musical cue to be scared when Adam reveals the photo of Lawrence's wife and daughter tied and gagged is oo overt, to forced. And... Did Adam take the picture with the clue, or did Lawrence just not react at all to it? We get some immediate horror (as opposed to vague dread) when he comes for Lawrence's wife and daughter in flashback that is now no longer someone's specific memory but just prior events (acceptable technique just on my mind). Unlike with Child's Play I feel this film has an outside chance of actually killing the small child. I hope they don't but... was that Ben's face. I'm pretty sure that was Ben's face. So either Ben did it or he's an accomplice which... not surprising.

And the detective apparently is 1) Spying on the doctor's home while the abduction takes place, and 2) blaming himself for letting the doctor go while watching the criminal abduct his wife. Detective seems crazy. We also learn this movie was brought to us by Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme donuts the best for cops who are being presented as irrationally hating a doctor enough to watch someone abduct his wife. To be fair he might just be illegaly spying on the doctor and thinks it's an affair, but his words implied the other and either it's... This film does not want me to think about things. Also sound cues for horror have gone from 'mediocre' to 'it feels like a laugh track that is telling me be scared now'.

We get that the villain is sick, implied to be terminally ill, and he cuts Tapp, and this is implied to be a flashback to after Gordon gave his alibi but before they... shot Jigsaw. So it's a fake or he's playing dead. Ok lures the young cop into a death trap, and the old cop can't follow because throat is slashed. And his hand that is 'keeping him from bleeding to death' stretches out...

Still ok Cop is now completely obsessed with catching the man who killed his partner, and talking to his dead partner. This is the creepiest the movie has felt. And Adam is in fact hiding the clue like a dumb ass. Still he half tells him the clue, but not 'oh yeah there's a picture of your tied up family'. Gordon I hope you kill Adam. If only one of you is going to live, I would prefer Gordon. I mean either he should give him the picture, or not give him the clue. If he's trying to make sure Gordon doesn't have the information to kill him not giving him the clue is a good move. It'll lead to them both being left to rot if Jigsaw is honest but... If he's not then give the man his picture, you already (before seeing the picture) made certain he believed it was true and tried to call him cold hearted for not panicking more. Also lying makes you suspicious. Adam lies badly and I agree with Gordon that he's dealing with a juvenile. Adam finally gives the picture clue, after lying about it. And Gordon asks the sensible 'why didn't you show me it before'. We're supposed to think that Adam was just being nice by hiding the pain. He's a douche ass for it, though. Though now Gordon is really thinking about killing him, partially because of the picture and partially because Adam has been a dumb ass.

Gordon comes up with a plan, in the dark, whispered so that Jigsaw and we don't hear it, we hear enough to get the idea that there is a plan, and it's pretty obvious that it's fake poisoning a cigarette and giving it to the smoker Adam to kill him. This is not a good plan given that they don't know how the poison works, and that Adam is a lousy liar with the most unconvincing death scene. Jigsaw's response is to electrocute Adam. Which apparently makes him remember what happened the night before... Progress?

An hour in and I have decided that for murder/torture/deathtrap porn I'm just going to stick to Japanese stuff. This reminds me I need to watch Battle Royale.

Still the scene in his memory is more traditional horror; the killer is in the house.

Alright his daughter is calling Gordon on a phone that was provided with the last set of stuff. We are... Not scared. Ali tells him not to believe Adam's lies, that Adam knows him, and we saw it in the flashback so it can be believed. Gordon immediately shares the clue. Gordon demands the truth. Adam seems to be a private eye that's been spying on Gordon with pretty obvious flash photography and knows that Gordon was having an affair. Which apparently he broke off last night because she paged him while he was at home and that made him have qualms of conscience... I still like him more than Adam. I'm guessing someone died because Gordon was sleeping around and Jigsaw wants revenge, but idk.

Adam was hired by Bob for $200 a night. Gordon figures that he's the culprit, and Adam can't remember shit about what he looks like, but finally says 'tall black guy with a scar around his throat', i.e. the detective. We've seen enough shots of a white guy watching them that I don't believe that he's the culprit. Though Ben could be the accomplice to him... I don't believe it quite.

Ben is named Zep. Zep the Orderly who has been watching them on the camera. And time runs out. With, guestimating 30 minutes or less (maybe only 15 minutes) we finally enter the final act. The music increases the tempo to say danger time is go, and Ben begins to talk to Gordon's wife forcing her to tell him that he failed. Except the wife has slipped her bindings and takes the gun from FailBen. She doesn't shoot him. Shoot him. Shoot him before everything goes wrong. They both break down crying. There's some actual tension, and then FailBen attempts to take back the gun. There's a few shots, and the corrupt ex-cop who has been watching it all finally makes his move.

And I must simply wonder what is it with horror movies and stabbing people with scissors. Do they really go into the flesh so well? Like seriously several inches? Either way corrupt cop hears a gunshot so comes in to try and play the hero and save Gordon's wife and daughter and apprehend FailBen. We've got the psycho killer is in the house horror, the music is working to increase adrenaline, and the scene is ok. He also electrocutes Gordon presumably to death. We see some 'frantic mode' scenes with FailBen and the cop and then Gordon wakes up.

Gordon dropped the phone and it's out of reach. He tries to grab it with a box, ignoring that the hacksaw is longer and in reach and would reach it. This ruins the tension a bit, and makes his panic stupid. He ties off his foot, with his shirt (that could also reach the phone) and starts cutting off his foot. And this is supposed to be horror with all this blood and... It mostly makes me feel slightly more nauseous (I have a stomach thing and have felt like puking off and on for the last 30 hours) but mostly that the film is dumb.

Cop shoots himself in another moment of dumb. The film is dumb. Gordon shoots Adam now that he knows there is no reason to do it. The film is stupid. The film is dumb. I still might have enjoyed it more than Uzumaki, but I think I hated it more too? It leaves you feeling slightly unclean (a good thing in horror), but it's fucking dumb. The plot runs on idiot ball at the end, and before that it's just not good.

And then there's a good moment. Adam was faking dead and begins to brutally beat Ben with a toilet lid. It's not scary, though, it's senseless brutality. He could have shot him, but the film wanted to show 'scary' brutal murder. And 'chillingly' we learn that FailBen was not the culprit, but another victim. Which is a good ending, music gets the heartbeat up, but it all feels hollow.

The dead man from the floor rises and kills Adam. Your classic final rise of the monster to show that even in defeat Jason/Freddy has won. "The key to that chain is in the bathtub" Which means it got flushed down the drain. It's a nice effect, but while it feels a lot better as a film, similar to the omen with its good end giving the illusion for a short time of being better, the film is overall dumb. The last 3 minutes do not make up for almost 100 minutes of dumb.

I came in with low expectations. The film surprised me. It mostly avoided what I was led to expect, and had some legitimately good moments of psychological murder room horror (the woman with the reverse bear trap). It was still, however, worse than I had been led to expect.

The movie lacks the camp charm of Prince of Darkness, or even Uzumaki. It plays itself as a psychological horror, a genre that is supposed to engage the mind and get you thinking, but relies on a massive idiot ball, and thus if you're thinking it ruins the film. The cop is supposed to be 'secretly a hero' all along, but could have caught the killer by simply making a move when he first realized what was going on instead of watching it like he was getting off on Gordon's family being held hostage and chose to wait until a person who he seems to have evidence is innocent's family is apparently shot before acting because... umm??? Gordon could have reached the phone with the hacksaw, either it was a final chance or too late, and his logical characterization suddenly exploded. Yes he has an IC reason for suddenly going from cold and logical to panicking, but he obviously wants to answer the phone so he's not at that type of panic (should have shown the phone further away). The little bits of stupid added up throughout the film and the ending does not save it by having a sudden creepy reveal; though it does finally answer the itching 'what about the third dude, guys you're obviously missing something' aspect. Still if psychological murder trap horror is your thing, there's a good number of manga about it; it has teenagers which apparently makes it better! Also decent writing.

I came in expecting something mediocre, on the side of good, something near the level of the Omen. I was disappointed. It demands intellectual involvement (psychological and mystery elements) and cannot stand up to it, leaving a film that is neither fun or fulfilling, and not even a film that is scary.

The Good:

The Beartrap story.

The creepy doll.

Cary Elwes. I like him. And his character was actually likeable despite his flaws. You root for him which is necessary in this sort of film.

The Bad:

The Ugly:

The 'frantic mode' accelerated phootage. At first I thought it was supposed to be time skip, but no apparently it's just supposed to be some stylistic 'things are happening frantically' and it doesn't work well. Show them being frantic, that'd have worked better.

#peanutdracolich watches horror #Saw (2004)#Not impressed #Not satisfied #Makes me want to read manga

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