#this is insane to read in 2022

[mirkwoodest]

Universal truths in boy's own adventure

By MICHAEL BODEY THE AUSTRALIAN 12:00AM AUGUST 25, 2010

TAIKA Waititi is still pinching himself at the success of his second film, Boy.

He concedes New Zealand films don't do as well on their home turf "as, I imagine, many Australian films don't do crazily well".

Boy doesn't exactly scream "hit", being a coming-of-age story set in 1984 on NZ's rural east coast and starring an unknown 11-year-old.

But Waititi's film is the highest grossing local film in NZ history. Its box-office take to date of $NZ9.3 million ($7.4m) surpasses Once were Warriors and The World's Fastest Indian, both of which earned more than $NZ7m.

"In my head I thought around $NZ2m would be nice, twice what my last film [Eagle vs Shark] made, and it's just kept going and going," Waititi notes.

"The feedback and response by local audiences is something none of us really expected."

Boy has been a success because New Zealanders want to see themselves on screen, but its tone is more tragicomic, self-deprecating and relaxed than audiences are used to. It focuses on universal themes of family and the insecurity, clumsiness and wonder of growing up.

James Rolleston is the Boy, a Michael Jackson-obsessed kid living on a farm with his Gran. He idolises his father, Alamein (played by Waititi), a man he imagines is a deep-sea diver, a war hero and a relative of Jackson.

The reality is underwhelming: his itinerant and unreliable dad has been "in the can" for robbery and is little more than a rebel biker without a cause.

"Anyone who has a parent can relate to this idea of not quite understanding who your parents are or making up stories about them," Waititi says.

"Then there are the realities of who they are and their secrets and [realising] they're not superhuman human beings."

Global audiences understand the film, he adds, even if some are surprised to discover it's not a family movie. A Hawaiian festival director programmed the film before seeing it. "Halfway through he asked me, 'Just out of curiosity, is there much more swearing or violence?' "

Australians will find Boy sweet, raucous and lovably NZ, with its recognisable cultural references, language and intonations. It won the audience awards at the Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival this year.

The film upends certain cliches about NZ cinema globally, although Waititi is still smarting from one US review, in trade newspaper Variety, that accused it of misrepresenting Maori culture.

"[The reviewer] almost took it personally that there weren't ghosts and people in villages riding whales," Waititi says.

Waititi played against local expectations, too, after winning an Academy Award nomination for the short film Two Cars, One Night. "Essentially that was a dramatic short and people assumed after that I would go down the drama road and make typical New Zealand films, dark films about kids who die," he says.

"So I ended up moving away from that and trying to inject some quirkiness and comedy. Maori get pigeonholed into the idea they're spiritual and telling stories like Whale Rider and Once were Warriors, quite serious stuff, but we're pretty funny people and we never really have had an opportunity to show that side of ourselves, the clumsy, nerdy side of ourselves, which is something I am."

Waititi is something more than clumsy and nerdy. The 35-year-old has a background in painting and photography, having exhibited in Wellington and Berlin. His acting and comedy emerged on the side, as he performed with mates including Flight of the Conchords's Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, directed episodes of their US series and gave popular stand-up comedy shows. The semi-autobiographical Boy was the first, tentative screenplay he wrote as he mulled the prospect of being able to move from shorts to feature films.

"I kind of freaked out a bit, I didn't want to leap into it because the transition between short films and feature films is the same as short stories and novels," Waititi explains. "Some people just can't write a novel and some people can't make a feature film, it's just the way it is sometimes. Maybe I couldn't have made a feature film."

Now that one's settled, Waititi is in the enviable position of being able to juggle directing and acting. He has just finished filming a performance in the big-budget studio superhero film, Green Lantern, and expects a sequel to follow.

"Yeah, for my film work I'm in a good position in New Zealand. I could probably make my next film pretty easily," he says with honest understatement. "You're always fine until you stumble and then obviously it becomes harder. The acting thing crept up. I'm not sure how much attention I'll give it.

"I'm lucky my main job now is filmmaking, so it's not like I'm rushing off to LA to do all these auditions and desperately trying to be an actor.

"I think I'm a better filmmaker than actor, so I already know that. That's OK, I can handle not being a famous actor."

He remains unsure whether he can sustain himself as a filmmaker in NZ, even though he doesn't appear particularly rushed to take up any international offers.

He believes he can remain in NZ "if you don't expect what we all thought was the high life of a film director in the 90s when people were being paid squillions of dollars just to do anything".

The money in filmmaking has dried up; today it really is just like any other job.

"The glitz and glamour has gone and you get paid a normal wage to do a job that isn't extraordinary," he says. "So it's kind of fair. I think people were overpaid for what the job is, having fun and telling stories and getting all this cool stuff."

Waititi appreciates that the films he wants to make won't generate the fortune of blockbusters such as Green Lantern, but he doesn't want dedicate two years of his life to a project he's not passionate about.

"The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write, it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies," he says.

But with the success of Boy, could there be pressure to create a sequel or franchise out of its characters? Waititi looks across to Rolleston and raises an eyebrow.

"Maybe I'll just make this into a franchise, do the Truffaut thing and just keep hiring him until he's 40."

Boy is in cinemas tomorrow. SBS One screens Eagle vs Shark on Saturday.

#this is insane to read in 2022 #TAIKA #? ?! ! #this was worth the scramble to access it #so much to unpack here

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Just a thought but I think it's kind of crazy that I've heard Ghost's voice so much now, that every time I read fics or when I daydream/write my own fics, I can literally hear Ghost's voice in my head.

Like, the tone, the timbre of his voice; even the manner of his speech are so ingrained in my head like a system that when I read a sentence I can hear his voice saying it. Now whenever I see quotation marks ("..."), there's a switch in my brain where it just changes into Ghost's voice saying it and it's hella believable.

Is it just me or are y'all are as insane with your blorbos as I am?

#it's like the AI thing where you can put a sentence and make Obama's voice read it but It's just me being insane #sleepy's thoughts #blorbo #blorbo stuff #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #cod mw #cod #simon ghost riley #cod mw22 #call of duty modern warfare 2022 #simon riley

[louismygf]

some louis tomlinsons i never posted ^_^

#louis tomlinson #louisupdates #louisprojectstracks #lfltracks #mindofwalls #tracksintheam #usertomlinsonsource #dailytomlinson #im not Getting his likeness it's making me so insane #does it look like him?!!?!? no but if i caption it louis Then u will know #anyw these r sketches that still look kinda presentable to me #souwee if these look unfinished unpolished it's bc they are shdjdjd #vans louis & chemical formula louis were way back in 2021 (when i first became a fan) #afhf one some time in 2022 #all the others were drawn in feb 2023 except the aotv one which was march 2023 #aotv being. the one where he's in a suit yup #i wanna practice drawing him some more. ive been practicing when i have time (not a lot) since 2021 basically. he's become my muse kinda ! #i need to work on my realism🥲 it's the effect of never ever stanning a real person... so all ive drawn my whole life is anime&cartoons LOL #i have to draw him everyday i wanna like. devote all my free time into getting my fanart of him to look Right #you look like youd be easy to draw BITCH. if that's an insult then saying louis is hard to draw must be high praise!!!!! #ignore the fact that it may be just a skill issue on my end #if you read this far... erm... thanks! rbs are super appreciated thank you! ❤️ #my louis #liz.art

[mitskijamie]

Jamiegender scholars should we discuss the recurrant emasculation by older men

#oc #also very interesting how much of this comes from Roy if you read Roy as a closeted gay or bi man #I actually read a really interesting article about the sharp left turn in attitudes towards homosexuality in men's sports #and how in the 90's (which wouldve been the height of Roy's career) <10% of male athletes surveyed described themselves as 'pro gay' #compared to 93% in 2022 #and how it's common for male athletes to kiss each other/share beds/outwardly express love for each other which didnt used to be the case #Roy was loved and valued his entire career for being angry and aggressive and soldiering through pain without help #('Your anger makes you the player that you are' Roy Kent will never leave on a stretcher' 'I played hurt all the time') #and Jamie (who he sees so much of his younger self in) is living in a much better world where that expection isnt nearly as heavy and I can #see the resentment there #I'm fine with him playing hurt I played hurt all the time. I had to suffer so should he. it's not fair it's not fair it's not fair #this makes NO sense im literally like a little girl playing insane dramas with barbies #jamiegender

[kafkaguy]

character wrapped 2023 💥

tagged by @davidtennantpussytulpa ^-^ i didn't know how many to do so i copied tara and did top 10. i know the severance guys are Four Of Them but i can't separate them theyre all equally important to me

will graham (hannibal), em haywood (nope), aziraphale (good omens), mark & dylan & helly & irving (severance), hawkeye pierce (mash), martha jones (doctor who), ivan karamazov (the brothers karamazov), kim kitsuragi (disco elysium), stewy hosseini (succession), ruescott melshi (andor/rogue one)

i will tag... @fagician @britomart @libraryfag @roadwhores @majorbaby @globuspolski @hadleyfraserfaggot @tenderscience if u want to ^-^

#and now i will explain them all in detail #cos i started watching hannibal back in like. january or february and will immediately set up camp in my head and started to settle there #*I* pay rent to *HIM*. he lives there permanently. sweating and monologuing constantly #em was not only the character of 2022 but also of 2023 and of 2024 and the rest of the decade and all decades to come #she had such an impact on me keke palmer's performance will live with me forever and i love nope so fucking much #i almost didnt include her because nope was more of a last year obsession. but she lives on #aziraphale.........no comment #severance.......i love them all so much and at first i wanted just irving and then just helly and then i realise i cried over mark this week #and then i realised i couldnt possibly leave out dylan when hes probably my favourite character. so then i settled for all of them #hawkeye is my fucking wife. enough said #martha... well i knew i had to have a doctor who character. i thought maybe the doctor but then i thought their companions mean more to me #sometimes at least. i did have a fourteen icon for a while but then i was like but Donna..... and then i thought. well #these past few months at least martha jones has been eating away at my heart. i go batshit insane when i think about her #her impact. her grace. her power. so she had to go on the list.it was a toss up between her and donna for sure though #then i figured i had to include a karamazov since reading that book took up half of my year. and ivan was my favourite of the 3. so <3 #kim goes without saying. literally nothing to be said hes the character Of All Time. to me #stewy also goes without saying ive had so many Stewy Save Me moments since the beginning of season 4 all the way to the end of the year #i miss him every day. he is the moment. i wish there was more of him all the time #and the last one is a bit of a wildcard cos all my insanity abt melshi has been on my andor sideblog. #but rest assured ive been thoroughly Not Normal about him. he literally side appears in 4 episodes and has 11 total minutes onscreen #but i love him. so much. and hes occupied most of my thoughts since september. once again his impact his power his grace. his homosexuality #enough said. that's all. thanks for reading. this was a great year for autism and madness #tag game #🍪

[ufonaut]

My ring’s verified she’s telling the truth.

Alan Scott in Justice Society of America (2022) #3

#THE OFFICIAL DEBUT OF THE BEARD #alan scott #green lantern #jsa #justice society of america #justice society #jsa 2022 #justice society of america 2022 #dc #dc comics #dcedit #comicedit #comicsedit #lgbtincomics #u can reblog #IM GOING SO OUT OF MY MIND INSANE RN I CANT EVEN TELL U I CANT EVEN PUT IT INTO WORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #GOD!!!!!! #BEAR ERA ALAN REAL AT LONG LAST IM WALKING INTO TRAFFIC #LIKE THE FELLA SAID. ANYONE WHO WISHES TO READ ANYTHING INTO ALAN HAVING A BEARD THESE DAYS IS OFC FREE TO DO SO #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #UNBELIEVABLE VICTORY FOR GAY PEOPLE WORLDWIDE

[jestroer]

Hello gay people in my puter! Today is a nice day as it is Birthday of my beloved mutual @zombiiehorse​​! As a present I made a fanart of their hit piece of Fan Fiction feathers almost feel like fur which is. SOOOOOO GREAT

What you guys should do is to go and read it and leave a kudos and a nice comment and bookmark! Its sooooooooooooo good guys i promise its an absolute banger piece of art boys go go go

Also I didnt plan on it but this thing does fit day 2 of @/ink-ghoul’s hermittober theme Soulmates as Martyn did say that him and Grian are soulmates destined to destroy each other so i will count it as well! :)

#Me drawin martyn inthelittlewood: im not drawing philza im not drawing philza im not drawing philza im not drawing philza im not drawing phi #i spent all day on this ngl #on reading the thing and at the same time sketching the thing and then finishing the thing #Had a blast! #Also SAM WHAT IS THIS THING #WHY DO YOU HAVE TO CAUSE EMOTIONAL DAMAGE TO ME #oughoughough now i get why are you obsessed with them god dammit #it was incredible #i will make sure more people go insane over them! #I'll very try at least #im may even make more fanart for it to make sure welll see #for now HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! :DDDD #court jester's art #hermittober 2022 #trafficshipping #in a way? there is a relationship tag in the fic boys #martyn inthelittlewood #inthelittlewood #grian #sam did you thing of a ship name for them #third life smp #3rd life smp #3rd life #hope i didnt forget anything #day later yes i forgot things #feathers almost feel like fur #court jester's fanfiction appreciation moment #i need to make a tag for fanart of sams fics im guessing this is not the last one

[actualbird]

i swear to god the next time i think "oh i feel and function much better now, maybe i dont need my meds anymore" i NEED to remember that that is the DEVIL SPEAKING and that the REASON i feel and function better is BECAUSE the meds are IN my system and that the NEXT COURSE OF ACTION is NOT to REMOVE the from my system but to KEEP THEM THERE good god

#I AM SO SHARP AND PRODUCTIVE THESE DAYS IT IS INSANE I #I FEEL LIKE HOW I FELT WHEN I FIRST GOT INTO TOT SO SHARP AND CREATIVE AND WRITING AND ONLY NOW DO I RMEMBER THAT #THAT WAS ALSO WHEN I STARTED MY MEDS #THEN I WENT OFF THEM IN FEB-MARCH 2022 #IMMEDIATE DIP IN PRODUCTIVITY AND MOOD. AS IF. MAYHAPS. THE MEDS BEING IN ME H E L P E D #AND THEM NOT BEING IN ME DID NOT HELP #I CRACKED THE CODE. THE ANSWER IS THAT I WAS AN IDIOT #dootdootdoot #sorry for the capitalized yelling but this felt like the expanding brain meme for me. guys. guys ive Written #i /wrote and finished a fic/ #it's for a zine so i cant post it yet yall have to get the tot olympians zine (@olympianszine) to read this one #and then i sTARTED A NEW FIC AND I HAVE 1.5K WORDS oN THAT #and thats on top of everythng ive been working on for the nxx comp vol 2 and work and life #damn. what a good set of meds can do to a mfer. why was i so angsty about going on meds again i need this shit tf

[19871997]

general inability to be normal about wikipedia naming eras of various franchises after their generational talent captain + his codependent bestie

#edmonton oilers #pittsburgh penguins #i’ve done the background reading there’s a lot of single names but like. this is more special #every franchise has their gretzy not everyone has their insanely talented literally era defining ride or dies #or they’ll name eras after the owner/gm #now bear in mind before lemuiex + jagr it was. like the start of the pens and before cmd + draisaitl it was. the decline and playoff draught #especially emo about the oilers bc it’s the mcdavid-draisaitl era bc they’re getting better building the team from the ground up etc etc #i’m pretty sure cmd said something like that when they got kicked out of the playoffs in 2023 or 2022

[lestatslestits]

Y’all think Louis put up a Christmas tree in the penthouse lol

#interview with the vampire #iwtv #louis de pointe du lac #amc interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #interview with the vampire 2022 #iwtv 2022 #or maybe he just puts christmas lights on the tree in the reading room #armand doesn’t celebrate christmas but he’s probably fascinated by christmas decorations #also louis gives him a new insane device every year so he’s not complaining

[toothfairyfemme]

posted this sc from my priv as apart of a photodump on instagram and someone said they wished they could reblog it so.. 😭😭😭

#i read the books + was obsessed w the movie when i was younger #but didn’t let myself watch the series until super recently bc i knew it would make me insane #i was right #anyway i have a lot of thoughts about it #iwtv #iwtv 2022 #iwtv series #interview with the vampire

[vesperione]

sometimes u read a fic so hilariously bad and so out of character that it's so laughable you literally cant stop

#aimed at the majority of a certain New Ship on the ao3 tag #most of them are laughably bad #most of them are ooc #like im sorry but i could never #ive been in max jagermans mind since nov 7th 2022 #i had his personality NAILED before npmd even came out #literally what does that say abt me #im insane???? a raging bitch??? maybe ! #READ BATS #READ THE BEAST ABOUT TO STRIKE ON AO3 #BCS MY MAX JAGERMAN PRE EVERYTHING IS FUCKING C L A S S #I AM A LITERAL PROPHET

[gentil-minou]

remember to save your fave fics guys hehe

#okay this is misleading because at least ~450 fics are ones i havent read yet but have but downloaded already because i am a mess #i usually delete the ones i read but dont really plan to reread but once time on my old tablet everything died and i lots several hundred #fics i was planning to read but then lost all of them and i decided #never again will i lose fics #call me smaug the way i hoard fics #i have this backed up on my computer my tablet and on a harddrive #also that sneaky database you have to download that has like every fic ever made on ao3 up to 2022 in these massive zip files i have some #of those downloaded sfjgkhfd #am i insane? well smaug ain't that normal anyways so

[munamania]

owo what’s this i wrote for willow? a little blurb of a just pre s1 argument? sharing a bed? and etc? woagh…

#read my flop writing boy! (gn) #willow series #willow 2022 #tanthamore #kit tanthalos #jade claymore #ruby cruz #erin kellyman #it’s like… maybe fun idk… mostly me being crazy insane about their dynamic #kit raging around because she’s afraid to be vulnerable jade understanding her rage and her hurt but being bound by duty like… #it’s so juicy idk… #i’m at a point where i can’t look at it anymore though i’ve looked at my own writing so long it’s making me insane #fanfiction

[alectothinker]

i think angel torres crawls reddit and random obscure ufo forums and crazy weather phenomena youtube but hes also got tumblr. hes a blog girlie. hes a silly little tumblrina.

#its just crunchy looking memes and band pics and the occassional PLEASE READ !!! post thats like #10k words long speculating about some conspiracy theory #im fr bent on babifying this babygirl. he makes me feel insane. i want to eat him with a spork. #also ive only gone straight to posting my brainworms bc literallt everyone else on this site has done an amazing job dissecting this movie #i have nothing of worth to add #only shitposts #nope 2022 #angel torres #babygirl

[uglygirlstatus]

teru: literally strangling the life out of mob with his bare hands screaming and crying and yelling

mob: *loses consciousness*

teru: omg… did he die… how could this have happened 😓

#HES INSANE #mp100 #2022 reads #t