I'm finally starting to get the love for Jean—but I still think he's a jerk.
After playing Disco Elysium for the first time, I was pretty baffled as to why people seemed to like Jean so much. In my experience, he had only ever made fun of us when we radioed in. He was constantly critical of us and basically seemed to hate our guts.
Then I played again. And again. And again. And I think I get it now.
(Disco Elysium spoilers. Also, "ridiculously long post" warning.)
Jean is supposed to be our partner. Lt. Kim Kitsuragi can put up with us because he's a saint, but imagine how hard it is to try to keep someone afloat when you're always on the brink of drowning yourself.
If you have high Esprit de Corps while on the radio, you can learn Jean actively tries to protect us, despite making fun of us beforehand.
He's upset about what we said, though. He's upset about what we did. He's upset about the fact that he's spent so much of his life worrying about us, and then we went and told him we didn't need him.
So he decides to have fun for once. He shows up in a blond wig and sunglasses to look like Guillaume Bevy, thinking we'll catch on.
But we don't.
He also specifically references the fact that we told him to leave (except in a much less pleasant way than that).
Even when we almost get it, we don't, really.
We say we can't imagine working with him anymore, hypothetically speaking.
He says the same thing. But it isn't so hypothetically.
We may not recognize him, but somewhere deep down, we recognize the feeling he gives us. We may have forgotten almost everything else, but we haven't forgotten what it was like to be partners.
And despite his best attempts, he can't forget either.
If Cuno's there to defend us at the end, Jean claims he's only letting us return because of the kid. But that's not the only reason.
And if we end up alone, he still can't help but feel sad.
He leaves the door open for us...
... but things will really have to change. And based on the text from Shivers, it seems pretty unlikely.
So do I think Jean is perfect? No. He can be a jerk. He makes fun of us and doesn't understand the depths of our struggles. This post by palms-upturned explains that really well.
But Jean is also tired of drowning. In some ways, I think he feels exactly like that Coupris we crashed. If he had stayed on with us, he would have drowned too. And there would have been no bringing him back.
So I don't know. Do I love Jean? No. Not really. I still have my reservations. But I think anyone who has ever held onto someone so tightly, especially one who says they don't want to get better (and can say it twice)...
... can understand how Jean feels. If only for a moment.
Maybe if we do go back, we find a way to make amends. Maybe Jean will learn more about us and realize there is something wrong, and he shouldn't beat us up for it. Maybe he can let go of the bitterness. It is as Miss Oranje Disco Dancer herself said:
The world can change. People can change. We can change. And I really hope we will.
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