generisydtoo

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she is the reason why i am loyal to all pink haired characters without question

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Living in the Shadows: The Tethered as a Symbol of Systemic Oppression

In my opinion, Jordan Peele is one of the best filmmakers of our time. He's a true visionary, one of a kind. After I saw Get Out, I couldn't wait to see what he had in store for us next. What followed was his film Us, and it did not disappoint. These two movies are by far some of my favorites to unpack, brimming with hidden messages about society, politics, human behavior, and more. While Get Out was relatively straightforward in its underlying messages, Us proved to be a little trickier to unravel. More specifically, I was completely drawn in and intrigued by the Tethered.

You sit down to watch the movie, press play, and a black screen appears with the words: "There are thousands of miles of tunnels beneath the United States. Abandoned subway systems, unused service routes, and deserted mine shafts. Many have no known purpose at all." It is here, in this underground network of tunnels, that the Tethered live, a group of doppelgängers, supposedly one for each human who resides above them, including the Wilsons, whose doppelgängers live beneath their vacation home in Santa Cruz, California. But what do the Tethered represent? What message was Jordan Peele trying to convey?

I went down a deep rabbit hole, learning everything I could about the Tethered and their symbolism. Once again, Jordan Peele blew my mind with his creative ways of expressing both micro and macro societal problems. This is what I love most about Peele’s films, they’re like onions, with layer upon layer to uncover, each one richer and more thought-provoking than the last. The Tethered aren’t just creepy doubles, they’re a haunting representation of the underclass, those who have been robbed of opportunity, forced into the shadows, and forgotten by society.

The world we live in today isn’t far removed from this psychological horror film. Whether we want to admit it or not, right here in the United States, we’re dealing with a class war between the haves and the have-nots. Those who have access to education, good jobs, healthcare, and plentiful opportunities live vastly different lives. Meanwhile, the wage gap continues to widen, and the middle class keeps shrinking. The haves literally tower above the have-nots, looking down from their ivory towers, seemingly oblivious to the suffering and struggles the have-nots endure day-to-day. The Tethered are a striking metaphor for how privilege and wealth often exist at the expense of others. They show us what happens when people are left behind, ignored, oppressed, and exploited. And yet, the Tethered aren’t fundamentally different from those above. They have the same potential, the same emotions, and the same humanity. But systemic oppression has reduced them to mere shadows, robotic, animalistic, simply surviving.

I think the message that resonated most with me is that the Tethered (the have-nots) are deeply connected to those above ground (the haves), just like in today’s United States. It’s not just that they’re doppelgängers, it’s that their existence is literally tied to the privileges of the people above. The haves are the ones who call the shots. They’re the ones who make political decisions that impact countless lives, especially those of the have-nots. They’re the ones who supply the jobs, decide who gets what opportunities, who qualifies for this job or that job, these benefits or those benefits, and ultimately who is deemed worthy of one thing or another. That being said, the Tethered’s uprising isn’t just about revenge, it’s about demanding to be seen, acknowledged, and recognized as human. To be recognized as “Americans,” as Red put it.

I’ve watched Us multiple times now, and each time it feels like I’m experiencing an entirely different film. Every detail reveals something new. The scissors, the red jumpsuits, the rabbits, the consistent use of 11:11, and the Hands Across America imagery, are all intricately woven together to explore themes of unity and division, privilege and oppression, the haves and the have-nots, the ways our government abandons its people, and the ways we ignore and abandon one another. I love that Jordan Peele doesn’t hand you easy answers and instead forces you to confront the discomfort and uncover the meaning for yourself. What I discovered was that the Tethered aren’t just characters in a story, they’re a haunting reflection of the exploited, the marginalized, the people society chooses to ignore because it’s more convenient to look away. The most unsettling truth, however, is that they remind us we’re not so different from them. In the blink of an eye, everything we know and love could be torn away from us. We could become just like them, the others. Watching Us is like gazing into a mirror, and what’s reflected back might be the most disturbing part of it all.

[generisydtoo]

Citrine's SweetsCafe

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The concept of Lucy Gray being a child of Apollo…

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🐍💜

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my gorls

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☆ Donna Summer as she appeared in the musical disco comedy film Thank God It’s Friday (USA, 1978, dir. Robert Klane), playing the role of the aspiring singer Nicole Sims. In the film, Donna famously sings her smash hit song Last Dance, written by Paul Jabara, which won an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, all in 1978. | Casablance Filmworks / Motown Productions / Columbia Pictures ☆

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Awkward Homecoming, am I right?

This took WWWWWAAAAAAAAAAYYY longer than what I intended, I’m so sorry HDGDHDGDJDGSJDGDJ I’M NEVER LINING AND COLORING EVER AGAIN !!

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AUDREY HEPBURN in a screen test for ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)

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class is in session!

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medic. manga episode

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annie appreciation post✨

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Thoughts on the recent SOTR castings!

While they’re not necessarily what I envisioned, I really am happy for the girls, and think they’re gonna do great! This franchise doesn’t just cast any and everybody for these roles. I’m also glad they’re casting 2 different actresses. I’ve seen fan casts use identical twins, and they kept missing the mark for me bc, the point is Louella and Lou Lou are DIFFERENT kids.

My main issue surrounding this discussion is that now we’re never gonna hear the end of it from the “Why would she be Black/Brown?” “Y’all are obsessed with race. Why does it even matter?” crowds, and after going through this with SO many fandoms already (including this one), I just…ugh. I’ve already seen someone comment on TikTok “white Louella you will always be famous” (which I wouldn’t side-eye if we didn’t know what kind of undertones they carry)🥴.

People asking “why does race matter?” in regards to The Hunger Games is also really odd to me, when it’s a story set in a still-oppressive future of NORTH AMERICA, and while it’s not the focus of the story, there have been undertones of racial discrimination (in addition to the more prevalent class discrimination), particularly in Districts 12 and 11.

I do think it’s strange how people are writing off others’ disappointment- particularly that of Black fans and others who perceived her to be WOC- as performative or unfounded. Shame on anyone sending hate to the actresses ofc, but I’ve seen a lot of ppl equate this disappointment/criticism of the castings/director with hate towards the actresses themselves, when that’s not what’s going on.

I’ve also seen ppl try to equate the disappointment/critiques about these recent castings to the hate Amandla received in 2012. I understand and fully support not wanting these young actresses to receive hate; that should be the standard! That being said, I feel like ppl are forgetting just how vitriolic ppl were towards Amandla (including sending her death threats!), and what that vitriol was rooted in— anti-Black bigotry and racism. Again, NO child should receive hate for playing a role, but the two situations are not the same.

I’m especially tired of ppl saying “Why would she be Black? Everyone in D11 isn’t Black”. Of course everyone in D11 isn’t Black, but every single tribute we’ve seen from D11 so far has been Black, aside from book Seeder. It’s weird to me that some folks think it’s outlandish that Lou Lou, and by extension, Louella, could’ve been be Black too. It also seems like people are ignoring other people who use the terms “predominantly/majority Black” in favor of wrongfully interpreting them as someone saying D11 is “all Black,” when that’s not the case.

Lastly, it’s interesting how most of the “Why would she be Black/POC?” “Why does race even matter? Stop making everything about race!” crowd and the people fighting tooth and nail to go against Black/Brown interpretations of these characters tend to be from the same demographic that has never had to worry about having good representation/representation at all, but I digress…

[generisydtoo]

A Wolf Among the Roses

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I really need the Arcane fandom to start putting in the (pretty light) leg work to find primary sources, bc I see a lot of “I heard somewhere that the writers said-” “I think abc was supposed to happen, but they changed it bc of xyz,” but next to no one is citing a primary source to back up their claims.

“I heard the writers said-” and it’s always followed by some malarkey, like we can’t keep doing this.

[generisydtoo]

Mama….Mama, a red gumdrop behind you!!