#Major Jack Celliers

[bowienet]

My first ever drawing of celliers! For those who have been waiting, here is the finishing result loves! I overally like it... apart from that tie:///

[julianpriestpov]

Major Jack Celliers: *puts his head on Julian's shoulder*

Julian Priest: *puts the knife back in pocket*

Major jack celliers: Why do you always smell like raw meat?

Julian Priest: *instant regret*

[ninullen]

doodle of Celliers and Yonoi on my notepad🌸

[inkflourishes]

enjoy a mcml edit because this film utterly ruined me

[just-floating-around]

I found this so interesting to read, particularly on your final thoughts on Lawrence and Celliers. I'm intrigued by how you interpret the kiss as Celliers becoming a Christ-like figure, forgiving Yonoi and sacrificing himself for the others.

Personally, I've always seen that scene as Celliers returning to being a Judas in a way and cementing him as that figure. He knows how Yonoi feels about him, he knows the consequences for both of them if he kisses him, he knows how devastating that kiss would be for Yonoi - but he goes through with it anyway. He saved one of his own by taking advantage of another's vulnerability, betraying him in a sense.

I guess to me now, Celliers is just much more complex than fitting into the role of just Judas or just Jesus.

Maybe Celliers' peers saw him as their saviour, forgiving and self-sacrificial, but all Yonoi - and possibly Lawrence to an extent, given the context that he knew about Celliers betraying his brother and leaving him alone to undergo the initiation - could see was the man who took advantage of his weakness and betrayed the trust that he wouldn't do something like that (albeit a rather naive and flimsy trust).

Then again, I've only seen the film, and you said that the Christian imagery is much stronger in the book. I really love your interpretation (is that even the right word? It's pretty blatant imagery now I think about it, I've just been reading it wrong (ironic for the literal queer Christian viewer)) of it and honestly it makes a lot of sense.

Things I have questions about.

Does Bowie is gay. For real, is this character an active participant in the tension between him and Yonoi or is it one sided desire? Given how worried he was about reputation, would he have ever even said? Or would he have said because his character was trying to grow from that one great regret from childhood?

Why was there so much focus on the flower cigarette that went unsmoked and stashed in Hara's pocket. I feel like I missed something there. What does the flower symbolize? Did I miss it showing up again later? What's the symbolism, if any, behind Yonoi smoking immediately and Hana choosing to save it for later?

Yonoi's punishment for Hara. It was either very light or very harsh. Light because it was just isolation and no physical beating. But harsh because it separated Hara from his friend and maaaybe sent him to guaranteed death? (Maybe? I don't understand military scenarios.) I wonder if it was a punishment for getting too close to Lawrence OR to prevent him from protecting Lawrence in future?

When the Extremely British POW leader (whose name I can't remember) asked what school Lawrence went to, he walked away without response after hearing the answer. Was the school poor? Was he doing a classism? There's cultural context I'm not getting here.

AND SPEAKING OF CULTURAL CONTEXT I did NOT get the schoolboy days in Africa (England?) In Cellier's backstory. I just don't understand anything to do with the school or the hazing that was happening at all.

When Cellier first wakes up he looks into Hara's eyes and calls them beautiful. This is meant to say something about Cellier but I can't tell what. That he can see beauty in the Japanese people (and possibly implying the culture in saying that?) Is it to imply he's attracted to men? Or that he's maybe a romantic sort of man?

Circling back to the extremely British fellow, I' assuming he's meant to be the avatar of English/Ally views on Japanese culture at the time. He's an ignorant boob but he's well intentioned. He thinks he knows everything but he actually knows fuck all amd his attitude is part of why he knows fuck all. It feels like commentary and I wish I understood the context and culture of the time to better understand this character's message. Mostly because Cellier choosing to protect HIM of all people could carry a lot of meaning.

What is a Batman. Not the millionaire. The other guy. The fella who died for trying to kill Cellier. What was his deal.

The men at the beginning of the movie. I get that they're meant to play out the consequences for fraternization between a solider and POW, and that they set the stakes for our mains (all four of them.) But I still don't understand. Was there romantic feeling there or was that Dutch man actually assaulted as the accusations claimed. I genuinely can't tell. He seemed to have PTSD but I wonder if it's more as a consequence of being fucking gay bashed by the other POWs every goddamn night. (Before anyone who's definitely not reading calls me stupid, I'm pretty fucking sure it was consensual given the Dutch man bit his entire fucking tongue off when the Korean (???) soldier committed seppuku but there are a couple weird signals that again make me wonder if there's a thing I'm not getting here.)

[bowieography]

Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (1983)

DB as Major Jack Celliers

[moovees]

David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto in “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (1983).

Ryuichi Sakamoto not only acted in the movie, but he also composed the film's musical score.

In "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," David Bowie played the character of Major Jack 'Strafer' Celliers, a British prisoner of war held in a Japanese prison camp during World War II. Celliers is a rebellious and charismatic figure who challenges the authority of the camp commandant, Captain Yonoi, played by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Despite their opposing positions, Celliers and Yonoi develop a complex relationship throughout the course of the film, with Yonoi showing a mixture of admiration and frustration towards Celliers' rebellious nature.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

What is “bravery?” Is it dying for one’s cause without hesitation, even if the sacrifice is ultimately fruitless? Or is it surviving by any means necessary, using wit and cunning to carry on the fight another day? This is the central theme of Nagisa Oshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, a World War II drama that explores the conflict between the Imperial Japanese officers occupying the island of Java and the Allied POWs under their supervision.

As far as the tyrannical Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto, pulling double duty as the movie’s star and composer) is concerned, the foreign soldiers in his charge are subhuman wretches, inherently unworthy of respect—that they allowed themselves to be captured is irrefutable evidence of their dishonor. Yet these “cowards” consistently refuse to be intimidated, enduring starvation, solitary confinement, grueling interrogation, and unimaginable torture in order to protect their comrades from accusations of espionage and subterfuge.

Major Jack Celliers (a positively angelic David Bowie)—who surrendered to enemy forces only after they threatened to slaughter innocent natives—is particularly vexing in this regard. His arrival throws the camp into utter disarray, his audacious insubordination and stoic defiance inspiring small acts of disobedience and rebellion among the ranks. When the men are denied food for some minor infraction, for example, he smuggles rations into the barracks; when the guards retaliate by raiding the medical tent, he encourages the patients to sing as loudly as possible, their voices drowning out the barked orders to submit to inspection.

Perhaps this selflessness is what attracts the deeply closeted Yonoi to Celliers. The major’s unwavering loyalty appeals to the captain, who secretly sees himself as a disgrace to the Bushido code for his failure to die alongside his fellow radicals during the thwarted 1936 uprising; this irresistible admiration, which directly contradicts his prejudices, consequently manifests as infatuation, obsession, and insatiable carnal desire—with tragic repercussions.

Beyond the obvious and frequently discussed queer reading of its narrative (which is, to be clear, a totally valid/inevitable interpretation of the material), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is ultimately about challenging the characters’ inflexible preconceptions. To quote the eponymous Colonel Lawrence, who serves as a mediator between the two opposing sides (albeit with limited success):

You are the victim of men who think they are right. Just as one day you and Captain Yonoi believed absolutely that you were right. And the truth is of course that nobody is right.

Indeed, both the Japanese and Westerners seem to consider “guilt” to be a relative and irrelevant term. Yonoi, for instance, is quite forthright about his policy of punishing arbitrarily-selected scapegoats as a warning to future saboteurs; the victorious Allies, meanwhile, are likewise perfectly content to incarcerate and execute only the lowest ranking military personnel for atrocities committed on the battlefield, all but pardoning their equally culpable superiors.

Such is the senseless nature of war, violence, and power.

[destroyer-of-planets]

Ziggy Stardust Headcannons

-actually listens to music he himself didn't create. He usually listens to Electric Light Orchestra though, for obvious reasons. He rarely listens to Queen, but he highly regards Freddie Mercury as an innovative artist.

-he used to be incredibly egotistical, but is slowly becoming nice as he originally was, and, therefore, is becoming more sensible.

-he will always be wild, though, and can be very humorous, but not to the extent of Halloween Jack. Ziggy is mostly humorous unintentionally.

-he is obsessed with various countries. England, Japan, and surprisingly his newest obsession is France. It was after David baked quiche and macarons once and educated the guys were they came from, and Ziggy has been obsessed ever since.

-he is a BIG eater. You can find him snacking on things from time to time, and he does it everyday, when ever he feels like it. He is even capable of doing it before dinner, and can eat all of it, it's basically impossible to ruin his appetite. He sometimes eats crackers, biscoff cookies, Oreos, anything from lays, Cheetos, and even pistachios. I suppose having a strong appetite runs through his family line.

-he wears his stage makeup offstage. While wearing some powder wouldn't make one raise an eyebrow, Ziggy would literally wear green lipstick in public, and doesn't conceal his love jewel (an actual body part, above his eyes) he doesn't care about being an extraterrestrial in public as opposed to Newton, or even the Starman to an extent (we will talk about the Starman in a future post) but the point remains that Ziggy, if he ever chooses to dress similar to a clown (on Pierrot's level), he wouldn't care if people stare at him, it's kind of his thing.

-he's practically the Bowie character that is most open about his emotions. Yes, there are men that are very cold and distant, (the Duke), some that are just serious and strict, (Jareth, Celliers, Adler) and the rest are open on the condition that they are close friends with the other person, (Aladdin with Ziggy, but not Aladdin with Major Tom) but Ziggy himself with voice his emotions with the most random people ever, as long as they are not dangerous or Duke, who is and will always be Duke, and is potentially dangerous.

-due to this, he is particularly very chatty. Ziggy is… one of those very talkative people who will talk about the most random things if it's in their will and if they're obsessed with it, who are unfortunately slighted as too annoying or too weird. Ziggy would talk about absolutely anything from obvious things like space, music, and clothes, to important things like politics, the news, and other things, to complete unexpected things like what potato chip brand has the crunchiest chips, why mold grows on random places, or even why insects have six legs. That guy will run his mouth about absolutely anything. Just don't call him annoying, it hurts him, and he thinks being called weird is a compliment. 

-he does cry, and what he feels is usually genuine. While Ziggy has had a history of manipulating people into praising him and getting what he wants (it always has been something like money or appraisal) he was going through a tough time in his life and developed unhealthy tendencies like toxic positivity (and forcing it on others), being fake, and starting drama. This is not excusing it, because it was so overwhelming to the point where David had to step in and pull him out of the mess, and Ziggy is trying to learn and grow from that experience, and talking about it makes him extremely uncomfortable. Now, his emotions are back to normal although he now is too distressed to think back to those times. If he is upset, he will definitely tell you if you did upset him, and reacts positively if someone is nice to him. While he doesn't cry a lot, especially uncontrollably, he is emotionally sensitive and will tear up respectively (at a sad movie or if someone is aggressive enough to him) but he won't give in unlike Newton who doesn't take much to cry. Sometimes, he will if he feels it is important.

-the man cannot draw. While there are very good visual artists (Jareth, Halloween Jack, and even Duke come to mind) Ziggy… is definitely not one of them. Yes, he is especially good at applying makeup, but he can't do it on a piece of paper. If he ever attempts to draw himself, he will come out wonky and his hair frazzled more than it actually is. Do not destructively criticize him, for he will get angry, but he wouldn't mind constructive criticism or improving. However, drawing isn't really a hobby for him. He tried to make it a hobby, but it didn't work for him.

-he once tried to be a YouTube content creator. He tried many sorts of things, like reviewing makeup, a music channel, or even a stunt/meme channel where he would film himself doing embarrassing, weird things like people did when Vine was at its peak. It sadly didn't work, and stopped when a few hate comments got to him.

-somewhere out there, he has a Tumblr blog that he never tells anyone about. Not even his close friends. He has secret online friends that he sends memes to every night, and posts weird things like the most bizarre things and theories ever "what if we are in a simulation/ the moon is flat/ clowns are a species/cats know the secrets of the universe" as a joke at midnight spanning to even 4am, characteristic of a lot of Tumblr posts shown in reddit YouTube videos when creators cover "r/Tumblr". 

-he stays up late. Ziggy is one of those people that can go to bed at 1 am, wake up a 7 am, without coffee, and wake up in no time. At 6 am, he is as energetic as ever as opposed to the other groggy men. Lately, David has tried to make Ziggy go to bed at a reasonable hour, and even tried to make him sleep in a few times. No matter what, Ziggy will always have his unique characteristic Martian rockstar energy.

-he unironically watches cartoons. You know, like SpongeBob, the Simpsons, and even ones like the Regular show and My Little Pony, Friendship is magic. He even has made OCs for every show he watches. One OC he cherishes the most is his pony OC "Starburst Nebula", whom he visualizes as a female dark blue unicorn with a yellow/white mane. 

-he writes a lot. He has written so many fanfictions over his pony OCs, and even made one where a Simpson OC marries Krusty the Clown. Please, do NOT judge him. 

-he also has many plushies. He usually cuddles with one, which is a 627 plushie from Lilo and Stitch, but he has many more plushies. He has a Flareon, a Sylveon, an Eevee, skitty, Pikachu, Stitch, Angel, Reuben, Leroy, Sparky, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Luigi, Princess Daisy, Rosalina, a red yoshi, Blaze the Cat, Hatsune Miku, Ruby, Stella, and Bubbles from Angry birds, many cats and dogs, and even has tsum tsum plushies of all of the Queen members.

-he is fine wearing his jumpsuits, kimonos, and other stage clothes casually. However, he is particularly fond of sweaters. In the fall, he would wear thin ones with sleeves, and likes drinking hot green tea. In the winter, he wears very thick sweaters with thick collars and thick sleeves. In the spring and summer, he wears thin ones without any sleeves. He likes soft clothes, and hates wearing jeans as they are too scratchy, unlike Aladdin or Halloween Jack. He finds t shirts boring, and rarely wears suits and vests, as they aren't loose enough for him and cause him to overheat.

-to wrap it up, Ziggy also likes to browse the surreal meme subreddit. Don't ask. Just…. don't ask. You won't and will never be able to understand.

[thespiralstaircasewriter]

Ryuichi Sakamoto with David Bowie as Captain Yonoi and Major Celliers, in "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (1983).

Unforgettable feelings:

Yonoi of the White Gloves and 'Strafer' Jack Celliers live forever in several worthy fanfictions. Here's the one which will stay with me as the best:

However...

For these two, the war is over, and I have a good feeling about it.

[fridaypacific]

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence on Letterboxd

[julianpriestpov]

Celliers, terrified: get away from me, I'm warning you!

Julian appearing from the darkness, covered with a pile of angry birds: hey, hey! it's just me

[missadler1897]

Major Jack Celliers.

[bowieography]

Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (1983)

DB as Major Jack Celliers

[cuntinaclownsuit]

Major Jack ‘Strafer’ Celliers

[vezzipuss]

David Bowie as Major Jack Celliers, "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence", Circa 83