#at least he wasn't a caricature and was a powerful figure instead

[daresplaining]

hi! long time admirer of your blog! is there any particular reason why matt (specifically) pretends he's dead when something goes fucked up in his life? is it as a result of trauma or a past experience 'cause i have yet to figure it out myself. thanks in advance! hope you're having a wonderful day!

Hi, and thank you!

That's a really interesting question. To my memory, Matt has never psychoanalyzed himself on-panel about this, so I suppose it's up to us.

The short answer is that each faked death tends to be tied to the specific circumstances that surround it, as well as Matt's state of mind at the time, but there are noticeable patterns. (I'll do a quick run-through of The Deaths of Matt Murdock, but here's a more comprehensive (though not quite up-to-date) overview for anyone unfamiliar.)

His earliest faked deaths were more about pragmatism than anything, and had to do with protecting-- or simplifying-- his secret identity. His very first, of course, was "killing" Mike, which he presented as just being a matter of convenience. The Mike identity, while fun, had outlived its purpose and was starting to cause Matt trouble in his relationships with Karen and Foggy, in addition to just being a tiring logistical nightmare. (Also, Mike was cooler than Matt and that just wouldn't do.) There wasn't much forethought to his decision, he just encountered a situation in which Daredevil (Mike) would be in danger and suddenly thought, "Hey, what if he died?"

Matt (thinking): I just thought of something! ...The nuttiest idea I've ever had! But, if I can pull it off...it'll end my triple-identity bit...forever!" Daredevil vol. 1 #41 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, John Tartaglione, and Sam Rosen

Matt's second faked death came about when supervillain Starr Saxon discovered his secret identity. This threat to his double life brought out feelings of resentment that Matt had been harboring toward his civilian identity since issue 1. In these early years, in an effort to hide his powers and superheroics, Matt turned his mild-mannered alter ego into an exaggerated caricature of a blind person, played at being helpless, prevented himself from acting on his feelings toward Karen Page, and dialed down his personality. He believed that this was necessary, but he also hated it and found it stifling. Added to this was his overall bitterness toward the ableism he had experienced since his accident, and the sense that the world around him viewed him as helpless (Matt mentions in an issue shortly afterward that his least favorite sentiment is pity). Thus, at this point, he saw the Matt Murdock identity as a prison, and the Daredevil identity as liberation, and so he grasped at the idea of faking his (Matt Murdock's) death not just as a way to counter Starr Saxon's threats, but also as an opportunity to finally rid himself of an identity that he actively disliked.

Matt: "My problem isn't Daredevil--and never was! It was always Matt--the blind lawyer--the hapless, helpless invalid! He's been my plague...since the day I first donned a costume! Then, let Matt Murdock no longer exist!!" Daredevil vol. 1 #53 by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gene Colin, George Klein, and Artie Simek

Fortunately, Matt largely got over this resentment after he stopped putting his different identities into such rigid boxes. He does occasionally give up one or the other of his identities from time to time, but we don't see him actively killing an identity out of hatred again. Which is...certainly a positive sign in regards to Matt's overall mental health.

Instead, in the decades since the Starr Saxon incident, Matt's faked deaths have tended to revolve around two vital needs: the need to escape from something horrible in his life, and the need to protect his loved ones. Sometimes it's more of one, sometimes it's more of the other. In the Nocenti/JRJR run, Matt screws up real bad by cheating on Karen Page (at this point still recovering from her drug addiction and very fragile) with Mary Walker. Matt gets nearly killed by Typhoid Mary, wakes up in the hospital and learns that Karen has discovered his treachery. He finds himself at a crossroads, hating himself for the betrayal, hating the violence in his life and the seeming futility of everything he does, and feeling unable to cope, he abandons his civilian identity, vanishes from the lives of the people who know him, holds a symbolic "funeral" for Matt Murdock, and runs off upstate.

In the Chichester/McDaniel run, Matt ends up with a convenient body double in the wake of a major secret identity scare and decides that it would be best to fake his death in order to protect his loved ones. The only person who knows he's still alive is Maggie, his mother, because Matt goes to her for name suggestions for his new civilian alter ego (she ends up suggesting "Jack").

Maggie: "Oh, Matt, thank god you're alive!" Matt: "No 'Matt', Maggie. Not anymore. That's become a dangerous name for anyone too near to me." Daredevil vol. 1 #325 by D.G. Chichester, Scott McDaniel, and Christie Scheele

After becoming a full-on supervillain in Shadowland, Matt again decides that it's "for the best" if his loved ones think he's dead, and he vanishes off to New Mexico. In this case, the only people he allows to know the truth are Elektra and Ben Urich. Then there's Matt's memorable, utterly bonkers deal with the Kingpin in the second volume of the Waid/Samnee run after his, Foggy's, and Kirsten's lives have been ravaged by one supervillain attack after another:

Matt: "My offer is this: You guarantee the safety of my people, and the identity bell gets unrung. Think of it as a perverse twist on witness protection. Everyone--Foggy, Kirsten, everyone--will be told I'm dead. Meanwhile, you'll give me a new name and identity known only to you. You'll get back the secret you paid for. You'll oversee the plastic surgery so that only you recognize the face. Hell, even I won't see it. Hell, graft the mask to my skin. I won't care." Fisk: "But you'll still be Daredevil." Matt: "That way, you'll always know where I am. How to use me even when I don't think I'm being used. And how to, at any time, take anyone or anything away from me that you don't want me to have." Daredevil vol. 4 #16 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Caramagna

And then, of course, we have our most recent example, in which Matt coped with the chaos of his recent life and the violent death of his brother by using Mike's corpse as a body double and fleeing the city to go fight ninjas with Elektra.

What's interesting about these faked deaths is the gap between the reasoning that Matt offers himself versus the actual reality of what he is doing. Each time, Matt is convinced that his loved ones will be better off, safer, even happier if they think he is dead. And of course, this is not based on nothing. Matt has suffered tremendous loss, and has brought great pain into the lives of the people in his orbit. He lost his father. He accidentally got Elektra's father killed, and then later had Elektra herself die in his arms. He contributed to the circumstances that led to Heather's suicide. One of his villains killed Glori. Another killed Karen Page, and nearly killed his mother. Yet another put Milla in a psychiatric hospital, possibly permanently. His brother just literally died in his place. Foggy's life has been in danger more times than I can list. Matt's story has a towering body count, and he carries that grief with him at all times--particularly in circumstances when his life is in shambles, when enemies are closing in, and when those around him are in the crosshairs or have just survived being there. Of course Matt would think that everyone would be "better off" without him around. In the purest, most practical sense, he's probably not wrong. And so, when he lets his loved ones think he is dead and tells himself it's for their own good, I do think he genuinely believes it.

But of course, that also isn't entirely true or realistic. Sending the people who care about him into mourning again and again is not protecting them. And when you really look closely, it's obvious that Matt's most frequent reason for faking his death is the same reason he clings so strongly to the Daredevil identity despite the pain it has caused him: escape. When Matt feels stressed, under pressure, unable to think, or powerless, he can always put on that suit and hop out the window. And when Matt's world is falling apart and he cannot cope at all and doesn't know what else to do, he abandons his life. He escapes into a different identity. He leaves. In his head it's for the people he loves, but it's clearly also for himself. And as frustrating as this coping mechanism can be as a long-term Daredevil reader, I also love it for how incredibly human it is.

With all of this said, though, I think the funniest answer is that Matt inherited some kind of when-in-doubt-fake-your-death gene from his mom.

[vtori73]

Hey, it turns out I didn't lose the original post I wrote & at first decided to save it as a draft at first because I figured it probably wasn't that good but I might want to read it later to see if I forgot anything and honestly? I like this one better so I'm sharing it but I'm going to update it with some stuff I like from the other one later and delete that one eventually & also this one wasn't finished anyway so just keep in mind it's still being worked on for anyone who might possibly be reading this, lol.

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Alright so I've finished up to season 4 of Daria and before this I never really had a problem with how the show was written besides the queerphobia in one of the movies and a fatphobic caricature, the whole thing with Tom never actually bothered or phased me well... except maybe the fact that they kissed which felt a little out of place for Daria character but otherwise I didn't necessarily object to it. However, after watching the season again and reading some light praise/criticism of the character I have to admit I agree more with criticisms of him and how the show decided to go about him & their relationships.

My main thing is why EXACTLY is it a love interest/guy that has to push here boundaries or out her comfort zone and why is written in a way that makes it seem like it necessary for her to grow? I do have to admit the show wrote this stuff very well, too well, because they do a good job of sweeping under the rug that Tom CHEATED on Jane, sure the relation wasn't in a good place but well... you break up, you don't go to make out with your ur girlfriends best friend. Now look, I get it, teens make mistakes and are messy BUT well... that doesn't mean it shouldn't be pointed out for what it is. Not to mention the show tries to paint Tom as nothing more than a good guy who is just pushing Daria to get out of her comfort zone a bit with no one REALLY pointing out what happened out and what he did (WITHOUT making excuses). Tom was in the wrong and should have faced some sort of consequences for it eventually but instead we get him written like he's a decent guy still who hasn't actually anything THAT wrong and is just some decent guy. What makes it worse though is with the way the interactions are written you wouldn't notice just how... unbalanced Daria & Tom's relationship really is, you would have to think outside of what the show lays down for us the viewer as being okay.

I mean think about it, Daria is in a vulnerable more lonely state with Jane splitting time between her and Tom. Daria has told us the viewers that Jane is her only friend and we are shown in an episode that being without Jane isn't exactly easy on her and then out of nowhere Tom decided to start interacting with HER more while ALONE, without Jane. Eventually alone he kisses Daria and we are made to believe this is also her fault and that she is just making mistakes as a teen. The problem with that though is that it ignores the reality of the situation, Daria wasn't exactly one in control here & possibly was even taken advantage of because WOULD she have done these things if she hadn't been vulnerable due to being more separated from Jane? Would she even have felt the desire to date Tom if she wasn't feeling lonely from her and Jane's strained relationship? Daria is also much less experienced than Jane and Tom which also leads to power imbalance, this is even pointed out in an episode by Trent where Daria doesn't realize Tom seems to be into her but because she is new to relationship and flirting and such she wasn't really aware what was happening. Calm her naive or whatever, but either way it doesn't make much sense to fault Daria in much of this and most of the blame should have been put on Tom because if we decided to analyse all this 100% honestly and truthfully Tom doesn't come out looking well and would and should be categorized as a jerk at the very least. I mean " a guy who was dating girl B starts spending time and flirting with girl A who is lonely from their one & only friend drifting away and then kisses girl A when he was fighting and 'getting bored' with girl B and THEN after breaking immediately starts getting friendly/dating girl A" ...I mean, it sounds like something you would find on the AITA forum and EVERYONE would agree the guy was in the wrong and when we put out plainly like that it can almost seem like Tom kind of threw away Jane after getting bored and moved on to the next best thing not to mention even though I haven't watched the episode yet but later on Tom is shown further disregarding (he disregards her boundaries in the very beginning but it explained away as Daria just being prickly due to her being upset with him taking Jane away) Darias boundaries by doing things she didn't want and making decisions for her that he doesn't see or feel are a big deal which... is a red flag, no? Regardless of if he does respect some boundaries at times (like sex, which I also haven't rewatched yet) it just shows the writers really weren't intending for him to be a jerk or bad guy just someone to push Daria BUT that's a problem because even if that's not what they intended that is what ends up coming off to us if we think deeper to their relationship. Not to mention he is also IS also the one who downplays the whole thing with Jane because Jane at first is VERY mad at him but then after he talks to her smooths things over by pointing out they were going to break up any day anyway which she aggress which after looking at everything else this comes off more as him snaking his way out of taking responsibility for his actions and after words Jane is okay and seems to really only harbor ill will towards Daria.

I honestly do think the show wanted something easier to tackle such as teen drama with the added bonus of pushing the main character towards growth but there were and are better ways to do that. Sure Daria is a teen and teens make mistakes and it's important to show that but WE DO see that, we see Daria at different points in the series of her making mistakes before the kiss and easily could have her make more mistakes that don't make her out to be a homewrecker. And, even then though I'm not 100% against Daria making a mistake like that the problem is that Daria REALLY isn't the one at fault in this specific scenario and after we digest all that is written and laid out for us in the show... it really is all Tom's fault! But, due to what is probably misogyny we instead get girls blaming each other and fighting about and over a guy who really caused it all.

That said, I actually DO think Tom is actually something that should stay if there were to be a reboot of the show. One of the other complaints about Tom I've heard and have as well is that he isn't really all that fleshed out which I think also helps him not seem as jerky as he actually is to viewers and with a reboot they can easily still have Tom be someone who helps push Daria BUT not in the way they originally intended. I actually think his involvement in a reboot is NECESSARY but again not exactly in the way the writers initially meant him to be.

I'll share my idea under a read more of how I would go about him, Daria, & Jane's relationship in a reboot.

Okay so, most of Tom would be the same, a "nice" guy who comes from a rich family who hangs out with "common" people, we also get him fleshed out a bit more but mainly the big difference would be how this stuff plays out. Tom would be an example of the toxic (or maybe even abusive) "nice guy," and his actions would be painted to the viewer as questionable to gross such as him pushing Darias boundaries in the beginning and seeing her behind Jane's back, and him driving to her house by himself, lying about his intentions and KISSING HER. Events like Jane's brother would play out differently like instead of telling Daria to quit playing dumb about not noticing Tom's intentions he would (maybe) question Tom as a person to Daria like " hmm, you know what I said about Tom being a good guy? I'm starting to rethink that" with Daria going "what do you mean" and him replying "hmm... nevermind, just be careful Daria." And thats it, most other stuff plays out the same with Trent trying to cheer up his sister but maybe with added lines of him trying to get it through his sisters head that Trent is kind of a jerk and deserves the blame but in HIS way & with Jane not really wanting to hear him out or just doesn't get what he means until later. Anything more than that would be out of character for Trent, he isn't a knight in shining armor type and also isn't the type to "defend his sister's honor." He is very much like his parents in that he is very laid back and trusts that Jane can handle herself, although MAYBE if I wanted to have him improve as a character maybe he actually does take some initiative to help/look out for his sister and her friend later on when things start to get worse or outside help is needed as a sort of redemption for when he let them down for being unreliable and it would show that despite his negatives he sort of makes up for it by caring about those close to him and that he wants to at least be better than his parents who he has outright said he has problems with (very briefly, but still).

The difference also would be that in my version Daria isn't exactly cishetero &/or allo and isn't exactly all that into guys but due to heteronormativity thinks she is and is also dealing with some repressed feelings she has for her friend (in my version I think I specifically want her to be a lesbian who is also gray/demi).

Sorry, I got sidetracked by Trent, anyway moving back on to Tom we would also instead get more obvious hints of him being a bit manipulative what with how he talked things over with Jane and how he gets Daria to go out with him immediately after her and Jane broke up. One big difference that would happen is the conversation between Daria and her Mom who has shown to be very keen to notice what exactly is going on and call it out for what it is like her daughter since she is a lawyer and would be quick to point out to her daughter that what she did was technically wrong but she isn't as at fault as she thinks and Tom's the one who is really to blame. She would be a bit hesitant though to lay it out plainly & truthfully because she is worried she will misstep (like she did in one of the episodes in the show) but that results in not helping out Daria as much & still feels like she is too blame for what happened especially with how Jane is mad at her (maybe even add in that Jane 100% blames Daria because of something Tom said while smoothing things over with her or something helping to push them further apart which is something abusers do although I'm not 100% on whether I want him to actually be abusive or just toxic). Which leads her to seeking out Tom's attention/approval since she doesn't have Jane and they do get along and such and have some "chemistry." Maybe we have Daria's mom try to be more honest about what she thinks later on BUT it's been too long now & Daria is more involved with Tom now and because of that is more quick to defend him and even though she comes off and sounds level headed we the viewers and her Mom can tell she isn't seeing the whole picture for what it is and sort of also seems to be sort of punishing herself because of what she did to Jane. This instead of what happens originally in the show could better help to demonstrate to us that Daria like all teens make mistakes but also in a way that could be beneficial for teens to see because while there are teens that make that mistake... it's not really all that important tbh as compared to showing how toxic relationships can manifest and how they can look, etc. And, actually for various reasons she isn't REALLY interested in Tom but is dating him anyway and eventually we get to more of the boundary pushing issue of him making decisions for her and such and doing things morally she isn't really okay with it and then ends up dumping him.

[skarsgardedits]

interesting conversation between denis villeneuve and christopher nolan about dune in this podcast produced by the directors guild of america. i love hearing directors talk to each other about the creative decisions of filmmaking. they talk about casting where christopher nolan says it’s a great ensemble and asks specifically about the design of the baron. from that conversation, i learned that: 

stellan was denis’ first choice for the baron (which is aw, that’s pretty cool, because i did wonder a little bit after i heard denis say in an interview that most but not all of the cast members were his first choice picks);

denis wanted to do everything practically as much as possible and limit the special effects. apparently that was fortunate because stellan would’ve said no if he had had to do the role in CGI. (he’d asked denis about the treatment before he said yes to it.) denis says with a laugh, “that's why every morning, [with] the eight hours of make-up, he never complained.” and nolan replies, “oh my goodness. eight hours.” 

then they talk a little bit more about the apocalypse now nods in the film.

after doing six hours in the make-up chair for pirates of the caribbean, which apparently was difficult enough that keira knightley says stellan couldn't really lie down on set because of the prosthetics, he probably thought this was going to be similar. but sounds like it was more difficult aha

for pirates of the caribbean, keira says, "So he had to sit around for hours in all this get-up. I couldn’t believe how he did it all with such good grace." which is very similar to dave bautista saying about stellan that even with the difficult make-up process, "i never saw him bet anything other than pleasant." infinite patience, stellan, my dude.

transcribed the excerpt under the cut (the interview starts at around 24:00 i think).

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN And the rest of the cast... as it fleshes out, it's one of those movies where the scale of the film is greatly enhanced by the scale of the cast. These new faces coming and... whether it's Jason Momoa or Josh Brolin or whatever. It's a great ensemble.

DENIS VILLENEUVE Thank you. The thing is... I had a list and this list pretty close to what we have on screen right now. Of course, some people were not... [there were] problems with schedule or something so there are some surprises for me. Some people that came on board that I wasn't thinking of but frankly, no matter what people think about the film, I think that the description... when you read the book and you read the description of the character, we are pretty close to Frank Herbert's spirit. It's a thing that I'm proud of, the casting for this movie.

NOLAN Tell us about the Baron Harkonnen. This is about Stellan Skarsgård. I mean, it's an extraordinary look. What did that involve technically?

VILLENEUVE I wanted to do as much as possible on the camera and when I asked Stellan, who was my first choice [for the role]... I asked him, "I'd love you to play the Baron." He said, "how do you want to do it?" I said, "Practically. I want to do prosthetic suit." I mean, because he would have refused if I had done it virtually. He loved the idea to be able to portray himself to be a... He didn't want to do anything [virtual]. So we agree on that. And that's why every morning, the eight hours of make-up, he never complained. (laughs)

NOLAN Oh my goodness. Eight hours.

VILLENEUVE Yeah, it was eight hours to get in that suit and the challenge was the shape. I didn't want the Baron to look like a fat baby or a grotesque character. I wanted him to be frightening. To be muscular. So with my storyboard artist, we drew hundreds of shapes. And when it came to the costume... My favorite costume of the Baron was when he was naked. I thought it was so powerful that's why the first scene... I rewrote to start with that steam bath because I need to see him at least one time naked. I thought he was so beautiful.

NOLAN And was there a conversation about Apocalypse Now at all? There's such a wonderful movement of the hand...

VILLENEUVE Marlon Brando was definitely an inspiration for the Baron and, yep. When Greig Fraser and I were brainstorming about the film... it was for us a kind of love letter to the big screen experience, the theatrical experience. The book was calling for that. The landscape. It was the story of a boy that would slowly bring the burden of his heritage and find comfort and make peace with the part of his identity as much as he is going deeper and deeper into a landscape. A bit like in some ways, the character in Apocalypse Now. There was this idea of getting inside the landscape and it becomes a more and more introspective journey. I don't do that usually but there's a lot of homages and winks to movies I deeply love, [that] as a filmmaker I admire. So there's tons of references. It was just an act of pleasure [for me].