#bc the Obvious read is alma is the cuckoo bird pushing gretchen out | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

alcego · 8 days ago

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on first watch i was caught up in the story & the obvious theme of the sisters' love for each other, but on rewatching it i'm realizing the story's more interested in the role of the adults on the children, and how the parents' "failure" makes them both vulnerable to predators. helps solidify the sexual themes as well.

#man i love horror #cuckoo (2024)#it's interesting how both of the plot relevant men are eventually posed as threats #and ed's (red's?) role is doubly interesting. she's liberation but she also opportunistic #tbc i don't think this is a Predatory Gay trope but there is nuance to be explored and examined #in the way that gretchen is pushed out & the places she goes/risks she takes while fleeing the nest #<- the way i'm talking about it makes it sound like a straightforward cuckoo bird situation but lol. lmao even #it took straightforward symbolism and ran wild with it #also i appreciate deeply that the film lets hunter schafer exist as a girl without being weird about it #u could assume she's cis from the whole Breeding thing but the cut offs in that progression are ALSO interesting from a trans media pov #bc the Obvious read is alma is the cuckoo bird pushing gretchen out #that's the surface layer. but at the same time - gretchen is also rejecting alma & trying to push her out of the family #vying for parental resources #the strongest read is in favor of alma-cuckoo for obvious reasons #but if u assume gretchen takes after schafer & is also trans - does that not add another layer?#idk. i think it's a nuanced film and i am enjoying teething on it while my brain wakes up

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