#god I'm so curious to know if the choice was even slightly deliberate

[idealisticrealism]

So, who wants to hear me gush about something in Blindspot that was almost certainly completely meaningless?

What is it, you (didn’t) ask? 

It’s this. 

So, let me start by saying that this scene was one of my favourite scenes of Blindspot, like ever. I am living for the friendship that is forming between these two, and the way they are helping each other through their individual traumas. The added dimension of former CIA agent Tasha helping Rich recover from his torture at the hands of the CIA is just so perfect, not to mention they have the added connection of knowing what it’s like to be a ‘bad guy’ operating outside the law. 

(I also like to think that Jane and Tasha talked together about how to help Rich, but since Jane was already supporting her hubby as well as carrying the team, Tasha took the reins on this one.)

But even though I totally could gush about that scene (especially that hug omg), that’s not actually what this post is about. This post is about me being a HUGE NERD for IMPRESSIONISM.

(Still sure you want to get into this lol?)

Alright then, here goes: 

So, this absolute classic is probably at least vaguely familiar to a lot of people; it’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, painted in the mid 1880s, and arguably his most famous work.

(While watching the ep I initially took it for a Monet at first glance, which is super embarrassing for me but also I can’t help that I have this like Pavlovian response to Impressionism that makes me go YO IS THAT MY BOY MONET YOOOO the moment I see any painting even remotely of the style lol)

But let me tell you why I am losing my nerdy marbles over the use of this artwork in the show (even though I am very certain that they probably just used whatever relatively recognisable piece they could find that didn’t have any like copyright stuff attached) because oh boy do I have Thoughts.

So let’s get analytical up in this biz....

First off, there’s the big one: it’s an Impressionist piece. The very foundation of the style is that from afar, all looks normal, but when you actually look closely, everything is blurred and distorted; nothing is distinct. Which is doubly appropriate for this show: firstly, the team is currently pursuing a mission that seems clear-cut (to clear their names and get their lives back, to free the FBI of Madeline’s corruption) but which actually involves a lot of uncertainty and murkiness and blurred lines (are we willing to break multiple laws? to potentially kill people deliberately, not just in self-defense? how far are we willing to go to achieve our mission, and if we succeed, will we still be the same? etc). Secondly, and more relevantly to this particular scene, the style is fitting for Rich himself following his experience in the blacksite. Look from a distance, and he seems alright, still normal (or as normal as Rich could ever be). But look close, and you start to see that everything is actually hazy and muddled, the cracks starting to show. He is not okay.

But wait, there’s more! Because this work isn’t just Impressionist, it’s Neo-Impressionist (specifically, Pointilist) which ol’ boy Georges was one of the pioneers of-- he was literally considered a renegade because of it, a rebel operating against the status quo, which I find very appropriate for our own little band of rebels lol. But the point (lol) of Pointilism is to create scenes filled with vivid colours, ones that almost seem to jump out of the canvas, which is achieved by combining small brushstrokes (points) of different colours which from further away appear to be practically just one bright colour. So again, looking from a distance you see one thing, and from up close you see that it’s actually more complicated than that. Like this team; they’re all individuals, all their own distinct colours, but look at the bigger picture and you see that they blend together to create a balanced, harmonious whole. And that same concept can be applied to them all individually, too-- each one of them is made up by a veritable rainbow of traits. Light, dark, and everything in between; every stroke makes them who they are. 

But that’s just the style, though, which is only the half of it. Look at the actual subject of the painting; at its setting. Art is an escape from one’s own reality, and for someone practically trapped in a concrete box underground, what better choice of escape is there than a scene of people happily enjoying the outdoors, spending time in the midst of sunshine and nature, with no walls or ceilings in sight, no one being hunted or hurt? See, too, how the foreground of the painting is in shadow-- it gives the sense that the viewer is in shadow too, the dimness of the bunker and the shadow of the painting blending together, like if Rich were to stand in front of the painting and step forward, he’d be stepping out onto the grass. It’s a hopeful thought; the team might be in shadow right now, but the light of day isn’t so far away. A little longer, a little further, and they’ll be out there too, enjoying their lives and their freedom just like the people in the painting.  

And speaking of the people in the painting... there’s a few other little things about this painting that makes me love that it was the one they chose. Firstly, I love that Tasha brought Rich a painting which was described with words like ‘bedlam’, ‘scandal’, and ‘hilarity’ when it was first exhibited, which are probably the exact words that would come to mind if you had to describe Rich and his life in three words lol (pre-blacksite, sadly). Though the painting looks very normal and serene to us, when you look closely, there are a couple of pretty weird things, especially for that time. For one, the woman in the foreground has a pet monkey on a leash, which I think is a fairly apt representation of Rich’s role in the team haha, particularly early on. There’s also a lady off to the left who is fishing, and if I remember correctly, she was thought to symbolise a prostitute reeling in her clients down by the docks/waterside lol, an interpretation which I feel like Rich would absolutely love. In a more Blindspot-specific sense, another character of interest is the man lounging right near the front-- I can’t be the only one who thinks he looks just like ‘old’ Weller, right down to the little hat? The fact that his outfit seems out of place for the time, and also the subtle... sexiness (for the lack of a better word lol) of his clothes and pose makes it feel like Rich’s consciousness could have conjured him there (bc lbr, we all know Rich loves some sexy Weller). And lastly, I can’t not mention the little girl in the center, who is famously considered to be staring right at the viewer of the painting, as if fully aware she’s being observed and totally ready to throw down about it. And I know that this one is extra silly and had obviously never crossed the prop-designer’s mind, but, well... this painting is French, and if someone asked me to think of an appropriate name for a little French schoolgirl, I would pick the name of the one I spent many hours of my childhood watching cartoons and reading books about: Madeline.

As a last, final bonus (and yet another totally irrelevant thing that I am ascribing my own meaning to), just look out on the water in the distance-- there’s what appears to be a steamboat. Or is it The Boat, and is it sinking, a plume of smoke rising from it as it goes down in flames? 

But that’s the thing about art, isn’t it; there’s no limit to what we see in it. So when Rich looks at this gift, I hope he sees freedom. Hope. A future in the sun.

Because he’s earned it.

They all have.

[hotforhandman]

I need your Todo is the traitor theories pls I'm so curious now

ALRIGHT. So I haven’t finished going through the manga yet but I have been looking for evidence and have come to the conclusion that the UA traitor is most likely to be someone who:

-Is regularly distanced from (either by choice or through circumstance) the rest of the UA students/staff

-Has a valid reason to hate heroes/hero culture

-Is capable of performing feats of cruelty or malice even when knowing they should not be acting in such a manner

-Has a viable means of contacting someone within the League, or affiliated with them

SO let’s start at the top. Clearly some of the characters aren’t as heavily featured as others so it’s easy to assume they’re distanced, but Todoroki has been featured in the spotlight more than once and has been painted over and over as the ‘cool kid’, and yet you never see anyone deliberately interact with him as an individual. He’s not antisocial per se, but the only times he’s social is when someone else approaches him first. He’s social out of obligation. 

For the second one… well, do I even need to say it? His father is the supposed number one hero, but he clearly hates his guts. Maybe he doesn’t want to see him dead- as shown by the high end Nomu fight- but he definitely wants to see him taken down a notch, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he believes hero culture is corrupt due to the fact that the number one hero is an abuser, a cruel man who’s only in it for the success and power- something he knows far more intimately well than anyone else.

As for the third point, I remember watching the USJ fight and thinking several things. One, holy shit who is the guy with the hand on his face I like him (irrelevant but still), and two, oh my god that Todoroki guy just issued a thinly veiled threat of torture to his opponents without blinking an eye. As in… ‘if you don’t talk you’re gonna be in a hella lot of pain and maybe lose some limbs but I want to be a hero so please don’t make me do that’. So, uh, who’s gonna tell him that’s not how good people deal with problems? Throughout the entire series he’s had a reputation for approaching combat with a cold, practical eye, seeming to inflict near fatal harm on anyone without even considering consequence (see also: dropping giant robots on your classmates during the tournament. Thank god Kiri’s quirk stopped him getting straight up crushed). 

Finally… This one goes hand in hand with the whole Dabi is a Todoroki theory. What would be more perfect than two brothers, mutually scarred and abused by their scumbag father, getting justice for the harm done to them? I don’t think he’d communicate with the rest of the League, but his own brother? It wouldn’t surprise me if there was some communication going on there. Maybe he didn’t know Dabi was affiliated with the League at the time of Bakugou’s kidnapping, maybe he did. It wouldn’t surprise me either way.

Overall, I’ll be honest. I do not think he was the traitor from day 1. I reread the tournament arc, and wow, uh… Deku’s speech, huh? I watched a review on YouTube where someone pointed out that it was super dumb that Todoroki wanted to get back at Endeavour by… being exactly what he wanted him to be? The fact that he’s pressing to become the number one pro hero utilising his quirk fully doesn’t make sense in the context of his not wanting to become the weapon Endeavour made him to be. He’s literally following in his footsteps. Especially when later on we see him join Endeavour’s agency for his internship. I think it makes a lot more sense if you put it in the context of him using his position as a hero to destabilise Endeavour’s position and put the true nature of the corruption in hero culture in the light. I reckon Deku’s whole ‘being a hero doesn’t mean what you think it means. Your power is your own and you can be whatever you want’ struck a slightly different chord than he intended.

Like I said, I haven’t finished going through it yet but uh… it makes a lot more sense to me than Kaminari isn’t really an idiot or Hagakure’s a spy because invisible = stealthy.