#i saw the tv glow tara

[honkygay]

a small detail that kills me in i saw the tv glow is tara’s character is confident, doesnt mess around and is a go getter.

tara in the midnight realm wouldve felt that drive, that knowing feeling that she didnt belong there but she couldnt leave until she found *someone* and wouldve felt that since fucking birth and she would’ve been searching since.

Isabel is a lot more skittish and quicker to hide, less likely to make a scene, but tara has been looking for isabel and *thought* she’d found isabel in amanda- the girl we see tara hanging out with in the first sleepover. tara was always searching for isabel.

but she found her eventually, they *both* found isabel eventually.

also a paralell to this theory i like is isabel trying to find tara in the final episode of season 5 of the pink opaque- failing because tara is buried deep underground but she finds a fake tara instead and it costs her. isabel couldn’t find tara cuz she was buried too deep to scream for help, and tara cant find isabel in the midnight realm cuz shes buried too deep, the soil packed in too tight.

[joe-spookyy]

nothing like going into watching I Saw The TV Glow completely blind as a buffy fan. as soon as they started the pink opaque i was like aww haha this reminds me of btvs! then. my ears perked up when someone was named tara. and then the tv font being the same as buffy’s has me raising my eyebrows. and then amber benson herself showed up for about 3 seconds and i did about 18 backflips in record time. and it made me want to be a better transgender. huge film

[mercutio-venus]

i saw the tv glow today.

owen is not just isabel she is also autistic. please, please, you have to listen to me she is autistic she is begging for people to listen she is begging for people to understand her. she knows she is not right she knows she is not right aside from her gender she can tell and it hurts. "look me in the eyes for once" she CAN'T i can't we can't it is not possible living not just in a cisgender world but an allistic world will kill us. we will die trying to mask ourselves we will die knowing we are not normal. you have to transition- you have to unmask. you not only have to unmask you have to find other autistic people and find joy with them. please, please, please transition. cut or grow your hair. change your name. change your pronouns. start the hormones. i have so many people in my life i want to sit in front of this movie and say, do you get it? do you see? i am begging you, please, please come with me. bury yourself alive with me, we have to get out. i love you, please wake up. you are dying. i am maddy i am tara i am begging you. i will love you i will accept you i will not force your eyes to mine i will understand what you are unable to say. please come with me. there is still time.

[marfalump]

season 6 episode 1: escape from the midnight realm (good ending)

[synthient]

Not high stakes or anything, but I've seen multiple reviews of and reflections on tv glow that engage really thoughtfully with Owen's transness while reading Maddy as straightforwardly cis/a girl/a lesbian, and I think it's kind of fascinating

The way Maddy's "you know I like girls, right? Not boys" offers a (shameful/sublimated) form of gender validation to Owen as their relationship takes on moments of intimacy--and the way that Maddy isn't ultimately capable of fulfilling Owen's fantasies of Two Girls doing Cool Subtextual TV Lesbianism, any more than Owen is capable of fulfilling Maddy's fantasies--is a rich and messy and key part of their whole dynamic. imo

[ohihopeicanchangethislater]

Can we all do a Goncharov with The Pink Opaque? Like I'm so glad it's on Peacock now, I haven't watched it since I was like 6 and my older sister would watch it. I wonder if it's as scary as I remember? I can't wait to see Tara and Isabel again! I love the theme song so much...

[thepunkmuppet]

was no one gonna tell me the pink opaque was based on buffy the vampire slayer. because I - a trans guy who watched buffy at eleven years old and have been irreversibly obsessed and connected with it ever since to the point where it’s an integral part of my life and personality - watched I saw the tv glow today. and I’m. fine I’m doing fine trust me I swear I’m fine

[petr1kov]

it's funny that when you think about 'i saw the tv glow' in the context of the inner logic behind 'the pink opaque' as a show, the events of the movie turn into that one episode in every show where the protagonists are trapped in a parallel dimension that psychologically tortures them before they snap out of it

[in-this-essay-i-wont]

I think what a lot of ppl r missing abt maddy/tara leaving Owen/isabel behind in their old suburban town is the fact that when maddy/tara left, they didn’t thrive and find themselves per se. I mean, they had the freedom to express themselves a bit more outside of their parents seemingly a bit suffocating hold, but it’s not like they were in queer paradise or anything. They wanted to die. They wanted it to end because they couldn’t survive, metaphorically speaking. Maddy/tara skipped town thinking everything would magically feel better. They didn’t. They still felt suffocated and odd in this life, the same way Owen/isabel did. Only when maddy/tara ‘escaped’ into the show and found her true self within the escapism of this show did she want to live again, and find Owen/isabel to take her with them into a world where she could finally feel like herself. Maddy/tara didn’t leave Owen/isabel for dead in this suburban town- they left to find a world they could both finally live in together as themselves.

[sagenotparsley]

i saw the tv glow is doomed yuri if you squint

[mbharestuff]

Top Five Episodes of The Pink Opaque

5.) S1E04 Who You Calling Dummy? - I'd put this higher if it wasn't so similar to the Buffy episode "The Puppet Show." Weirdly enough, this came first. Still, Buffy basically does everything this episode did better! And Tara does not come off well with the way she treats the wooden loser!

4.) S410 Isabel's Magic Dress - Completely shifted the tone of the season halfway through. It got shockingly raw--I'll never forget the way Tara chews out Isabel on the psychic plane, with that dress blowing in the wind, lightning flying everywhere. Some of the best performances in teh show.

3.) S5E02 Melancholy Youth - For most of the series, Mr. Melancholy is untouchable and incomprehensible. Near the end of the original run, we finally get answers about him and his throne. The tone is set for the nightmare that is the last season. You loved this one, Isabel.

2.) S1E05 The Curse of Mr. Sprinkly - Stone cold creamery classic. It's like the archetype of a standard classic TPO episode. Mr. Sprinkly still gives me nightmares sometimes!

1.) S602 Escape from the Midnight Realm (Part 2) - Isabel. Isabel. Isabel. Isabel. Can you hear me, Isabel? I know you're still there. I can feel you. It's going to be okay. Listen to my voice. Oh, my dear Isabel.

[zybilna]

You know they're getting into the craziest debates about The Pink Opaque on old internet forums

[theworldsfairchallenge]

⭐️🌜⭐️- 🌚📺🌚 -⭐️🌜⭐️

[meowteefz]

I've seen I Saw The TV Glow in theaters twice. I hope to see it at least once more before it stops showing. I have my tickets from last time I saw it pinned on my wall.

I seriously can't communicate in a human language how much this film means to us. It's sickening how deeply it touches me. Grabs me. Holds me.

[ink-pocket]

We are The Pink Opaque

[avesseloflanguage]

"Triple Dog Dare" by Lucy Dacus + I Saw the TV Glow (2024) by Jane Schoenbrun