#jim phelps is a sick freak

[gloriousprincesscreature]

I did a re-watch of Mission: Impossible last night with a really old DVD. The image quality was like a potato and my TV stretches all DVD images, but Brian de Palma is so great that once you get into it, it doesn't matter anymore.

Tom had *far* more chemistry with Kristin Scott Thomas than with Emmanuelle Beart.

And when I watched the beginning, I just felt that there was so much thematic overlap between the team and the vibe of the squad in The Secret History before Richard came into the picture. I read this article on culty workplaces and culty environments; the cult leader designs the work to take up so much of your time that you can't socialize or make connections outside of it AND sleeping around within the group is very encouraged. And it's obvious that Jim Phelps created such an environment, with himself as the leader, king, and mentor.

..when you think about it, Ethan, it was inevitable..no more Cold War. No more secrets you keep from everyone but yourself, operations you answer to no one but yourself. Then one morning you wake up and find out the President of the United States is running the country - without your permission. The son-of-a- bitch! How dare he? You realize it's over, you're an obsolete piece of hardware not worth upgrading, you've got a lousy marriage and sixty-two grand a year.

He's so much like Julian, they both have an inflated self-image and grandiose notions of being the ultimate holder of power. And if Jim is the Julian-figure, then Ethan is Henry. The star student whose relationship with Julian is the holy of the holies in the web of relations that binds the group, and everyone outside looks at it only from their peripheral vision because to stare directly might be dangerous or feel like you're intruding on something private. But its the relationship that sets the tone and ground for every other relationship in the movie.

And like, Julian and Henry are interesting because Henry is (for all the textual evidence) straight and only interested in Camilla, but Julian is the deepest longest-lived (?) relationship that he has. And yeah, the two of them were LARPing the whole ancient Greek older man/younger ephebe relationship because they feel that the only way to live meaningfully is to live like an ancient Greek aristocrat/philosopher king. tl;dr-->Jim has groomed Ethan to be his idealized lover and student, but Ethan has more natural feeling for Claire.

no more Cold War. No more secrets you keep from everyone but yourself, operations you answer to no one but yourself.

Jim lived for secrets and for being what is now known as the Deep State. Unelected, unnoticed, wielding absolute power.

And Hannah has the sadness of the one who is always left out of the team orgies.