#media literacy found dead in a ditch
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I’m sorry but the amount of people on Twitter being like “explain to me how is making people believe she exchanged her son for the Darkhold better than what actually happened” is making me lose faith in humanity.
LIKE WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN??? HOW DID YOU MISSED THE FUCKING MAJOR THEME AND CHARACTER ARC OF THE WHOLE FUCKING SERIES? THE WHOLE STORY REVOLVES AROUND AGATHA FINDING A TINY CREVICE SHE CAN EXPLOIT IN ORDER TO SURVIVE AND TRICK HER WAY INTO SUCCESS EXCEPT WHEN IT ACTUALLY MATTERED.
HER SON WAS MEANT TO DIE SINCE BEFORE HE WAS BORN AND SHE COULDN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, SHE LOST HER SON AND (ironically) THE LOVE OF HER LIFE IN ONE NIGHT AND SHE COULD DO NOTHING TO AVOID IT. THE REALITY OF WHAT HAPPENED WAS SO DEVASTATING TO HER THAT PEOPLE BELIEVING SHE SACRIFICED HIM FOR A BOOK WAS MORE BEARABLE.
THE REASON SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR BILLY WAS BECAUSE HE MADE HER REALIZE SHE COULD FINALLY PUT A DIFFERENT ENDING TO THE STORY AND SAVE HIM.
#media literacy found dead in a ditch#agatha all along#agatha harkness#agathario#rio vidal#wiccan#billy maximoff#nicholas scratch#agatha spoilers
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I still think I need to watch the entire show again, but I'm gonna try and collect some very scattered thoughts because the ~discourse is appalling, tbh.
Idk who needs to hear this, but every single marvel project has been about the widening of the marvel cinematic universe. And it's fucking insane, that people are reducing this show as "just a way to get Wiccan" when it was so much more, especially for a show that wasn't even supposed to exist. It was a show spearheaded by a showrunner who initially pitched it because she loved Agatha, and Kathryn's portrayal of Agatha. One that happens to be a woman, btw (one that happens to had been at the forefront of both Captain Marvel [Uncredited] and been responsible for the first past of Black Widow [Story by, credits]).
Don't get me wrong, the MCU certainly has misogynistic undertones, the fact that we had to wait to have a woman led movie, or a movie director, as long as we did is a travesty. That without even going into the intersectionality that we are still missing in the wider MCU. And one that's inherent in the comic book world, if we are being honest. But guess what, THIS is the type of show that changes that narrative.
The fact that wandavision is still regarded the best Marvel-Disney+ show. So good that got an spin off focused on "a nanny". Show that delivered on a show being about her, and yet not the entire story, with outstanding narrative, direction and storytelling. And some swats of fandom are diminishing it left and right. The dudebros because it was about a woman, about a middle-aged woman, about a queer middle-aged woman. And others in the fandom because it wasn't as queer as they wanted, or focused on what they wanted.
And let's be honest, I'm amazed the show was as unapologetically and canonically queer as it was. Thanks to the efforts of Jac, Kathryn and the team behind it.
Agatha is based on a character that's been around for 50 years, and has being nothing but a nanny/governess for superpowered kids because she happens to be a witch, until relatively recently. Even when we had had part of her back story for decades, she was never that important, and she isn't even evil. Dare I say, she hasn't been that relevant until her run with the Scarlet Witch, and Kathryn Hanh's interpretation of her.
Agatha All Along, is not only an spin off of Wandavision, but also part 2 of the whole story. OF COURSE, Billy would be a very important part of her story, something that was touched upon in WV, but was also part of her (and I'm using this word very loosely) redemption arc.
She shared a kinship with Billy in WV, because he was magick. She wanted to understand how he worked, because she knew what Wanda did, and she wanted Wanda's powers. The fact that she could identify Billy immediately, even when she hoped it was Nicky, was important, but people were to busy whining about Billy having an episode. One episode that was also relevant to the ending of the show. And the full arc of the saga's mythology.
Is the show perfect? Not at all. Did I enjoy the heck out of it and can appreciate what it actually did? Absolutely yes. Can I appreciate how GOOD it was at storytelling? Hell yes.
It was a show absolutely centered in women. Good women, bad women, women of color, old women, younger women. The one man was a queer, three-year old in the body of a 16 year old. And mind you, this character has been making queer history, since his very recent creation (2005). This show is unapologetically queer, we had a huge ass Trans flag that said Protect trans kid in huge black letters being very prominent in the shots. It's HUGE, and not even by marvel/disney standards. The show had nothing to do with coming out, or acceptance, or people dealing with phobia. It was about queer people existing and being queer. Hell, you could make a case that they were saying "being a witch" is an allegory of being queer.
Every single member of the coven could be queer. They hinted at it with Jen, at the very least.
Let's talk about the rest of the coven. Who for me were the absolute highlight of the show.
Alice, generational trauma, the protection witch. The most tragic to me. She saw her curse, as a lie. As something her mother made to neglect her. And yet she couldn't keep a job, she resented her mother, and she had to be reminded of her every moment because her mom was a famous Rockstar. She goes to the road, she comes to terms with her mom's love for her, how her mom's version of the ballad was a protection spell, as much as Alice hated it, and she manages to defeat her curse. She protects her coven. Only to immediately die. Her dialogue with Death was devastating:
Alice: That's it? That's all the... That's all the time I get? Death: If I had a nickel... Alice: This can't be the end. It has to be the beginning. I finally broke the curse. I mean, I can really do something with my life now. Death: You're a Protection Witch. Alice: Yeah. Death: You died protecting someone. You ready? Alice: No.
Heart wrenching, unjust, and beautiful.
Lilia, who was plagued by the gift/curse of seeing her and others destiny. Ignoring it for over half her life, staying stagnant, because she was reeling from the fact that she saw the death of her family, her entire coven, she told them and it changed nothing. She was chased out of villages because she could see the tragedies coming. Who refused to be with a coven, love a coven because the heartbreak of losing her first was too much. Who decided that cheap tricks, was better than seeing the tragedies coming, and refused her gifts. She hated the appropriation of her culture, but when the time came, she accepted it, and moved on. She goes to the road, and finds her coven. "I needed you, my coven." And she died, going back to the start, because she'd rather relieve it all again, the good, the bad and the ugly, that keep neglenting herself. "I loved being a witch".
That without going into the absolute masterpiece that was episode 7. Pulling a non-linear story, as solidly as they did, is certainly not easy. And they did it, beautifully.
Jennifer, who was magick-bound for over a century, to the point that she doubted her knowledge and herself. And yet she made a name for herself, she was a successful entrepreneur (she cheated a little, but you know capitalism is the true villain here). A black woman who was outstanding at her craft, healing and being a midwife, to the point that she became an inconvenience to the fragile, egomaniacal, white men in the medical field. Where they sought out a way to stop her indefinitely. And yet she kept going, and survived. Even at the end of the road. She looked at the person who bound her, and said: "I deny your power over me. You hold nothing." And she unbounded herself, and got out. Not because of Billy or even Agatha but in spite of her. Jennifer survived, just like she has been doing for however many centuries, and she flew towards the sunset. Because 'She's the path ahead'. The growth she had, from being selfish the first few episodes, because that's how she survived, to screaming for Lilia when she decided to stay behind. Jennifer clawed her way out of the road, the bound. And she deserved it.
As for Billy... he's so much like her mother. He accidentally created the road, because he's equally, if not more, unaware of his powers as Wanda. Wanda at least thought she got powers from Hydra's experimentation. Billy isn't even supposed to exist. Billy who was "10 years old" but, realistically like 2 weeks old. Who got thrown into the body of this guy, who he doesn't know, and who doesn't even knows himself, because he doesn't remembers, with powers he doesn't quite understands and then he starts piercing moments of his life together, because he feels this massive hole in his being. And finds his answers on Agatha. He truly believes the road is real, that can take him to someone who while not have the answers, might feel the same way as him. Who was his other half, he doesn't remembers it, but he feels it.
His magick, is like Wanda's, Chaos magick, it manifests without his real knowledge or intention, but by his feelings. He created the road, with all the knowledge he thought he had, the road follows the rules Agatha and Nicky created when they made the ballad. Even if he doesn't know it.
Is the show about Billy? Not necessarily. Billy is important to Agatha, because Billy is Agatha's son now. Not by blood, not even by magic, but by choice. As much as she denies it, her "calculated risk", had something to do in the way she saw Billy, and how she wanted to protect him, in a way she couldn't protect Nicky.
And finally, Agatha. Agatha who built a reputation of killing all her covens. Starting with her mother's. Because her mother sentenced her to death, because she was born evil. And she took that and ran with it. She connived, and betrayed, but she survived, something she's extremely proud of. Do I wish we had seen more of her past? 100%. I wanted to know how she got the Darkhold, how she actually met Rio, how they fell in love. Does not really knowing diminish her storyline? Not at all. Because what we got was really nuanced, and it's going down the hill with people focusing only in the romantic relationship aspect. If anything, I think this is being reductive of Agatha, not Billy. The fact that she needs the love interest for people to focus on her, regardless if that love interest is a man or a woman.
But even then, what did people think it would happen? Agatha Harkness had a romantic relationship with Death itself. It was never going to be a romance, it was always a tragedy. Death who took her son away, Death who gave her time with her son, but never specify how much time. Who then followed her around, torturing her with its presence, and we know Agatha is resentful and can hold a grudge.
Death who kindly stopped for her.
Rio knew Agatha would always resent her, even when she gave Nicky more time, because at the end of the day, she would always had to take him away. As much as it was a kindness to let him be born, to take him while he and Agatha were asleep. She had to take him anyways, and Agatha would never forgive her.
Agatha letting the witchfolk think that she exchanged her son for the Darkhold, or made a deal with Mephisto, and saying it was because "the truth was much worse" had nothing to do with *our* perception of worse. But hers. A powerful witch who couldn't save her son, a woman who couldn't keep her son alive. A witch who let her lover take her son away. Using her son to lure more witches. Then using the song, that her son lovingly created for themselves, to lure even more witches to their doom, just for her to be more powerful and keep living (and potentially still looking relatively young). A song that was special to them, corrupted, because she wanted more power and killing witches, something she knew Nicky didn't like. Witchfolk thinking Agatha got the Darkhold trading her son, was better than what she thought of herself.
She saw Nicky in Billy, how he didn't like killing witches (as accidentally as Billy did), how he mourned, how he somehow still believed in Agatha, even with his barbs at her.
She sacrificed herself, not necessarily because of Billy. But because of Nicky, her boy she couldn't save. And yet here is another boy she loved, not the same but very similarly, one she could save.
Billy didn't manipulate her, (and even if he were to, Agatha would probably be proud of him for that) he's been consistent in wanting to understand Agatha. He's curious. Hell, he didn't even need to come back for Agatha, he had gotten out (wherever out was for him) but he came back, because he cared about Agatha. And if some people can't see that, because he happens to be a he... well, no matter what had happened in the show, those people wouldn't see it any other way.
Agatha becoming a ghost, and immediately seeking Billy, because she loves him, and she likes the way he sees her, not good or innocent, but knowledgeable, and with the potential to do good. And she sees Nicky in him, and his potential too.
There is so much more analysis, and I might share more thoughts later, but for now, this is it. I still wanted more, Agatha's story with the Darkhold, the Salem seven, more of the coven, yet not necessarily for the show or the episodes to be longer, but I would love to see if they expand on this, on another spinoff.
#text post#agatha all along spoilers#nicnic rambles#jumbled incoherent thoughts#I just needed to get some of this out because fandom's response is driving me crazy#media literacy found dead in a ditch#I loved this show and y'all mememes will do so much noise that studios won't want to do more stuff like this anymore#deep and compelling#and will want to just focus on white straight men with their superiority complex only again#anyways
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I know some people are big mad about the GLAAD Award but some of y‘all lost the plot anyway, why did I just have to read that the Jack / Keeley storyline is an example of the trope of how bi women always go back to men after being with a woman?? Keeley definitely wanted commitment from Jack, Jack left her, and after it she stays single?!? And turns down both Roy and Jamie?? Did we watch the same show?!
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Finally watched Dune 1 and 2 and I wish everyone who ever compared Paul to Daenerys is ingested by a sandworm like people will see any bitch with semi good hair commanding people and think they're Dany. Literally just based on nothing but wanting to justify Game of Thrones the absolute mother of all bad adaptations.
#daenerys targaryen#this happened with mcu too when the wanda movie came out#now that wasnt without basis but its still off point and mischaracterises dany#however i agree abt the treatment of uber powerful female characters by creators and the audience#but how are you looking at paul abusing the faith of the fremen and endorsing a fake prophecy for personal survival#with dany being bombarded with prophecies but focusing only on helping the freedmen AT PERSONAL COST?#and going 'yeah my super smart character parallels post tracks uwu'??#media literacy found dead in a ditch#*v
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sasus*kus have the worst takes ever.
#I forget how dumb some of them are#trying to underestimate Sasuke and Naruto bond for the sake of their ship#even if you dont Interpret their bond as romantic you can’t deny it’s literally written as the closest bond in the whole manga#saying that it’s wrong when we say Sasuke can’t bear to hurt Naruto ???#media literacy found dead in a ditch#the first time he tried to kill him was because he was looking for a power that he only could obtain killing his closest bond#do you realize how hard it should be to kill someone that you love that much???#it’s a sacrifice to make of course it would be hard for him#and again that love necesarily should be romantic#I think their bond is so special that you can’t put a label to it btw#but anyway back to my point#the second time he tried to kill him the reason was that he wanted to be completely alone#so yeah again he’s trying to kill someone who means everything to him
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I'm not tagging for reasons but like I am screaming THE PATH OF SEA WATER WAS A METAPHOR!!!
#i am pointedly NOT tagging this because I don't want drama#but like the media literacy was found dead in a ditch
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Media literacy found dead in a ditch when it comes to Colin Bridgerton always. If I see one more comment going “I thought his flirty stuff was cringe/fake/unattractive” “Colin was out of character, it’s like they gave him a new personality” as if that wasn’t the entire point of the story they were telling I’m going to lose it.
They have multiple people in the show tell you that Colin is acting weird and out of character, and your critique is that you thought he was out of character???? If you don’t like it, good! You’re not supposed to like it!
They spell out for you through Lady Whistledown in episode ONE that Colin has gone too far with his new personality changes. They have his mother call him out for people pleasing and asking him to drop the act. They have Colin himself admit to Penelope that he’s been suppressing his feelings just to get by.
Colin is not a hard character to understand, at this point I have to believe people are pretending not to get it on purpose.
#what’s worse is the people who don’t get it using it as an excuse to drag Luke’s acting#the cringe was the point!#you’re not supposed to like it!#polin#bridgerton#bridgerton season 3#luke newton#colin bridgerton#bridgerton spoilers
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media literacy found dead in a ditch
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media literacy found dead in a ditch, there's no way people actually think that acheron was trying to torture and kill black swan in that trailer
#visual metaphors are nothing to these people for real#like that was a metaphor for how violent acheron's memories are. she wasn't trying anything#mona.txt
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I'm still gagging over the last episode of interview with the vampire and some of the opinions people have...
Between someone not understanding how Jim crow worked so thought wrt the tram scene, they had a point by saying ( to paraphrase) there's no glass partition actually separating them ( Louis and Lestat) and Claudia forced Louis to sit there ...just say you don't know anything about US history. Not all of us are American ( I'm not ) but to be that wrong in public.
Or the reason the DV scene was added to episode 5 was to keep up with Disney superhero movie violence???? They don't even have the same target audience lol. Two men fucking on the screen will never be mainstream entertainment. Has fanfiction melted some people's minds they don't understand what mainstream is? It's not gay gothic vampires. The fact it's such a runaway success doesn't change that. Would love gay sex to be mainstream but it's not.
Media literacy found dead in a ditch.
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