#one of the core twists in the series (imo) is when you realise that utena-as-prince is effectively just as bad as the others who get engaged | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

loch-randomness · 1 year ago

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It kind of fucks me up to see some people come out of watching RGU having absorbed absolutely nothing of what the show has to say about patriarchy, misogyny, & queerphobia, outside of "men bad, lesbian good." Which like.....sure, I guess? in the absolute barest sense, I suppose RGU is partially about that.

But if this show's thesis were really as simple as "lesbian good," then Juri & her role as an antagonist on the mini patriarchy that is the Student Council would simply not exist at all. Juri would've won all the duels, kicked Akio in the nuts, freed Anthy, & ridden away into the sunset with Shiori in her arms before Utena even showed up if that were the case. But she obviously didn't do any of that despite being a lesbian, so there must be something more complicated at work here.

A lot of RGU's narrative is dedicated to deconstructing binary social systems & the ways in which they harm those trying to and/or being forced to fit within one of two narrow boxes; man vs woman, adult vs child, princess vs witch, prince vs devil, special vs not special, romantic vs platonic, etc. So for someone to watch all of that beautiful complexity, only to filter it through yet another essentialist binary...sucks, to say the least.

#op and these tags really just GET it #i'm queer but i'm still chomping at the bit internally to correct this impression #utena's one of the most complex and nuanced looks at gender and power and this is all you can say???#if 'man-prince bad lesbian-prince good' was really the message then you could literally just look at the posters or only watch the first ep #instead of the whole series #one of the core twists in the series (imo) is when you realise that utena-as-prince is effectively just as bad as the others who get engaged #it's not only power that corrupts; the social structures and systems mold people and their expectations and behaviours #in a way that's even more insidious because it's basically always been there #utena-as-prince could never have reached anthy at the end of the series!#and while i do like that classic 'utena drawing the sword out of anthy' pose / animation its tragic that it's the main takeaway for some #isn't it significant that utena never ultimately 'triumphs' with that pose (whether in the series or movie) - with the sword of dios?#perhaps....it is not about having the ultimate power and agency?#the literal ending pose for adolescence has utena and anthy lying side-by-side. utena is portrayed not as a prince or protector #but an equal! on the same level and just as vulnerable as anthy #rgu #revolutionary girl utena #utena #critical analysis

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