#you know that scene in i saw the tv glow where owen screams that she’s dying right now?

[a-midnight-dreary]

Eggtober 2024 Poem by me. Living in your hometown am I right? @quezify

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[okcoolthanks]

I really liked “I Saw The TV Glow” for a lot of reasons like the lighting and sound design and stuff

But I also really liked it because how similar I felt to it. Like you watch a show you love so much you want to Be In It and all you do is interact with That Show to the point where you start talking like it and you make everything you see like it because you don’t Know anything else

I really liked owens character because of how Stuck he is in his life. He says he doesn’t think about “that stuff” because it makes him feel gross so he doesnt. He takes a job at a place he doesn’t like and when it gets shut down he goes with the manager to the next place also doing a job he hates. When his parents die he lives in the same house he grew up in because he doesn’t want to leave. He had one friend and when she disappeared presumed dead he didn’t do anything but reminiscenced on his time with her and watching the show she helped him watch. You can also see how he starts taking care of himself less after his father died, in the last scenes of the movie he looks like he barely eats or drinks water, he doesn’t do anything but his job. “Years feel like seconds” because he isn’t doing anything of importance he lost everything that he looked forward too

He doesn’t talk above a normal speaking volume until he’s literally DYING and even after he apologizes still out of breath. He’s still dying then. No one responds to his apologies or responded to him when he was screaming

He gets a chance to leave and go with Maddie to The Pink Opaque and he gets scared, he gets a chance to leave with her when he was younger and he gets scared. He’s so unhappy with his life but he doesn’t want to change it because he doesn’t know what else to do

[wackpedion]

I find it crazy how nobody seems to be talking about how the themes of I Saw The TV Glow also really speaks to the neurodivergent experience. It is very queer and transgender yes undeniably so but it also so strongly reflected the neurodivergent experience to me.

The disassociating through life, how Maddy says The Pink Opaque her favourite show "sometimes feel more real than real life", and how she has to get away from here because she knows she will die there. She doesn't know how but she just knows it. Owen being asked to make eye contact and not seeming to get along with his coworkers. Owen feeling like he doesn't belong, and saying he feels broken or wrong and that everyone else can sense it. The suffocating feeling of going through the motions in life, feeling stuck in simply having to do what everyones "supposed" to do but resigning yourself to it. That scene of Owen breaking down in the party room, where for whatever reason he cant take it anymore and starts screaming that hes dying and needs help, but the rest of the room doesn't react and infact is frozen as if someone paused them. Completely oblivious to whats happening. and afterwards Owen apologizes for his outburst.

It just so strongly spoke to me about life as a neurodivergent person. Breaking down and feeling like you're dying just for it to seem insignificant or invisible to everyone else. Feeling stuck in your life because there's no other choice aside from going through the motions. It's suffocating you and you feel like its going to kill you but there's no other option. And how Maddy represents withdrawing into your interests, how they can feel more real than real life because they fulfill you way more than your actual life. Coping of the stress of life by living through your interests.

[yesimtrashforit]

I Saw The TV Glow hit so hard for me

SPOILERS AHEAD

I went to go see it last night at my local AMC and nearly cried within the first 10 minutes. I'm a queer teenage girl who has struggled with depression and feeling just so far away from everyone else my age. This movie captures the growing up experience of someone born from the late 90s to the mid 2000s so well. I was born in 06 and even though this film is clearly set in the 90s for a majority of it, it still felt so personal. I couldn't even think as I was walking out of the theater. I just felt so heard and seen.

The first scene nearly made me cry because it brought up so much nostalgia of being in 5th to 7th grade and the huge mat/parachute thing was something we did all the time when I was in elementary and middle school. The hiding from your friends' parents, drawing with glitter gel pen on your skin, having awkward conversations with people you barely know, it all feels so reminiscent of my childhood. The scribbles of sidewalk chalk, daydreaming about escaping into your favorite stories, the books you'd read about your favorite obscure shows, the shows not being as magical as you remember once you grew up. The walking through the halls, memories flooding through your mind, ideas and whimsies just soaring through, doodling on your hands with neon pen.

This movie made me so emotional as someone who has struggled with their sexuality and not knowing what to feel.

"Do you like girls?"

"I don't know."

"Boys?"

"I think that I like TV shows."

That scene hit hard for me in a different way than was probably intended. When I was 12 and figuring out who I liked, I was so uninterested and uncomfortable with the idea of liking anyone.

There were so many scenes like that where I just knew that my personal connection to it wasn't what was intended but it still felt valid.

The scene towards the end with Owen screaming out of nowhere at the birthday party "I'M DYING RIGHT NOW!!!" but no one responds and he's still apologizing for it. That part reminded me so much of being in such a deep state of suffering that you just want to scream it out loud but no one hears.

But you still feel like it's on you.

I can't imagine how hard this must've hit for someone who is trans. I'm not trans myself but this still hit for me as a story about personal identity. Who are you and who do you want to be? What is real and what isn't? Does that matter?

I have seen Justice Smith before and he's really got a great career ahead of him. I know him from playing the video game The Quarry. It was a fantastic and terrifying game. He gives such a good and deep performance here. Owen is such a complex character and that's a testament to this performance.

I knew Bridgette Lundy-Paine from watching the show Atypical a few years ago. They were always my favorite part of that show. They are so talented and so mesmerizing in this role. I feel like I've known so many people like Maddie in my life. She reminds me a lot of my best friend from 5th grade who had an out-of-control father and found solace in weird shows and stories.

The soundtrack is incredible and I was overjoyed and very much anticipating seeing Phoebe Bridgers in this film, even if she's only in it for a few minutes. She's one of my favorite artists and her music resonates with me so much. I love that she and every artist got to collaborate on something this special.

Listening to yeule's Anthems For a Seventeen Year Old Girl as a 17 year old girl is such a personal experience. It was perfectly used for the trailer. The lyrics just slap so much.

Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that / Now you're all gone, got your makeup on and you're not coming back / can't you come-

Sloppy Jane and Phoebe Bridgers' Claw Machine is also amazing and so perfect.

I think I was born bored / I think was born blue / I think I was born wanting more / I think I was born already missing you

The hair and makeup and clothing on every artist was incredible. The lighting and costumes and set design is impeccable in setting the tone for this film. The visual effects are stunning and so neon, nostalgic, childlike, etc etc. It felt like a dream in the most horrifying and yet beautiful way possible.

I also feel like this movie was made for the kids who grew up watching FNAF gameplays, reading creepypastas, going down terrifying internet rabbit holes, and reading about cryptids. Like the vibes of Local 58, DHMIS, analog horror, etc. There were so many little details that reminded me of being 8-13 years old and having these obsessions which you would escape in, not being able to process reality when you stopped watching or reading. The disappointment you feel when you come back to your body and realize that it's just a story.

I'm so grateful that this film exists. This is for the neurodivergent queer/trans kids who never felt like they belonged to anything or had a place. For the kids who dreamed about being in these fictional worlds and having adventures and friends who cared, people who listened!

This is for us.

I couldn't be more excited to see what this director has in store. I watched We're All Going To The World's Fair about a year or so ago and was completely fascinated by Schoenbrun's visual style and writing. If director Jane Schoenbrun somehow comes across this post: Thank you so much for sharing your art and talent with the world. This movie has made so many people feel heard and recognized. Congratulations on this masterpiece of a film.

GO SEE I SAW THE TV GLOW IN THEATERS