I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun, 2024) • Page 12

Didn’t cry 3 times on rewatch, just welled up once. 10/10 still film of the year

 

Saw it Sunday night on Max, I rarely give thoughts on movies but felt compelled for this one.

Disclaimer: I know this movie isn't intended for me as a cis male

But man

It hits

I'm a child of the 90s and the references just made me feel ways. The references to SNICK, are you afraid of the dark (Jesus when he threw the sand into the fire and flames shot up).

TV shows as a vehicle for escape was 100% my reality back then. I can vividly remember raising the volume up on shows to not hear my parents fight. And that's so superficial compared to what other kids, especially marginalized kids, went through. I'm Muslim so post 9/11 I tried to force forms of media into my life that were less marginalized. Essentially, I did things white kids did so i wouldn't be seen as other. I mean, I was on absolute punk since I was 16. In the past 20+ years I've interacted with maybe two other south Asians here lol.

But how he puts on the pink opaque as an adult and can't connect with it. That got to me because I do this constantly. I want to recreate the escape I had as a kid all the time. I watch so much nostalgia-core on YouTube every day. I play Sega games. I listen to albums from 1995-2002.

But I can't do it, I can't escape through nostalgia. It's not authentic. And you feel the world suffocating you. And you tell yourself and the world "I have a wife and kids and love them more than anything" because that's the norm, that's accepted. But you're still suffocating. And empty. And when you breakdown or show any sign of your struggles, you feel shame and are compelled to apologize to everyone.

I can only imagine how folks in the trans community feel on top of all this. I may feel the above but at least my sexuality is not brought into question every living moment of the day.

I rarely ever rewatch movies but this is going to be one I go through a few times. though I worry that with each subsequent viewing I'll get less of that relief I felt on the first watch. See the above about how living in the past stops working after a while...

I think anyone who's first cell phone was a Nokia or some shitty flip phone is in the right age group to get something from this movie. Highly highly recommend it.

 

We're in a similar age group, we're seeing our mom's get old and sick. It's hard.

 

This is me too. Agree 100

 

This deeply disturbed me in ways i don't think any other movie has in awhile.

 

Kinda on a level with Requiem for Dream in that way for me, but way more rewatchable.

 

Rewatched it with my wife the other night. Forgot how good and well edited the scene at the Double Lunch is.

 

I know we can't help the connections we make but I would definitely encourage looking deeper into the themes of the movie and not letting this be the takeaway

 

That was a split second take after 10 minutes of finishing it before I let it fully digest. I actually came back into this thread to delete that post because realized it was not a good take and initially interpreted it too literally.

 

This is one of my favorite movies of the year, and I’m pretty emotional rn because one of my best friends came out as transgender this past week. I was talking to them earlier and they said this movie was a big reason why they felt like it was time to make the move. So cool this movie can have that impact on people.

 

That's so sick, hell yeah, I'm happy for them!

 

i saw that and didnt have time to reply right away and then i forgot but yeah i thought that was a weird and concerning take

 

It happens, @Halitosis Jones is a regular poster that thought enough to come back in and delete that post (not that it isn't a valid reaction) so it's all good! We got a good group in here.

 

I have bad/embarrassing not fleshed out takes that I later delete all the time. Just thankfully most of time they don't get quoted before I do so it doesn't become a thing lol

Immediately after finishing some of the metaphors around the break from reality/Pink Opaque stuff I took too literally and initially thought this was partly about the experience of disassociative mental illness as much as it about being trans. Took a couple hours to digest and realise I was overthinking the former.

Like I initially thought Owen was a person going through a severe schizophrenic break while processing their gender dysphoria at the same time.

 

What was The Pink Opaque supposed to be based on? It felt like the aesthetics of 90's Snick shows like Alex Mac, Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, Pete & Pete, ect but with the type of fandom that only really Buffy or The X-Files had in the 90's.

 

Buffy felt like the most direct comparison to me but I also felt Twin Peaks during the band performance for sure.

 

"Monster of the week episode" was a direct reference to X-Files fan terminology

 

Buffy i think is what Jane said (and FUCK what a great show). But also X Files and Pete and Pete are other things they brought up. And then the name is from that Cocteau Twins comp, but i imagine people know that.

 

the font of the Pink Opaque credits was the exact same as Buffy too

 

That moment got me for the exact same reason. I’ve gotta give this a rewatch at some point.

 

Kinda bummed I missed most of the discussion but I finally got to see this and holy fuck. Gonna try and spit out some thoughts.

This pretty masterfully articulates the role art plays in queer discovery when you’re in a time/environment/world that doesn’t have the tools to help guide you. When it’s not safe or you don’t have the language for things or you’re just simply young and confused, film and television so often is the thing that helps you connect the dots. Maddy and Owen are two sides of the same coin with their fear and self discovery: Maddy too scared of it to stay put and Owen too scared of it to move forward.

I know some of the conversation within queer people about this has been to ask “if you had a Maddy” but I haven’t really seen much talk about being a Maddy who has an Owen, which was my experience growing up. I was really taken by how well the loneliness of both positions was expressed. It’s so isolating to take that step forward and look around and realize you’re all alone and nobody came with you.

Both Owen and Maddy’s stories really hit on things I’m working through presently in my own life and really rattled me. I still remember the episode of the television show that made me realize my queerness was way too big to shove down and I have a visceral memory of what the rest of that night was like for me. I’m so curious to read how this hit queer people younger than me who grew up with more knowledge and vocabulary accessible to them.

 

I finally got around to watching this today.

This is going to haunt me for a long time.

 

Watching for the fourth (?) time now. It’s no less incredible.

 

I don't know how often I could revisit this unless it was with friends who hadn't seen it yet. Almost want to preserve the way it makes me feel for rare and special occasions.

 

i thought i was gonna be excited to see it again but i preordered the bluray and have yet to open it

and to be clear i absolutely love this movie