#turns Around To Ogle The Royal Bottom Some More #(￣︶￣)

The Queen's Gambit (Tv Series 2020)

The Handmaiden (2016), Park Chan-Wook

“Until then, we go unmarked in death, as in life.”

Ok, another hot take about The Queen's Gambit:

It's a known trope in movies or series with a male protagonist to put his love interests into the stereotypical, exaggerated categories of a 'mother', often represented by a dutiful wife, a 'slut', who is attractive and independent, and a 'virgin', who often isn't an actual virgin, but represents childlike innocence and is sexually unavailable. A combination of all three is then found in The One, a perfect, albeit unrealistic, woman.

In 'The Queen's Gambit', where Beth assumes the role of the leading man as I discussed earlier, Harry, Benny, and Townes assume the three female roles for Beth on a very surface level. These characters are men, yet exhibit the typical characteristics. However, they still have enough complexity to escape the confines of the trope, still drawing interesting contrasts between each of them without falling into banality.

Harry, the 'mother' or dutiful wife, as Beth's love interests is more of a steady companion than a riveting affair, he wants to nurture her, help. He doesn't say as much as he would like to, is submissive and rather quiet, almost boring, but loves her and worries about her. He worries about her too much to look at her destroying herself. He believes himself to be too weak, is too passive to fight. Now, as 'dutiful wife' he would just bear it until she herself decides to ditch him, but it's not what Harry started as, it's not his full character. In his first game with Beth he showed himself as a stereotypical male baffoon, which, when he chooses to leave her later, despite still having feeling for her, an act as similar to a divorce as giving up a game, proves rather to be an exaggerated display of his inherent pride. It's not cowardice, it becomes a virtue when he realizes the truth that Beth doesn't love him romantically and that he has no future in professional chess playing. To take a step back from this, defeated in what he cared about most, and still go forward his own way with a job and studies is a form of gentle bravery and keeping face. He is proud enough to not let himself be ridiculed, is proud of his life choices. It's obvious when he talks with Beth in the school parking lot. He cannot be reduced just to his role in Beth's life.

Then Benny, as the 'slut', has a long history of affairs. He is shown at first as cocky, overconfident and fully aware of the effect he has on people. Women warn Beth about him, but she cannot resist him. His role is exactly the role of the 'slut' in a male-led movie, where the main character falls for a dangerous skillful seductress. And just like it often goes, the main character is the one to become the 'slut's' weakness. Benny lets Beth have him eventually, when she dominates over him in chess and matches him in her cockiness. It's her conquest. It would be the moment in which the slut turns into a repenting converted sinner, having been defeated at her own game. Except Beth's triumph is short-lived, because Benny has more to him than just being her conquest. It doesn't change his values, his core personality. Chess are the most important to him. It's a shock to see him as unapologetic as he was before and a difficult realization for Beth that her conquest didn't force Benny into submission. This would still fall into 'slut's' behavior if not for the fact that Benny just genuinely wants Beth to succeed beyond winning (with) him. He genuinely cares about her and has feelings for her that don't disappear even when she decides to leave him. He's in love, but it doesn't turn him into somebody he's not. When he calls her later it's clear he has sensitivity and vulnerability to him, but it's not a dramatic change, it must have been something he already had, and that's why Cleo, even though she must have been infatuated with him and rejected, cannot hate him. He's sympathetic despite his flaws.

And Townes. The 'virgin'. He's charming and treats Beth with unusual respect, compared to other men, when they first meet. He seems perfect with how he doesn’t impose himself on her, how he is friendly, but keeps distance that makes her feel comfortable. He seems honest, innocent, Beth idealizes him. This by itself doesn't make him the 'virgin' for Beth, but combined with his status of being in a relationship with a man does (it's heavily, but tastefully implied). He breaks out of the mold the easiest, because of his behavior in the hotel room and his conversation with Beth in the last episode. He isn't as pure as he initially seemed, weirdly attracted to Beth in a way that made him keep the truth about his relationship from her in a situation that could have turned more erotic if he hasn't been caught. He lead her on, confused with his feelings that he later identified as fondness for a beautiful talented friend. Losing her trust and a chance for friendship hurt him, but he only has himself to blame. He's flawed. Him calling other men he knew cared about Beth for help was his way of redeeming himself.

Now, combining their strengths would make an ideal man, so only together they become what Beth needs, as shown in the last episode with them providing support. The polyamorous side of me ships Beth in this polycule. Yet, for a monogamist, neither of these men is a suitable partner for life due to their various shortcomings and that's why Beth can only have them as friends. The trope is subverted one last time with how she never finds The One, but accepts herself as a full independent individual.

SO MANY FUCKING THINGS stood out in tonight’s belter of an episode of His Dark Materials, but Marisa Coulter’s meeting with Mary Malone and her subsequent Blue Screen Of Death on realising the reality of the patriarchy was something I will. never. forget.

Look at her. Look at her eyes, listen the words she uses. Marisa is absolutely fucking full of blinding rage at the truth she’s suddenly been hit in the face with. All her life she has been better, clever, smarter, and stronger than the men who dominate her society. And she has been forced to kowtow to these pissants, these simpering dull crude men, slaving constantly in labour and cunning to secure the meagrest of breadcrumbs of respect and recognition in her academic and political fields. She has been forced to swallow the bitter pill of being ineligible for a doctorate, despite the undeniable superiority of her work. She has had to submit to her papers being published under the names of male peers and them taking her rightful credit. She has had to smile and simper and be agreeable and claw her way to power and respect through the utmost ruthlessness and cunning - and even though those things were always in her nature, the mental and emotional toll it’s taken on her is crystal fucking clear. She’s destroyed her own soul to rise to her rightful place.

And then she steps into another world and meets Mary. A doctor in her own right, with academic research in her own right, with her own brilliance in her own right. No fuss. No compromise. Just recognition on the basis of merit. And she realises, in that moment, what has been kept from her all her life, and how incandescently fucking outrageous it is.

And she is blinded by rage.

bojack thoughts that i need to get out there before i forget and will likely expand upon later

Diane: diane realizing that she doesn’t need to do something intensely personal or ‘deep’ to make a genuine difference. sometimes being happy and making people happy is the deepest thing there is.

Princess Carolyn: pc and judah!! but honestly it’s about so much more than that it’s about pc finally letting herself be taken care of for the first time in her life. so much of her character arc is about doing it all herself, and the reason she fires judah in the first place is because he TRIED to take care of her. that growth is perfect for his character.

Mr. Peanutbutter: i LOVED mr pb’s story! i always kinda hated him since the beginning, not because he was annoying, but because he forced so much on people who just wanted him to be genuinely himself (obviously diane is the main example but i think this applies to bojack and pc as well). seeing him actually take the time to define himself as an individual rather than letting himself be defined by a relationship is HUGE.

Todd: todd’s connection with his family this season was so real, because we’ve seen his life in just the way it is throughout the series, but examining where that comes from was pretty awesome. ALSO him and maude make my heart happy. he deserves someone who understands him, and he’s never had that until now.

Bojack: god i don’t even know what my thoughts are on his story this season holy shit. i think seeing him get caught up and eventually relapsing from being embraced by genuine toxic masculinity was so powerful. it really illustrated that that’s who he is to so many people. however, seeing the subtle but important differences between him and vance wagner really showed who he is as a person. because in truth, his actions proved that he was that kind of person, but we know that he has a very real goodness in him. also, the view from halfway down was so fucking raw and insane and it tore my heart out. the whole episode fucking broke my heart because i KNEW bojack deserved better than to die like that. at the same time, i had no idea about what i thought was right. bojack going to prison was perfect. he deserves it. he really really deserves it. ALSO seeing him actually try to influence people through art while in prison really moved me, and proved that he has his morals in check. ALSO when he talks to someone (i forget who rn) and he says that the routine is good for him, that was super powerful. he has always been a good person, but has never known how, and has hurt so so so many people in his attempt to ‘find himself’ unsuccessfully over the years. but at this point, i think the ending was perfect. the season showed us that bojack CAN be a good person, and can make people’s lives better when he’s sober and honest with himself and others. at the same time, it’s not happily ever after, and he has to pay for,,,,, everything i guess.

LASTLY: i really like that the characters who have often been characterized through their being alone (PC, Todd, Diane) all ended up with someone and were allowed to explore how having someone to support and understand you can improve your life. at the same time, the characters who have often been defined by their relationships with others, especially the negatives of their relationships with others, (mr PB and Bojack), ended up on their own, and were asked to examine themselves as individuals.

anyways, i still don’t really know what to think at this point, so here are my ramblings about the show that literally means the world to me ending. i think i’ll make a video on it soon. i know for sure that i’m going to make a bunch of posts as i let myself process it more. if you actually read all this, thank you. this show means so so so much to me, and the challenges this show has brought me personally were so deeply intimate and they have really truly impacted me. hard. i’m sad to see such an amazing show go, but i’m glad it got its time.