World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

And a cigarette appearing out of nowhere into Buckley's hand!

Rigpa wrote:And a cigarette appearing out of nowhere into Buckley's hand!

Yes, I thought of that too!

Mr. Reindeer wrote:

Rigpa wrote:And a cigarette appearing out of nowhere into Buckley's hand!

Yes, I thought of that too!

BTW, I missed this (mostly because freeze framing on Netflix’s app is a pain in the keister and I gave up), but someone on Reddit pointed out that Jake’s Childhood Bedroom features a glamour poster of a young Piper Laurie! (He also has a Carrie VHS.)

Haven't read Antkind yet (sitting in my pile!) but wow, 'i'm thinking of ending things' has been the first thing since TP S3 where I'm constantly gravitating back to thinking about it, sometimes without even knowing it. As someone who's totally clueless about theater, I didn't even realize that the ending was an extended homage to 'Oklahoma!' and because of that, it seemed extremely unhinged and surreal to me. Because there's a 'A Beautiful Mind' parody sandwiched inbetween the 'Oklahoma!' stuff, and there's a DVD of it in said bedroom scene, it's dawning on me how important that scene is. Someone should (maybe they already have?) do an entire essay just analyzing what's in that room and its potential reflection elsewhere in the film. It's clear that, aside from the themes of isolation, failure to reconcile differences in the Other, and the aging of the mind, the film is heavily themed on media and how it (sometimes spectrally) paints the interior of our heads.

AXX°N N. wrote:Haven't read Antkind yet (sitting in my pile!) but wow, 'i'm thinking of ending things' has been the first thing since TP S3 where I'm constantly gravitating back to thinking about it, sometimes without even knowing it. As someone who's totally clueless about theater, I didn't even realize that the ending was an extended homage to 'Oklahoma!' and because of that, it seemed extremely unhinged and surreal to me. Because there's a 'A Beautiful Mind' parody sandwiched inbetween the 'Oklahoma!' stuff, and there's a DVD of it in said bedroom scene, it's dawning on me how important that scene is. Someone should (maybe they already have?) do an entire essay just analyzing what's in that room and its potential reflection elsewhere in the film. It's clear that, aside from the themes of isolation, failure to reconcile differences in the Other, and the aging of the mind, the film is heavily themed on media and how it (sometimes spectrally) paints the interior of our heads.

Yeah, I think the dialogue when Jake and Lucy(?) say culture is like a virus that burrows into our minds is key, as is the scene in the basement where Buckley’s character quotes Oscar Wilde quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson (!) about how few people really have original ideas.

Antkind is very different tonally, but explores many of the same themes as IToEt.

How great to see this discussion as I just started the book and now on chapter 19, will definitely check back after reading this


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I haven't read Antkind yet, so I cannot comment on that, but since this has become somewhat of a Kaufman discussion in general, I'm going to write a few of my thoughts about I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

I absolutely loved it, which I didn't realize until the very ending. (It may be one of the very best films I've seen this year.) I didn't understand it fully, which I sort of expected from the first viewing, but it really hit me emotionally. I couldn't help but imagine myself old and lonely, failing in the things I strive to accomplish now and losing the person I love, eventually meeting my end alone in a car like Jake... if that's what really happened. (I loved the pig; animals are often more comforting than humans, I guess that is why children, and some grown-ups, myself included, like stuffed animals.) Kaufman is really skillful in creating that specific sense of existential dread and isolation wrapped in a surreal atmosphere. (The latter part of the film also reminded me of Kubrick, I guess because of the hallways in the high school and the creepy silent atmosphere.)

If anyone is interested, there is an article on Indiewire that I read the day after watching the film which helped me clarify some things: https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/charl ... 234584492/

It is a light read but could be interesting to someone as clueless as I was. Of course, it contains spoilers for the whole film.