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kojikanokangaetano · 11 months

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Across the Spiderverse, Perpetual victimhood and the possibility of youth as shown by Miles and Miguel (+ Hobie)

Tldr because this might be long: Movie good; Miguel is stuck in a state of being the perpetual victim and has dragged down other spideys with him, while Miles is fighting against being ever put in this position, which is why they compliment each other perfectly as foils

So, rambling incoming- I have a lot of thoughts regarding Miguel and have only seen the movie once so far so please forgive me if I got something wrong- only based on the movie(s)

I believe that Miguel O´hara, as well as Miles, are supposed to showcase the approaches of being victimized and how they deal with their experiences, respectively.

Point one: Parent -teacher talk:

In the first scene predominantly featuring Miles, the teacher and his parents are supposed to talk about his academic future, in which the teacher specifically points out Miles supposed "struggles"- however, his parents, as well as Miles himself, are quick to point out that they had a lot of opportunities and are living a good life in Brooklyn, which is shown by the community + family participating in a rooftop party for Jeffersons promotion (+ the "we have a car statement"). However, the teacher reiterates her point of how "They always struggle" somehow and urges to make that point about himself the anchor of his, still blank, "universe".

Point two: Miles´ future aspirations

During the talk, it is shown how Miles sees his parting with the spider-gang from itsv as a mere temporary hindrance, something that can be overcome if he just tries himself at overcoming the wall that is the existence of multiple universes. Even though in the first film it was clearly established that he enjoys his art primarily, he is willing to put that on the backburner and reevaluate his priorities to reach certain goals (seeing Gwen, Peter B., Peni, Noir and Ham) BEFORE pursuing his other passions.- Miles is shown to articulate this actually pretty well to his parents- sure, his dream of meeting them again might be spurred on by a childlike will to belong, but he is clearly able to reason with his parents who are objecting to princeton university at first.

Point three: Dealing with his uncles death

During the whole runtime, it is shown again and again how, instead of letting the death of his uncle drag him down, he is uplifted by his memory and his last words. They are defining for him and what he has achieved since then. It is even shown during the flashback-scene in Miguels lab (?) that even peter B. is not able to keep his eyes on his respective uncles´´ death, but Miles is shown to aknowledge not only his OWN pain, but moreso try to empathize with other spideys in attendance.(will touch upon this later)

How does Miguel play into all of this?

Contrary to Miles, Miguel is shown to be standoffish and unempathizing unless pressed into being soft (taking Gwen reluctantly while she is held at gunpoint with her identity exposed btw). He is shown in his first unmasked scene to be reminisicing about his family, replaying the few happy memories he had with them most likely over and over. Unlike Miles, he reminds himself not only of the positive aspects of what his family stands for, but the MISTAKE they represent to him specifically. This ties into the straight up spiteful way he deals with Miles.

Point one: Miguel uses Miles as a scapegoat

He hates Miles because he blames him. While he talks about the fact that he messed up, it becomes clear during the following talk -and chase- that he, in actuality, blames Miles for everything that happened. Miles is the "orginal Anomaly" and as such the reason why Miguel was compelled to build the universe-hopping-watches. This, subsequently, made him (want to?) find a family. Without Miles getting bitten, he would have never committed the mistake in the first place- As such, Miguel is pushing all the blame on Miles- Miles forced him to act, so the family he had and lost were all because of Miles becoming a spiderman when he wasnt supposed to- easy, right? This is an integral way of thought that also is reflected in the plot.

Point two: Victim-mentality and being "a vicitim of the narrative"

Not only is it most likely used to ctritique the state of the current spidey-comics, of which there has been a huge stir recently(that I dont know that much about, sadly), but it also ties into the mindset of Miguel. He has become jaded (by age and lived experience) and is lost in his perspective of being a victim. Because of this, it has become a necessity to blame anything and anyone to push away his own guilt- in the end, Miles never actively pressured him to find a family and mess up a whole universe while doing so. But even if this shouldnt apply, Miguel has a backdoor for his poor rationalization: It was always unavoidable- the game was never meant to be won, especially as a spider-person. Its freeing and gives him the possibility to atone and distract himself from his wrongdoings, while channeling his anger towards his "true" enemy- Miles.

This is even moreso shown to the audience as to how he has made every other spidey think the same way he does (exceptions made for Hobie and others later on). It is freeing for these peters, too,to know that they werent at fault- if everyone but them is at fault, how are they supposed to feel any guilt? Miguel essentially made the majority of spideys vicitms in their own stories. They have become mere pawns in their narratives and, in turn, entered a "victim mentality". In essence a self-fulfilling prophecy.Only characters like Miles and Hobie see through such a narrow way of thinking.

Spiderpunk - and why he is the most important new player for Miles (and across the spiderverse)

Hobie, my man, number one instigator- spiderpunk, right from his entrance, is shown to be just different from most other spideys. he, right after meeting Miles for the first time (and knowing about his special status as an "anomaly" already), is seen helping him out. He straight up even tries to prevent him from going to HQ, sensing something is up. While on their way to Miguel, he questions Gwen regarding what she must have NOT told Miles and starts stealing parts for a makeshift watch later on.

He even tries to talk sense into Miles and the fact that he is living a good life (even with the likely knowledge of Uncle Aarons death). Which Miles, like everything else, pushes aside because of his need for "true" companionship in form of the spidey-society. Also, the line "knowing about which war you enlist in"- wow, like damn

Uncle Ben

When shown the flashbacks of everyones Uncle Ben, Miles sees Peter B.s and others Uncles in their last moments as a "canon event",playing out before him. At one point, he turns to Hobie and asks specifically if he also went trough this, him having been the outlier up until now. Hobie only turns away, seemingly uncomfortable with the comment "What about it"- Hobie rejects Miguels notion of one laid out event pushing his identity into a specific direction. He detests the idea of being a victim and actively tries to show this mutliple times in his demeanor. He may have suffered loss, but who doesnt? How is this an indicator of being spiderman? He is himself because he wants to be himself, loss be damned. Aknowledging the fact that there might be things that make him a mere player in a narrative, to be written into scenarios already thought out, makes him obviously unhappy- and maybe even feel like he is being instrumentalized-.

Hobie and Miles

Hobie sees the way Miles, akin to Pavtir/Spider-Man India, says "I can do both", a.k.a- "doing whats right" being put BEFORE what the rules would tell you. In conjunction with his mere existence as a sign of "rebellion" and "anomaly" it becomes only natural for him to be the one to stick up for him (telling spiderwoman "good" when told he isnt helping her.) and being the one that effectively breaks out Miles from his electric cage. Hobie sees the spark of freedom and possbility in Miles, something that he must have missed while being at HQ. When things escalate and he sees that Miguel will stick to his guns and toxic mindset, he just, dips. He even leaves his watch, refusing to profit from anything given to him by an organization that doesnt align with his moral code.

Conclusion

Spiderverse never fails to impress. Like, wow- Miles mere existence, that "anybody could wear the mask", even someone that was supposed to become the damn Prowler, is merely dismissed by Miguel and others, them entirely caught in their own sorrow and perpetual state of self-assigned victimhood. Spiderverse shows that actively struggling and trying to break molds and systems that you dont agree with (Miles just trying his best and being uplifted by positive influences, putting his all into his aspirations, even with the outcome being unclear, Spiderpunks whole existence) is the only real way out of being a victim of your own story. He is doing his own thing, and just trusting the leap of faith he has commited himself to again and again, something that Miguel has rejected entirely by now. He in turn finds comfort in the role of a self-appointed martyr and self-sacrifizing head of the spidey-society („I have been the one holding it all together“, etc.). Him realizing that maybe, just maybe, Miles wasnt the one who made the choice for him and that Miguel decided to live his life, with all of his consequences, is so horrifiying, so earth-shattering, that he has made Miles, a teenager, public threat number one in not just his, but everyones eyes. If miles isn’t a victim like him, he has to be the perpetrator.

——————-

The presented message does not only apply to fiction, but also real-life- you are the only one to make choices -and specifically adjustments- to your own life (and story), because hey, "there is no playbook" at the end of the day. :)

I know I could have touched upon Gwen and other characters but it would have been even longer and its late so

#across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #miles morales #spiderman atsv #atsv #itsv #would still risk it all for miguel tbh #spider punk #analysis

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