reblog if you enjoy napping, being cozy, being conked out, snoozing, wrapping up in blankets, sipping a hot drink, catching some z's, hugging a plushie, or otherwise relaxing and resting
charles rowland is JUST. he's so kind and he's full of trauma and hurt and loneliness and he puts that into being as good as he can, and smiling and being the fun one because he knows edwin needs it and he needs it and he cares SO MUCH and he died maybe to protect a friend?? he needs to be of service even if it doesn't help him!! he's good and kind and smiles like sunshine!!!
Something I appreciate about Monkey Man is how doesn't try to frame revenge as just a pointlessly violent, self-destructive pursuit the way many films do. I think it's because Dev Patel was unafraid of adding a political element to the story. The kid wants to avenge his mother, but he also doesn't want what happened to them to keep happening to others. The presence of the hijras really drives this idea home. They fight with him not only because he's their friend, but because Baba and the nationalist party will bring violence literally to their door even if they don't fight back. I often roll my eyes at anti-revenge narratives. I think Dev Patel gets what it's like to be a victim of systematic violence in a way most filmmakers seem not to. Revenge isn't just a selfish pursuit that perpetuates the ~cycle of violence~, it can also be a desperate desire for the violence to end.
"I could be really brash and really loud and really dressed however I wanted to and almost made [Chappell] on purpose a drag version of myself so I can be whatever I want. It allows me to feel really safe exploring those aspects of myself. I’d never be able to do that if I took myself super seriously with pop. I think that the project has allowed me to be a part of the queer community in a deeper way because I'm not observing from the outside anymore. I feel like I'm in it. I am the queer community–it's allowed me to just feel queer, feel like a queer person and feel freedom in that."