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nancewright · 3 years

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[ NANCY WRIGHT. 26. FEMALE. SHE/HER ] is here! They’ve lived in Silver Lake for [ 2 MONTHS ] and are originally from [ NEW YORK CITY, NY ]. They are a [ WAITRESS AT GOLDEN GRIDDLE ] and in their downtime love [ GIVING SHITTY LIFE ADVICE ] and [ SWAPPING TAGS AT FUNKYTOWN THRIFT ]. They look a lot like [ MAIKA MONROE ] and live [ IN OASIS APTS ].

hi hello, i’m brenna and i absolutely despise writing intros. pls accept this meager offering of a word vom ramble

stats page + pinterest

surface level: nancy is very messy, sometimes rude, and often nude

deep down: ......... that’s still pretty much accurate lmao

born in nevada, her parents first met thanks to a chance encounter while her mom was traveling & researching for an upcoming book. nancy was an unexpected surprise in their lives, but fast-forward five years and they were sealing the deal, getting hitched in new york where her mom had the gaudy, mega wedding of her dreams.

photographic evidence of nancy being an angelic flower girl DOES in fact exist

as an only child, she’s never been super aware of how spoiled she is. doted upon by wealthy grandparents throughout her childhood, running amok in the streets of nyc with her friends all during her teens, and never getting a lecture beyond “you’re grounded!” definitely made nancy feel a little bit like she could get away with murder.

should she ever find herself stuck in Deep Shit ??? well duh, call daddy to save the day!!

she rolled hard with her rebellious streak and refused to acknowledge that there might be “““consequences””” to her ““actions,”” instead taking full advantage of her parents’ combo leniency & constant bickering to sneak out at every turn.

during her junior year, however, nancy was in a minor car crash that resulted in a quick knee surgery and a blossoming love for painkillers.

she milked her oxy script for all that it was worth and her new habit didn’t go entirely unnoticed -- mrs. wright pushed nancy through months of physical therapy appointments, dragged her across the finish line of high school graduation, and then dumped her directly into rehab with the ultimatum to either get clean or be cut-off.

kinda a no-brainer decision, but only the beginning of a snowballing problem

she could get sober in a cushy facility, find her zen during months of therapy, and think up as many master life plans as she wanted, but back in the Real World? where all the choices were ultimately her own? well... nancy sure did like getting high, even if it meant finding cheaper, quicker fixes as time went on

it was her mom who once again caught on, somewhere between rehab stay #2 and #3, and forced nancy onto an even shorter leash by moving her directly into the guestroom of her penthouse, hoping to cut the cycle short and stop her from treading water forever.

no booze, a ban on visitors, and the constantly buzzing presence of her mom...... it shouldn’t have been that big of a surprise when she ran away. literally.

finding out that a friend was visiting family in los angeles, nancy jumped at the chance to tag along. she packed up as much of her stuff (and her moms jnsdkm) as she could before getting outta dodge, making a brief pitstop at her dad’s place to leave her dog in his care and a vague note to assure her well-being.

it’s been two months since she settled in silver lake, renting a crappy little one bedroom at oasis & securing a waitressing gig, and a tentative ten months since she dipped her toes into the opioid pool.

always picking up random hobbies to try and keep herself busy, though they rarely last. the latest is tie dye and bleaching clothes, so you can bet that she has a lot of random shit hanging from her apt balcony to dry

frequents trader joe’s only to let her fresh produce rot while she chows down in-n-out.

nancy has taken a lot of random college/online courses at her parents’ urging over the years -- accounting, sociology, interpretive dance -- but nothing that adds up to a full degree

lowkey desperate to prove her independence, but could probs use a roommate at some point?? nancy’s not used to living solely on tips skmdjsnm

really tempted to call her dad like, “money me. money now.”

instead!! she’s started selling all the stuff that she stole from her mom. hit up her depop if you wanna dress like a middle-aged woman from manhattan xx

very much into high fantasy & horror

extremely social, which is a big part of why nancy loves partying, but she’s struggled to find an easier, chill middle ground since moving.

does not know how to keep her opinions to herself. brain to mouth filter has long since dissolved

is always smoking. even if she’s not LITERALLY holding a cigarette, rest assured, she’s mentally taking a drag

aaannnd, that’s all folks!! idk how much of this is actually coherent so please do bug me if you have questions or just wanna riff about charas. since nancy’s so fresh to silver lake, she could use every connection under the sun & tbh i really love randomly throwing muses into the thick of it without much context too, so i have no qualms about goin’ in blind.

#slintro #drug abuse tw #addiction tw #if u like this post i WILL harass you 4 threads

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interesting-blog-name · 4 years

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“Indie Rock” MEGAREVIEW (Hippo Campus - Bashful Creatures/Bad Suns - Language & Perspective/COIN - How Will You Know If You Never Try)

“Indie rock” is a term I never understood. It obviously should be used to describe rock by independent bands, but what counts as independent anymore? Bands like Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse are categorized as “indie”, much like Mac DeMarco, and they have reached a point in their careers of worldwide fame, but they’re still considered “indie”, not because they record their music at home with a $15 mic, but because of their sound. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a light brand of rock that has undistorted guitars, pop structures, and something of a Summer vibe to them. I really don’t know how to technically describe indie rock as a genre, but I have yet to listen to an indie rock album, so I got three short albums from bands that my some of my friends listen to, all under the “indie” umbrella (according to Wikipedia), to see if I actually like the style.

Hippo Campus – Bashful Creatures

It’s a solid EP. Not much more to say.

I really don’t know what to comment on in this, because I feel like the biggest problem with the “indie” “genre” is that the bands all sound the same, and for a 6-track EP, how much variety can you really ask for? Also considering this is their debut EP. The instrumentation is fine, especially the guitars, which I think really embody the whole summertime feel of the genre, and standout in almost all tracks here, and the singer’s voice is memorable enough, and doesn’t leave anything to be desired at any point. He’s also super hot The songwriting is that youthful, lovey dovey shit you’d hear in a teen romance movie (“Art school girl with ignorant bliss. Peace, weed, cocaine, and mushrooms and shit”) but it’s tolerable (except in Souls, that song’s chorus is a little too generic for me, I think; even though I like how the song starts kind of toned down and suddenly blows up). The closest the EP gets to having even the slightest bit of edge is on the title track, an anthem about not caring about what others think and being yourself, and Suicide Saturday, the biggest song in here, which talks about social suicide and college parties and all that. Unfortunately, they’re also the most forgettable songs.

Sophie So has a really catchy hook, and showcases Jake’s higher pitched vocals very well, it is easily my favorite song. On Little Grace, the biggest change-up is the dub rhythm that sneaks up in the middle of the song, but it doesn’t stand out, and the chorus is the most annoying in the EP. Opportunistic has a fast cadence to it that sets it apart a little bit, plus the guitar fingering is notable, but the track isn’t anything superb or whatever.

It is executed well, doesn’t bring anything new, but I’d listen to it in the car.

FAVORITE TRACK: Sophie So

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Bashful Creatures

Like a 6/10

“You came back, you wanted to see through my two-colored eyes. You left me at home with a handful of downtrodden sighs.”

Bad Suns – Language & Perspective

I had known Cardiac Arrest for almost three years now, an upbeat song I’d enjoyed a little, so I chose Bad Suns for the second album, and I was disappointed.

After the first three tracks, I had the feeling Language & Perspective had nothing interesting to offer, and I was mostly right. Nearly all songs here could be described as something like “indie-pop”, but with a huge emphasis on the “pop” aspect. The tracks are all so goddamn formulaic and predictable, songs like Take My Love and Run, Learn to Trust and We Move Like the Ocean sound like they literally copy-paste themselves halfway into them until they end, and Sleep Paralysis swaps what could be an actual verse with like 20 seconds of onomatopoeia. The song topics are generic and bland as well, most of them being about “[coming] to you on my hands and knees” and dreaming about an ex late at night and stuff like that, or general teenage anxiety and overthinking, and that would be tolerable if the band at least said it with some kind of variation, but they don’t, it’s just surface-level love and regret songs back to back.

An exception to the bland songwriting in the album is the song Salt, where lead singer Christo sings from the perspective of his transgender friend. I’m not trans, so I can’t relate nor understand if the lyrics are accurate, but the thing is he isn’t either. From the Genius annotations, it seems the friend was pleased though, and said the feelings expressed in the song were things she actually felt, but was never able to describe, so I guess that’s cool of him to dedicate a whole song to her experience. Still, unfortunately the track isn’t such a standout instrumentally or vocally, but one thing I liked was how the hook finishes at the end of the song, when “these memories are nothing to me, just salt” becomes “salt to the wound”, so yeah that was cool.

Language & Perspective is at its best when the hooks are catchy and you just don’t give a fuck. Songs like Cardiac Arrest, We Move Like the Ocean and Pretend are super easy to sing along to, and sound perfect for when you’re in a car driving against the sun (I know I said the exact same thing for the last album leave me alone), especially because of Bowman’s impressive singing, but without that thin veil of sugary pop, what does this album have that stands out? Matthew James, Take My Love and Run, Transpose (which sounds like it could be on a really corny Nike commercial) and Learn to Love just aren’t as memorable and fun, and so they end up coming off as generic, bland and at times annoying, just because they don’t hold up to the melodic fun little hooks on the other songs.

I can’t hate on Dancing on Quicksand and Rearview however, as even though the first’s lyrics aren’t standouts, I can’t help but love how groovy the song is, and the latter, while the melodies aren’t the most memorable here, the lyrics, to me, sound like they have a little more life and personality to them, even if they remain somewhat vague. I have to admit Sleep Paralysis is a mixed highlight for me, despite the lyrics being especially repetitive, just because of how grand the ending sounds and how the eerier chord progression brings at least something new to the album.

Also, really quick before I wrap it up, why the fuck is 20 Years not in the album? It’s in an EP they released the same year which features Cardiac Arrest, Transpose and Salt and it would easily be my favorite track if it was in the tracklist, maybe because it’s just really relatable to me how your teen years pass without you noticing, but it’s also so mellow and would bring such a refreshing little moment in the record.

My difficulties with this album is that I do like and see myself in the future bumping a lot of these songs individually, if I shut down a few parts of my brain and disregard half the lyrics, but when they’re all crumbled together into a project, their single qualities fade and their flaws unite to form a pretty unsatisfying listen; nearly all songs feel static, formulaic, and don’t progress or amount to much – which is pretty noticeable if you realize all songs span from 3:03 to 3:53 minutes - and the instrumentation brings almost nothing to the overall experience, it’s pretty much a backdrop for Bowman to sing his heart over, without much personality of its own. So while it’s not awful, it’s not good either.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Dancing on Quicksand, Rearview

LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: Learn to Trust, Take My Love and Run

4.7/10

“You let your hair down, your face is made up, you know this town so well”

COIN – How Will You Know If You Never Try

COIN is the least familiar band of the three here, as I’ve only heard Growing Pains from them and I don’t remember anything from the track, but as a quick intro, the band is from Nashville, Tennessee and consisted of 4 members: Chase Lawrence on vocals and synthesizer, Ryan Winnen on drums, Joe Memmel on guitar and backing vocals, and Zach Dyke on bass until he left two years ago.

After listening to the first three tracks of the album, my expectations were pretty high, but after finishing, I feel like this album is reminiscent of a poorly-heated microwave meal: the first three tracks are decreasingly good, the middle of the album is raw, and the last three go back to being increasingly good, with the only exception being the bright spot that is track 7, Heart Eyes, a romantic, entrancing little jam that I can’t help but love.

My big grip with HWYKIYNT is that, for 11 tracks, COIN doesn’t let go of the ear-destroying instrumental breakdowns (it’s not like it’s heavy metal or anything, but the mixing makes it sound like the guitars blow up at some points), tuned up guitars and formulaic song structures, and that leads to many tracks becoming rather forgettable amongst the others. There are, of course, exceptions, but they’re few and I’d say not well-located within the album: Don’t Cry, 2020 is the big standout in the album for me, and I fell in love with it first listen (the context of today being 2020 also helps, I guess), Boyfriend’s defining synth-line and bubblegum qualities make for a lot of enjoyment, especially paired with the light-hearted passive-aggressiveness and rejection on the lyrics, and Talk Too Much, their biggest song, has some cute little lyrics, and an ultra-pop hook that centers the whole song around it and is impossible not so sing along to; but immediately after, the album starts to slow down its hype with I Don’t Wanna Dance, which has an appealing vocal performance by Chase, and starts promisingly with the synths, but is too simple to go anywhere.

Hannah is probably the most forgettable song here, and brings absolutely nothing to the album, and Are We Alone?’s lyrics are cute and focused but really simplistic; in this song specifically, I think the breakdown the band employs right after the hook is really unnecessary, and the song would do better without it. After that is Heart Eyes, which I’ve mentioned before as one of my favorites, mostly because it tones it down a bit, something that really needed to happen at some point this deep into the record.

The song Lately II contains the hidden track Nothing Matters and deals with Chase losing his newborn nephew, a sequel to Lately off the band’s debut album. On the outside, it sounds like just another cheerful song, but the lyrics taken into context I’m sure are very meaningful to Chase and his family; besides that I enjoy the heavier drums in this track and the loose vocal melodies right after the chorus, plus the closing instrumentals are also a nice addition, but I don’t really understand the need to include a hidden track into it; I understand the themes are intertwined, but it could have very well been a separate track, and the way it is slightly harms the song when isolated from the album into, for example, a playlist or a one-time listen, but whatever.

I don’t have much to say about Feeling, it’s your average hype indie-rock track, something you’d maybe hear in a FIFA video game soundtrack, but to its credit, it doesn’t go overboard in itself, the vocals and guitar performances feel very grounded and safe, in a good way. And to finish this off, Miranda Beach brings some solid guitars to the table, they feel very textured and pierce through every other sound; the song is definitely one of the most infectious and ear-catching on here. Closing it all up, Malibu 1992 is the slow jam the album was in need of for 11 tracks. Very stripped back and patient compared to the rest of the song, which makes it stand out naturally, but that doesn’t mean the song is superb or anything, it’s just a refreshing taste.

Throughout a lot of the tracks here I was waiting for something more, a slightly different approach to a song, more introspective lyrics, but it never really came in a way that stood out, and because of that, the start of the album ends up more solid than the rest of it, in my opinion. It isn’t a bad album, but it isn’t amazing either. I feel it’s very derivative, the lyrics are not a standout, and while some songs may be bops, I don’t feel it is strong as a whole project.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Don’t Cry, 2020; Miranda Beach; Talk Too Much; Heart Eyes

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Hannah

I’m feeling a strong 5 to a light 6 on this one.

“You’re so concerned about your future, yeah, but tomorrow’s just another day.”

#hippo campus #bad suns #coin #indie rock #rock #bashful creatures #language & perspective #how will you know if you never try #album #review #album review #ep #EP Review #boring ass day

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years

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Punk Girl/Civil War Submission by The Wild West Pyro

Heyo, good morning/afternoon/evening/night

My friend on discord (The Wild West Pyro) had an absolutely mind-blowing theory concerning who the band ‘Punk’ Girl is, why she’s important to the story, and how she will lead to the rift in the Calypso Twins relationship. I don’t want to spoil anything for you guys, so I’m just going to dive right in.

(A majority of this will be directly from our conversation, with [some edits by me] to help with context and add in pictures.)

Here we go!

So we figured Punk Girl is in some way related to the CoV, or the cult in general, as she makes an appearance on what seems to be a cult-centric shirt on the gearboxloot instagram page (more credit to @ifalnasminiatures for providing me with this link!)

“Well, there are [a few] ways this could go:

Punk is linked to the COV and is intended to spread their message even further with the typical subliminal brainwashing thing. So they can broadcast outside of the planets the Cult has a presence on.

It’s a sore subject between the Twins, but one they hide rather well. The girl is related to them, she’s just considered by one of them as “that disgrace who refused to reclaim the birthright and ran off to join a band instead, ugh.”

She’s a band that works for the Cult sometimes. But in fact, she’s the eyes and ears of the Alliance within the Cult. Best of all is that she’s directly related to the Twins. Secretly, she disapproves of what they’re doing, but she’s the Alliance’s best hope of what’s going on.”

[That last one is the one he goes over the most, and it’s super interesting.]

“The Twins never suspect that the spy was in fact the one closest to their hearts.”

[my response: It would explain why there are no other bosses on the MoM that we know of (excluding the twins bc those are guaranteed), because she’s never going to become a fight even tho she looks the part]

“Also, [regarding] the last bit of your post, it’s just asking for a sidequest where it’s revealed that all the Gen 3.0 VHs known how to play some sick bass.

Punk Girl: ‘Hey, my bass guy is sick, can you take over?’

Zane: ‘FECK YEAH’”

[We talk a bit here about a Scott Pilgrim-esque Battle of the Bands, with Mr. Torgue as the competition, so there’s a bit of a transition that’s missing.]

“Hey, you know how Athena encrypted her messages between Engorge commercials? Punk Girl cleverly hides her messages in her music or backmasking. That’s how she sends her info to the Vault Hunters.

The twins never suspect a thing, and when she finally reveals she’s been working for Lilith, they’re genuinely shocked- and then the rift develops. One sibling would want to protect the girl, the other would want to punish her. The twins seem extremely close, so I personally feel it’d be odd if one of them up and betrayed the other [without outside influence].

It would be a great twist, too. Jack always had something planned out to trip up the Vault Hunters. But Lilith has learned much within these seven years. It turns out, Lilith is far better at pulling the strings than we ever thought Tyreen was.

Also, when Punk Girl reveals that she’s a spy for the Alliance (likely mid-game), this happens:

Tyreen screaming “YOU BITCH” amongst other horrible things and ECHOing up Punk Girl to verbally abuse her for hours, which continues through the rest of the game.

Troy trying to gently persuade his youngest sister to “Please come back” and “I don’t want to kill you”, attempting to smooth-talk her back into supporting the Cult. He keeps on ECHOing her gift baskets.

The twins arguing with each other over the fate of Punk Girl. Which, if done right, could potentially lead to a civil war within the Cult…

And to think it was all over a nice girl in a cool band.

Of course, both Troy and Tyreen are trying to kill the Alliance still, they’re just now divided over the fate of the girl and who’s gonna get the power of the vaults.

Which would add a human layer to it all- in the end, it’s just two selfish children squabbling over some big, universe-shattering toys. Albeit with billions of lives ended in the crossfire.

The war predicted by the Watcher was terrible. Zarpedon said so as well.

And, honestly, nothing’s more brutal and vicious than a civil war several galaxies-wide.”

[It was at this point that I absolutely lost my shit (in a good way) bc goddamn bro]

“Ideally, Tyreen goes out of her way to harass, demean and try to ruin poor Punk Girl’s life, and the [Crimson Raider] Alliance have to help her stand emotionally as Punk Girl undergoes a truly horrible campaign of cyberbullying, physical assault, very violent death threats and actual attacks on her band members. Tyreen mobilizes all her loyal followers to just try to hurt Punk Girl on whatever way they can.

Troy is a little different. He’s supposed to represent the streamer who manipulates fans into giving him what he wants, or scams folks by pretending to be disabled or whatever. Or the handsome fellow who’s a total self-centered jackass on the inside, but charms many people’s hearts nonetheless. So he tries to subtly brainwash Punk Girl into returning over to the Cult, and sweet-talking her to try and get her back on his sides. He’s like the caring, warm big brother on the surface, but really he just wants a new loyal sibling at his side, someone he can control far more easily. Troy’s promises are extremely alluring, his followers appear to be proposing an alliance with the Raiders (which Lilith refuses at all costs) and it’s going to be difficult for Punk Girl to resist his brainwashing techniques and honeyed words.

Basically, protect Lilith’s most treasured and loyal agent, including asking out Atlas and maybe other friendly corporations for favors to protect Punk Girl and her bodyguards (the new VHs). Bonus points if Punk Girl really is a latent Siren or something, and her power has to be safeguarded.”

[So, we know the unknown Sirens (there are two atm) are, if we understand Siren powers correctly: 12 and 7 at the time of bl3.

HOWEVER. It’s been stated by Danny Homan that there are multiple ways for someone to receive Siren powers:

The most important part of this exchange is the idea that, in universe, somehow, existing people can become Sirens. Now, I am not sure if this is solely through other Siren powers (Tyreen), or Vault bullshitery, or if they just wake up one day with the tattoos, but according to Homan, it’s definitely possible. In fact, I would go so far as to say the writers are keeping things intentionally vague for this reason.

What I’m trying to reason here is that even if Punk Girl is older than 12 or 7 (odds are she is, if she’s in a band!), she could still be a Siren, just that she got her powers at a later age, like 11 or so, meaning she’d be about 23 or 18 in BL3, respectively]

“If Angel does return, and Punk Girl is going through utter hell thanks to the twins, Angel will be the finest confidant and greatest friend she’ll ever have. Angel went through similar treatment at the hands of Jack, and she’s not going to let another girl with wings get hurt again.

I mean, most of Punk Girl’s story arc would be heartbreaking, as it really seems like the Twins have fully turned their wrath on her rather than Lilith and the Alliance. Luckily, the Vault Hunters are there to act as her shield. Like, whenever you pass her in the ship, your character can give a random line of encouragement in the really tough times she’s going through, or something like that.

And if Punk Girl turns out to be the final Siren after all, Lilith, Angel, and Maya would all ensure that she’d never be hurt like they were in the past.

As the abuse Punk Girl would be receiving is from her own blood relations, [it] would be far more painful for someone to experience.

Now, for how the corporations may get involved, they’ll probably just start by trying to exploit this new galactic-wide civil war (especially as it’s hinted that the Twins do mass brainwashing or something [in the] Psycho character guide), then throwing each others’ armies at their rivals in support of one Twin or another. Although I’d imagine that Atlas and maybe Jakobs would stay out of it. [In addition], the Hyperion analyst in Moze’s ECHO from Commander Lily has dialogue that implies that all the corporations are preparing in case a Second Corporate War breaks out, since the first one essentially made the BL universe what it is now.

There we go, we have the war set up, as entire populations turn on each other, having become psychos pledging undying loyalty to one of the Twins. It’s going to be a mess.

[To end] on a comical level:

Maya: (hugging both [Ava and Punk Girl]) I love my dumpster children.

[Also:]

Tyreen, with this red background and thrash metal playing in the background and “angry war face” makeup: HEY MY WHORE OF A LITTLE SISTER, YOU ARE A [insert hate speech from evil liverstreamer gremlin here].

Troy, in a fancy suit and in a warm armchair with a fireplace roaring behind him: Hello, little sister. You remember the time we played at the beach together? Well… [insert sentimental tale of sibling love and fun here that is really a thinly veiled plea to rejoin the Cult].

That’s it, that’s both their streams from that point on.”

[I don’t have much to add, to be honest. This was great.

I love the whole thing, all the way down to his characterization of everyone involved. I can totally see Tyreen being the loud, explosive one out of the two, with Troy being quieter, but far more manipulative. I think it would contrast nicely with their designs and what people might be expecting from them, especially with how Troy is the big one with his cybernetics and always scowling, and Tyreen is shorter, always smirking and looking like she’s in control. It’d be so funny to see those two roles reversed and I really, really hope that’s the plan. Especially after the reveal that Troy is the one with the braincell lmao.

The idea that this small incident could end up causing a huge, brutal war, not just between the twins, but the corporations as well, is great. We know the Watcher claims ‘war is coming’, and this would help explain what we should expect. It would be very interesting if we needed to pick a side of aid at the start of the fight (i do imagine this will be Troy if The Wild West Pyro’s characterization of the twins is true), then turn on that side once the other is eliminated.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I do!! Massive credit to The Wild West Pyro for literally all of it. It was a really fun read.]

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #the calypso twins #mystery punk girl #punk girl

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buttboyfilms-blog · 7 years

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thoughts on the BIRDS!

whats new buttheads!

bout to do another post! currently x men: wolverine origins or sum shit is playing in the background. super loud. are these movies well regarded? also just watched the new riverdale but that’s a whole other can of worms.

i am in a really bad class on a really cool subject! it is called “film as a mass medium” but we only talk about adaptation but on like a really boring redundant surface level? so like we read the books then watch the movies or what have you. and then in class it’s just like what DEFINES a nested narrator, medium specificity, and all this lame fucking shit! however, we wrote midterm essays last week and i had fun writing this thing on daphne du maurier’s novelette The Birds (1952) and Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 adaptation with Tippi Hedren.

I wrote it very very quickly and was late handing it in so my thoughts are kind of a little bit scattered but i think i wrote some cool things too. also the citations are like most definitely fucked up but.... whatevs. i think i was probably supposed to talk more a/b like what entailed the changes in the narrative in the adaptation with regards to like medium specificity or some shit like that but lol no thank u sir!

the essay q was about like causalities for the phenomenon of the birds and like whether there was 1 and did it matter in the first place

Bombings, Bombshells, and Postwar Disintegrations of Order

Allegories of Chaos in The Birds (1952, 1963)

World War II represented, in midcentury thought, a break in conventional standards of morality, stability, and order. While no single, cohesive Copernican shift can be perceived amidst the proliferation of postmodern discourse, responses to the rapidly changing world articulated confusion, dread, and excitement for a society in flux (Sim). In both Daphne du Maurier’s 1952 novelette, The Birds, and Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film adaptation of the same title, the phenomenon of the bird attacks is given no rational explanation in the narrative, but the ensuing descents into chaos in both works allegorically reflect popular anxieties of the two works’ respective contexts. Du Maurier’s novelette, written a mere seven years after the Allied victory in World War II, offers a figurative reimagining of the 1940 German Blitzkrieg attackson London, focusing on a disintegration of community and psychological stability in rural England. Hitchcock’s film adaptation, on the other hand, produced ten years after du Maurier’s, and operating in an American Hollywood context, is also intentionally ambiguous in terms of a credible diegetic cause for the attacks in Bodega Bay. However, the film’s collapse of small town life, and its attendant conservative values, can be attributed to the arrival of Melanie Daniels, whose character embodies an empowered, urban concept of femininity, a new fixture of the 1960s with the rise of second wave feminism. Du Maurier’s source material and Hitchcock’s film adaptation effectively unsettled viewers at their times of production due to their reflections of relevant anxieties, reaching backwards, forwards, and across oceans for inspiration.

The premise of du Maurier’s novelette, namely, the sudden plagues of violent birds suddenly descending upon England, proceeds in the narrative without being granted a credible cause, although various causes are speculated. At times, Nat declares that the birds must be foreign to the land, descended from “upcountry” (du Maurier 4), claims their violence was incited by “fright” (du Maurier 5), and repeatedly blames the circumstances on weather, while Jim posits that perhaps they were hungry (du Maurier 7), and the national news suggests a vague relationship to the “Arctic airstream,” (du Maurier 9). The townspeople at first doubt the legitimacy of Nat’s story after the first night, laughing at him and planning to shoot the birds away. Daphne du Maurier’s characters in the novelette are fraught with this persistent confusion and misinformation. Nat, in his grave stoicism and “solitary disposition” (du Maurier 1), is viewed by the townspeople he encounters as an alarmist and a drunk (du Maurier 6). As the narrative proceeds to legitimize the phenomenon for the general public, with national news broadcasts declaring emergencies and the deaths of secondary characters, Nat’s wary perspective is likewise given credence. His character becomes the voice of reason, as opposed to an imaginative farmhand. This moment of transition in his character arc, coincidentally occurring once all characters apart from his immediate family have receded from the narrative, marks a shift toward recognition of the birds as analogous to a previous event in recent history, the air raids carried out by the Germans in 1940.

The Blitz, a principal event in the Battle of Britain, wreaked havoc across the nation for a duration between four and thirteen months, depending on the historical source. Concentrated in London, targeting the Royal Air Force base, the violence extended across the nation. The Nazi forces (Luftwaffe) sought to destroy British infrastructure with a particular inclination toward buildings related to the war effort. Although the Luftwaffe was technically indoctrinated against targeting civilians, the large scale bombings made civilian casualties unavoidable. Britain would go on to win a decisive victory, rebuffing the onslaught of German bombings, but the widespread destruction of infrastructure and civilian casualties would leave behind a legacy of psychological trauma (Overy).

Du Maurier’s novelette proceeds quickly towards its premise, revealing little of its characters’ previous. However, a crucial fact is given concerning the protagonist, Nat, and his personal history. This insight serves to explicate Nat’s employment: “(he), because of a wartime disability, had a pension and did not work full time…” (du Maurier 1). Nat’s status as a military veteran is essential to the film’s wartime allegory. Written in 1952, it can be assumed that the story’s protagonist is a veteran of WWII, and, particularly due to his being injured in the conflict, would be a likely victim of lingering psychological effects of the extreme violence, perhaps even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Overy). While this psychological trauma is never directly addressed in the narrative, Nat’s psychological states are the subject of much narration throughout. His aforementioned preference for solitude, despite being a married man, is a general indicator of instability, as well as the townspeople’s initial hesitance to take his story about the bird attacks at face value, and the children’s laughing at his seemingly bizarre behavior at the bus stop (du Maurier 13).

As previously mentioned, although Nat’s status as an unsociable, disabled war veteran leads the townspeople to initially view his warlike stories about the birds with skepticism, after his tales are legitimized publically, and related metaphorically to the Blitz, his seasoned perspective is privileged as useful to himself and others. His instincts for danger, presumably gained in war, are addressed in description of Nat’s experience the night of the first attacks: “(Nat) leaned closer to the back of his sleeping wife, and stayed wakeful, watchful, aware of misgiving without cause,” (du Maurier 2). Although the reader is privileged much insight into Nat’s heightened sense of awareness for the impending crisis, it is not until the bird attacks are metaphorically linked to the Battle of Britain that Nat becomes the narrative’s lone safeguard against total destruction. He later ponders: “It was … like the air raids in the war. No one down this end of the country knew what the Plymouth folk had seen and suffered. You had to endure something before it touched you,” (du Maurier 7). As the bird attacks increase in severity and scale, Nat’s wealth of wartime knowledge proves progressively more valuable. His history with the Battle is emphasized throughout the narrative, and renders him more equipped to deal with the similar psychological effects caused by the birds’ torments. Akin to Plymouth, devastated repeatedly by the Blitz, the story’s location in Cornwall is a coastal archipelago. Likewise, the effects underwent by Nat, his family, and the other townspeople are comparable to the experiences of Plymouth civilians during the Blitz. The farmer relays that he heard a rumour implicating Russian culprits, “They’re saying in town the Russians have done it. The Russians have poisoned the birds,” (du Maurier 15). While this conjecture is given no credibility, it is reflective of the early Cold War anxieties rising to prominence in the 1950s. Nat understands that isolation from urban centres renders rural communities more vulnerable but also safer in their remoteness. He declares: “...whatever ‘they’ decided to do in London and the big cities would not help the people here, three hundred miles away,” (du Maurier 11). The uncertainty, lack of reliable vital information, disconnect from federal government, paranoia, and incessant posturing of false intelligence underwent by the citizens of Cornwall are all conspicuously reminiscent of the psychological effects of air raids on citizenry during WWII (Overy). Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds gives no narrative explanation for the violent phenomenon of the bird attacks. Instead, the novelette seeks to expose the futility of rationally explaining such senseless violence. The work’s allegorical connection to the Battle of Britain culminates in no triumphant, patriotic resolution for England. Rather, it uses the imaginative framework of the bird attacks to explore the necessity of remembering the past when confronting the future, particularly in the face of inexplicably collapsed order. Concern for the cause of the phenomenon is thus subordinated to the need for informed pragmatism in mediating consequences, gained by remembrance of history.

Akin to its literary antecedent, Alfred Hitchcock’s film narrative likewise eschews a scientific causal force behind the bird attacks. Rather than the conjectural answers with which the citizens of Cornwall seek to rationalize the arrival of the birds, however, some people of Bodega Bay initially engage in incredulous denial, whereas others simply seek to mitigate without questioning. The denial is exemplified in the confrontation, beginning at 1:16:32, between Melanie Daniels and ornithologist Mrs. Bundy, who refuses to believe that such harmless creatures as birds could be responsible for the apparent violence. She declares, with an air of cold, scientific superiority: “Birds are not aggressive creatures miss, they bring beauty into the world. It is mankind, rather, who insists upon making it difficult for life to exist upon this planet,” (Hitchcock). Aside from this scene, occurring mere minutes before the largest bird attack yet witnessed, the characters of Hitchcock’s adaptation are largely preoccupied with mitigation rather than rationalizing or verifying, and thus the subject is given little direct attention. Another such example, however, in which a character is overtly concerned with causality, gives insight into the film’s larger allegory. The sequence beginning at 1:28:39, with the hysterical mother’s confrontation of Melanie, opens the door to the film’s complex response to modern femininity. The mother rants through tears: “Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you’re the cause of all this, I think you’re evil,” (Hitchcock). There is a degree of credibility to her reading of the coinciding of the bird attacks and Melanie’s arrival in Bodega Bay, although it goes unacknowledged by any other characters.

The arrival of Melanie is tied to the phenomenon of the birds, if only by coincidence, which consequentially links her presence to the disintegration of small town insularity and stability. She repeatedly butts heads with the conservative townspeople of Bodega Bay, most notably in the aforementioned instances, with the elderly, vaguely aristocratic British ornithologist, and the overly concerned, borderline hysterical accusing mother. The conflict of Melanie versus Bodega Bay is heightened to the level of political allegory by the conflation of her character with an urban concept of postmodern, liberated femininity (Burkett) in opposition to the more conservative values of the small town. As she further penetrates into the community (first to drop off lovebirds, next to stay with Annie, then to attend the birthday party, etc.), and her relationship with Mitch develops, the attacks intensify. Although the viewer is given little background information on Melanie’s character, Mitch reveals in the opening scene that she has been in court for counts of vaguely mischievous activity, and later that her wayward behavior in Rome had been the subject of popular gossip. He accuses her, “The truth is you’re running around with a pretty wild crowd...” (Hitchcock). Melanie Daniel’s character is known to the townspeople, including Lydia, as an unruly, even immoral, product of urban living. She stands in for the controversial rise of second wave feminism in the 1960s. The feminist thought of Hitchcock’s time placed revelatory emphasis on women’s sexual liberty and equal treatment in the workplace (Burkett). These radical changes in postmodern concepts of femininity were not met without resistance from conservative voices, and the polarization helped to shape the urban/rural bipartisan divide. Melanie’s own embodiment of the new iteration of feminist thought takes the shape of her own activities in the workplace, and her allegedly nude misbehavior in Rome. The violence that the birds bring to Bodega Bay ensues from the sewing of Melanie, a modern, empowered woman, into a small town, conservative community.

Mitch’s role in this process, however, may not be understated. He trivializes her experience with empowered femininity, chastising her unruly behavior while laughing at her occupational status. From the first scene, he exercises domineering power over Melanie. He tricks her at the pet store, invites her to dinner, asks her to stay the first night and subsequently schemes to get her to attend his sister’s birthday party, despite her insistent protests to return to San Francisco. His sentiment in this evident containment of Melanie’s strong femininity is illuminated in a line from the first scene. After ensnaring an escaped canary in his fedora, an antiquated signifier of dominant masculinity, he mysteriously says: “Back in your gilded cage, Melanie Daniels,” (Hitchcock). In defiance of both the dangers posed by his hometown’s ornithological predators, as well as Melanie’s own wishes, Mitch chooses to not only remain in Bodega Bay himself but to also contain Melanie in the hostile context, and eventually he literally seals her, along with his mother and daughter, in his childhood home. Throughout the film, Mitch Brenner connives to contain Melanie, with her empowered femininity, within a context both physically and figuratively inhospitable to her. She is only allowed to escape once she has been nearly killed by the birds upstairs, in an essentially suicidal decision which reads as an attempted martyrdom for second wave feminists. Surviving the onslaught, the family and Melanie evacuate Bodega Bay, driving through droves of stationary birds towards a distant sun peering through the clouds, evocative of the precarious balance and peace between rural and urban moral divisions, perpetually on the brink of violence.

In collective social consciousness, the unprecedented violence of World War II heralded a new age of ontological uncertainty. Responses to this historical rupture ranged from a newfound hope in the dismantling of oppressive societal conventions, to a fear for the violent potential of mankind. Produced nine years apart, Daphne du Maurier’s novelette, The Birds and Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation seek to depict a senseless breakdown of natural order, signified by the bird attacks. Whereas du Maurier’s literary antecedent represents the psychological implications of aerial warfare seen previously in the Battle of Britain, Hitchcock’s adaptation posits the disintegration of order as being inextricably tied to the collision of rural conservatism and the urban feminism of the 1960s. In neither film nor novelette is the phenomenon of the attacking birds given credible causal explanation, as both works question the human impulse to rationalize senseless violence.

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