#addison mongomery imagine

[oxyfilmidentity-fa23]

Race in the Imaginary: Nowhere (1997) dir. Gregg Araki

"L.A. is like... nowhere. Everybody who lives here is lost. " -The opening quote of Nowhere

"In general, these films worry that the most violent and degraded acts are possible to those who do not inhabit a home or homeland." -Helen Addison Smith, "E.T. Go Home: Indigeneity, Multiculturalism and ‘Homeland’ in Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema"

Gregg Araki describes his film Nowhere as "Beverly Hills 90210" on acid. Nowhere follows a number of uniquely-named, all somewhat inter-connected teenagers (Lucifer, Dingbat, Egg, Jujyfruit...) in Los Angeles over the course of one day as they engage in an aimless cocktail of drugs, sex, polyamory, BDSM, and parties. The world of the film is in constant flux between reality and fantasy (and it is very, very, very queer). Everything is extremely heightened: there are lengthy, gratuitous sex scenes, a seemingly unlimited access to space, an abundance of drugs, and vast, artistic bedrooms that real teens would only dream of.

In my interpretation, the film's world is an external representation of the teens' imaginations and their feelings of an endless, indestructible youth. While this world is a step above reality for the viewer, it is real to the characters. However, this overindulgence is not without it's consequences. The first half of the film is a sort of queer, sex-positive utopia seemingly free of prejudice in which the teens can have sex with whoever they want, go wherever they want, and so on. This all seems to crumble in the second half of the film, as the teens' endless consumption unravels into overdose, sexual assault, suicide, violent fights, and broken hearts. Araki does not seem to be prudish or critical of this queer nomadic lifestyle, though. He seems to posit that this imaginative world is sadly incompatible with the "real world" of capitalist society at the turn of the century.

Now for the sci-fi. Unbeknownst to every character except Dark, the day on which this film takes place is sort of Judgement Day; the last "normal" day before aliens come to take over the planet.

Dark is the main character of the film, and offers some narration through diary entries and videos he takes of himself and his friends. He is played by James Duvall, a multiracial actor. Dark becomes increasingly unhappier as his girlfriend Mel spends more and more time with her girlfriend Lucifer, who he hates. He grows weary of their indulgence sexually-open arrangement, simply wanting to fall in love and be committed to one person that will anchor him in a world he feels lost in. As he gets more disconnected from Mel, he finds himself infatuated with Mongomery, a boy who goes to school with the teens but who Dark knows little about.

At the same time as Dark's discontent with his lifestyle grows and he finds himself falling in love with Montgomery, he sees a bunch of giant alien creatures roaming around the city, abducting people. Dark is the only character able to see these aliens, which seems to be no coincidence alongside the fact that he is the only character verbalizing any anxiety about the future and the teens' lifestyle. In one diary entry, he says: "I feel like I’m sinking deeper and deeper into quicksand, watching everyone around me die a slow, agonizing death. It’s like we all know, way down in our souls, that our generation is gonna witness the end of everything. You can see it in our eyes."

In the final scene of the film, Dark returns home after an empty night of partying and a fight with Mel. Montgomery appears at his window and tells Dark that he was abducted and tested on by the aliens. The two boys lie together on Dark's bed and confess their love, promising to never leave each other. Just when it seems like Dark has found what he has been longing for, Montgomery goes into a violent coughing fit and explodes, leaving a bug-like alien in his place that crawls out of Dark's room, and the movie ends.

While the aliens in Nowhere are not necessarily representative of a racialized Other according Addison Smith's analysis of Sci-Fi films, the impending doom of an alien invasion and Dark's isolating anxiety is quite in line with Addison-Smith's reading of home and homeland. Araki's identity as Japanese-American director and Duvall's as a multiracial American actor are factors in this reading of the film. Since this film is thus told from a mixed/multiracial perspective, the its anxiety is not surrounding the (white/Western) fear of "losing" a home to outsiders, but the fear of not belonging to any one home in the first place.

Addison-Smith writes:

"For many people in self-avowedly multicultural nations such as the United States, their status as migrants, be it forced or economic, recent or later generational, means that 'home’ has become a complex, multiple and sometimes fraught notion. That such multiple belongings to place is not confined to recent migrants can most immediately be seen in the labelling of many ethnic groups through the joining of two place names (African—AmericanJapanese-American)" (28).

Araki uses Los Angeles as an unstable home in this film (note the opening quote at the top of this post). He plays upon the notions of transplants to the city, and the stereotypes that the city and its inhabitants are vain and superficial. The characters move throughout the city at will, with no connection to any particular space. Actual homes are places of confinement and depression (both the suicides in the film occur in character's bedrooms).

I read that Dark's ability to see the aliens is a representation of his sense of displacement and anxiety for the future. When Montgomery enters his room and the two share an extremely intimate, tender moment, his room finally begins to feel like home, rather than its previous role as a space for his lonesome brooding and masturbation. But when Montgomery explodes as is replaced by an alien, Dark's vision of home and someone to share it with also figuratively blows up in his face; home feels impossible.

Finally, Montgomery's objectification by Dark's infatuation and his identity as a white queer man seem to be an inversion of both romance and Sci-Fi tropes. Montgomery seems to occupy both the role of the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" in Dark's desire to be saved by him, and the racialized alien Other in his mysteriousness and his constant affiliation with the aliens. Addison-Smith writes, "An alien is easy to identify, and particular judgements about them are thus easily drawn from their appearance alone, so rooting their ‘racial nature' in their biology" (27). Montgomery definitely stands out in this world. He has different colored eyes, is always dressed in white, appears to Dark miraculously by a sign that reads "God help me," and, unlike very other character, is quiet and keeps to himself. He is alien and even an angelic figure to Dark, a unique representation against Addison-Smith's notions of the racialized alien as either invader or teacher.

The entire movie Nowhere is on Youtube! I think it's really great, but there's a ton of trigger warnings (sexual assault, drug abuse, suicide, eating disorders, physical assault, gore). The quality is also very bad. Proceed with caution.

#oxyfilmidentity #@theuncannyprofessoro #Youtube

[fictionalwh0ree]

hospital visit- addison montgomery

summary: it’s your birthday but you’re stuck in hospital after surgery. luckily, addison is there to make your day better

word count: 587

warnings: pregnancy, mentions of surgery

pairing: addison montgomery x afab!reader

a/n: this is my submission for @sweetprentiss birthday bingo!

your eyes fluttered open to the rhythmic beeping of your heart monitor, still groggy from surgery. you glanced around the bland hospital room, discovering it empty, just how it was when you had gone under. you sighed, placing your hand on your bloated bump where your baby would be residing for the next couple weeks seeing as the surgery went well. you looked at the time, 4:17 am.

great. stuck in a hospital alone for my birthday, you thought as you threw your head back in annoyance.

you’d been in and out of the hospital for weeks after discovering an issue with your baby. thankfully, your doctor, dr. montgomery, said it was an easy fix and if all went well, you and your baby would make a speedy recovery. you were lucky to have a doctor as good as her. she was not only a good surgeon, but she also took the time out of her day to come talk to you. you often found yourself thinking about her, but that was only natural considering she was one of the only people you’d see everyday, right?

you sighed once again, bringing your focus back to the real world. you looked over at the doorway, where someone was leaning, your heart rate spiking for a second before you recognized the shadow as dr. montgomery.

“dr. montgomery, what’re you doing here?” you asked, your voice raspy from not having used it for a while.

“i just got out of a surgery, i thought i’d come check in on my favourite patient,” she joked, taking a seat next to you.

“aww,” you said, throwing your hands over your heart.

“happy birthday,” she said, taking you by surprise.

“how’d you know?” you asked.

“it’s on your chart,” she laughed, holding the clipboard up for you to see.

“oh,” you smiled.

“i hope you don’t mind, i got you something,” she spoke gently, handing you a small bag that she had hidden under your bed.

“you didn’t have to,” you smiled.

you carefully took the paper out to reveal a box of chocolates and a small teddy bear.

“the bear’s for the, um, baby,” she began, her cheeks slowly turning red, “and you can eat the chocolate in a couple days, gives you something to look forward to.”

“thank you,” you said, sitting up slightly and opening your arms for her to hug you, which she did.

when you pulled apart, her cheeks were very flushed and she was awkwardly diverting her eyes from you. she cleared her throat, trying to get rid of some of the new tension.

“it’s really good chocolate,” she said, her voice weak.

“not that i had any of that one. i’ve eaten it before, my own box. wait, i- i didn’t buy it for myself, that would be kind of sad, i had it given to me and i liked it so i bought one for you because you told me you loved chocolate. so, um,” she stuttered nervously, fidgeting with her fingers.

“thank you, dr. montgomery. i appreciate it,” you said, beginning to get all mushy from the attention (and hormones).

“please, call me addison,” she said.

“okay, addison,” you said, as if testing how the word sounded coming out of your mouth.

“i have to ask, do you do this for all your patients?” you asked.

“just my favourite,” she winked, causing you to laugh.

you opened your arms again, and she leaned in to give you a hug, though she was careful not to hurt you. just as she pulled away, you grabbed ahold of her shirt and pulled her towards you. your lips collided and at first she seemed shocked but quickly reciprocated the action. she put her hands on your cheeks to deepen the kiss for a moment before pulling away.

“isn’t there some kind of rule against doctor-patient stuff?” you laughed, now realizing what you had done.

“maybe, but you won’t be my patient in a couple days,” she shrugged, a smile adorning her features.

she placed a short kiss on your lips before getting up and leaving. she stopped right at the doorframe and turned around to face you once more.

“i’ll come check in on you again later, kay?”

--

taglist: @bytheseangie

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