On today's "I am SO not normal about Dead Friend Forever": Discussing Catholicism and Colonization in this gay Thai slasher series
Some background on me: I am from a Latine Catholic family. Raised as a non-practicing Catholic (we didn't go to church or pray). Then my parents enrolled me in a Catholic school that I attended from 5th grade to the end of 7th grade. Today, I am not Catholic and have never really considered myself as such.
Ok, so in the flashback episodes of DFF, I have been noticing a lot of things. My findings under the cut.
Let's start with this crucifix and photo of the Virgin Mary and a baby Jesus.
Screenshot from ep. 5.
The camera lingers here a bit so we're obviously meant to pay attention to the phrase. I put the screenshot through Google translate's image translator and the translation it gave me was, "Think good, do good, be a good person." I didn't think much of it when I first watched the episode other than it was supposed to establish that the boys attend a Christian or Catholic school.
But then there was this image posted on Be On Cloud's Instagram (also from ep. 5): X
Zooming in, we can see there's another picture of Mary in the background. Watching the classroom scenes, it's easy to miss because the series itself is more washed out than the official photos posted. But this emphasis on Mary led me to believe the school is a Catholic one. So out of curiosity, I looked up the schools the writers and directors attended because I felt I was onto something here. And boy, was I!
Source: MDL
Ma-Deaw, if you didn't know, is one of the directors of Dead Friend Forever (he also directed Manner of Death and Inhuman Kiss , and lots of other things).
One Google search later (X) and I learned "Montfort College" is a Catholic school. It started out as a primary school that later added a secondary school as well.
Now let's take a closer look at some of the details of this school:
First, the school's motto "Labor Conquers All Things". This reminded me of the phone conversation Tee had with his uncle:
On my first watch, this sounded familiar to me but I couldn't really place why. It wasn't until I saw this other Tumblr post (X) that pointed out it's similar to a bible quote from the New Testament. The quote varies a bit depending on which version of the bible you're using but it's along the lines of, "He who does not work, neither shall he eat".
This is meant to discourage "laziness". Nevermind the fact that people deserve to eat simply because we get hungry and need food to survive. The idea that we only "deserve" things based on productivity is an extremely colonial one. โ Reminder also that Tee is being forced into this "work" in the first place. He's just a high school kid. I don't need to like his character to understand how fucked up his situation is.
Then there's the patron of the school. St. Louis de Montfort was a French Catholic priest most known for his study in Mariology. What is Mariology (X)? The study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I didn't know that was a thing but it's unsurprising considering how prominent images of Mary were in my own religious upbringing. And she's what started me down this rabbit hole in the first place. Mary is a big deal to the Catholics. I'm going to be paying even more attention now if more Mary imagery pops up.
The Garden of Eden and Original Sin
Now I want to draw attention to these images:
Screenshots from ep. 7
Here we have Non and Phee biting into an apple as they leisure around this lush green field. We know they've visited this location more than once because they're wearing different outfits in the screenshots. And I think it's important to note that it's Phee holding the apple and offering it to Non.
The use of the word "bait" in the bts of ep. 7 is quite interesting too. (X)
The Garden of Eden was the paradise in which Adam and Eve resided. In this garden, there were many trees to eat from. The one tree Adam and Eve were forbidden by God to eat from was the Tree of Knowledge. A serpent (Satan), first tempted Eve into taking from the tree to eat it's fruit. And then Eve gave the fruit to Adam. That is Original Sin. And because Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, all humans thereafter are born sinful and bad, and can only find salvation through God.
Of course in the scene between Phee and Non, the sin the apple represents is being gay. And it's after this, and after the bracelet scene, that Non becomes involved with Por's film and his tragedy begins.
Zoomed in screenshot from ep. 5
And I wonder if the bracelet scene is the last time Phee and Non visit this forest location. It would parallel how Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden once they sinned.
Final Thoughts
You give me a story that criticizes Western religion and how it's used as a tool for oppression and colonization, and I'm gonna eat that shit up. I am gonna eat it up. Every. Single. Time.
I really wasn't expecting anything like this from Dead Friend Forever. This level in attention to detail is unmatched. I don't think I've watched a more well planned out show. And no matter where DFF goes from here, these seven episodes will always hold a special place in my heart. ๐
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Hi, I want to thank you for writing for black girls, it's so hard to find fics with black!reader, mostly on F1 tags so, thank you so much ๐
You're welcome and I am absolutely terribly sorry it took me this long to respond to this lovely message. ๐ฅฒ๐ฅฒ I appreciate it so much. I am just glad that I have been able to add to the great fics that were already under those tags like @saintslewis and @thisismeracing (I love these two so much. I'm their biggest fan ๐ฅน๐ฅน). Thank you, thank you, thank you, bby.
Ans you can talk to me any time โบ๏ธ (All of you can. Just be patient with me i kinda suck as a conversationalist and I get a little nervous. ๐ฌ๐)
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Have I ever told you about my first indirect interaction with this fandom?
It was years ago, I was very much into watching animes back then and I somehow came across a huge thread here on tumblr or twitter and people were talking about how toxic the Hannibal fandom is.
So little me had that idea imprinted on my brain for years and every time i would hear about Hannibal I would be like "i've heard that's so toxic urgh"
Well i couldn't be more wrong and those people couldn't be more wrong cause it's literally the healthiest fandom I have been in. It's not my first rodeo but it's the first that it's healthy.
Does the show have a lot of red flags? Hell yeah, what are you gonna do about it, cannibalism is flavorful and not for everyone
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my mother legit didnโt even ask how i was doing or anything like that once i got home from avoiding both houses all day. I legit just sit in Dunkin' all day. (they donโt care, i asked)
My mother is really irritating. She doesnโt seem to care.
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