Felix is a Metaphor
Just like the Bakerix episode was a metaphor for interracial marriage, a lot of people picked up the fact that Felix is a metaphor for harassing/mistreating women. So let’s dive into it, shall we?
*SPOILERS FOR FELIX AHEAD, PLEASE WATCH THE EPISODE BEFORE READING THIS IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS*
⚠️ Also, I understand this may be a sensitive topic for anybody who has been a victim or knows somebody who has gone/is going through this sort of thing at the moment. So please be wary of this while reading.
⚠️ Also please note, whenever I say “women” or “boys” or “men” it’s just a generalization. The terms are fluid for everyone, but because Felix is a boy and Alya, Rose, Juleka and Ladybug are girls, my terminology is mostly stemming from that. None of the terminologies are meant to be malicious.
PRE-THOUGHTS:
AS SOON AS the episode synopsis for Felix dropped all those months ago, I had the biggest hunch it would be taken in this direction because of who gets akumatized: Alya, Rose and Juleka. It said they were coming after Felix which meant he did something to upset them and I could only assume it was going to be a metaphor for mistreating women.
THEN THE TRAILER DROPPED and my suspicions were only moreso confirmed.
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ALRIGHT, LET'S DIG INTO IT.
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1. THE "VICTIMS"
Alya, Rose and Juleka are our beautiful, personable and lovely women who are akumatized as a result of Felix being manipulative, a liar and verbally abusive.
These are all the traits of the type of guy (and there are women who are like this too) who see women as objects, or as trophies to "conquer."
They start off looking like a nice guy - saying all the right words to make you feel good about yourself. Quite literally, they may be pretending to be somebody they're not. They may be impersonating someone else and lying about who they are just to impress you or put you at ease.
Only to reveal his true colours later on.
His words hurt them and they are left feeling disappointed and betrayed.
The fact that all 3 of them are akumatized could represent a situation where a guy has played multiple girls at once.
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2. HAWKMOTH'S WORDING
The words he uses to akumatize people are usually a hint to the meaning of the episode.
In this case, 'the boy you thought was your friend' could be switched out with 'the boy you thought who liked you/flirted with you,' again, tying back to the description that boys like these always come off nice, or seem like your friend at first... until they cross the line.
Then this was their reply:
This is the kind of thing you would say to a boy who's played you or used you - otherwise, I don’t believe Alya, Juleka and Rose would get so easily akumatized over one mean video. I believe they were specifically akumatized as a demonstration to fulfil this underlying message.
Imagine a group of exes getting back at their abusive ex-boyfriend together.
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3. NAUGHTY GIRL
I believe this was intentionally a piece of dialogue to represent when guys like these make promiscuous comments towards women such as referring to them as a "bad girl," in need of "punishment" (if you understand that innuendo).
Many people have come to critique this as ‘toxic phrasing’ which implies that the boy will assert his dominance because the woman is ‘asking for it/she deserves it.’
It's a common phrasing guys like these will use to flirt and 'get in,' but as the Trio of Punishers express: this is just terrible.
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4. NO, MEANS NO!
And finally, this scene perfectly and ultimately captures their underlying message:
Let's go through it frame by frame:
Firstly, Felix grabs LB's hand in a manner she is startled and uncomfortable with.
Guys like these will often touch you or hold you unexpectedly or without permission, or, in ways that may make you feel uncomfortable. They often just help themselves to it, usually under this twisted mentality that 'you want it' or 'it must feel good.'
Ladybug in this scene represents women who face this situation and are startled, shocked, or taken aback by the sudden affection.
Look at the way she has clenched her fist - she's being protective of her hand now.
And this part:
Again, reiterating the idea about how guys like these tend to say things you want to hear. They'll seem nice, they'll seem like they care... but all they 'care' about is getting your guard down so they can slide in.
In more specific situations, guys might actually say they 'love you' because they know it works.
And Ladybug lets her guard down for a second because, in reality, it does sound nice at first.
And she has a bit of a gleam in her voice.
Then ooof
Cue this twisted music, to match his twisted mindset.
The fact he trails off after "let me..." is to insinuate that real-life situation where guys want what they... want 👀
Then he starts advancing on her.
Look how uneasy it's making her.
It's to simulate these real-life situations as I keep mentioning.
And backs her up into a wall.
Years ago, this was seen as the 'classic' move in shows, films and even cartoons to 'get' ladies. In fact, there's even a name for it in Japanese media called "kabedon" - the ‘wall push/wall slam/wallpin’ whatever you call it.
But in this day and age, we realise it is showcasing some sort of ‘toxic masculinity’ where the guy is advancing dominance over a woman who:
a). does not ask for it
b). did not give consent.
But many new media forms are also using it ironically or satirizing it as a way of being subversive.
To heighten her discomfort, Cristina Vee adds these sounds and mumbles of discomfort.
And this frame is given a second or two for us to soak in.
The diagonal angle reinforces how twisted this is,
Ladybug is shown to be helpless, startled and her limbs are spread against the wall, overshadowed by Felix's body.
This is how it used to be.
The show is making a statement for how wrong this is.
She expresses her first "no."
And look at how disgusted and uncomfortable she looks.
But he ignores her refusal and keeps going, signifying men who don't respect other’s wishes.
And then our favourite moment:
punches him
Because Ladybug represents this forward movement with women.
This kind of behaviour should not be tolerated and no woman (and even man) deserves to be treated this way.
The staff behind Miraculous express their attitude towards this through Ladybug when she exclaims:
They want to tell you that "boys" like him are not worth your time. You should not have to put up with people who cannot respect personal boundaries and try to violate yours. Ladybug represents the idea that you deserve so much more than a guy who is manipulative, shallow and tries to weasel their way into your affection with cheap tricks.
The best part is, Cristina's comment about all this:
Felix is meant to represent the "bad boy," who thinks he's so suave with women when in reality, he's just a player, a cheat, and as Cristina says: not worth it.
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5. ENTITLED
One extra thing!
This line reveals one of Felix's key characteristics: he always gets what he wants. He thinks he's entitled. He gets away with everything. Hence why he thinks he can treat women the way he does.
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Let me know your thoughts on this!
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Sentimonster!Adrien?
Freaking out since the new ladybug episode came out and some people came up with the theory that Adrien is a Sentimonster and it makes a little sense. Just trying to gather thoughts to unscramble and may add on later with more info.
Maybe this is too dark for a kids show but remember the PV! ML was originally supposed to be much darker!
They have been referencing the PV a few times throughout the series too.
Remember the one concept art where Adrien has a cane? He is clearly NOT PERFECT THERE but okay.
Sentimonsters are sentient creatures. Some more elaborate than others. Chat Noir called Senti!bug "perfect".
It was strongly hinted that Emilie was the previous Peacock miraculous holder. Also pointed out the damaged miraculous was the reason Nathalie was getting weaker.
Uhhh. Gabriel very obviously disregards his son's feelings and safety. He exerts the bare minimum to show how much he cares. I think he cares about Adrien the same way he cares about the miraculous book from Tibet: one of the last few "things" left to him by Emilie. He is starting to make me uncomfortable BUT if Adrien was a Sentimonster and not really his son, some of the things that are said by him, especially as Hawkmoth, that sounded contradictory might be less contradictory if he doesn't believe Adrien to be his true son.
Maybe he created Adrien together with Emilie with peacock & butterfly combined and that's why he's more desperate to get Emilie back.
We've seen it pointed out that both Gabriel (in Simon Says) and Astruc (Twitter response to Marinette & Adrien's flaws) called Adrien as perfect. And Marinette/LB said she could never be perfect like the Senti!LB was. Note, he also said Adrien's flaw is that he is not accustomed to the "outside" world. With quotes on "outside".
We've seen many times Adrien mentioning never having friends before.
We have also have seen Adrien Agreste & Marinette's name meaning interpreted.
Adrien is the French variation of the name Adrian, commonly "Of the coast" but less commonly "Dark/Dark Richness". Hmmmmmm. Agreste apparently the word for greyling butterfly, but I couldn't find a good source for that that linked the name meaning but here we go.:
We see Marinette Dupain-Cheng's name translated as "The Girl Who Rises to Make the Bread" which. Makes sense because her parents are bakers.
But uh. What about if you think about the biblical meaning of bread? Where bread = life? There aren't many Bible references in ML but hear me out.
Wow! Bread = miracles in the New testament! But what is fecundity??? I've never heard of that word before.....
HOLY SHIT.
The ability to produce many new ideas. Kind of like. What Mari!LB does with the lucky charms.
I don't know. Maybe... Marinette is going to Pinocchio the shit out of Adrien and turn him into a real boy. Or something like today. A miracle. She wanted to leave Senti!bug (and free, she said) but Mayura made that a bit impossible.
You know who hates and fears being caged up and locked up? Hmmmm????? *ADRIEN*
Y'all. Y'ALL. IT'S MIDNIGHT and I'm sorry that I'm not very coherent and maybe tomorrow I can make more cohesive thoughts. I didn't want to lose my train of ideas so I'm trying to get it all out now. Maybe someone younger and smarter than me can figure out how they all connect. Or I'll try tomorrow when I have time to write down everything in some kind of order.
Sorry for the rambling. Goodnight.
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