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televised-uhhh-nerdistry · 6 days

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currently thinking about how ages ago my friend sent me a long-ass explanation about why saltburn is an adaptation of the myth involving theseus, the minotaur, and the labyrinth.

nobody asked but here’s some of the fun proof that exists of this:

first and foremost, icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun. during the party scene, it is evident that felix symbolises this poor ill-fated youth, and the symbolism here is potent. he flew too close to finding out what oliver truly is. he discovered something he shouldn’t have, and dressing him up in icarus cosplay is the perfect showcase for his fate and his mistakes. it’s also brilliant in terms of what icarus actually did to “deserve” death. realistically, he was told not to go too high or too low, but in actuality, such cryptic instructions were difficult to follow mid-flight, and it resulted in catastrophe. felix is trying to navigate the responsibilities of being a good friend with his baggage as someone in a family of rich pricks. it’s hard, and in flying too far away from his background, he “flew too close to the sun” and discovered things he shouldn’t have. as a small nod to further the icarus imagery, felix’s body is discovered under bright and direct sunlight as he lays motionless in his winged costume.

secondly, saltburn is in the center of a labyrinth. the labyrinth lore runs deep in this movie, because not only does the labyrinth function as symbolism, it has lore that runs adjacent to the lore of the actual labyrinth. in theseus and the minotaur, the labyrinth is a construct of greek architect and inventor daedalus, who was conscripted by king minos to create the maze. in saltburn, the labyrinth is constructed upon special request from james catton, the owner of the estate, and a very wealthy man (almost like a modern day king).

the labyrinth (in the original myth) is dangerous to all characters that reside within it. it keeps all in within a chance for escape, and those that get close die tragically. in saltburn, the labyrinth functions as an ode to the ways in which riches and fame poison those that reside in the walls, keeping them locked within its dangerous talons, or in this case, cleanly trimmed hedges. it’s suburbia on a larger and more internal scale. even those that do not have riches themselves, namely farleigh and annabel, do everything they can to remain on the estate and in the good graces of those on the property with immense money. it affects how they act and how they are expected to act. farleigh, as a good example, is very stuck on the particulars of rich people’s behaviour. as mentioned above, those that try to leave the maze die tragically, and icarus is a prime example. felix, in his attempt to be better than the riches of the estate socially allow, flies too close to a possible escape from the confines of the labyrinth and is murdered as a result.

in the story of the labyrinth, it is unsolvable, unless you are clever and quick witted (manipulative), which theseus luckily is. the same is true for oliver. oliver, like theseus, gets into the heads of multiple characters, manipulating his way to the top of the food chain. the scene where oliver views the wooden counterprt of the maze through the head office in the estate, he is told that he shouldn’t be there, and a sense of ominous foreboding takes place. we feel that he has seen something that will change him. however, i believe this is simply symbolism for the fact that oliver has figured out the secret to the maze: a secret that he, an outsider and a poorer, less sociable man should not be aware of, as he is a representation of theseus, a character who has no right being king.

thirdly, oliver is juxtaposed with imagery if the minotaur during the party scene, and though this costume doubles as a reference to the changeling in a midsummer night’s dream, it is still highly important. in the original myth, people are sacrificed to the minotaur on a yearly basis. at first, felix fits the profile for the minotaur: a rich, wealthy man in a labyrinth who is regularly described as going through friends the way a young boy would go through toys. it is also true that the minotaur has often been seen as a controversial figure, one that begs the question “is a monster just a tormented creature fated to behave according to the will of the gods?”. felix’s behaviour, or namely, his attempted deviancy from the behaviour he is expected to show, is a major prt of his character arch. we expect oliver to be the victim of felix’s behaviour exactly because of this. but he isn’t. an easy explanation is that oliver is the minotaur, going through the family members as though they were victims in a maze. however, oliver is NOT the minotaur, as the myth is a lot more complex than the minotaur being the bad guy. despite what we expect, director emily fennel is leaning into the concept that the minotaur’s storyline is that of fate versus free will. the minotaur is cursed by the gods to fall into certain patterns and to be punished for its behaviour, despite it doing exactly what was expected. felix attempts to deviate from what is expected, but ultimately he fits in well with the rich and social, and his death is a punishment at the hands of a sort-of theseus who believes he is more deserving. rather, oliver is also seen to be theseus, who famously invaded the maze, manipulated its dwellers in order to navigate it, killed the minotaur, and then manipulated his way into becoming king as a result. sound familiar? it is because of this that the imagery of oliver as the changeling is particularly important. the horns can be evocative of the minotaur, offering us a red herring, where he is truly disguised as the opposite. it’s a fake out.

fourthly, king minos (owner of the labyrinth) did not die directly at the hands of theseus, he did eventually meet his downfall and was boiled to death in a bath. james catton, head of the estate, dies of a supposed suicide, also not directly by oliver’s hands, but still implicitly connected to the events of the story, much like king minos’ death.

the lore in this film is incredible, and though emily fennel has not said that the film is an adaptation of greek myth, the parallels are deliciously undeniable. saltburn is fascinating, and truly one of the best films of 2023. there is so much stuff jam packed into it, and it’s one of those films that takes a few watches to fully grasp its depth. i love it!

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forthecrows · 9 months

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(Belated) happy 10th, RWBY! I'm very glad to have been here since the beginning, and I'm very thankful for my favorite character ever. Here's to at least a handful more years!

#rwby #professor ozpin #ozpin #Artists on tumblr #This is a WIP of something that'll be mich bigger. Many flowers #so much symbolism #I've been told he looks like Markiplier OTL #Oh well LMFAO #my art

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fake-married-my-dead-fiance · 8 months

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The difference between Ep 4 and Ep 16:

Like beyond the facing each other and holding hands, the first one is in his bed, which is completely colourless, and the second is in her vibrant apartment. And she's not just wearing white, she has the red from the bracelet mixed with the white.

Also, you can't see it, but he's wearing black pants, and both of them wear both black and white in the last episode:

They have both found balance, because she was too far on the good side and he wasn't allowing himself to be anything but bad. They both grew and became complete.

#doom at your service #meaningful costumes!#So much symbolism

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im-making-an-effort · 5 months

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Here’s my rendition of @diejager’s eldritch!reader’s true form. I might draw a more text-accurate version later, but this is what I imagined they’d look like from the amazing fic I read from their page. Check them out! They’re a great writer if you’re looking for darker/mature/taboo fics and I adore their work.

You know the drill- click for better quality.

I’ve added @bluegiragi’s 141 (as I believe that’s the au this fic takes place in) for scale :)

#eldritch #monster #bird monster #im in love with this au #It scratches something in brain #Monsters are great and being perceived as good while still being objectively “evil” is a tasty concept #So much symbolism #Anyway #I hope you like it 👍

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loadinghellsing · 1 year

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the way they look at eachother during the final duel...

#i contribute #scene #hellsing #hellsing ultimate #alucard #alexander anderson #andercard #---#im not crying youre crying #the way they look at eachother #through out the entire duel #there is so much emotion conveyed #and it hurts so much #so many parallels #so much symbolism #it hurts

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zomblorbs · 6 months

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i hate that Neil has specifically said everything is intentional with this goddamn show and now im watching it four times over and pausing at every frame to analyze everything from lighting to the background just for some goddamn PEACE OF MIND

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #IM LOSING MY MIND OVER HERE #ps. i know not EVERYTHING is international of course there’s continuity errors or mistakes but like fuck man #so much symbolism

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plaidposh · 1 year

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#meet the artist #trans pride #blue jay #so much symbolism #artists on tumblr #digital illustration #illustrators on tumblr #digital art #pre raphaelite

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redraindrops · 3 months

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Your average Doberman Pinscher prays to be a parrot in its next life. It stares up at the stars, alone in the darkness and through the window he watches a crow fly. There is a forest-green collar around its neck that leads directly to its owner’s hand as they lay asleep on the couch. Its ears, cropped by a thousand previous owners, swivel at each noise.

The shadows have eyes, or at least that is what the Doberman Pinscher believes at each slight sound, each hint of disturbance.

When its owner wakes, stands and moves, the Doberman Pinscher will follow close by, far closer than its chain declares necessary, because it is a damn loyal dog. It will always walk a step behind, a sign of its inferiority.

As its owner goes throughout their day, the Doberman Pinscher just close enough to traipse after but trying not to annoy, it wishes for vibrant wings. To be a bird is to be free, and although the dog loves its owner it wishes it was capable of being on its own.

It isn’t. The Doberman Pinscher is far too domesticated at this point to be feral and self-sufficient.

The Doberman Pinscher’s fur is dull, boring. It thinks its owner probably gets tired of looking at it all the time. The parrot shows off, dancing and preening his bright feathers. The Doberman Pinscher’s dull nails click sadly on the tile floor, and the parrot’s talons dig sharply into flesh.

As the Doberman Pinscher leans its head to eat, it imagines being a parrot, picking at the rainforest floor. To be a parrot is variety, something other than the monotonous kibble the Doberman Pinscher is fed, something other than this same, repetitive goddamn life of being tied to someone else, of being so adoring and braindead that it cannot even develop its own identity.

Parrots have identities. They move and greet each other and chirp, with their own voices and own feather coloration. Parrots are special, and parrots are intelligent.

The Doberman Pinscher can only recognize a few words, like ‘love’ and ‘leaving’ and ‘traitor.’ It wishes for the full, robust vocabulary of the parrot, and knows it may never achieve it with how its brain is never for itself but for its owner.

It wishes it knew how to live.

The parrot will swoop around the rainforest, wild and free and cawing all the way as the wind rushes through its feathers and it is alive, independent and never bound by shackles.

The Doberman Pinscher will sit on the floor looking out the window with its chain looped around its owner's hand. There will be a crow, a poor mockery of the parrot’s vibrancy like everything else the Doberman Pinscher knows.

The Doberman Pinscher would be happy to be anything but a dog at this point.

#redraindrop’s writing #what do I tag this as #short story #canine story #like canine poetry but not a poem I guess #metaphors #parrot #dog #doberman pinscher #so much symbolism

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tamyriasketches-is-addedoc · 1 year

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I think my favorite scene in Goncharov is that quiet moment on the outskirts of Naples. Sophia and Katya standing together in absolute silence. The music even fades away to nothing as they stand there staring off into eternity. They know that time isn’t on their side, they know they have no time left. But after everything they just went through they need that moment of quiet respite before they can put on their brave faces and return to the ones they don’t actually want to be with. When the camera zooms in on Katyas ring and the light reflection on it makes it look broken, that symbolism is all we needed. No words are spoken in that entire scene because we didn’t need it explained. I still think about it from time to time.

And the fact that just after that it immediately cuts to Ice Pick Joe doing what he does best, mid execution, I feel that shows a major difference between the women and men’s relationships. It shows how they each handle grief. The fact that Ice Pick Joe has the faintest traces of tears on his bloodstained face shows that he’s more than just some rabid killer in it for the money. But nobody’s ready for that yet.

#goncharov #gonchposting #goncharov 1973 #this movie is everything to me #so much symbolism #so few words needed #the intense feeling throughout that they aren’t going to make it still puts me on edge #unreality

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angee1011 · 2 years

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Me: 1:30am, goes on yt. Hoyoverse dropped a trailer. Reads title: winter’s night lazzo

Me: shneznaya???

*watches it*

*dies*

#genshin impact #Hoyoverse #WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ASSAULT ME LIKE YHIS #NO WARNING #just straight up #wtf #ALL OF THEM????#fatui harbingers #I watched it like 5 times #so much symbolism #it confirmed some leaks I had previously seen about upcoming chapters #but also left me with a million questions #fandom is going nuts #also. like also. that creepy ass INSANE music????????#why did you have to come for me like hoyoverse #I am losing my shit rn

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werchezdeeno · 2 years

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watching cowboy bebop and utena is really frustrating for me because i know there is a whole bunch of symbolism and i also know that i'm dumb and that i miss all of said symbolism