#wim wonders

[tia-222]

A TECHNIQUE FROM SHIFTOK THAT WILL GET YOU INTO THE VOID RIGHT AWAY ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

So there's been a new technique that was developed from @rima shifting on tiktok and it's been getting really popular. If you wondering, " can we use shifting techniques to enter the void state? ", yes you can! Don't worry, you won't shift realities lol, but you can use them to affirm for the void state <3 . The original creator ( rima) has said after using this technique, she's shifted to multiple parallel realities on the first day using this.

✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹

♡ How does this technique work?

It's involves the Wim hof breathing technique and pink noise. It's very easy to do and you will get into the void state on your first try using this ♡. Wait, ik some of y'all think that wim hof breathing is very fast pace, but there's an alternative which is the beginners one and people still shifted using that. Wim hof breathing is the best when you're trying to relax and release all stress/ doubts because it makes your thought process slow down by releasing dmt NATURALLY. This technique works by putting your body and mind into a deep trance state, whereby after you can start affirming for the void state. And don't worry, if you fall asleep because this method also helps you to lucid dream. If you do so happen to fall asleep while attempting this method, you're might find yourself in a lucid dream, you can affirm for a portal or dream character to take you straight into the void state.

♡ Technique in full detail :

1. You attempt this technique before bed, morning or during the day. Whatever time suits you the best <3.

2. Go to YouTube and search " wim hof breathing " or " wim hof breathing for beginner's ".

3. Play the meditation and follow all the steps, it's guided for you ♡. It's completely ok to take breaks any part of the video.

4. After the meditation finishes play the pink nosie. You can make a YouTube playlist and add these 2 videos. So the pink noise will automatically play after the meditation finishes. Also loves, you don't have 2 add the pink nosie, you can add your fav subliminal or theta waves, etc.

5. Start affirming for the void state, you will reach the void really fast because you already in a trance like state.

✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹

Click on the images to see the results of this technique. You can see the full comment section on the video, just search " Wim hof pink breathing method "on tiktok.

#void state #void state tips #law of assumption #manifestion #the void state #neville goddard #void thoughts #void state success story #reality shifting methods #desired reality #reality shifting #states of consciousness #living in the end #shiftblr #loa techniques #loasblog #loas tumblr #loassblog #loassumption #loas technique #void state methods #void state method #void state motivation #self concept #subconscious #shifting advice #shifting #loablr #loa blog #void state blog

[reality-detective]

Do you wonder why breathing is such an important aspect to all ancient practices?

Why do you feel different when you breathe different?

Why does breathing help you calm down?

Breathing is the key to much more than we know and I think you should calm down take a second and breathe and just allow the more oxygen into your brain…

It triggers very important things in our body and mind…

One of the most important steps in taking control of your life in the metaphysical is to know your own body…

How can you you heal or activate the things in your body without knowing where and what they are?

The most important thing before that is to breathe…

Read about the Wim Hof technique you won’t regret it… 👇

Löök 👇

It takes about 15-20 minutes. 🤔

#pay attention #educate yourself #educate yourselves #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think for yourself #think for yourselves #think about it #do your homework #do some research #do your own research #do your research #question everything #ask yourself questions #self healing #spiritual healing #health #healing #breathe

[mariagalleriax]

Okay but imagine Grimmer's second picnic. He would have so many new friends. He wouldn't have to enjoy the scenery alone. I wonder how he would feel about being surrounded by so many new faces that value his life. I definitely think he'd let out a couple of tears.

Lunge would have the smallest of smiles. Maybe Wim and Dieter would become friends here? The Munich kids would love Grimmer and probably overload him with questions.

Could you imagine Dr. Tenma here too? He'd be the happiest man alive. Because he, too, would no longer be alone.

#naoki urasawa's monster #kenzo tenma #wolfgang grimmer #heinrich lunge

[quillofspirit]

Dol Amroth Terrain Inspo

For the wonderful sweethearts that hold the urls @konartiste @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras @emmanuellececchi

now I want a beach house

From Top to Bottom, Left to Right

Hole in the CliffSide by Maddison Fantillo

Cape Point by Joshua Kettle

White Cliff in the Water by Maddison Fantillo

Wave Crashing on Cliffside by Tonia Kraakman

Nugget point by David Tip

Cliff and Beach by Zac Harris

White Cliff by Wim Hovens

#Dol Amroth #lotr #lord of the rings #terrain study

[thepastisalreadywritten]

From the bee-stung red lips to her trademark platinum curls, Marilyn Monroe was – and still is – the ultimate bombshell and beauty icon, who had a penchant for glamour that resonates with so many of us today.

On what would have been her 97th birthday, we take a look at the star’s Old Hollywood beauty routine.

She stayed out of the sun

“I’m personally opposed to a deep tan because I like to feel blonde all over,” explained Monroe of why she stayed out of the sun – despite the fact it was in “vogue in California.”

Forget the bronzers and fake tans many of us swear by today, she was all about the alabaster look.

She liked a very specific shade of blonde

If you’ve ever wondered what hair hue Monroe requested when she graced the colourist’s chair, you probably wouldn’t guess it was “pillow case white.”

According to the author Pamela Keogh, Monroe had her hair bleached every three weeks with a roster of hairstylists including Pearl Porterfield (who also tended to Jean Harlow’s pale blonde hair) and Kenneth Battelle.

To avoid washing it too much (which can affect the color), she swore by a makeshift dry shampoo – Johnson’s Baby Powder – applying every two days to keep her hair looking fresh.

A nifty makeup artist’s trick for plump lips

How to create the full, pouty lips Marilyn was so well known for? A clever use of lipsticks, no less.

Her make-up artist would apply up to five different red hues – darker, plummy reds on the outside, and lighter towards the inside – to create the illusion of dimension and plumpness.

A clever tip that many makeup artists still use today.

She knew the importance of sleep

A woman who enjoyed her sleep, Monroe took between five and 10 hours of shut-eye a night in a wide single bed.

"On Sunday? It’s my one day of total leisure. I sometimes take two hours to wake up, luxuriating in every last moment of drowsiness,” she said in an interview with Pageant magazine.

What she wore to bed

Monroe famously wore five drops of Chanel No.5 to bed, a perfume that she is also said to have added into her ice baths.

Yes… ice baths

While Wim Hof and numerous athletes have since popularized ice-cold showers and baths, Marilyn was well ahead of the curve.

It is said that she used to take ice-cold baths to keep her skin firm and tight.

How she looked after her skin

Monroe joined the likes of Audrey Hepburn in regularly seeing Hungarian dermatologist, Erno Laszlo.

Suffering from dry skin (she is rumored to have obsessively washed her face up to five times a day to ward off breakouts), Laszlo prescribed the actor a rigorous skincare routine, which differed depending on the time of day and occasion.

Her evening skincare routine began with an oil cleanse, using the Erno Laszlo Active Phelityl Oil, then she applied the Active Phelityl Cream and washed it off.

She finished with the Controlling Lotion.

All of these products are still available today.

Get the Monroe glow

While today we go wild for highlighter, Monroe got her glow in another, perhaps less tempting, way.

Deploying the K-beauty trend for “slugging,” she would apply layers of Vaseline under her foundation to help skin catch the light.

She was also a fan of cold cream, like Pond’s, and other iconic products we still use today, including Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream and Nivea Creme, and even olive oil, which she also reportedly applied to her skin to offset dryness.

She wasn’t a natural exercise fanatic

“I don’t count rhythmically like the exercise people on the radio; I couldn’t stand exercise if I had to feel regimented about it,” said Monroe about her approach to working out.

Many of us will relate. Instead, she enjoyed a “simple bust-firming routine,” which involved lifting two, five-pound weights above her head 15 times, moving from a “spread-eagle arm position.”

She would do it bedside until she was tired each morning.

Originally published in Vogue.co.uk

#Marilyn Monroe #Hollywood #actress #Erno Laszlo #beauty routine #make-up #skincare #beauty icon

[doodlegirl1998]

Hello! I'm here to ask your opinion on a certain future seeing man named Nighteye.

Not only is he one of the many adults that failed Izuku by teaching him squat on his work studies, but he's a special kind of scum by actively TRYING to make Izuku feel insecure enough to give up OFA and pass it on to Mirio instead!

Like, dude! Seriously!?

Imagine being so butthurt over not being able to choose who the next successor of OFA should be (Even though it was ultimately All Might's decision), that you take your frustrations on the person you're supposed to train.

Couldn't be me!

And sadly, much like Bakugou and Aizawa, he never gets called out for this and is treated like a wonderful person who died for a worthy cause.

Fuck Nighteye I swear.

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

Absolutely fuck Nighteye. I never, ever liked this guy and despise how the narrative tried to treat him as a 'troubled but good guy' coupled with the manipulative redemptive death when actually he was a nasty piece of work.

Let's go over real quick exactly why I hate him, you actually covered some of it already;

His treatment of Izu in his workstudies. You covered this already but I'll add my 2 cents - work studies are meant to help the hero student whereas Nighteye does nothing of the sort for Izuku. Mirio helps Izuku more (the one good thing that came from this is Mirio and Izu being good friends but Nighteye has squat to do with that.) Nighteye actively undermines Izuku (when the poor kids confidence was already on the damn floor) and tries to force him to give up OFA to Mirio.

His treatment of Mirio - while I can buy that Nighteye cared for Mirio to a degree, this isn't some benevolent mentorship no matter how the narrative tries to paint it now. Nighteye looked at Mirio and saw All Might 2.0 - a young version of All Might he could manipulate and mold to his own wims. That is vile. What's more vile is that Mirio is never given the courtesy of finding this out. He's left with this, wrongfully benevolent memory of Nighteye laughing while Mirio remembers the good times of his mentorship with him which feels ick to read when you know Nighteye's true intent with Mirio.

His treatment of All Might - I always got the vibe that instead of treating All Might as a friend and an equal, Nighteye seemed to treat AM as a thing he wanted to own. The key examples of this are; trying to dictate to AM when he should retire (could be read as concern on it's own) then leaving as his sidekick when AM refuses to do as Nighteye wants. As well as trying to dictate who gets OFA next, not respecting that All Might CHOSE Midoriya. Then lastly all the AM merch Nighteye owns doesn't come off as innocent fanboying like Izuku. It comes off like Nighteye is trying to own All Might's visage when he can not own the actual man. *Shiver* (I have no idea why so many fics paint Midoriya as a creepy AM fan - guys Nighteye is right there.)

To conclude, Nighteye always came off to me in how he acted as a Narcissist, in how he treated Izuku, AM and Mirio. So to then have the narrative give him a 'redemptive death' to also write out his foresight really left a sour taste in my mouth. To make matters worse I don't think he actually apologised to Izuku ever...

#Anti Nighteye #mha critical #bnha critical

[busterkeatonsociety]

#TalkieTuesday The wonderful Wim Wenders chooses his cinematic inspirations with The Criterion Collection - yes, of course, he chose Buster!

#talkie tuesday #wim wenders #buster keaton #the cameraman #the criterion collection #blu ray #ibks #the international buster keaton society #buster keaton society #the damfinos #damfino #damfamily #silent era #silent movies #vintage hollywood #1920s

[servampaddict]

A random theory for u all

i've seen lots of posts lately about how kuro's name was Adam and it has something to do with the story of Adam and eve (at least I think so) I'm not religious but I do know about Adam and eve so this is a random theory based on my little knowledge about it (please let me know if anything about Adam and eve is wrong I will fix it) So when mahiru sees kuro's memories it shows his conversation with hugh and how his job is to pursue immortality.

I never really understood what he meant by that. Because the servamps are immortal so how can they pursue something they already have. So Adam and eve are supposed to be together right? What if the count got the idea of an eve by knowing kuro's name? I think that the count/hugh didn't mean pursuing immortality for themselves but for their eves or others. They can do that for the subclasses but they never could get their eves to live forever. The count also said after kuro has woken up they hr wasn't perfect yet. I wonder if his way of perfection is to make them able to make there eves immortal the ones they should care for the most. So basically to try and clear this up. The name for a servamps master has to do with kuro's real name. The vamps need to "pursue" immortality for others and the count wanted to make them perfect by making them be able to live alongside there eves forever or give them the ability to reincarnate (which I think is similar to Adam and eve except they couldn't live forever I think) Of course this was is all just a theory, I also haven't listened to hellokittyvampire reading of the chapter yet so this could be completely wrong which is very x10000000000 ect likely. I kinda came up with this on a wim so I hope it makes since. This is kinda side tracked but I wonder if that was all of kuro's battle or if there is more. Personally I think that their will be more ,but not with the demon, maybe we will see more of kuro's memories maybe of when he is alive? What do u guys think?

(side note. I haven't checked my dash board yet so this probably has already been proven wrong if so pls let me know)

#servamp #servamp kuro #servamp mahiru #a random thought #this is wrong

[strwbberiii]

Eah characters playing the sims bc I saw someone do this with the wonderlanders but with mario cart -

Apple : Only plays for the dress up. And downloads a ton of cc and wonders why her computer is running so slow.

Raven : Same thing as apple but instead of dressup and cc, she downloads mods to make the game as real as possible.

Maddie : Has every horrible mods known to man and done so many horrible things to her sims.

Kitty : you best believe she has wicked wims.

Holly : Makes characters from book, show, etc. Then makes them fall in love.

Lizzie hearts : Has violence mods to actually say "off with their head"

Ashlynn : The only normal one.

#eah #ever after high #apple white #ashlynn ella #raven queen #holly o'hair #kitty cheshire #madeline hatter #lizzie hearts

[maddies-chronicles]

Hey dude!!! It's been ages!! I've been wondering, have you tried the wim hof breathing technique during a shifting method? I tried it for the first time last night and WOAH.

I was getting tingles on my face in a circle around my features, so intense it was like pins and needles but painless

omg hi babes!! i'm gonna be honest, i've never even heard of the technique. maybe i'll give it a try tonight!

#shifting #reality shifting #shifting community #shifting realities #reality shift #shifting antis dni #shifters #desired reality #shift #shiftblr #shifting asks #ask maddie <3 #shifting methods

[tia-222]

OMG 😳 I entered void with the wim Hoff breathing method it was QUICK,I would also like to thank @graychrissy she made it thousand times easier for me to get in the void state because I was struggling to get rid of the nagative mindset.

And also would like to thank you for this amazing post we don't have tiktok here in India so I'm so thankful for telling us this amazing method.

So so when I saw your post today when I woke up I felt a little confident because Pink also had a similar method but I failed with it. But it gave it a second shot today because I love you🥹🌹, at first I was struggling ALOT to stay calm I was getting demotivated with all this negative thought. So I texted Christy and she helped me and told me to observe my thoughts and to stop identify myself as this body (it's easier once you try) and since she also practice non duality she told some stuff which made it easier for me.

And just few hours ago I entered void very quickly,after the breathing technique,my thoughts reduce alot but this time instead of going back to focus on my thought I observe them,slowly but gradually I drifted and my heartbeat got faster but again as Chrissy told to don't identify with the thought,feeling,and body just observe them.

And it probably didn't even took less then 10. Minutes to enter void😳🤯 like I'm shock,the experience was surreal and I affirm for me to enter void easily with this method every single time.

OMG CONGRATULATIONS FOR ENTERING THE VOID MY LOVE <3. I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU RN ♡︎.

Aww, it's great that you got to affirm in the void that " you enter easily with this method", that's super smart of you. Wim hof is the best, honestly!!! @graychrissy is a wonderful blog and also gives out really helpful advice, I'm glad her advice helped you angel. Thank you so much for sending this ask and it's gonna motivate sm of people to enter the void state. Once again, congratulations love!! I love you so much <33

Post about wim hof breathing method → wim hof pink breathing method

#void state success #void state #law of assumption #void state success story #manifestion #void state tips #the void state #neville goddard #void thoughts #loa success #loa techniques #loas tumblr #loasblog #loassblog #wim hof breathing #reality shifting methods #desired reality #desired life #ask answered #anon ask #4d reality #states of consciousness #law of assumption techniques #law of manifestation #spirituality #enter the void instantly #instant manifestation #manifesting #manifesting instantly

[lady-jane-asher]

I am so LOVING these new scans that the wonderful Harold sends me on twitter. God forever bless him. They make my day!!

Daily Sketch, november 15th 1966. All these pictures are the scans sent to me by him. Sadly because of the low quality I couldn’t enhance them!

A New sound for Beatle Paul?

Paul McCartney obviously shares the current pop trend for " way out" instruments. Sitting in a corner of a harp repairer’s shop in Kensington yesterday was a lute-cum-harp-cum-guitar.

" A clumsy instrument someone has made," said one of only two men in England able to repair harps, shop owner Mr. John Sebastian Morley.

Attached to the instrument was a label. It simply said, "Paul McCartney, c/o Miss Elliott, 57, Wim-pole-street." The address belongs to Dr. Richard Asher, none other than actress Jane Asher's father.

#jane asher #the beatles #beatles girls #actress #lady jane asher #60s #something about jane asher #model #beatles women #1966 #newspaper #redhead #red hair #explore

[inbarbad0s]

hiii! i’m new to the law and you’re one of the first people I followed and I love your content, so i was wondering, what type of techniques would you recommend to someone who’s very visual in order to feel it real, I want to manifest moving to another country and getting a new job but I haven’t been that successful, I visualize and get into the state but then, almost instantly I start to feel anxious 😥

for anxiety i'd recommend using wim hof's breathwork and edward art's meditation, both found on youtube

perhaps you could imagine the sights you'd see on your days off from your new job, if you're moving to a hot country imagine the feeling of the sun on your skin whilst on your way to work, imagine the friends you'd make at your new workplace now that you're working there, etc

don't deep it too much, visualisations don't have to be perfect just know you have the job

it's YOU that changes, not some external force

[mono-blogs-art]

It's Oscars night and I realized that I'm... actually weirdly invested this year, as I've seen most of the nominated films and (for the most part) really enjoyed them.

So... here's my winner wishlist!! (for the categories I care about)

Best Picture - Anatomy of a Fall. Literally this movie blew me away so much in ways I could have never predicted. It was so fucking good. French people I'll give this one to you. Honestly I'll be happy with pretty much every winner, except if it's Barbie or Oppenheimer. I liked those two movies, but they're just not my top picks out of this spread. If Poor Things wins I'll be mad as hell but like, I get it. I'm just a hater.

Best Lead Actor - Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers. I suspect Cillian Murphy will win this one for Oppenheimer, and I wouldn't be too mad about it.

Best Supporting Actor - Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things. The great acting was probably my favourite thing about that movie, and he in particular is a stand-out.

Best Lead Actress - Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall. Her slay this season was CRAZY like she did not come to play, with being triple nominated (for this, and then two of her movies being in the run for best picture). I have sadly not seen Killers of the Flower Moon yet but I'd also be very happy if Lily Gladstone won this one!!!

Best Supporting Actress - Da'Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers. She was just such a delight in that movie.

Directing - Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest. I can hardly describe the many amazing and powerful directing choices that were made for this movie. I highly recommend watching it, but please read a synopsis for the film first and beware. It is not an easy watch.

Animated Feature Film - The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki. Obvious pick for me. I'd be happy if it's Spiderverse too. And - although I find it extremely unlikely - I'd cry tears of joy if Nimona actually won. I was at that movie's world premiere and it made me experience so many emotions. So I'd be overjoyed if they won, too.

Animated Short Film - Our Uniform by Yegane Moghaddam. Such a powerful film. Very much recommend watching if you happen to have an animation film festival near you.

International Feature Film - Perfect Days directed by Wim Wenders. It's actually a crime that this movie is not nominated for Best Picture because it would have been my top pick there too. This movie is an absolute DELIGHT and I recommend everyone watch it. It's simply wonderful.

#mono-loguing #in my movies era. (he literally has a film degree)

[fuckstoevsky]

Someone New - Hozier // Human Condition - Joan As Police Woman // Pair of hands - 18th Dynasty of Egypt, from Amarna // What a Wonderful World - Bob Thiele & George David Weiss // Gut Symmetries - Jeanette Winterson // City Scene - William James Glackens // Wings of Desire - Wim Wenders // War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

#web weaving #web weave #compilations #poetry #words #love #in love with the world #hozier #someone new #joan as police woman #louis armstrong #wim wenders #leo tolstoy #war and peace

[denimbex1986]

“He [Tom Ripley] will always get away with it,” said Patricia Highsmith in an interview once. Tom Ripley—Highsmith’s most famous character, and the main protagonist of five of her novels—is a man, whom readers both love and hate. Through Highsmith’s prose, Ripley has made violence, theft, and murder into nothing more than a domestic affair, or sipping on an espresso in Rome, quietly, calmly, innocently observing the people that pass.

Highsmith’s novels—especially The Talented Mr. Ripley, first published in 1955—have been the subject of many film adaptations. In 1951, Alfred Hitchcock adapted Strangers on the Train; René Clément’s Purple Noon (1960) was an adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley; Wim Wenders adapted Ripley’s Game with his film, The American Friend (1977); and Anthony Minghella made The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The latest in adaptations of Highsmith’s Ripley novels is simply titled Ripley (2024), directed by Steven Zaillian, with Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley. The series is streaming on Netflix, and it consists of eight episodes with plot and action mainly taken out of Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Ripley is unlike other adaptations of Highsmith’s novel. Shot in black and white with high contrast, this is a cinematic expression of moodiness, ethereal jazz, and domesticity of murder. Given the fact that this is a series and not a stand-alone film, Zaillian took the opportunity to open up the doorways into the soul of Tom Ripley, and really focus on what makes this pleasant psychopath tick. More importantly, why do we, as both readers and audience, like him? Why do we want him to literally get away with murder, yet at the same time, we hope that justice will be served? Is it because Tom Ripley is nice? Highsmith is essentially asking whether evil comes under the guise of niceness and pleasantness, and illuminates the fact that evil monsters are not always outwardly frightening.

The series opens with Tom Ripley in New York. We find that he is living a banal and mediocre life of con artistry. He lives in a crummy apartment, populated by other single and destitute men. He spends his days forging checks, masquerading as a doctor or a businessman, offering services to people, and then demanding that they pay bills that were already paid. There is always a chance that he may be found out, and so he lives in the shadows.

Without a doubt, Tom is stuck in a con man’s rut. An offer comes through that he cannot refuse. Herbert Greenleaf enlists Tom’s help to talk some sense into his son, Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn), and convince him to leave Europe and come back to America where he can work and live respectably. It’s not really clear if Tom and Dickie were ever even friends but given the fact that Tom is hiding from the law and lives in deplorable conditions, a trip to Italy with all expenses paid, including salary, sounds wonderful.

Andrew Scott captures perfectly Tom Ripley’s alienation, which we immediately see in New York as he’s riding the subway. Once he arrives in Italy, this is apparent even more. When he gets off the train in Naples, people are running into him as he stands on the station, wondering which direction to take. Italians are unhelpful, and he doesn’t know how to get to Atrani (which is where Dickie is living), except that some makeshift taxi brought him to what may or may not be a bus station.

His arrival in Atrani brings even greater alienation. He barely speaks any Italian, and an old man at the post office is not interested in helping him either. We have no choice but to feel compassion toward Tom—an American lost in a foreign land. Yet despite this, he is still trying to be nice and pleasant.

Dickie Greenleaf is living in a huge villa that overlooks the sea. Clumsily, he introduces himself to Dickie (who is accompanied by his girlfriend, Marge, played by Dakota Fanning), who doesn’t really remember him. But after Dickie finds out the real reason why Tom is in Atrani, he finds the entire situation amusing. Resentful of his parents’ attempt to bring him home to America, Dickie decides to show Tom a good time in Italy. Naturally, Tom accepts.

Marge is immediately suspicious of this interloper. Dickie doesn’t seem to be aware of Tom’s nuanced behavior but Marge senses there is something odd about Ripley. At some point, she wonders if Tom is “queer,” but she concludes that he may not even be sexual enough to have an orientation. This is a fair assumption—Tom is not an erotic character, although he does embody a subterranean homoeroticism. His blandness would indicate that he has no lust for life, no thrust toward achievement, or passion. Yet, his immorality and coldness clearly have an aim.

Tom Ripley is not merely a petty thief. When Dickie tells him that it’s time to move on, and that his attempt at bringing him back home has failed, Tom brutally murders him. This is the beginning of aggressive shapeshifting for Tom. He proceeds to assume Dickie Greenleaf’s identity and money by playing a game of evasion. Nobody can catch him because with some he pretends to be Dickie, while with others he is still Tom Ripley.

Marge was always suspicious of Tom. She continues to harbor uneasiness and suspicion, but Tom’s politeness and seeming care for her results in trust, however fragile and temporary it may be. Paradoxically, it is Dickie’s lack of presence that creates a momentary closeness with Tom. She later comes to accept the falsehood that Dickie killed himself.

Dickie’s friend, Freddie Miles (in a rather strange casting of Eliot Sumner, who is British, gaunt, and gender-confused—a complete opposite of Freddie in the book) suspects that Tom has killed Dickie. In order to silence him, Tom kills Freddie with several blows to the head with an ashtray. He awkwardly cleans the blood—there is no sense of murder’s precision. Tom Ripley is just a guy who doesn’t even know how to handle basic house chores, except that for him, a murder is just another basic house chore.

Is anything planned or premeditated in Tom’s actions? He appears to be a haphazard killer, yet the executions of his immoral actions suggest malevolent intentions. He does indeed willingly choose to be a shapeshifter, even if he is a mystery to himself. This is the enigma of Tom Ripley—Highsmith has created a psychopath who is clumsy and dull; a man who was a kid that nobody wanted to play with, who was mocked and abandoned, a kid who wants to be someone else in order to feel accepted. He is an unavoidable annoyance, a kid that hangs on to your every word in admiration and prostration, yet also hates you if you deviate from his understanding of how the relationship ought to proceed.

Double Life of Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith did not like being called a “crime writer,” and for a good reason. The Ripley novels may include crimes but they are hardly potboilers or mysteries. She did not set out to write a mystery book, but a novel about a man, who is difficult to catch, especially metaphysically.

Just like Tom Ripley, Highsmith embodied a duplicity but not in a corrupt, psychopathic way. Her life was a series of metaphysical masks; evading one existence, entering another, burdened by the family history, and concealing a secret of her lesbianism, while at the same time disliking women and preferring a non-sexual company of men. By no means was Highsmith the psychopath that Ripley is, but she was enigmatic and difficult to capture.

Born and partially raised in Texas, Highsmith’s family life was mired in darkness, yet as Joan Schenkar writes in her book, The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, “Emotional memory was what lit up Pat’s work and darkened her days, and emotional memory rarely wears a watch or walks a straight line.” This certainly couldn’t be more true for Highsmith.

She spent most of her life in Europe, living in France and then in Switzerland. America had abandoned her in many ways. Not only were her books more popular in Europe, her own childhood was one of abandonment. Her parents divorced almost immediately after she was born. Her mother married another man, who was to become Highsmith’s stepfather, but this hardly brought stability into her life. In fact, her mother and stepfather decided to leave Texas and live in New York, abandoning young Patricia, who was partially raised by her grandmother.

She reunited with her mother later, but after she turned 18 or 19, it was time to be free. Throughout her life, Highsmith lived with the notion that her mother wanted to abort her and had attempted repeatedly to reach out to her mother and ask for love, only to be rejected again and again. Her mother had plenty to say about Highsmith not acting “like a lady,” and accusing her of being a lesbian. All of this and much more led Highsmith to completely sever her relationship (legally and otherwise) with her mother, and indeed Texas and America as well.

Highsmith was an immediate success in the literary world and she made a substantial amount of money as well so that she was able to be financially independent. Her relationships were obsessive and she moved quickly through love affairs, leaving many women confused and abandoned.

It’s hardly a surprise that Highsmith developed a sort of double life. Not only did she have to hide her sexual orientation, but given her family life, she most likely developed an armor that was rarely removed. In a way, this is what makes her similar to Tom Ripley. It would be a disservice to Highsmith to simply reduce her to one of her characters but her interest in such strange behavior, and creation of such a character to begin with gives us pause to reconsider who she really was (if that is even entirely possible).

“Obsessions are the only thing that matter,” she once wrote. “Perversion interests me most and is guiding my darkness.” Tom Ripley is obsessed but in a mild-mannered way. This is what makes him an intriguing character, someone we are repulsed by but at the same time, we cannot look away. It’s not exactly like witnessing a train wreck or some disaster but we do become voyeurs when we seek to look at Tom Ripley.

Despite the dull and forgettable personality, Ripley still represents the duality of the self. This is mirrored in Highsmith’s life. “No use looking for one’s self in a static condition,” Highsmith wrote, “surrounded by the things, attitudes, people one thinks of. … The living self is always in flux.” This is true of Tom Ripley as well. He is literally always in flux, always on the move, always escaping, and always becoming someone else other than himself. But who is he? A creator or a destroyer of his own life?

Netflix’s Ripley emphasizes these questions by creating a subtle metaphysical portrait of Tom Ripley, accentuating his paradoxical clumsy finesse. A theme that is pervasive throughout the series is Tom’s obsession with Caravaggio and his work. He goes from one church to another, one town to another, seeking Caravaggio’s paintings. He identifies with Caravaggio’s own violent and artistic life, a life that is both sacred and profane, filled with passion, murder, vendettas, and untimely death.

But this obsession in effect reveals Tom Ripley’s own inflated view of himself. He only sees what he wants to see. His lack of fear is unnerving. We seek human qualities in Tom but this only yields discouragement and irritation. He is different, a constant shapeshifter who is polite to the landlady but who drops Dickie Greenleaf’s dead body into the sea, and drags Freddie Miles’ corpse down the stairs of the building as if he is moving a piece of furniture. It is precisely this bizarre domestication of murder, theft, and duplicity that makes Tom Ripley an endlessly interesting character. “My obsession with duality saves me from a great many other obsessions,” said Highsmith. Tom Ripley became Highsmith’s obsession, and the intricate relationship between the author and her creation is yet another aspect of why Tom Ripley continues to fascinate us.'

#Patricia Highsmith #Ripley #The Talented Mr Ripley #Andrew Scott #Steven Zaillian #Anthony Minghella #Netflix #Johnny Flynn #Dickie Greenleaf #Marge Sherwood #Dakota Fanning #Eliot Sumner #Freddie Miles #Caravaggio