• Cromalin [she/her]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      man even if there wasn't all the plagiarism stuff i would be so mad at james somerton for this video. some of his takes are just incredibly disgusting,

      utena spoilers and me bitching about james somerton's bad, gross takes

      making a joke about a victim of csa being a bottom and completely removing any agency she might have (she may not have much, but the show makes it very clear that she has agency even in her terrible situation!), calling akio a "chaotic bisexual", pitting utena and anthy against each other and saying they were fighting over akio, the idea that it's doing magical realism(???), says akio isn't dios, saying wakaba isn't involved with the duels and is therefore representative of the actual literal events of the show that it's possible to tear away from the symbolism and surrealism (and that the abuse is not literal sexual abuse but instead metaphorical. james, it can be both! it can have broader thematic applications while still being about the actual abuse!), but the symbolic view of the show is also a unique pov that hasn't been heard before...

      also he makes a joke about how the stuff with nanami is weird but dismisses it having meaning. the show just looks at the camera and says "touga is raising nanami to be slaughtered," and "nanami is reaching maturity and realizing things about herself and this will lead to touga rejecting her," this isn't subtle! the show tells you what it's about! it's wacky and weird, but very blatant in the themes! her turning into a cow is representative of how she's willing to let the illusion of status blind her to the reality of her situation even as things get worse and worse, like the frog in a boiling pot. the fact that the cowbell is high fashion means she doesn't notice that she's been cursed! the status associated with being touga's sister means she doesn't notice how he's grooming her and would drop her in a heartbeat if she was "the type of girl who laid eggs"

      bad video. lots of just flat out untrue stuff, and also just deeply evil. i know some of that stuff was cut from this version, but still mad. i assume this was a bit, but if it wasn't please just watch utena, it's a good show!