Everything Everywhere All At Once is a genre bending multiverse movie but it's also one of the most challenging and subversive representations of masculinity...
What are some examples of him avoiding problems? In terms of their family business he is taking the problems there much more seriously than Evelyn (actually trying to work with the tax auditor and reach a solution) and in terms of their marriage he's constantly trying to communicate with her while she blows him off... The divorce papers were meant to force her to confront their issues, he didn't actually even want to divorce. Tbh I could also be failing to remember some details, it's been a little while since I saw the movie.
well the biggest problem he avoids, and you can see him avoid it in the main world as well as in the alpha world, is his own family - he doesn't stand up for joy when her mother is being overbearing and driving her away and he doesn't step in over in the alpha verse where joy is driven to the ends of her wits from her mother's expectations (strong relate lmao)
on top of that, the divorce comes out of nowhere - he made the decision that they were going to separate, seems to have not even tried to work on his relationship or at least made it known he was unhappy (as evidenced by how out of the blue the divorce papers were). again, I know i'm pulling from my own life on some level, but this shit happened exactly the same way with a guy who tried to put on the exact same act without actually doing the emotional work of resolving the issues within his family. but that's just my interpretation of things
also what makes you say he 'never actually wanted the divorce'? my read was that he wanted the divorce because he saw that as the solution to the family issues and insecurities he was having, which again is very much a way of avoiding actually bringing up the issues he's seemingly let bubble under the surface. also you dont just surprise someone with divorce papers as a way of forcing an issue, but that's a separate issue here
He didn't make the decision to separate, he said to Evelyn in the movie that what he wanted was to talk about their issues, that a friend of his had gotten divorce papers which led to his relationship actually getting better because it forced them to talk. You're right that isn't the best way to start the conversation, but he's shown multiple times trying to talk with Evelyn and not being given the time of day (when he has the divorce papers in hand already and hasn't shown them to her, but we can imagine that before he got to that point the dynamic was similar). I think you raise some good points, thanks for sharing your perspective.
What are some examples of him avoiding problems? In terms of their family business he is taking the problems there much more seriously than Evelyn (actually trying to work with the tax auditor and reach a solution) and in terms of their marriage he's constantly trying to communicate with her while she blows him off... The divorce papers were meant to force her to confront their issues, he didn't actually even want to divorce. Tbh I could also be failing to remember some details, it's been a little while since I saw the movie.
deleted by creator
well the biggest problem he avoids, and you can see him avoid it in the main world as well as in the alpha world, is his own family - he doesn't stand up for joy when her mother is being overbearing and driving her away and he doesn't step in over in the alpha verse where joy is driven to the ends of her wits from her mother's expectations (strong relate lmao)
on top of that, the divorce comes out of nowhere - he made the decision that they were going to separate, seems to have not even tried to work on his relationship or at least made it known he was unhappy (as evidenced by how out of the blue the divorce papers were). again, I know i'm pulling from my own life on some level, but this shit happened exactly the same way with a guy who tried to put on the exact same act without actually doing the emotional work of resolving the issues within his family. but that's just my interpretation of things
also what makes you say he 'never actually wanted the divorce'? my read was that he wanted the divorce because he saw that as the solution to the family issues and insecurities he was having, which again is very much a way of avoiding actually bringing up the issues he's seemingly let bubble under the surface. also you dont just surprise someone with divorce papers as a way of forcing an issue, but that's a separate issue here
He didn't make the decision to separate, he said to Evelyn in the movie that what he wanted was to talk about their issues, that a friend of his had gotten divorce papers which led to his relationship actually getting better because it forced them to talk. You're right that isn't the best way to start the conversation, but he's shown multiple times trying to talk with Evelyn and not being given the time of day (when he has the divorce papers in hand already and hasn't shown them to her, but we can imagine that before he got to that point the dynamic was similar). I think you raise some good points, thanks for sharing your perspective.
fair enough, but i still hold that he does fail joy and that does deserve to be explored more.
and thank you too <3