Why Spiderverse Made Me Cry | Sketchbook Session

Howdy y’all, thanks for stopping by! (^^)/ There’s so much to say about these movies ‘cause they’re so cool – but it was really cathartic to indulge my media-studies brain and ramble for a bit about the impact that the sequel had on me in the visual communication & representation department! It’d be super cool to hear everybody’s different takes on it, so please go ahead and lemme know what aspects of the Spiderverse really resonated with you here in the comments! 💖🕸

"A superhero believes that people like me are worth saving." That brought me to tears. I'm so used to just seeing hate for just trying to exist that just subtle support in a superhero movie and finally seeing attention brought to it made my heart ache. I will admit, I openly wept during that part of the movies and those words made me weep yet again

Watching Gwen and Miles struggling to tell their parents about being spiderwoman/spiderman in this movie was honestly the closest to seeing someone come out to their family I've ever seen in a movie other than actual coming out scenes. I was sitting in the theater feeling like I was about to cry because of how much it resonated with my experiences as a trans person. People arguing against this sort of reading of the story really don't know what they're talking about or how good it feels to see yourself like this in a character. Edit: Thanks so much for the likes omg

I loved this movie! made me cry too lol- As an Indian person, Pavitr is actually very acurate. Made me very happy to see more diversity in the film industry <3

“A superhero believes that people like me are worth saving” AAUUGHFKS YOU PUT IT INTO WORDS THANK YOU!!!

Just a small critique about Hobie’s drawing; his hairstyle is referred to as wicks! His are specifically Freeform, and they are way less uniform and not all the same size, and are honestly somewhat gravity defying towards the top of the scalp lmao. A lot of artists have been struggling to draw them correctly, but there’s some great videos out there with the express purpose to get them a bit more accurately! I appreciate you making sure to include his black facial features, a lot of people aren’t as careful. I’m sure any other art you make of him will continue to do him justice 💕 You did such an amazing job with these spiders, love your work as usual!

As a trans person, the movie resonated with me in so many ways, and not just during Gwen’s arc (although heartbreaking family struggles and secret identity blowouts hit close to home). The whole point of the main character’s arc was about doing what he thinks is right no matter what anyone else has to say about it defying his destiny. Spider-Man Mumbai reminded me how important joy and a sense of community is, to everyone but especially to people who have been historically persecuted. There is so much to learn from people who are different from me, even or sometimes especially when they’re fictional spider-people on the silver screen, so to ignore a narrative just because it isn’t yours is to miss out on so much learning, healing, and understanding… If just the possibility of a character being trans turns some people away, those people will be closing their eyes to some truly beautiful parts of being human.

I personally don't see Gwen as trans, but I love Gwen as a character. Its SO REFRESHING to see a female character who isn't All Powerful Girl-Boss, like most movies do nowadays (which feels forced). Love your drawings and your interpretations, keep up the good work <3

I took my little sister to see it, and we both loved it lol, it almost made me cry but my sister cried a few times. Man, I love Miles’ parents

I tear up at the Qwen scene with her father at the start every. Single. Time. I am very close with my own father, and watching that and feeling the crushing weight of what he says to her punched me directly through the heart. The animation style of her world is so beautiful as well, the stark coloring and the watercolor dripping was so cool. Gwen was hands down my favorite character this time around, watching her try to navigate everything and watching her make devastating choices that she thought were the right ones was ARGGH. SO GOOD. I could go on about Gwen for hours, just such a fascinating and well executed character and arc.

Being cis and having avoided spoilers, a lot of the trans-coding went over my head when I saw ATSV (aside from the "coming out" scenes, which I'm much more familiar with as a lesbian) ; but when I saw people discussing it, it fully made sense in my head and I can't interpret it any other way now - and it made me so, so happy for all the people around me who ARE trans, and resonated with it so deeply. It's a truly wonderful feeling to be seen. The pieces you made today are stunning ! I love how you interpreted all the different styles of the characters. Thank you for this beautiful analysis ☺🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

whether or not shes trans: she supports our community and that in itself means the absolute world to us cishet is not the default

As a writer (and someone who is literally going to school for it) I absolutely LOVED the subtle storytelling of this movie. The whole "cis/straight until proven gay" thing is entirely antithetical to good storytelling! I'm sure everyone's heard of "show not tell", right? Visual storytelling is equally powerful and this movie did an excellent job at utilizing both literary and visual techniques. Plus, if every character in media had to spell out their identity like some people expect of queer characters, it destroys the beautiful, fluid, and ambiguous nature of identity itself. It would make media tedious and uninteresting! There would be no room for discussions like this and remove the need to analyze the complexities of media! With all that being said, lovely drawings! Protect trans kids and adults!

Like you said it’s up to interpretation for each person and not everyone is gonna agree that she’s trans or not. It’s just how you feel personally, like I’m non binary and I personally don’t see Gwen as trans but I’m just so happy for others who do cuz they relate so much to her cuz of the movie. But that’s just my opinion and ppl are allowed to have different opinions

This is why I love comic book heroes their story can be relatable to so many people. Gwen having that real raw moment with her dad in the movie just hit the feels. Love your take on the spider folk

One of my favorite parts of Gwen being un-offically trans is that she is still an extremely interesting character, no matter your headcanon (those mine is that's she's totally trans)! For once, there is queer representation in media that reflects life: you're whole personality is not that you're queer. Anyone can be queer, and there's no "tells" or whatever people call them. It's just so refreshing when a character is intriging and queer, and that queerness is not exploited. It's such a refreshing movie in general and really brings me hope for the future of animation and art in general.

“everyone is assumed straight until proven queer” holy SHIT THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING , MAN .!! i’ve Literally been saying “sure , gwen hasn’t been confirmed to be trans , but she hasn’t been confirmed to be Cis , either” . like christ almighty lmfao i’ve Also been thinking about how ,, every artistic choice in this movie (the colors of gwen’s world , the trans flags , etc) is Very likely to be intentional and to probably have a deeper meaning/implication (especially something like a character having a trans flag in their room) , because it’s an Animated Movie . god you are Really telling me my own thoughts back to me bro thank u 😭 and the whole thing with people constantly refusing the idea of a character being queer unless explicitly stated otherwise , even when there might be massive signs and implications that specifically point to them being queer , is so real . like they’re the same kind of people who go “i hate queer people who constantly go shouting that they’re queer , as if it’s their whole personality” while Also going “well , the character didn’t outright Say they were queer , so they still might not be !” ,,, Like . they reject the possibility of us being queer unless explicitly stated that we’re queer , while Also being annoyed when we Do explicitly state that we’re queer . like what do u want LMAO i also find if gwen Had to specifically state that “Yes Hello I Am A Trans Woman” in the movie , it would just be . So random . like where would they even fit that in the dialogue ? — the reality is that the easiest and most Reasonable way for them to show that gwen is trans is to imply it with certain artistic choices and details throughout the movie (like the trans flag in her room and on her dad’s uniform lmfao) . “show , don’t tell” is what they say , right ? like i simply do not care if you think that gwen is cis and is just a trans ally . and i don’t care if you think she herself is trans , either . because Neither Possibility Has Been Confirmed . so it’s just So idiotic and irritating that people are fighting over it as if there’s a concrete answer , when there literally isn’t one . we don’t know if she’s cis or trans — all we know is that she’s a woman . whether or not she was assigned that gender from birth is unknown to us , and that’s Fine . you can interpret it however way you want , just remember that the way you Interpret it isn’t Factual . so don’t go pushing your Own interpretation onto others (and saying that their’s is incorrect) , when it hasn’t even been confirmed in any way ,,, can you tell im bothered by this whole thing ? i just find it so stupid LOL — it’s literally just media literacy and media interpretation , and people just can’t wrap their head around the fact that others might interpret and read said media differently , which is .,, So stupid , and very much driven by transphobia lmao welp .! it seems like i went back into this ramble again after hearing abd’s similar points/thoughts lmfao — whoops (btw , i Really loved how you imitated hobie’s art style ??? very well done)

Yesssss, ABD Spiderverse sketchbook sessionnnnn! Additional edit: Surely we get an ABD spidersona right..?👀

When he said a super hero believes that someone like me is worth saving I started bawling by eyes out, I’m glad that this representation is present in media ❤

this is absolutely beautiful because not only are your depictions of my favorite characters fantastic but it also showed me how much the fact that Gwen is trans actually means to me. I saw the flag in the her room and I smiled but continued on watching the movie and didn’t think much of it but hearing you talk about it made me realize that it meant to much more than I thought and how happy it makes me that myself and every other trans person can find a place not only seeing themselves in a superhero but also deserving to be heard, seen, and protected.