She-Ra: Parallel Arcs - Detail Diatribe
750,399
Published 2021-06-11
So, I had B-roll for this video! I edited it together over the course of six total hours and it was really good! It also WOULD NOT stop getting copyright claimed no matter what I did, so in order to actually get this dang video up I ended up having to nuke it. Nobody's sorrier about that than me. I hope you guys like the video anyway, and if you're curious about the scenes we're describing - watch the show, it's on netflix and really good!
Sneaky Snitch, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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All Comments (21)
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The lack of footage makes this feel like I'm being lectured by a pair of dolls rather than being lectured by a pair of dolls with the projector on
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Red explaining everything and Blue is just trying to figure the plot
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“She-Ra” analysis is so great because it always boils down to “The effects of abandonment anxieties and depression in the character arcs of Princess Snuggly-Wuggly-Kins and Lord Scaryevilbadman”.
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“She-Ra and the Princesses of Angst.” Blue, you hit that on the nose too hard, apologize.
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"Adora, who everyone adores." Hey, wait a sec-
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Blue just figuring things out is hilarious
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"she's a himbo who happens to be a lady" YES
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Red uses the word "fascinating" as many times as Entrapta would
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Another interesting contrast between Glimmer and Catra is that Glimmer was a very sheltered child because of the war, whilst Catra was an actively abused child, which plays into the same dynamic
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Strange that they didn’t bring up Netossa’s comment about how glimmer’s biggest weakness is crushing self doubt mixed with overwhelming hubris
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Catra was told she was bad so many times that she believed it unconditionally. Glimmer was told that she was good so many times that she believed it unconditionally. There was no, "You're good if..." or, "You're bad if..." there's just, "You're X, so no matter what happens or what you do, it comes back to you being X. The natural order of things is you being X." And so anything at variance from that became impossible to confront. "Things are going well? That can't be right -- I'm evil!" "Things aren't going my way? But I'm right! That's no fair!"
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One aspect that I consider something of a mirror that you didn't touch on: as Catra is driving the one good influence in her life away from her, Glimmer is actively getting closer to what is quite possibly the worst influence in her life: Shadow Weaver.
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Breaking: Red Announces King Micah and Scorpia Are Her Favorite Characters, Everyone Goes, "Yeah that checks out"
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Red saying "Fascinating" in regards to tragic flaws in Glimmer's character gives me Entrapta vibes
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That discussion of Glimmer reminded me of a quote: “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” ― C. S. Lewis
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What's so fascinating is that Catra's deep down knows how messed up her situation is and how much she screwed up, but she's also so deeply in denial. Like basically the entire show up to Corridors, but especially in s4, Catra's just been clinging to the fact that she's 'fine'. She's in control of the situation and everything is okay. Adora left. Fine, okay. Shadow Weaver left her for Adora. Okay, sure, rolling along. Adora hates her now. Fine, whatever. Scorpia left, and it's _okay. what do you mean, she's fine_. I love the genius decision to place her on Horde Prime's ship, because that's the perfect catalyst for her arc in s5. At the finale, DT finally rips away her blinders and forces her to acknowledge, face on, everything she did. How truly she's messed up and hurt everyone. And then immediately after, she's put on Prime's ship right away, where she has nothing to do but to mull over everything DT says. The only thing that could possibly distract herself from her thoughts is talking to Glimmer. The one person the best posed to jab right into her regret and nostalgia and love for Adora, and to pull all her remaining illusions down. Also, Horde Prime's whole shtick is that he's stronger than you. More powerful than you. He makes people feel powerless, and the only way to stay safe is to serve him. His entire ship is designed to make people feel powerless. But Catra? Catra's entire coping mechanism and denial is based on her illusion of Control. The only thing Prime's manipulation tactics are going to do is to make her examine herself and realise: oh. I don't want this. I never really wanted this. I want to leave and I have for a long time. The last conversation with Glimmer in Corridors is the culmination of all these things, and it burns down all of Catra's remaining shreds of denial and forces her to realise. I am going to die. No matter what, I am going to die. But I still care for Adora, and I want Adora to live through this. So if I'm going to die anyway, I'm going to make my death worth something, the way my life never did. Like dude that's such a perfect situation and a perfect culmination of factors this show's so well written.
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What fascinates me about Catra is how she's basically stuck in a vicious circle at that point of the story. Her self-loathing makes her unable to interact with people without her usual artifices, because she can't consider that people could possibly enjoy her company and value her for who she is, independently of what she accomplished. So she hides her need for social interactions behind authority (like demanding a field report instead of asking "how was your day ?"). But that inability of her to sustain a genuine relationship participates (among other things) in driving people away from her, fulfilling this self-realizing prophecy that no one can like/love her for who she is, which in turn feeds her self-loathing. Yeah, Shadow Weaver really fucked up that kitten.
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"Adora, which could be a whole episode in itself..." Yes please.
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im very suprised that bow's "BECAUSE YOUR WRONG!" wasent paralled with scorpia's "you're a bad friend..." i feel like red was going to just before blue said that there wasent a paralel moment for glimer.
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After season 3 I said out loud to people, "Catra is beyond redemption and I will be disappointed if they try." And then they did it and actually pulled it off and I'm not sure I've ever been more impressed by a narrative turn.