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hahaha their show is called FLIPLANTHROPY omg
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Jan 13, 2024 04:39
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Lister posted:] He literally said "there's a little me inside you"
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Jan 13, 2024 04:41
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it's all a metaphor for his art. Whitney is the networks. That final dinner scene is all about The Rehearsal (see screenshots below). He literally presents Whitney with a model house and she asks if they will be able to afford it. I swear I once read something about HBO cutting the number of episodes of The Rehearsal down because of budgetary concerns, but maybe I am making that up. Regardless, once the product has been birthed into the world, Nathan must return to living behind a facade that can at best mirror the world with minor distortions or face an alienation that is so total it can only be likened to death.
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Jan 13, 2024 04:58
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bobjr posted:Do we know what Dougie cursed Asher with? He seemed like he was guilty so I wondered if it was his curse taken in a weird way He never said what it was specifically. I figured his reaction was a combination of guilt over the way he treated Asher, especially immediately before he flies into the air to his doom, and residual guilt from his wife’s death. He’s refused to take any kind of responsibility for her dying but he obviously still feels really guilty about it and kind of knows he’s a piece of poo poo. Now his careless behavior has led to the death of someone else. Or maybe it didn’t, but his curse probably didn’t help matters either. That was some good crying from Benny Safdie too, I actually felt bad for Dougie in that scene.
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Jan 13, 2024 05:03
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The image of Asher struggling with the vacuum while Whitney crawls around in labor sure feels like some kind of nightmare callback to the reveal that she’d had an abortion before, though I don’t know exactly how that fits in with anything else.
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Jan 13, 2024 05:27
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well. hmm. lol.
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Jan 13, 2024 05:29
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a new study bible! posted:Obviously art should stand alone but if you aren't thinking about this show within the context of his other work it's never going to land fully. Also mel brooks never joked about the holocaust in his movies. The Producers was using comedy to mock Hitler so he was less of this monster that strikes fear into people. One more example of asher not understanding comedy.
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Jan 13, 2024 05:32
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wow. even after talking it through for an hour+ after with my partner I’m still chewing on the ending myself. I think that the show did the work throughout the series to merit an ending that wild. the episode was the most outwardly cinematic and also the most comedic of the entire series; the POV leaving the OR and through the ER out into espanola proper and down their street and the last shot being the threshold of the house was king poo poo that I’ll be thinking about for a while it did seem like asher and whitney were going to escape any ramifications for their behaviour throughout the series up until gravity abandoned him. theres a strong kafkaesque element to his ordeal; a parallel is drawn between his seemingly arbitrary and outlandish suffering and the suffering of jews throughout history with the whole “the producers helped us see the humour in the holocaust” dialogue over shabbat dinner. dougie, also jewish, feels the punishing guilt he’s been chasing all series as the friend he doesn’t take seriously careens into the sky. in contrast, whitney, being a charismatic and magnetic white woman, only suffers mild inconveniences (having to have the baby in espanola instead of san jose, having to take an epidural instead of the natural birth with the doula that she was probably planning for, the c-section). I believe whitney cursed asher in her mind as he was shining the light on/singing to her stomach. nala, dougie, and her, three strikes and he’s out of there one of the funniest parts of the episode to me was the miniatures of abshir and family in the model backyard, arms upstretched in gratitude great series, incredible ending. I’ll still need some time to think about it. the extraordinarily vocal A24-merch wearing nerds we were surrounded by in the theatre definitely got their money’s worth
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Jan 13, 2024 05:37
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flashy_mcflash posted:What a finale. i also heard the surgeon say Foley and Grip too! i love how the show just constantly throws these little bait and switches. adds to the surreal feeling
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Jan 13, 2024 06:04
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thought that was masterful. amazing show
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Jan 13, 2024 06:45
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https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/575960/the-curse-showtime-finale-last-episode-meaning-moses/ interesting interview with Moses the doula and his take on the story (of course he's a real doula they hired). i didn't even connect the curse to the pain of childbirth - the original biblical curse. but i guess my head is doing that thing it does after every nathan fielder show, connecting patterns and thematic links and basically contemplating a bit too much of everything.
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Jan 13, 2024 06:58
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You can say what you want about the episode but its impressive its cultivating this level of discussion, with so many interpretations about what it means, which all seem quite valid.
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Jan 13, 2024 07:05
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episode was incredible. still chewing on itLister posted:I noticed that too. Abshir is made to look unsympathetic in his last scene. Where are the kids? Out. Who's that guy? A friend. What about the property taxes? How about you just give me the cash for it. From only the perspective of whit and ash, it makes the audience think that his curt answers mean he's hiding something and giving it to him is a mistake. Clearly the scene is trying to communicate that the gift is not being received well and they both regret it even though they keep telling themselves it's the right thing to do. asherposting
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Jan 13, 2024 07:12
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https://twitter.com/CoreyAtad/status/1745889482627579922
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Jan 13, 2024 08:34
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I loved this crazy assed episode but I was distracted thinking mechanically wouldn't you want to try your hardest to flip to the underside of the branch so you could rest your body weight on it? Maybe I'm just a wuss, but if I was being pulled up constantly at anything close to Earth's normal gravity I don't think I could have held on like Asher did for more than five minutes. Making it more obvious you were "falling up" would also be a lot more convincing to the firefighters, though that would require a level of self-awareness no character in this show had.
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Jan 13, 2024 09:49
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Man, what a show
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Jan 13, 2024 11:09
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Not a well thought out theory, but I immediately saw it like Asher was The Curse himself, and The Curse has (quite literally) "been lifted." His speech in episode 9 seems to line up with that too
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Jan 13, 2024 14:07
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I still can't believe what I saw. Air pockets lmfao
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Jan 13, 2024 14:08
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I think more stories should have endings like this, what the gently caress. That absolutely kicked rear end
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Jan 13, 2024 14:49
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I thought it was pretty weak. You can debate meanings but it doesnt mean anything, it was just kind of ironic cringe comedy for 9.5 hours and then a weird ending. solving it wont make it better
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Jan 13, 2024 16:21
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I feel like the "Asher was The Curse" read lets Whitney off way too easy
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Jan 13, 2024 16:45
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Even if Asher is the Curse we all still see that Whitney’s morals are paper thin and only serve her narcissism.
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Jan 13, 2024 16:58
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Man I’m so glad I didn’t have that ending spoiled for me. So sick
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Jan 13, 2024 17:02
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If someone had told me what was gonna happen I wouldn't have believed them
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Jan 13, 2024 17:19
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I loved the rollercoaster of like the initial pan to the ceiling and immediately thinking "oh poo poo, supernatural" then getting worn down by their blase attitude into thinking "has this happened before? we must just be in absurdist scifi comedy territory" and then finally circling back to "no, definitely supernatural, and horrifying" It sort of mirrors the overall arc of the show
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Jan 13, 2024 17:37
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asher’s plans during the crisis were pretty good, depressurizing the nursery, using a towel, using the dyson to grab the phone safely, and the net (affixed to the fire truck, presumably with a carabiner) apparatus he was proposing were all logically consistent, albeit executed poorly. both he and whitney were put into situations where they were helpless and forced to rely on authority, but whitney’s ordeal ends with the little bit of asher in her successfully excised and asher’s ends with his corpse floating in the thermosphere
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Jan 13, 2024 17:42
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It’s also funny that they wanted their show to be real and authentic and by the time we get to the finale the townspeople see that happening and just think “oh must be part of their tv show”.
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Jan 13, 2024 17:43
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Gotta say, The Curse has definitely been something of a coming-out party for Nathan. It shows that he's got more acting range than previously let on. All the scenes where his anger explodes were very effective, and of course that scene in ep 9. That he's a great director--I was able to guess which episodes were Nathan's by their especially voyeuristic, inventive camera shots that really ratcheted up the tension. And, thanks to the last episode, that he's got some really great physicality as a performer.
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Jan 13, 2024 17:49
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panko posted:asher’s plans during the crisis were pretty good, depressurizing the nursery, using a towel, using the dyson to grab the phone safely, and the net (affixed to the fire truck, presumably with a carabiner) apparatus he was proposing were all logically consistent, albeit executed poorly.
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Jan 13, 2024 17:50
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Sivart13 posted:I loved this crazy assed episode but I was distracted thinking mechanically wouldn't you want to try your hardest to flip to the underside of the branch so you could rest your body weight on it? He also could have stood up. Instead he only crawled around. He could have crawled to the ladder or firefighter and grabbed onto them as the branch was being cut. Why didn't Abshir just stand up and tell the chiropractor to leave? Because the scenes are a metaphor, not real life.
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Jan 13, 2024 18:08
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The Dave posted:It’s also funny that they wanted their show to be real and authentic and by the time we get to the finale the townspeople see that happening and just think “oh must be part of their tv show”. This line is also why we have to accept the show as a metaphor for Fielders career at large.
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Jan 13, 2024 19:02
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rereading my posts itt to see how off-base I was and panko posted:The Curse first look. I’m excited for this almost wholly because of the people involved what a choice for a teaser image panko posted:so far it seems the curse is woke capitalism fuelled by white guilt but I’m so ready to get turned on my head soon I wasnt the only one who got turned…
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Jan 13, 2024 19:16
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a new study bible! posted:it's all a metaphor for his art. Whitney is the networks. That final dinner scene is all about The Rehearsal (see screenshots below). He literally presents Whitney with a model house and she asks if they will be able to afford it. I swear I once read something about HBO cutting the number of episodes of The Rehearsal down because of budgetary concerns, but maybe I am making that up. Regardless, once the product has been birthed into the world, Nathan must return to living behind a facade that can at best mirror the world with minor distortions or face an alienation that is so total it can only be likened to death. I think you’re spot on. The final scene with Abshir is meant to mirror the experience of Nathan and his production crews offboarding the non-actors featured in his other shows. He expects them to be excited about being featured in his art and having 15 minutes of fame but their actual reaction tends to be self centered and thankless bewilderment and wondering if/when they’re getting paid. resident fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Jan 13, 2024 |
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Jan 13, 2024 19:36
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This is kind of fungurragadon posted:The problem I've had with the show is it seems like they are opening up a ton of plots and not really going anywhere with any of them. It's only the first 4 episodes so I'm assuming they are going to stop adding new stories and start resolving some. What happened with the casino thing? gurragadon posted:I don't really know where the whole plot is going resolve at though because so much has been brought up and not fully addressed. Dougie's DUI, Asher and the casino, Whitney and her parents and the whole HGTV setup to the show need to be resolved. gurragadon posted:Edit: If there joking about a million dollars for the ending than I doubt this would be the conclusion completely, I just hope they didn't get so into making the ending unexpected that it ends up being weaker than a more expected option. Nathan clearly is not listening to me. gurragadon posted:There are tons of posts about the drama and theories which is where I think the real gold is with this show. I didn't really think The Rehearsal was funny either, so I just don't think we think the same things are funny outside of Nathan for You tbh. I hated the ending but everyone's theories after watching the finale have been pretty fun to read, even if I can't add much. Most of the religious stuff and talk about it being reflective of show business were things I hadn't thought about really. gurragadon fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jan 13, 2024 |
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Jan 13, 2024 19:38
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Another Bill posted:Here's my thing, which has sort of been said already, I think Asher wasn't suddenly floating upwards so much as he was repelled by Mama Whitney. She suddenly didn't need him for validation in the same way once she became a mother. And that dynamic was the only thing holding them together. That's what I thought too. At the end of the previous episode where Asher was saying that he'd know if Whitney didn't want him anymore and he'd "disappear". That said.....I don't care for odd just for the sake of being odd. So I didn't love this ending. Spent a lot of time on this floating away premise and provided almost no closure to the other plot lines.
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Jan 13, 2024 19:54
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oh wow lol
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Jan 13, 2024 20:05
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resident posted:I think you’re spot on. The final scene with Abshir is meant to mirror the experience of Nathan and his production crews offboarding the non-actors featured in his other shows. He expects them to be excited about being featured in his art and having 15 minutes of fame but their actual reaction tends to be self centered and thankless bewilderment and wondering if/when they’re getting paid. I hadn’t considered this at all but it really makes a lot of sense and is very well put. Thank you. I honestly can’t fathom how to structure it all, but I had a few different thoughts that also contributed to this read: the scene where Asher and his colleague laugh as the woman imagines how she will spend all of her nullified casino winnings is very in line with stuff that he’s done in his other shows, but also the act of the laughing at her reminded me of the criticisms that scrutinize Nathan’s callousness and treatment of non-actors on the shows. All of that press of how mean The Rehearsal is was always to stupid and missed the point entirely. - obviously the entire concept of Flipanthropy mirrors the setup of Nathan for You and The Rehearsal (helping people but also exercising an ulterior motive that cuts against the benevolence) - building off your thought, Nathan is cursed on multiple levels 1) the bystanders subjected to his pranks 2) the production crews who have to work with him 3) the networks themselves. -that whole dinner scene is so rich with stuff to unpack. Whitney/The Network is concerned about going broke but Asher gestures to the model home and says it’s okay because they will have the product of his obsessive worldbuilding which is made literal for the scene. Whitney has wasted a significant amount of money on token gestures of virtue signaling, the jeans, the certification for the houses, stealth modifications to the houses that nullify those certs, recasts and reshoots because she doesn’t like the people in the episodes, etc. Seems like a criticism of network hypocrisy -I think that Nathan is using Asher’s Judaism as a proxy for some larger and indescribable artistic drive or merit, but maybe I’m stretching. It just fits so well that Asher has to assure Whitney that she is just as Jewish as he is, and it read to me like Nathan was assuring the networks that they are legitimate artists on his level even though they are really just financiers who don’t get it. -the curse itself is Nathan’s complete alienation and inability to exist on the same level as most people. Obvs he’s developed this theme across at least 4 shows, and they all have caused viewers to question how much is Nathan putting on an act for the cameras, hence the importance of those final lines. And then the camera moves back into the mirrored chamber of the home. It’s like the camera assumes the position of Nathan’s psyche or id or something and it begins the process of mimicking the outside world again. -real artists see Nathan’s work as lacking for merit because of his associations with the networks -the Rachel Ray thing is so good and uncomfortable and aside from working to affirm how alienating Asher himself is, it could also represent how the networks that become married to Nathan feel about their associations. Whitney is mostly embarrassed as she sits there holding Asher’s nearly developed baby, and it is clear that Rachel Ray (and of course the Sopranos actor, which is of course real prestige tv) hasn’t seen the show, isn’t interested, and mostly just thinks it’s weird so she ignores it. Sorry for the rambles these were just a few of my thoughts regarding a larger meta read. I’m sure I’m stretching a bit.
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Jan 13, 2024 20:10
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I sat on this for a day because I don't think the first guttural reaction to seeing an ending like that is going to necessarily be the correct one. My own take on the ending is that Asher is someone who has failed upwards in life because of his utility to others in-spite of him having little to no agency and being relatively ineffective at everything (The Casino plan he had only works when he leaves and somebody else tweaks it, him buying a property turns into a complete poo poo show and even when he tries to flip that into a good deed it falls flat, he can't even steal a stove). Everything he does in the series more or less fails at and yet he's got this hot wife, a HGTV show and is relatively well off compared to those around him simply because those people need him for their own success. The finale shows him basically running out of use as a utility to others (he clearly doesn't have the charisma necessary to save the show, limiting his use to Whitney and Dougie. Rachel Ray laid out that the houses aren't a serious practical solution to any problem and they know that given they put A/C in for the baby. And finally he can't even get the phone or go bag for Whitney) all while he literally fails upwards.
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Jan 13, 2024 20:20
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Tony quidprano posted:The finale shows him basically running out of use as a utility to others (he clearly doesn't have the charisma necessary to save the show, limiting his use to Whitney and Dougie. Rachel Ray laid out that the houses aren't a serious practical solution to any problem and they know that given they put A/C in for the baby. And finally he can't even get the phone or go bag for Whitney) all while he literally fails upwards. Yeah I like this interpretation too, it ties into the satire of white privilege that runs through the whole season.
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Jan 13, 2024 20:32
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mistermojo posted:I thought it was pretty weak. You can debate meanings but it doesnt mean anything, it was just kind of ironic cringe comedy for 9.5 hours and then a weird ending. solving it wont make it better (pages of thoughtful discussion that weave in both the text of the series itself and the running themes of Fielder's prior work) "Yeah, it doesn't mean anything."
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Jan 13, 2024 20:34
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