How Cinematography works: Visual Metaphors (example: “Young Royals”)

The first season of the Netflix surprise smash hit ‘Young Royals’ includes one of the most evocative film shots in recent TV memory.

In a medium shot, we see the main protagonist Wilhelm being hazed in a truly harrowing boarding school initiation ritual: He is gagged and tied to a statue in front of his school in the middle of the night.

Quickly sketching this out storyboard-style gives you a shot composition that looks roughly like this:

In that one frame, the makers of the show present us with a clever, complex and layered metaphor that foreshadows the show’s entire two seasons shown so far.

How do they do that?

Well, let’s dive in, shall we…

First things first: When you watch a movie or a TV show and the main protagonist is gagged, has their mouth forcibly covered against their will or is in any other way, shape or form shown to be unable to move their lips and speak out…then that usually means something! We should always at least consider the possibility that this might be a metaphor.

TV is a visual medium, and it tells us things not just by having actors recite scripted lines, it also literally shows us things, usually by employing visual metaphors, such as the one we’re presented with in the above shot.

So let’s consider what the show ‘Young Royals’ is about at its very core: It is essentially the story of a teenager (its main protagonist Prince Wilhelm) who is not allowed to speak out about his sexual identity. For two seasons, his family, the Royal Court, the Queen et al. silence him and force him to lie about himself. And he is consequently shown to be suffering terribly for it.

Which is why a shot like the one above, where he is shown to be literally gagged during his initiation, at the very beginning of his whole boarding school storyline, just simply cannot be a coincidence.

Metaphorically, the gag foreshadows not only how deeply traumatizing the experience of having to remain silent about his same-sex relationship will be for this teenager, but also that this pain, this trauma, is imposed on him by outside actors: 

It’s not out of shame or self-loathing that Wilhelm will remain silent for almost two seasons; it’s not because he’s following some inner compulsion to hide in the closet. It’s due to circumstances entirely outside of his control. He is not in charge; the impulse to remain silent is external. It’s other people, people more powerful than he, who will force him to keep his mouth shut and deny his identity. Which, in the above shot, is metaphorically mirrored by the fact that it’s his (older) schoolmates, who are higher up in the school’s hierarchy, who tie him up and gag him like that. And the whole point of this initiation (which includes the gagging) is to have poor Wilhelm swear an oath to ‘uphold proud traditions’...

As is so often the case with shows of the boarding school genre, the schoolmates and the school as a whole do, of course, act as a mirror for society at large, specifically the upper-crust society that the main protagonist was born into. So, being tied up and gagged by his schoolmates does foreshadow the silence this type of society (i.e. the aristocracy, the Royal Court, etc.) will impose on him for almost the entirety of the two seasons shown so far.

If you find the time for a re-watch, I dare you to look at his face in this shot again, at the abject terror, shock and pain etched into his features at being gagged and tied up like that, and you will see not just the suffering that Wilhelm is enduring at that specific moment during his initiation, but also get a glimpse of his future: Because metaphorically that face right there foreshadows how deeply traumatizing this forced silence is going to be for him over those first two seasons.

The photography accentuates this not only by presenting the viewer with a medium shot, that helps us focus on both his facial expression and his arms and shoulders helplessly contorted around the statue, it also looks like a strobe light was used on his eyes to emphasize the absolute terror he is feeling in that scene (and will keep feeling throughout the first two seasons).

Quick sidebar here: Shockingly, we then get the spitting scene that seems so off-putting at first glance. “Is this really necessary?” we, the viewers, might ask ourselves. “We get it; these hazing rituals are brutal. Why did they have to go there, as well?”

But looking at this from a metaphorical angle makes the scene suddenly much more meaningful: 

We have a character who, as we have already seen, is gagged (i.e. will be forced to keep his mouth shut about his sexuality). Now, on top of that, this character has to metaphorically ‘take’ everything that comes out of the mouths of his peers. In a literal sense, that’s spit, of course, but metaphorically it foreshadows the fact that he will be forced to take in each and every stupid word that comes out of the mouths of these vapid aristocrats. He will be forced to ‘take it all’, so to speak, without being allowed so much as a word of protest.

And yes, I am in fact equating the ideas, opinions and attitudes of the upper class on this show with spit. That’s the metaphor here. On this show, the nonsense these people are spewing (quite literally) is compared to disgusting spit. You’re welcome.

But back to the brilliant shot with the gag and the statue that we were discussing:

Do you think using an actual gag as a metaphor for Wilhelm’s forced silence on the matter of his sexuality is neat symbolism? Well, wait for it! Because the shot above is actually far more complex, and dare I say, ingenious than just that. It’s a great example of how artfully one can construct a shot and how utterly brilliant TV can be as a visual medium when it’s done right.

Let’s talk about the shot composition for a moment here: 

The focal point is at the centre of the frame; it’s where both Wilhelm and the statue are. Wilhelm is shown with his arms involuntarily wound around the sculpture, an embrace of sorts, but a contorted and painful one because he has just been tied to the sculpture by his schoolmates.

While we can clearly see Wilhelm’s panicked face, the sculpture is only seen from behind. He is not tied to it with his back to the sculpture’s front.

Instead, the way he and the statue are positioned makes it seem like he is hugging an actual person.

Wilhelm’s cheek is pressed into the statue’s cold stone head, for example, as if this were an actual embrace between two people and not just a torturous mockery of one. (A particularly cruel little detail, for we will later learn, in episode after episode, that Wilhelm is actually somebody who likes hugging people. He craves hugs; he clearly didn’t get enough of them as a child. It’s painfully obvious throughout the seasons. So this forced hug is a cruel mockery of what this protagonist actually wants and needs. One should also note that this shot of Wilhelm’s involuntary embrace of the statue comes just moments after the involuntary and almost equally awkward embrace of Simon by his dad. Talk about parallels…)

So, who is Wilhelm ‘hugging’ in this shot? What sculpture is this?

While we don’t get to see the sculpture’s face, it is still immediately obvious to anyone with even just a passing interest in art history what sculpture this is exactly:

The sculpture used in this scene is, of course, a copy of Michelangelo’s famous ‘David’.

Yes, that David. King David from the Old Testament.

Let that sink in for a moment: In the shot, Wilhelm is shown gagged (which, as mentioned above, foreshadows his ordeal with the silence that will be imposed on him) and tied to the sculpture of a king, foreshadowing the fact that he will be metaphorically ‘tied’ to his unwanted role as future King.

In the shot, he is clearly unable to move and in pain because of the rope wound tightly about his body.

This foreshadows future events on the show, where his being inextricably tied to the role as future King of the country is what restricts all his freedom of movement and makes it impossible for him to have even the slightest bit of wiggle room for some semblance of privacy, let alone intimate relations.

He is literally forced to hug this ‘David’ statue, but figuratively, he will be forced to embrace his role as King; he will have to embrace it against his will.

All of this is contained in that one clever shot of a frightened teenage boy and the statue that he’s brutally been tied to.

Because the sculpture is clearly meaningful; it’s not just some random prop. (If the sculpture didn’t mean anything, the showrunners could have easily tied Wilhelm to a tree, but they didn’t.)

Oh, but that isn’t even all of it. Not by far!

Things are far cleverer and far more ambiguous than even that.

If the show had just wanted to show us that Wilhelm is bound to embrace his role as future King, some prop master could have easily put up a cheap copy of a statue of some illustrious King of Sweden’s past. I’m sure there’s a wide range of fascinating and legendary candidates to choose from.

And yet, and yet…that’s not what the showrunners ended up doing. Instead, they ended up using the statue they found on site at Kaggeholm castle, which is the show’s main filming location. (And yes, this particular copy of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ is apparently in situ at Kaggeholm castle – at least it seems to be if my googling skills don’t deceive me.)

If I were to guess, I’d say that when the showrunners first had that location scouted out and discovered this ‘David’ sculpture on site, there were spontaneous whoops of joy because it’s just too good not to be used.

They got really, really lucky when it comes to what they found there.

Think about it. How brilliant is Michelangelo’s ‘David’ for the purposes of this show?!

It’s so much more than just a foreshadowing device for Wilhelm’s future role as King.

For one, there’s the fact that King David is famously not just any old King from the Hebrew Bible, seeing as ‘heterosexual’ isn’t exactly the word that immediately springs to mind when progressive Bible scholars discuss and analyze David’s relationship with his best friend Jonathan.

King David’s sexuality is famously ambiguous (as is our main protagonist’s on the show).

Admittedly, progressive and more traditionalist Bible scholars have for ages been bashing each other’s heads in over the question of King David’s sexuality, but for the purposes of the show ‘Young Royals’, which, as we can all agree, does not ascribe to a traditionalist worldview, the love between David and Jonathan being canonically described as one which ‘surpasses the love of women’ is certainly an interesting little factoid befitting the show’s narrative about a not-exactly-straight prince and king-to-be.

As I said, the show got so very, very lucky with that sculpture.

Michelangelo’s ‘David’ comes with even more connotational ‘baggage’, though:

Consider, for example, the fact that the great master’s own inclinations infamously didn’t exactly line up with what we today would call heterosexuality. Michelangelo was many things, but straight was certainly not one of them.

And let’s not even get started on the fact that his ‘David’ sculpture is perceived even today (half a millennium after its creation) as the epitome of male beauty.

It’s these sparkling little gay highlights and homoerotic connotations that make the fact that Wilhelm is tied specifically to this statue much more, shall we say, sneakily artful.

So, once we consider all of these visual cues, the whole scene becomes much more ambiguous: Wilhelm might be tied to the role of future King of the country, but this role is more complex than even his tormentors seem to realize.

He might have to embrace this role (just like he’s embracing the sculpture), but this role, like the sculpture, comes with a whole splash of different gay connotations, so, dear viewers, the show seems to be telling us, don’t lose hope, just because you’ve seen one upsetting shot from his initiation ritual.

But even that isn’t all of it.

If you look at Michelangelo’s ‘David’ even more closely, you will realize that it doesn’t depict David as an actual King…yet.

There are countless depictions of King David in his later years as bearded and wise ruler of his Kingdom: crowned head, wrinkled brow and all (cf. Tadolini’s or Lebrun’s versions in Rome).

But that’s not what Michelangelo’s ‘David’ sculpture is at all.

Michelangelo didn’t give us the depiction of a wise, old King.

Michelangelo depicts David long before he becomes King David, long before he even knows that one day he will be crowned King, in fact. He’s just a shepherd's boy here, a very young man.

This mirrors our protagonist Wilhelm on the show, who at the start of the first season and during this very initiation scene is not a King yet, who doesn’t even know, at that point in the story, that the role of Crown Prince and future King will soon descend on him like a ton of bricks.

What’s more, Michelangelo’s ‘David’ doesn’t show us one of the most common topoi in art history either: This is notably not a David who has just slain Goliath and is holding the giant’s severed head up by its hair.

Because Michelangelo’s ‘David’ clearly hasn’t slain Goliath yet! 

Michelangelo depicts David at the crucial moment before the battle, at a decisive turning point in David’s life.

It’s a moment of resolve, that split second before his life will change forever: David is shown to be making up his mind and gathering his strength (hence his furrowed brow). The stone with which he will slay Goliath is still in his clenched hand, the sling still rests across his shoulder.

“Will he or won’t he do it? Will he manage to slay the giant? The show is about to start,” Michelangelo’s famous sculpture practically screams at the viewer.

And isn’t that just the most beautiful parallel to what the ‘Young Royals’ protagonist Wilhelm is going through?

Our Wilhelm, on the show, is not a king yet, and he hasn’t yet overcome the obstacles that he will have to overcome. He is quite literally only getting started. But he will have to slay the ‘monster’, so to speak; he will have to fight Goliath, i.e., he will have to go against the Royal Court, the Queen and this entire stuck-up upper-class society that he was born into to accomplish something great. Just like David, who had to slay the giant first to become what destiny had foretold he would become: a truly great and powerful King.

In short, that brilliant shot of Wilhelm being tied to a sculpture, which at first sight, seems so distressing, isn’t by far as unambiguous as one might think: There’s hope; there’s a terrifying struggle to be had, but there’s hope, as well, the sculpture seems to be telling us.

What a great visual metaphor!

But you know what makes this metaphor even greater?

The fact that it’s then picked up and transferred to a different scene and into a completely different setting.

I like to call this a ‘wandering metaphor’, a metaphor that first makes a home in the viewer’s mind at the beginning of the initiation and then pays off at the end of the episode when it ‘wanders’ into a completely different scene.

Let’s recap: Wilhelm’s boarding school initiation starts with a hazing scene of him being gagged and dragged outside to be tied to the sculpture.

But, in a perfectly bookended scene, this very same initiation ends with Wilhelm and Simon hiding from their schoolmates after the two of them left Wilhelm’s party. And it’s during this endpoint of Wilhelm’s initiation that Wilhelm suddenly covers Simon’s mouth with his hand to hush him.

Let me sketch this out quickly for you; this is what the shot looks like:

So, we have Wilhelm with a gag covering his mouth at the beginning of the initiation and Simon with Wilhelm’s hand covering his mouth at the end of said initiation.

In between these two perfectly bookended scenes, you get an initiation party that is ripe with symbolism, as well, for which unfortunately I have neither the time nor the space right now.

Just to name a few highlights:

Wilhelm has to endure the dubious pleasure of having August possessively drape himself all over his person and give him a lecture about how, at this boarding school, he will be among his own kind (i.e. among upper-class people) and how he won’t have to interact with ‘normal’ people here.

Wilhelm looks notably unimpressed by that speech. Then, as the camera cuts to Sara and Simon, and just as Wilhelm discovers the two of them in the crowd, the song ‘Blah, Blah Blah’ by Armin van Buuren starts to play, with the words, “All we ever hear from you is blah, blah, blah, and all we ever do is go yeah, yeah, yeah,” blaring from the speakers, the lyrics perfectly encapsulating Wilhelm’s feelings towards August’s lecture, underscoring that upon discovering Simon, Wilhelm has just tuned out of August’s little lecture and isn’t paying any attention to him anymore. A perfect little audiovisual joke by the writers.

Roughly storyboarding this on the back of an envelope gives us this sequence of shots:

Simon appears…

Or just to give you another quick fun one: 

In a series of shots into the crowd on the dancefloor of the initiation party, a little party prop makes a repeat appearance: a pair of heart-shaped glasses made out of a neon-yellow glowstick seem to change owners several times on the dance floor, wandering from face to face.

We all know the expression ‘to have heart eyes for someone’ (think of the heart eye emoji on your phone if you’re in any doubt as to what I mean). So, in this quick succession of shots, there are literal heart eyes dancing around all across the dancefloor, reflecting the way in which Wilhelm (who’s, at one point, sitting on somebody’s shoulders) is already subconsciously scanning the crowd from above, peering from face to face, already low-key looking for Simon.

The ‘Wandering Metaphor’

Now, let’s talk about the end of Wilhelm’s initiation and how the (metaphorical) gagging of Wilhelm during the hazing scene is transferred to Simon’s face by way of Wilhelm’s hand. Let’s talk about where the ‘wandering metaphor’ wandered off to and where it eventually made its landfall.

At this point in the episode, Wilhelm and Simon have both left the party together to go outside.

Note that the party is held at an old factory that the boarding school students call ‘The Palace’. The irony here isn’t lost on anyone, I’m sure: Prince Wilhelm and Simon have left the metaphorical palace, the traditional royal realm where all things have to follow the strict  rules of the aristocracy; they have left this metaphorical space to be with each other.

In a later episode (in season two) we find out from Wilhelm’s parents, the Queen and Prince Consort, that ‘The Palace’ is nothing glamorous; it’s an old abandoned factory, which the Hillerska students dubbed ‘The Palace’ many a generation ago.

This is a clever, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it metaphor for what is going on with the actual, real-life monarchy on this show: Because just like the party location, the monarchy is many, many generations old. It is decrepit. The people who are part of this institution are eager to preserve it (just as the Hillerska students, who have preserved the name ‘The Palace’ for their party location even though they are now probably many generations removed from the students who originally came up with this name. The name just gets passed on without anyone ever questioning it).

In season two, Wilhelm’s father actually misremembers the name at first. He calls it ‘The Fortress’ and is then corrected by the Queen. Another clever little joke hinting at the fact that to the Prince Consort the actual institution of the monarchy doesn’t feel like a glamorous grand palace; it’s more like a fortress, something you're locked into and can’t escape from.

However, the most important parallel between the students’ party location and the Swedish monarchy, as it’s presented on this show, is probably the fact that said party location is actually not some glamorous palace as the name would suggest, but an old, dirty factory, a place where people vomit on the floor and that most likely stinks of generations of unsanitary party practices. The actual, real-life monarchy on this show is, in a sense, exactly that: an old factory…or a ‘firm’, if you will. This institution is nothing fancy once you know it from the inside. It’s dingy and old and in dire need of renovations, dare I say: a revolution.

If I were a writer on this show, you know what I would include in season three? 

A brief mention of ‘The Palace’ (the party location, that is) being renovated. If you build up a metaphor like that, it’s always nice when there’s some pay-off later on. So, if season three sees ‘The Palace’ finally being renovated, that would be a clever little wink in our direction, telling us, the viewers, that this place (much like the actual monarchy) is in need of some changes. (Obviously I can’t predict the future and I’m not a writer on this show, but how’s that for a prediction/speculation?)

In short, it’s no coincidence that this party location is called ‘The Palace’. It’s no coincidence that this is the place where the secret ‘Society’ for the preservation of the noble bloodlines meets later on in episode four (at the heart of the metaphorical monarchy, so to speak). It’s no coincidence that August summons Wilhelm to ‘The Palace’ at the end of season two when he senses the possibility of becoming Crown Prince and King himself…

…and it’s no coincidence that both Wilhelm and Simon leave ‘The Palace’ and Wilhelm’s initiation party in episode one because they need a breath of fresh air. 

(Note also how Sara helping Felice to climb out of the window of ‘The Palace’ to go outside for some fresh air foreshadows the fact that it will be the friendship with Sara that will help Felice grow as a character and question her upbringing and the artificial ‘crush’ on the Prince her mother has talked her into. Inside ‘The Palace’ Felice is shown to be vomiting; that’s how sick, metaphorically speaking, this old institution is making her. It’s the friendship with Sara that will help her escape that metaphorical space.)

So…Wilhelm and Simon have left ‘The Palace’ and are sitting outside.

We were just talking about the glowstick-hearteye-glasses in the crowd, so let’s now set the scene by taking a quick look at the glowsticks the prop masters of the show provided Simon and Wilhelm with, as well.

If you’ve watched the show, I’m sure I’m telling you nothing new when I say that the glowsticks Simon and Wilhelm are wearing on their bodies at that point of the initiation party are deeply symbolic:

Simon is wearing his on his head like a halo, a reminder that this boy has just appeared to Wilhelm like an angel. (Wilhelm first catches sight of him in a church of all places, listening to what is later on the show described by a teacher as ‘the voice of an angel’.)

Wilhelm, too, is wearing his glowstick in an interesting way: over one shoulder and diagonally across his torso…the way one would wear a sash that is typically part of a princely parade uniform.

In short, the glowsticks visually tell us who we’re dealing with here: the prince and his unlikely angel.

Note that both their glowsticks are rainbow-coloured!

The show ‘Young Royals’ is very subtle with that sort of imagery. It doesn’t beat you over the head with any of the characters’ sexual identities. It doesn’t scream at you or label things unnecessarily where it isn’t needed, which makes it so realistic, relatable and instantly likeable. It lets you read between the lines.

Nonetheless, at this point in the story, you get a tiny and very subtle reminder that this is, in fact, an LGBT coming-of-age story: You get the glowstick halo of an angel and the glowstick sash of a princely uniform, but you get them in all their rainbow-coloured glory.

In a two shot, we see both characters sitting next to each other, with Wilhelm quietly humming the song he heard Simon sing at the church: “It takes a fool to remain sane”.

A subsequent brief reaction shot of Simon shows us not only that Simon is actually smiling at this, but also highlights their surroundings: They are in fact sitting close to a window behind which the party is still in full swing. The window is lit in rainbow colours, too. Again, the rainbow imagery is subtle enough so as not to be obnoxious, but it definitely highlights the fact that these are, in fact, two boys who are interested in each other.

TV isn’t just a visual medium; it is, in fact, an audiovisual medium, where camera work, lighting and sound are closely intertwined, and so the effect is further enhanced by the fact that those rainbow lights in the window keep pulsing in sync with the low beat of the music that can still be heard from inside the party location. Note that the speed of the beat you hear at the beginning of this scene is one you would get if your heartbeat were slightly elevated, giving us, the viewers, the breathless impression that we’re dealing with two people, who are flirting with each other while their hearts are beating just that tiny bit too fast, and the rainbow lights keep pulsing in perfect sync with the elevated speed of that heartbeat-like sound.

Soon after that comes the interesting moment that eventually bookends the whole initiation:

August and a couple of other boys can be heard calling out to Wilhelm; Wilhelm, for his part, ducks to hide from them, which brilliantly foreshadows the fact that Wilhelm will have to hide his sexuality, his feelings and his relationship for a very long time on this show.

Silence and hiding are two of the main metaphorical themes of the first two seasons. So it only makes sense that we first get a gagging scene and then a scene in which Wilhelm is literally hiding.

But it’s not just that Wilhelm himself hides: Once he makes the decision to duck and hide from the other boys, Wilhelm quite resolutely pulls Simon down with him, as well.

Translation/Foreshadowing: It’s not just Wilhelm who will have to hide his sexual identity. In doing so, he will tragically also force an otherwise out and proud Simon into hiding, which will be at the heart of their conflict throughout the first two seasons of the show.

As a matter of fact, we see Simon hesitate in this scene. He doesn’t initially seem to see the point in hiding from August and the other boys who are calling out for Wilhelm. He teasingly calls out Wilhelm’s nickname ‘Wille’, as well.

Metaphorically, one could say that this foreshadows the fact that Simon will be the one who would like to be open about their relationship, their closeness even (if you want to translate the moment where he yells Wilhelm’s nickname “Wille!” as a sign of closeness, that is).

But it’s Wilhelm, and more specifically, his role and position as prince (brilliantly highlighted by his glowstick sash in that scene) that makes that impossible.

Note also how Simon has grabbed Wilhelm by the wrist, trying to pull his hand off his head. Simon doesn’t want to hide (literally and metaphorically). The photography accentuates that by the fact that their hands are actually at the very centre of the frame. The light source was placed specifically in such a way that their hands are the brightest and best-lit part of that shot: Wilhelm is pushing Simon’s head down with his hand; Simon is trying to pry Wilhelm’s hand off him.

And then, the transfer of the ‘wandering metaphor’ happens: Wilhelm reacts to Simon’s “Wille!” shout by covering his mouth with his hand.

The gesture has a twofold meaning for this scene:

Literally, it shows us a sudden and unexpected intimacy that, by the look on their faces, affects both characters instantly (touching someone’s lips with your hand is a very intimate thing to do).

But metaphorically it’s more than just that: We see Wilhelm hushing Simon, silencing him.

This massively foreshadows what will happen over the course of the first two seasons of the show and what will tragically affect their relationship for the worse: Because of Wilhelm, Simon is forced into silence, as well. Wilhelm has to keep their relationship a secret (is symbolically gagged), so Simon, a gay character who is otherwise out, will now have to do so, as well.

In a sense, Wilhelm takes the metaphorical silence that was imposed on him (the gag!) and transfers it onto an unsuspecting and otherwise out and proud Simon here.

Note that, as Wilhelm covers Simon’s mouth, Simon’s hand is still around Wilhelm’s wrist, still struggling to pull Wilhelm’s hand away: Simon doesn’t want to be silenced, this tells us.

Wilhelm doesn’t do any of this by choice, of course. The hazing was brutally executed by his schoolmates and the hiding with and shushing of Simon later on is done so he isn’t discovered by August et al. All of which brilliantly foreshadows that their difficulties as a couple later on don’t necessarily arise out of their own choices either: It’s outside actors, people more powerful than Wilhelm, who enforce the silence a powerless Wilhelm has to maintain. And it’s because of that enforced silence that he and Simon have to hide and that Wilhelm has to force Simon to remain silent, as well. None of which he would choose if he could act freely.

What’s brilliant about this closing scene of the initiation (and episode one as a whole) is the way it inextricably intertwines intimacy with enforced silence, tenderness with restriction. 

Because the gesture of touching someone else’s lips in that way is both very intimate and restrictive. Both these aspects will be very much present in the relationship Wilhelm and Simon will embark on over the next couple of episodes. And it will often be difficult to tell where one aspect ends and the other begins: What about their relationship is tender and intimate and what is restrictive and limiting? How close are they, at all times, to discovery in their metaphorical ‘hide-out’? In that one brilliant scene of Wilhelm covering Simon’s mouth as they both literally (and metaphorically) hide, all of these motifs are so interlaced that it’s impossible to untangle them, foreshadowing the dynamic of their relationship throughout the first two seasons.

One last note on the camera work here: Just as Wilhelm frantically covers Simon’s mouth, we get a close-up of Wilhelm’s face, and there’s an unobtrusive, yet undeniably lovely little rainbow-coloured camera flare in the right bottom corner of the frame. 

The close-up helps us focus on the baffled expression on Wilhelm’s face, showing us that sudden pang of a surprising, nay, shocking realization that’s just hit him about the whole situation. And the fact that the camera flare is rainbow-coloured hints at what that realization might be all about.

On a more general note, though, this camera flare also just douses this very moment (as Wilhelm touches Simon’s lips) in rainbow colours: a colour-coded reminder that it is specifically same-sex couples for whom intimacy and restrictive silence are often interwoven to the point where the two become inextricably one.

~fin~

Bonus scene:

If you’ve approached ‘Young Royals’ with the eagle-eyed attention of a metaphor aficionado, you might have noticed one other instance of a mouth being covered on the show.

And yes, you can read that one as a metaphor, as well…if you like:

In episode five (season one) Wilhelm and Simon wake up happily in bed with each other for the first time.

The following morning-after scene is playfully sweet, with Simon complaining about Wilhelm’s morning breath and trying (and ultimately failing) to cover Wilhelm’s mouth with his hand. 

You don’t have to read this mouth-covering incident as a metaphor if you don’t want to. This particular show is very good at visual storytelling, though, and it is very, very good at presenting its viewers with scenes that are lovely and sweet on the surface, but actually turn out to be much more melancholy once you look at them through a metaphorical lens.

On the one hand, these scenes become sadder when you do so. On the other hand, they gain a lot of depth and meaning. So, it’s entirely up to you, as a viewer, if you wish to confront yourself with the experience of a metaphorical translation.

Here’s the translation I would like to offer for this particular scene: It’s once again a scene whose main function (apart from showcasing the intimacy and love between these two characters) is foreshadowing.

It foreshadows what’s unfortunately coming up next for Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship: Wilhelm will be forced to make a statement of denial.

Yes, you’ve got that right: I have just equated the statement of denial Wilhelm will be forced to make on national television, that awful scripted PR drivel, with stale, disgusting morning breath. Because that’s what that statement is like: Disgusting. Awful. Foul.

Just like the statement of denial, Wilhelm’s morning breath is something that comes out of his mouth, and it’s something that Simon intensely dislikes. Something he wants Wilhelm to ‘keep in’, so to speak. Metaphorically that’s why he’s covering Wilhelm’s mouth with his hand.

Just one episode later, we will actually see Simon asking Wilhelm not to make a statement at all, not to comment on the sex tape in any way, shape or form even if the public takes that silence as a confirmation of its veracity.

Simon doesn’t want Wilhelm to make a statement at all.

And this morning-after scene foreshadows that: Simon is covering Wilhelm’s mouth. He is not silencing him in the same torturous way the gagging did during the initiation ritual, though. He is just trying to keep something foul, awful and disgusting (i.e. literally the morning breath, metaphorically the statement) from escaping Wilhelm’s mouth. That’s how the show contrasts these scenes.

This particular scene is playful and cute on the surface, but contains a bitter little note when you read it as foreshadowing the storyline that’s to come for these two boys.

The show is packed to the rafters with scenes like this: romantic and lovely on the surface, but sad and haunting on a metaphorical level, and maybe I’ll find the time to write about them in a future blog post, at some point.

If I’ve just managed to ruin an otherwise beautiful little scene for you, here’s your little optimistic note for the end of this blog post:

Please keep in mind that despite disliking Wilhelm’s morning breath and covering Wilhelm’s mouth, Simon does in fact kiss him in the end.

If one thing foreshadows the statement of denial that Simon doesn’t like and wants to keep Wilhelm from making, then the other surely foreshadows the end of the show: In the end, Simon will kiss Wilhelm no matter what. Because he loves him no matter what. 

As you can probably imagine, writing these articles takes a lot of time and effort, so I’m grateful to anyone who supports me by becoming a free or paid subscriber.

A FREE subscription means you receive an email every time I update, so you don’t miss anything (it’s basically a notification option).

A PAID subscription gives you access to an exclusive bonus ‘treat’ article every couple of weeks that provides you with a more in-depth view on camera angles, rules of cinematography, literary devices, etc. (using examples from ‘Young Royals’ and comparing it with other shows and movies).