Just quickly checking in to wish all of you – old subscribers and new, casual readers, blog junkies and simply curious cinéastes alike – a Happy New Year!
May 2025 bring joy, happiness, health (if you're ailing), courage (if you're hesitating), caution (if you tend to be foolhardy) and of course love and warmth to you and your families. If you live in a war zone, I wish you, above all, that peace may finally arrive, that you may finally be able to breathe freely and stop living in fear for your children's safety. If you don't, I wish that you will never know what that's like. And I wish all of you together that you'll never know what it feels like to live in constant fear for the lives of those loved ones that live in an at-risk zone. I wish all of us peace. Peace above all.
In the words of a great conductor (who recently indulged in a little fun bêtise on the side, but is otherwise really a serious and great musician): "Nella mia lingua auguro tre cose: pace, fratellanza e amore in tutto il mondo."
Thank you to each and everyone around here who has been so supportive and lovely throughout the past year. Thank you for your kind comments and words of encouragement, which keep me wanting to come back and write more on this blog every time. And thank you so much to all the paying subscribers, too. I know I used to joke about you just financing my wine collection, but I hope you understand that this was (largely;-)) in jest. While your moneys last year mostly went into sheet music and, lo and behold, actual, concrete sheet music cabinets in my home (i.e. there is now concrete, wooden furniture in my house that wouldn't exist without you guys, thank you!), right now your kind donations go to a very cute, but also very ill little chap in my family.
I did mention this briefly in a comment before. So, just so you know: I'm currently funnelling all of your funds into baby clothes and other necessities for a baby boy born prematurely to a relative of mine. His life was saved by modern medicine, but unfortunately my writing too optimistically about him earlier on this blog seems to have jinxed the whole case, and now the doctors are fighting to save his eyesight. Unfortunately, things don't look good for his eyes at all. It's all very sad and obviously a very stressful time for my family. So, I'm trying to stamp out the horrible feeling of helplessness that's eating me up on the inside by going on clothes and toy shopping sprees right now. (Can't say I'm an expert in this area. So, of course, I had no idea how hard it is to find clothes for babies this small.) In any case...just so you know: I really appreciate your financial support; please know that your money is spent on doing someone a good turn. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Now, to all of you who still have long trips ahead of you to get home after the holidays: Drive safely, have a safe flight, train/bus journey, etc. May you arrive home refreshed, relaxed and ready to take on the world in 2025.
And to all of us: May the new year bring us all peace and happy tidings.
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Aaaand of course, I forgot to mention what's next around here. So, let me quickly add: Next post = Young Royals centred (mostly season three, some season one, as well, I think). I'm still gathering all the info for it. Hope to start typing it soon.
So sorry to hear you have a wee family member who is having some troubles. He will swim in whatever clothes you buy but he will grow into them eventually.The worst part is waiting and being helpless. I am so sorry for you and your family.
Thank you for all your wishes for all of us. May there be peace everywhere.
Happy New Year, dear TVM. I read this in sections because, well, because there were a lot of interruptions, the seasons being what it is. I really enjoyed it and it has inspired me to rewatch House, MD with my 3D subtext glasses on. I never got to the last season and I'm curious now about the ending... Eight seasons is a lot but I feel much more prepared after TVM school to take it up again.
I did watch my all time favorite version of A Christmas Carol 'Scrooge' from 1951 with the terrific Alistair Sim...and there were clocks and timepieces! People going up and down stairs! Births and deaths! Greed and redemption! I also love the old-timey special effects, no CGI in sight.
I look forward to more of your wisdom and humor in 2025, bless us every one...
Happy new year and thank you so much for writing for us in this time “between the years”, (as we call it in my country)! It’s so very much appreciated. And thank you for remembering my question about good Christmas films and giving us this lovely deep-dive into intricate - and very weird;-)- subtext! I have to put it out here first now that God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is one of my favourite Christmas Carols that I sadly miss hearing, because alas, I live in the wrong country for that - but oh, what a lovely, serene song!
I absolutely enjoyed putting on the subtext reading glasses again and following you on this adventure. The whole breastcancer and breastmilk metaphor - what a whopper. BUT goodness me, I guess that writer just perpetuated that very warped and wrong perception that women’s breasts just perpetually contain milk, yikes! So please allow me to state here for the record that women - and also female animals, like the poor milk cows - only produce milk when pregnant and when breastfeeding. If you stop breastfeeding, the milk supply stops. Which is why cows are impregnated again and again, and then their calves are taken away from them - it’s horrible for them! So no, that “proof” that House employed would never have worked IRL, and seems in awfully poor taste - well, rant over. The rest of it was cool and all added up! And hats off to you for keeping track of all those threads and puzzling it out - I could never. However, you did inspire me to put what I learned from you to use again, take up the toolbox and get to work on my beloved Fellow Travelers again, which still seems to hold so many secrets. And I think I figured out some metaphors, yay! And one of them was prompted by your explanation that in House MD, Jewishness is a metaphor for heterosexuality. That got me thinking about whether Catholicism and/or the Cross symbol might be a metaphor on FT, too, and I think I found an answer. What do you do when you figure out some new subtext and you absolutely want to share it with someone? Do you tell your resident philosopher and ask him for confirmation? Or do you just keep it to yourself until you write home about it to us😀? Speaking of other shows - may I ask… whether you’re still planning to write about White Collar? Because I’ve finished season 5 except for the last minutes (which will contain a cliffhanger, I’m sure, that I want to avoid because I’m firmly set on taking break for a change), and I would LOVE to get your take before I start the last season. I’m still almost on zero in terms of subtext, I hate to say - so disappointed in myself! I have no overarching theory at all, it’s bleak. Although I love the show so much! Yeah, really unbelievable, so dumb. So, please, enlighten me, I clearly need assistance! Okay, but for now, wishing you tidings of comfort and joy for the remainder of this yuletide!
Hey there-loved your post. One tiny point. Breastmilk can persist in breasts for months or even years in women. And with regular stimulation, milk can come back in if a mom stops for some reason. There are even cases where an adoptive mother (who has previously been pregnant) can lactate with a lot pf planning.
Appreciate you Beth, these are some extraordinary cases and measures taken esp if successful. My mind got stuck on how do you even express breast milk from behind a knee so that more can be made in the gland tissue??? 🤯😉😂
Ok, so I simplified it a little bit in my comment because I didn’t want to bore people with too much detail about breastfeeding, but having done it myself twice and actually for a long time (full disclosure, here we come!), I can say when the child is as old as she is here (sorry I forgot the name), one can assume that the milk is completely gone. Yes, it takes some months, but not years, and I very much doubt that a doctor could just extract some remaining milk when the child is 9 or whatever years old. The fact that you can -slowly - activate milk glands if you’re so inclined because you want to breastfeed an adopted baby is another matter - that doesn’t mean that it simply shows up by pressing a button, or inserting a syringe😉.
I think one of the lessons here is to basically always keep in mind that a metaphor is a metaphor. If it weren't a metaphor, you could just directly say what you mean, right? But that's not what art is all about. All metaphors are analogies, and those are obviously never perfect. Otherwise they wouldn't be analogies.
When you think about it, this is the case with virtually any metaphor (even the ones that might seem perfect at first glance). Left-handedness as a metaphor for homosexuality might seem like a great metaphor (what with lefties being a minority confronted with a right-handed majority and its forced 'reeducation' attempts in the past), but when you really think about this metaphor...it's actually anything but perfect:
I'm right-handed. My better half is a lefty. I'm constantly being reprimanded for stuff I (mindlessly) do around the house: "Why did you set up the new food processor this way around? It's completely inaccessible for a left-handed person. I can't use steak knives that have the cutting edge on the wrong side of the blade. Why the hell did you buy knives like that?" (The obvious answer here being, "So, that I can stab you in your sleep, darling. And you can't stab me. Basic insurance. Ha!")
No, but seriously: Anyone who's in a relationship with a person whose dominant hand differs from their own knows that handedness is not a good metaphor for sexual orientation.
But no metaphor is perfect. It just needs one single good tertium comparationis to work in the context (!) of a scene.
The word 'metaphor' is derived from the Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), basically: transference. From μετά (metá): across. And φέρω (phérō): I carry.
So, it literally means you're transporting something from one place to another. The thing you're transporting is meaning. Well, and is there any kind of transport where you don't lose something on the way? No moving van is perfect, after all.:D
Oh, by the way, check out what it says on virtually every Greek moving van:
Yes, you’re right, of course. My objection came from something external, but of course, as a metaphor, it served its purpose very well. The left-handedness story was so funny to me! As it happens, I’m a partial leftie, so these stories always amuse me. Speaking of people being forced to use their right hand decades ago, this happened to my grandmother, as my mum told me, and I wish I had asked her about it when she was still alive. It really damages the brain and can make school so hard on those children, it’s such a dumb cruelty and so telling for how society worked, no? I wonder how it affected my granny. And apparently, if the story is true, I inherited that from her, but I do most of the mundane household things (like cutting) with the right hand, so there are no conflicts of interests in the kitchen around here😅. Most notably, I write and draw/paint with my left hand, which suddenly was a problem at my American high school and sometimes at university, where some rooms had desks suitable only for right-hand writers; like, why🤦♀️?
Tell you what: We'll do the 'Young Royals' thing I'm writing right now first. And right the next one after that (I promise!) is going to be 'White Collar'. How does that sound?
As for how I deal with figuring out subtext...well, what do you think this blog is for?!:D I couldn't take it anymore. And neither could all my friends and colleagues, to be quite honest.XD
In all seriousness, though, I'm watching virtually everything together with my better half who's kinda good at figuring out stuff. We just tend to disagree on what's worth watching in the first place sometimes. I am a profoundly unserious person who's ready, willing and able to watch pretty much all manner of nonsense ('visual fast food') – like literally the dumbest trash TV shows and stuff – on the off chance that there might be something interesting to learn there. Being in a relationship with somebody who's really earnest about everything and takes the idea seriously that it has to be actual, real, authentic art can be trying at times. When I can't talk any of my friends into watching the kind of rubbish with me that just needs to be watched sometimes, I watch it alone, then pester my students with it. They can't get out of it, and they have to pretend to like what I say. (It's a bit like being a dentist, right? People just have to listen to what you're saying while they're helpless.:D) Same goes for the secretary.
Apart from that it's just screaming into the void...or writing. Which I should get back to now because you're all waiting.
Oh, thank you so much - this sounds fantastic!!! And good on you for having someone to listen to you talk about subtext sleuthing - even if it’s just a little bit! May I ask what it is you teach? I’ve already tried throwing a subtext theory (allegorical characters - heart and mind) at a friend who is an English professor at university, and guess what she replied? She was glad I wasn’t a conspiracy theorist what with the ideas I came up with! Oh, the dagger in my heart😢! And this was the best bet I had - she had watched the show I was talking about, and she has a PhD in English, and yet, apparently the concept was not only new, but also far-fetched, to say the least, to her. The despair! The problem of not agreeing what to watch is all-too-familiar to me, I feel you there. Although I guess I’m with your partner in not being able to stand reality tv, lol. I’m therefore trying to get my daughters on the right track to create future watching partners😜. So now I have one person to watch White Collar with, and my eldest started watching My So-Called Life, a favourite from my teenage days that I rediscovered, and we watched a bit together already, too. Good times☺️. And I have more plans, hehe.
Dear TVM thank you for the seasonal well wishes and some shared subtext explorations of House MD. I think I may rewatch some Sherlock Holmes to check out these relationships and subtext signals. Working in healthcare for decades made watching medical shows like House a tedious distraction for me (see Katrins note about biological implausibility of breast milk from said breast tissue).
What I love is your excitement & enthusiasm in sharing your insights & discoveries with us.
I am adding a very selfish request to give an opinion of the (US) 2020 Netflix movie, 2hr, “Your name engraved herein”. It is a beautiful love story where the main characters start off as something as opposites, think the other is naive or stupid and grow to love each other in impossible circumstances. The actors are beyond fantastic in their portrayals of the teen characters (one a Catholic and one a Buddhist). Know this isn’t a discussion group but oh man my intuitive feeling heart is melted. Hugs and warm wishes.
Thank you for all your wishes. You couldn’t write it better. May there be peace everywhere.
I'm so sorry to hear about the condition of the little one. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him. May he fit and outgrow all the clothes you bought him very soon.
Also, thank you for this present. It was as entertaining as ever. I’ve seen House years ago and only 4-5 (?) seasons years ago. Maybe I will watch it once again now I have a tool for digging deeper. But I have to finish watching everything I’ve started and abandoned (including Black Doves, but it’s quite boring, so probably I will skip this one) first.
For the question if there is a good Christmas movie, well, we (in SK and CR) have one. It’s called Pelíšky, it’s played on several TV channels throughout the holidays every year (because nobody wants to miss it, even though they’ve seen it 20 times already). It is an excellent movie. It’s categorized as a comedy, but I would say it’s more of a bitter laugh through tears kind of a movie. It follows a life of two families throughout a year and a half before the Russian evasion in August 1968. You can say it is a depressing movie, but very touching and raw and, unfortunately, still really important to watch. It is freely available on YouTube with English subtitles.
Oh, I have a short question. I watched a horror movie a few days ago. It was, although a quirky, but not that excellent variation on Rosemary’s baby. It was about a dancer who had an accident with her leg and had problems walking and dancing afterwards. At the beginning of the movie (even before we saw the first scene) she was repeating: “tackle box, tailbone, tiny toy car” to train her muscles before her performance.
My question is: is there any “tackle box” idiom, or can it refer to something in dancing or stage performance (musical)? I couldn’t google anything, so I thought I would ask someone who is educated about these things. The thing is, that “tailbone” and “tiny toy car” fit the plot, I just don’t know how to interpret the first one. I have a theory, but if there’s something specific in dancing connected to it, maybe it might help me.
Now about the controversy everyone is speaking about here…
The scene with breast milk was eww and funny at the same time. And as you wonder how that was possible, here comes the scientist to the rescue! They gave the patient risperidone. Studies have shown that this antipsychotic can increase the levels of a hormone called prolactin, which in turn can stimulate the breast cells to produce milk. In theory this is nice, but in practice I really doubt it would work on some random breast cells turned into cancer under the knee. But this is not the point there, is it? :D
Thank you, dear TVM, for everything you share on this blog and I wish you all the best in 2025.
And of course, to everybody in this little community here.
Alas, I so agree on 'Black Doves'. And it came highly recommended by a friend at that. I have no idea why.
My friend and I did disagree about 'The Diplomat' first (which I quite enjoyed and he didn't), and he recommended 'Black Doves' as an alternative. But I honestly think that one was pretty meh. (And yeah, not writing about 'The Diplomat' on here. Too much geopolitics for this blog.)
Anyway, as far as 'tackle box' is concerned: I do, in fact, have a friend who's a professional ballet dancer whom I could ask, but we rarely see each other. We live in different countries. Other than that, my guess is as good as yours, I'm afraid. (That could have something to do with the fact that English is neither my first nor even my second or strictly speaking my third language – well, depends on how you look at it. But I'm not a native speaker in any case. So, it's possible that I'm just not getting something there despite your explanation. I'm really sorry.)
I pondered a little bit more about the “tackle box” and I think its original meaning - a fishing toolbox full of lures and hooks - fits the plot too. So there’s no need to think about it too deeply, to search for different meanings, as I initially thought. But thank you 😊
For me, it was quite interesting to find out that the writers probably told the viewers the whole plot/the point of the movie directly at the beginning. I watched another thing, an Australian mini-series about a cult, where they did something very similar. In the first 2 scenes (before the intro) they basically revealed the whole plot point using visual metaphors. This made me realize that probably it is a thing, that the writers play a game ‘we will reveal everything to you right at the beginning, but you will find it out only after you have seen the whole movie/show’ with the viewers 😯 I’ve never considered that the writers could and would do this before.
I enjoyed The Diplomat as well! Especially the first season I’ve found quite funny. It was like watching two parents desperately wanting to find out who hurt their child (marriage) and blaming everyone around them just to find out it’s their own fault 😔
Ah, just saw. It's Flavio Belardo. (At some point, somebody is going to unwittingly recommend a video, and it's going to be me. And that will be weird.:D)
So, the good news is I properly started writing the long 'Young Royals' post this week; the bad news is I'm nowhere near done with it. It's a lot. I mean, A LOT. In various ways and for various reasons.
I suspect you'll all be a bit disappointed this weekend since there won't be a post today or tomorrow, I'm afraid. But I really can't afford to write a medium- or even just a short-length in-between post at the moment because it'll just keep me from working on the long one that I really, really need to be working on right now.
If you're getting bored in the meantime, may I suggest you brush up on your sexual subtext reading skills by, first of all, looking at an example of BADLY written sexual subtext? (Well, 'badly' is such a hard word; shall we say 'conventionally written'? Or just really plain and boring?)
Here's an example that I would like to remind you of. It's a very brief scene (just 45 seconds of the entire episode), and it's set in Victorian England at Buckingham Palace (timestamped for your convenience):
"How well-equipped you are!" Laughing my arse off here. Why have I never used this line on anyone?:D
No, but seriously. This is how most sexual subtext is written on TV. Ugh.
Also, yes, this is the same episode in which a carnivorous plant is used as a metaphor with the subtlety of a sledgehammer in this scene here (in which the oh-poor-me Queen Victoria and her equally devastated Prime Minister are, of course, in love with each other but can't act on it). It's SO ridiculous:
Yes, really! I mean some writer really thought they were being subtle there. (Sorry, have to wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes. Hang on.)
And don't even bother falling down the rabbit hole that is Lord Alfred's newly ignited loins that are ablaze for Mr Drummond's tinderbox (as per the first scene). Don't bother. No, really. This whole show is the trash heap that probably defined the kill-your-gays trope, just so you know.
And you know what? That wasn't even the worst atrocity committed by this show. The worst was having to watch Jenna Coleman (who plays Queen Victoria) pretend-play the piano in the cringy-est, most fake way I have seen anyone do on screen in a long while. (No way I'm linking you to those piano scenes; I'm still traumatized by them.XD)
Just enjoy yourselves a bit, will you. And for now, just try to remember what we discussed about sexual subtext.
In the meantime, I'll try to type as quickly as I can.
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Okay, I'm being unfair. The writing on this show was atrocious. But the two actors playing Lord Alfred and Mr Drummond often spun the shitty scripts they were given into gold. They barely had any lines, but they did a lot of improv work where everything between them happened in their eyes and in the way they looked at each other.
That furtive look here that Alfred gives Drummond while they're both watching the ballet dancers being one such example:
The next post is pretty much done. (Currently tweaking the ending a little bit, but basically it's written.) It's a loooooong post about 'Young Royals' season three. And I think you'll need a few tissues for that, I'm afraid. So, so sorry. I'm the ruiner of all good things, I know.
Now, all I need to do is proofread over 50 pages or so.
I'd love to say Sunday, but I'm not sure I'll make it. Please, please forgive me if I'm a teensy tiny bit late; I know the weekend usually works better for everyone. But it's definitely coming soon. I promise.
Till then...get your tissues ready. Get your comfort blanket/comfort food/comfort cat or whatever you need. And have a ton of chocolate and a bottle of wine ready, too, while you're at it.
See you all very soon!
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Ah, you want a hint? You want to know what it's going to be all about. Okay. Let me see...
Ok, I listened to the Pompeii youtube because your writings are, if nothing else, fabulous. Now I'm ready for the next missive from you, still lamenting season 3 for a variety of reasons. And I am making my way through House. Cuddy always wears low cut shirts which, I'm sure, means something. It just irritates me. I am enjoying the love story, if I can call it that, between House and James. By the way, I hope the little one in your family is doing better. I am reminded every year because I get a christmas card from the family, that their 24 weeker survived and is thriving, something unthinkable 50 years ago when I began my practice. I hope the same for your family member.
I'm finally done with the long post. (Oh, my God! This was getting ridiculous. Sorry. But I guess the second you see the title of this one, you'll understand why it took me so long to write this one. And no, this is not just about me and my usual squeamishness. It was genuinely very hard to write. Like pulling teeth or something.)
I'm starting the upload process tonight (which can usually take a few hours; so, I might take a break in order to get some sleep and then resume uploading tomorrow). But in any case: You'll find something in your inbox very, very soon!
And yes, it's about 'Young Royals' and there's a lot, and I mean really A LOT of cultural/historical/literary stuff in it. A ton.
(And yet I'm really properly nervous this time whether you will like it.)
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Little announcement to all it may concern:
You might have noticed that my usual posting pace slowed down considerably sometime around the end of May/beginning of June last year.
That's no coincidence. It was a work-related situation that was very difficult for to handle. This work-related situation is now largely resolved or will be resolved shortly (Yay!). So, I'm expecting to get back to quicker and more regular posts sometime around mid-February this year, i.e. very, very soon. (Hurray!) And I will then be able to keep this up roughly until September. (What happens then, only God knows, but in any case: You should get more regular posts at shorter intervals very, very soon. And I'm so relieved and happy about this. You have no idea.)
Dear all,
Just quickly checking in to wish all of you – old subscribers and new, casual readers, blog junkies and simply curious cinéastes alike – a Happy New Year!
May 2025 bring joy, happiness, health (if you're ailing), courage (if you're hesitating), caution (if you tend to be foolhardy) and of course love and warmth to you and your families. If you live in a war zone, I wish you, above all, that peace may finally arrive, that you may finally be able to breathe freely and stop living in fear for your children's safety. If you don't, I wish that you will never know what that's like. And I wish all of you together that you'll never know what it feels like to live in constant fear for the lives of those loved ones that live in an at-risk zone. I wish all of us peace. Peace above all.
In the words of a great conductor (who recently indulged in a little fun bêtise on the side, but is otherwise really a serious and great musician): "Nella mia lingua auguro tre cose: pace, fratellanza e amore in tutto il mondo."
Thank you to each and everyone around here who has been so supportive and lovely throughout the past year. Thank you for your kind comments and words of encouragement, which keep me wanting to come back and write more on this blog every time. And thank you so much to all the paying subscribers, too. I know I used to joke about you just financing my wine collection, but I hope you understand that this was (largely;-)) in jest. While your moneys last year mostly went into sheet music and, lo and behold, actual, concrete sheet music cabinets in my home (i.e. there is now concrete, wooden furniture in my house that wouldn't exist without you guys, thank you!), right now your kind donations go to a very cute, but also very ill little chap in my family.
I did mention this briefly in a comment before. So, just so you know: I'm currently funnelling all of your funds into baby clothes and other necessities for a baby boy born prematurely to a relative of mine. His life was saved by modern medicine, but unfortunately my writing too optimistically about him earlier on this blog seems to have jinxed the whole case, and now the doctors are fighting to save his eyesight. Unfortunately, things don't look good for his eyes at all. It's all very sad and obviously a very stressful time for my family. So, I'm trying to stamp out the horrible feeling of helplessness that's eating me up on the inside by going on clothes and toy shopping sprees right now. (Can't say I'm an expert in this area. So, of course, I had no idea how hard it is to find clothes for babies this small.) In any case...just so you know: I really appreciate your financial support; please know that your money is spent on doing someone a good turn. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Now, to all of you who still have long trips ahead of you to get home after the holidays: Drive safely, have a safe flight, train/bus journey, etc. May you arrive home refreshed, relaxed and ready to take on the world in 2025.
And to all of us: May the new year bring us all peace and happy tidings.
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Aaaand of course, I forgot to mention what's next around here. So, let me quickly add: Next post = Young Royals centred (mostly season three, some season one, as well, I think). I'm still gathering all the info for it. Hope to start typing it soon.
So sorry to hear you have a wee family member who is having some troubles. He will swim in whatever clothes you buy but he will grow into them eventually.The worst part is waiting and being helpless. I am so sorry for you and your family.
Thank you for all your wishes for all of us. May there be peace everywhere.
Beth
Thank you. That's really kind of you to say. Second eye surgery tomorrow. We're all on pins and needles here. It's all too sad to even think about.
Happy New Year, dear TVM. I read this in sections because, well, because there were a lot of interruptions, the seasons being what it is. I really enjoyed it and it has inspired me to rewatch House, MD with my 3D subtext glasses on. I never got to the last season and I'm curious now about the ending... Eight seasons is a lot but I feel much more prepared after TVM school to take it up again.
I did watch my all time favorite version of A Christmas Carol 'Scrooge' from 1951 with the terrific Alistair Sim...and there were clocks and timepieces! People going up and down stairs! Births and deaths! Greed and redemption! I also love the old-timey special effects, no CGI in sight.
I look forward to more of your wisdom and humor in 2025, bless us every one...
XOXO
-a Fan
Happy new year and thank you so much for writing for us in this time “between the years”, (as we call it in my country)! It’s so very much appreciated. And thank you for remembering my question about good Christmas films and giving us this lovely deep-dive into intricate - and very weird;-)- subtext! I have to put it out here first now that God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is one of my favourite Christmas Carols that I sadly miss hearing, because alas, I live in the wrong country for that - but oh, what a lovely, serene song!
I absolutely enjoyed putting on the subtext reading glasses again and following you on this adventure. The whole breastcancer and breastmilk metaphor - what a whopper. BUT goodness me, I guess that writer just perpetuated that very warped and wrong perception that women’s breasts just perpetually contain milk, yikes! So please allow me to state here for the record that women - and also female animals, like the poor milk cows - only produce milk when pregnant and when breastfeeding. If you stop breastfeeding, the milk supply stops. Which is why cows are impregnated again and again, and then their calves are taken away from them - it’s horrible for them! So no, that “proof” that House employed would never have worked IRL, and seems in awfully poor taste - well, rant over. The rest of it was cool and all added up! And hats off to you for keeping track of all those threads and puzzling it out - I could never. However, you did inspire me to put what I learned from you to use again, take up the toolbox and get to work on my beloved Fellow Travelers again, which still seems to hold so many secrets. And I think I figured out some metaphors, yay! And one of them was prompted by your explanation that in House MD, Jewishness is a metaphor for heterosexuality. That got me thinking about whether Catholicism and/or the Cross symbol might be a metaphor on FT, too, and I think I found an answer. What do you do when you figure out some new subtext and you absolutely want to share it with someone? Do you tell your resident philosopher and ask him for confirmation? Or do you just keep it to yourself until you write home about it to us😀? Speaking of other shows - may I ask… whether you’re still planning to write about White Collar? Because I’ve finished season 5 except for the last minutes (which will contain a cliffhanger, I’m sure, that I want to avoid because I’m firmly set on taking break for a change), and I would LOVE to get your take before I start the last season. I’m still almost on zero in terms of subtext, I hate to say - so disappointed in myself! I have no overarching theory at all, it’s bleak. Although I love the show so much! Yeah, really unbelievable, so dumb. So, please, enlighten me, I clearly need assistance! Okay, but for now, wishing you tidings of comfort and joy for the remainder of this yuletide!
Hey there-loved your post. One tiny point. Breastmilk can persist in breasts for months or even years in women. And with regular stimulation, milk can come back in if a mom stops for some reason. There are even cases where an adoptive mother (who has previously been pregnant) can lactate with a lot pf planning.
Appreciate you Beth, these are some extraordinary cases and measures taken esp if successful. My mind got stuck on how do you even express breast milk from behind a knee so that more can be made in the gland tissue??? 🤯😉😂
Right? Crazy!!!
Ok, so I simplified it a little bit in my comment because I didn’t want to bore people with too much detail about breastfeeding, but having done it myself twice and actually for a long time (full disclosure, here we come!), I can say when the child is as old as she is here (sorry I forgot the name), one can assume that the milk is completely gone. Yes, it takes some months, but not years, and I very much doubt that a doctor could just extract some remaining milk when the child is 9 or whatever years old. The fact that you can -slowly - activate milk glands if you’re so inclined because you want to breastfeed an adopted baby is another matter - that doesn’t mean that it simply shows up by pressing a button, or inserting a syringe😉.
I think one of the lessons here is to basically always keep in mind that a metaphor is a metaphor. If it weren't a metaphor, you could just directly say what you mean, right? But that's not what art is all about. All metaphors are analogies, and those are obviously never perfect. Otherwise they wouldn't be analogies.
When you think about it, this is the case with virtually any metaphor (even the ones that might seem perfect at first glance). Left-handedness as a metaphor for homosexuality might seem like a great metaphor (what with lefties being a minority confronted with a right-handed majority and its forced 'reeducation' attempts in the past), but when you really think about this metaphor...it's actually anything but perfect:
I'm right-handed. My better half is a lefty. I'm constantly being reprimanded for stuff I (mindlessly) do around the house: "Why did you set up the new food processor this way around? It's completely inaccessible for a left-handed person. I can't use steak knives that have the cutting edge on the wrong side of the blade. Why the hell did you buy knives like that?" (The obvious answer here being, "So, that I can stab you in your sleep, darling. And you can't stab me. Basic insurance. Ha!")
No, but seriously: Anyone who's in a relationship with a person whose dominant hand differs from their own knows that handedness is not a good metaphor for sexual orientation.
But no metaphor is perfect. It just needs one single good tertium comparationis to work in the context (!) of a scene.
The word 'metaphor' is derived from the Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), basically: transference. From μετά (metá): across. And φέρω (phérō): I carry.
So, it literally means you're transporting something from one place to another. The thing you're transporting is meaning. Well, and is there any kind of transport where you don't lose something on the way? No moving van is perfect, after all.:D
Oh, by the way, check out what it says on virtually every Greek moving van:
https://content.4ty.gr/merchants/photos/2020/09/35285-METAFORIKES-ETAIRIES-Metaforiki-Etaireia-Bolos---IOANNOY-KONSTANTINOS---Metafores-Bolos-metafores-volos-metakomiseis16.jpg
In Greece, there are metaphors everywhere.:D
Yes, you’re right, of course. My objection came from something external, but of course, as a metaphor, it served its purpose very well. The left-handedness story was so funny to me! As it happens, I’m a partial leftie, so these stories always amuse me. Speaking of people being forced to use their right hand decades ago, this happened to my grandmother, as my mum told me, and I wish I had asked her about it when she was still alive. It really damages the brain and can make school so hard on those children, it’s such a dumb cruelty and so telling for how society worked, no? I wonder how it affected my granny. And apparently, if the story is true, I inherited that from her, but I do most of the mundane household things (like cutting) with the right hand, so there are no conflicts of interests in the kitchen around here😅. Most notably, I write and draw/paint with my left hand, which suddenly was a problem at my American high school and sometimes at university, where some rooms had desks suitable only for right-hand writers; like, why🤦♀️?
I’m raising my hand and joining the question about White Collar. I’m totally clueless as well.
I’m able to figure out some minor stuff here and there but for this show I probably need an education in arts I do not have.
Yes, all of the art - this clearly is the main theme! And maybe the Chrysler Building, too😅!
That building definitelly :D
Yeah, right?!? Again and again! It’s beautiful, that much is for sure.
Tell you what: We'll do the 'Young Royals' thing I'm writing right now first. And right the next one after that (I promise!) is going to be 'White Collar'. How does that sound?
As for how I deal with figuring out subtext...well, what do you think this blog is for?!:D I couldn't take it anymore. And neither could all my friends and colleagues, to be quite honest.XD
In all seriousness, though, I'm watching virtually everything together with my better half who's kinda good at figuring out stuff. We just tend to disagree on what's worth watching in the first place sometimes. I am a profoundly unserious person who's ready, willing and able to watch pretty much all manner of nonsense ('visual fast food') – like literally the dumbest trash TV shows and stuff – on the off chance that there might be something interesting to learn there. Being in a relationship with somebody who's really earnest about everything and takes the idea seriously that it has to be actual, real, authentic art can be trying at times. When I can't talk any of my friends into watching the kind of rubbish with me that just needs to be watched sometimes, I watch it alone, then pester my students with it. They can't get out of it, and they have to pretend to like what I say. (It's a bit like being a dentist, right? People just have to listen to what you're saying while they're helpless.:D) Same goes for the secretary.
Apart from that it's just screaming into the void...or writing. Which I should get back to now because you're all waiting.
Oh, thank you so much - this sounds fantastic!!! And good on you for having someone to listen to you talk about subtext sleuthing - even if it’s just a little bit! May I ask what it is you teach? I’ve already tried throwing a subtext theory (allegorical characters - heart and mind) at a friend who is an English professor at university, and guess what she replied? She was glad I wasn’t a conspiracy theorist what with the ideas I came up with! Oh, the dagger in my heart😢! And this was the best bet I had - she had watched the show I was talking about, and she has a PhD in English, and yet, apparently the concept was not only new, but also far-fetched, to say the least, to her. The despair! The problem of not agreeing what to watch is all-too-familiar to me, I feel you there. Although I guess I’m with your partner in not being able to stand reality tv, lol. I’m therefore trying to get my daughters on the right track to create future watching partners😜. So now I have one person to watch White Collar with, and my eldest started watching My So-Called Life, a favourite from my teenage days that I rediscovered, and we watched a bit together already, too. Good times☺️. And I have more plans, hehe.
Dear TVM thank you for the seasonal well wishes and some shared subtext explorations of House MD. I think I may rewatch some Sherlock Holmes to check out these relationships and subtext signals. Working in healthcare for decades made watching medical shows like House a tedious distraction for me (see Katrins note about biological implausibility of breast milk from said breast tissue).
What I love is your excitement & enthusiasm in sharing your insights & discoveries with us.
I am adding a very selfish request to give an opinion of the (US) 2020 Netflix movie, 2hr, “Your name engraved herein”. It is a beautiful love story where the main characters start off as something as opposites, think the other is naive or stupid and grow to love each other in impossible circumstances. The actors are beyond fantastic in their portrayals of the teen characters (one a Catholic and one a Buddhist). Know this isn’t a discussion group but oh man my intuitive feeling heart is melted. Hugs and warm wishes.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for all your wishes. You couldn’t write it better. May there be peace everywhere.
I'm so sorry to hear about the condition of the little one. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him. May he fit and outgrow all the clothes you bought him very soon.
Also, thank you for this present. It was as entertaining as ever. I’ve seen House years ago and only 4-5 (?) seasons years ago. Maybe I will watch it once again now I have a tool for digging deeper. But I have to finish watching everything I’ve started and abandoned (including Black Doves, but it’s quite boring, so probably I will skip this one) first.
For the question if there is a good Christmas movie, well, we (in SK and CR) have one. It’s called Pelíšky, it’s played on several TV channels throughout the holidays every year (because nobody wants to miss it, even though they’ve seen it 20 times already). It is an excellent movie. It’s categorized as a comedy, but I would say it’s more of a bitter laugh through tears kind of a movie. It follows a life of two families throughout a year and a half before the Russian evasion in August 1968. You can say it is a depressing movie, but very touching and raw and, unfortunately, still really important to watch. It is freely available on YouTube with English subtitles.
Oh, I have a short question. I watched a horror movie a few days ago. It was, although a quirky, but not that excellent variation on Rosemary’s baby. It was about a dancer who had an accident with her leg and had problems walking and dancing afterwards. At the beginning of the movie (even before we saw the first scene) she was repeating: “tackle box, tailbone, tiny toy car” to train her muscles before her performance.
My question is: is there any “tackle box” idiom, or can it refer to something in dancing or stage performance (musical)? I couldn’t google anything, so I thought I would ask someone who is educated about these things. The thing is, that “tailbone” and “tiny toy car” fit the plot, I just don’t know how to interpret the first one. I have a theory, but if there’s something specific in dancing connected to it, maybe it might help me.
Now about the controversy everyone is speaking about here…
The scene with breast milk was eww and funny at the same time. And as you wonder how that was possible, here comes the scientist to the rescue! They gave the patient risperidone. Studies have shown that this antipsychotic can increase the levels of a hormone called prolactin, which in turn can stimulate the breast cells to produce milk. In theory this is nice, but in practice I really doubt it would work on some random breast cells turned into cancer under the knee. But this is not the point there, is it? :D
Thank you, dear TVM, for everything you share on this blog and I wish you all the best in 2025.
And of course, to everybody in this little community here.
Alas, I so agree on 'Black Doves'. And it came highly recommended by a friend at that. I have no idea why.
My friend and I did disagree about 'The Diplomat' first (which I quite enjoyed and he didn't), and he recommended 'Black Doves' as an alternative. But I honestly think that one was pretty meh. (And yeah, not writing about 'The Diplomat' on here. Too much geopolitics for this blog.)
Anyway, as far as 'tackle box' is concerned: I do, in fact, have a friend who's a professional ballet dancer whom I could ask, but we rarely see each other. We live in different countries. Other than that, my guess is as good as yours, I'm afraid. (That could have something to do with the fact that English is neither my first nor even my second or strictly speaking my third language – well, depends on how you look at it. But I'm not a native speaker in any case. So, it's possible that I'm just not getting something there despite your explanation. I'm really sorry.)
Thank you very much for the reply 😊
I pondered a little bit more about the “tackle box” and I think its original meaning - a fishing toolbox full of lures and hooks - fits the plot too. So there’s no need to think about it too deeply, to search for different meanings, as I initially thought. But thank you 😊
For me, it was quite interesting to find out that the writers probably told the viewers the whole plot/the point of the movie directly at the beginning. I watched another thing, an Australian mini-series about a cult, where they did something very similar. In the first 2 scenes (before the intro) they basically revealed the whole plot point using visual metaphors. This made me realize that probably it is a thing, that the writers play a game ‘we will reveal everything to you right at the beginning, but you will find it out only after you have seen the whole movie/show’ with the viewers 😯 I’ve never considered that the writers could and would do this before.
I enjoyed The Diplomat as well! Especially the first season I’ve found quite funny. It was like watching two parents desperately wanting to find out who hurt their child (marriage) and blaming everyone around them just to find out it’s their own fault 😔
Oh TVM! I have almost forgotten!
This was sent to me and I thought you would appreciate it more than me ☺️😂
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDXtjE-tRTA/?igsh=MWY2cnV1NmthNXhmcw==
Thank you so much for this very welcome Christmas present.;-) I really appreciate it.
The only thing that produced horrified shrieking on my end here were the golden letters YAMAHA on that instrument. (Oh, the horror!):D
Your're welcome ☺️
Haha. I hope I didn't tiger any serious trauma 😂
No worries. Just years and years of memories of many, many, many different pianos.
Ah, just saw. It's Flavio Belardo. (At some point, somebody is going to unwittingly recommend a video, and it's going to be me. And that will be weird.:D)
Hey everyone,
So, the good news is I properly started writing the long 'Young Royals' post this week; the bad news is I'm nowhere near done with it. It's a lot. I mean, A LOT. In various ways and for various reasons.
I suspect you'll all be a bit disappointed this weekend since there won't be a post today or tomorrow, I'm afraid. But I really can't afford to write a medium- or even just a short-length in-between post at the moment because it'll just keep me from working on the long one that I really, really need to be working on right now.
If you're getting bored in the meantime, may I suggest you brush up on your sexual subtext reading skills by, first of all, looking at an example of BADLY written sexual subtext? (Well, 'badly' is such a hard word; shall we say 'conventionally written'? Or just really plain and boring?)
Here's an example that I would like to remind you of. It's a very brief scene (just 45 seconds of the entire episode), and it's set in Victorian England at Buckingham Palace (timestamped for your convenience):
https://youtu.be/N-SazmHYYb4?t=2155
"How well-equipped you are!" Laughing my arse off here. Why have I never used this line on anyone?:D
No, but seriously. This is how most sexual subtext is written on TV. Ugh.
Also, yes, this is the same episode in which a carnivorous plant is used as a metaphor with the subtlety of a sledgehammer in this scene here (in which the oh-poor-me Queen Victoria and her equally devastated Prime Minister are, of course, in love with each other but can't act on it). It's SO ridiculous:
https://youtu.be/N-SazmHYYb4?t=1677
Yes, really! I mean some writer really thought they were being subtle there. (Sorry, have to wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes. Hang on.)
And don't even bother falling down the rabbit hole that is Lord Alfred's newly ignited loins that are ablaze for Mr Drummond's tinderbox (as per the first scene). Don't bother. No, really. This whole show is the trash heap that probably defined the kill-your-gays trope, just so you know.
And you know what? That wasn't even the worst atrocity committed by this show. The worst was having to watch Jenna Coleman (who plays Queen Victoria) pretend-play the piano in the cringy-est, most fake way I have seen anyone do on screen in a long while. (No way I'm linking you to those piano scenes; I'm still traumatized by them.XD)
Just enjoy yourselves a bit, will you. And for now, just try to remember what we discussed about sexual subtext.
In the meantime, I'll try to type as quickly as I can.
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Okay, I'm being unfair. The writing on this show was atrocious. But the two actors playing Lord Alfred and Mr Drummond often spun the shitty scripts they were given into gold. They barely had any lines, but they did a lot of improv work where everything between them happened in their eyes and in the way they looked at each other.
That furtive look here that Alfred gives Drummond while they're both watching the ballet dancers being one such example:
https://youtu.be/N-SazmHYYb4?t=755
When life hands you scripts like these, make something of your years in drama school, I suppose.
Okayyyy, everyone!
The next post is pretty much done. (Currently tweaking the ending a little bit, but basically it's written.) It's a loooooong post about 'Young Royals' season three. And I think you'll need a few tissues for that, I'm afraid. So, so sorry. I'm the ruiner of all good things, I know.
Now, all I need to do is proofread over 50 pages or so.
I'd love to say Sunday, but I'm not sure I'll make it. Please, please forgive me if I'm a teensy tiny bit late; I know the weekend usually works better for everyone. But it's definitely coming soon. I promise.
Till then...get your tissues ready. Get your comfort blanket/comfort food/comfort cat or whatever you need. And have a ton of chocolate and a bottle of wine ready, too, while you're at it.
See you all very soon!
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Ah, you want a hint? You want to know what it's going to be all about. Okay. Let me see...
It's going to be about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwfrRd7vPBY
Well, at least, in a manner of speaking.:D
Ok, I listened to the Pompeii youtube because your writings are, if nothing else, fabulous. Now I'm ready for the next missive from you, still lamenting season 3 for a variety of reasons. And I am making my way through House. Cuddy always wears low cut shirts which, I'm sure, means something. It just irritates me. I am enjoying the love story, if I can call it that, between House and James. By the way, I hope the little one in your family is doing better. I am reminded every year because I get a christmas card from the family, that their 24 weeker survived and is thriving, something unthinkable 50 years ago when I began my practice. I hope the same for your family member.
-Beth
Dear all!
I'm finally done with the long post. (Oh, my God! This was getting ridiculous. Sorry. But I guess the second you see the title of this one, you'll understand why it took me so long to write this one. And no, this is not just about me and my usual squeamishness. It was genuinely very hard to write. Like pulling teeth or something.)
I'm starting the upload process tonight (which can usually take a few hours; so, I might take a break in order to get some sleep and then resume uploading tomorrow). But in any case: You'll find something in your inbox very, very soon!
And yes, it's about 'Young Royals' and there's a lot, and I mean really A LOT of cultural/historical/literary stuff in it. A ton.
(And yet I'm really properly nervous this time whether you will like it.)
Yours,
tvmicroscope
P.S. Little announcement to all it may concern:
You might have noticed that my usual posting pace slowed down considerably sometime around the end of May/beginning of June last year.
That's no coincidence. It was a work-related situation that was very difficult for to handle. This work-related situation is now largely resolved or will be resolved shortly (Yay!). So, I'm expecting to get back to quicker and more regular posts sometime around mid-February this year, i.e. very, very soon. (Hurray!) And I will then be able to keep this up roughly until September. (What happens then, only God knows, but in any case: You should get more regular posts at shorter intervals very, very soon. And I'm so relieved and happy about this. You have no idea.)
Hooray! Help us, O Be Wan, you're our only hope.