haileyscomet

I love the show and somehow I never put two and two together about how the balance of cynic and optimistic characters keeps it from getting overly morose. This is a really interesting take; well written.

Recently watched The Brood and your section on the paranoia around maternal sexuality is VERY relevant to that film. The main character is a woman who literally births manifestations of her trauma and rage, which are strange, murderous, childlike monsters.. Two men attempt to control her–her husband and this psychotherapist guy–and towards the end there’s a birth scene where she performs this sort of powerful display of her ability as a woman to give birth. Essentially, she’s in this glamorous white dress and “unveils” a bloody embryo that “hatches.” Watching it was pretty strange for me but reading what you have to say about it helps me think a little deeper about what it means.

Here’s an interesting example of a deaf character from the era of Film Noir!
I’m currently in a Film Genres course at my college and we just watched Out Of The Past, which features a deaf character named “The Kid.” It’s problematic because other characters refer to him as “dumb,” but he’s actually a key player in the movement of the plot. If I’m remembering correctly, he doesn’t use ASL, but he reads lips and uses general gestures. The Kid is arguably more intelligent and empathetic than the hard-boiled main characters, and it’s implied that this is because he spends a lot of time observing how these double-crossing people behave. In the end, he tells a lie to the main characters’ former fiancee to save her from feelings of unrequited love for the rest of her life– essentially, he chooses to tell a little white lie to maintain her ignorant bliss. I really liked the character of The Kid.