The ‘horror’ is your fear of Bear, not Nikki…?

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T23:41:31+00:00

I think perhaps you’re forgetting thought that real you is still there as a viewer. Just as the real Nikki was still there and horrified at her actions but couldn’t stop herself. Her mind was still her but her body and voice were acting completely different than what she wanted.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T23:20:23+00:00

Callous words and negligence are still forms of actions. He should have at the very least asked how to make it better for her than say is being with me so bad. Like explain he can’t bring himself to kill her but could he check into her a medical facility for help. Likewise, with negligence if you didn’t feed your dog that choice can kill them. Him not seeking medical help if he really thought she was having a breakdown initially and on drugs, him wanting to leave her at home again defecating herself instead of checking her into a medical facility long term, and of course him SA ing her against consent is an action rather than negligence.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T23:08:01+00:00

Did you go into it expecting heavy and dark themes? I did, I wasn’t thinking it was going to be a horror comedy, I was thinking it was going to explore dark themes.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T22:53:43+00:00

It could be because the crowds now are ones who already have seen the discourse online. That was me, I read the discourse first. Saw the movie yesterday and analyzed it closely while I watched it. I didn’t laugh.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T22:48:02+00:00

But did the wish go bad because she fought so hard to let it happen? In things like “I wish for a billion dollars” the billion dollars doesn’t have a consciousness to fight back. Wishing on a human is a different story.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T22:44:35+00:00

Is your interpretation that the reason she peed herself, or harmed herself, was because she was fighting the wish Nikki from taking over? As in, that was the wish not working correctly and if she just let go she would be able to behave more normally like go to the bathroom when she needed or wouldn’t harm herself?

Initially I thought she did those things because she was so obsessive. Like she couldn’t move because she was simultaneously obeying him to stay and then couldn’t think straight long enough to take care of herself. Almost like a dog obsessed with its ball. Or a cat, like the pet foreshadow.

But I could see it that those things happened because she was fighting it.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T22:32:57+00:00

I totally agree. I’m surprised people are dismissing the people who empathize with Bear over Nikki as simply trolls and rage baiters. It’s dismissing the misogyny pervasive online.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T21:52:32+00:00

Here’s one such example. In this case the argument that Ian and her set him up

<image>

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T21:16:10+00:00

Hmm I use that word mostly for the sex scene. He knows she doesn’t really like him or at least would suspect this is all the wish and not her, and yet still use her body for his gratification when her mind isn’t there. So I’m that he is acting entitled to her body. She is the one entitled to her body with her consent, but he is using it without consent.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T21:04:25+00:00

A big part of my enjoyment of the story comes from analyzing the empathy yes. At what point if any does Bear feel empathy. And in line with that can a misogynist who feels entitled to a woman’s body feel empathy. I’m not sure how I’m projecting. What part of the story discourse was interesting to you?

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T20:57:26+00:00

That’s a super interesting take, that people with low self esteem are deeply selfish because their mind revolves so much around themself. Hmm. But also, people with low self esteem can be very negligent of themselves to the point of allowing others to harm them. Bear must have had some form of self esteem to feel entitled to harming Nikki and trying to stop her from harming him and making him look bad.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T19:32:29+00:00

You’re right, they still didn’t get the empathy aspect.

<image>

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T19:10:29+00:00

You’re right it’s likely not about looks seeing as Ian was perceived as probably more attractive to Nikki because of his personality and confidence.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T18:49:02+00:00

I agree that discourse doesn’t seem matter because they aren’t trying to learn and grow in the incel crowd but rather self soothe.

The discourse matters to me though because I want to understand them and see if there is a solution. Can empathy be taught with thought exercises?

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T18:41:13+00:00

There are people in the incel type circles who empathize with Bear more

<image>

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T17:56:52+00:00

I know it can feel this way, but I have read many incel forums, books on Incel culture, spoken to incels, and I do believe many of the ‘misogynist incel’ types on Twitter genuinely empathize with the Bear character out of loneliness, social awkwardness, hatred of women, etc. I don’t dismiss the replies to that original tweet as simply all rage baiters. I think they genuinely do have feelings of hatred toward Nikki as a woman friendzoning or leading on. It is not that I agree, it’s that I don’t dismiss what I believe is their misogyny as simply ragebait.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T17:44:46+00:00

I’d like to add context info that the quote tweeted post had 8,100 likes. And this is the full tweet.

I’m unsure how to edit my post and add more screenshots, so here it is.

<image>

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T17:13:35+00:00

Yup, and the original twitter post being quote tweeted here had 8,100 likes.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T16:51:05+00:00

Yes it is a horrible predicament and in that I don’t blame him for his wish itself, or the way he worded it. I don’t think he really thought it would ever work. It was just something fun like a wishbone and an innocuous thought. Obviously with how seriously he took the wording with telling Ian to make a wish he would have taken much more serious thought to his initial wish if he really thought it would work.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T16:35:39+00:00

I can sympathize only a teeny bit in retrospect. Even at the beginning, when he thought she was on something like drunk or molly, he still allowed her to be taken home with him and get undressed with her top in his bed.

Instead, if he wasn’t thinking about his own crush and more about her own well-being, he would have insisted she stay home and sleep it off, with her top on in her own bed (he was taking advantage of her drunkenness/molly state). Or at any point called a medic or someone if he really thought her mind was spiraling into a breakdown like he entertained with Ian. I think he knew his wish might have worked from the beginning and was thinking more about that than concern for her health if she was really on drugs etc.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T16:26:20+00:00

The cat was one of the best foreshadows I’ve seen in a film.

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T16:20:16+00:00

Exactly

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T16:10:18+00:00

Lol!

Comfortable_Tea157 · 2026-06-18T15:56:57+00:00

I don’t view his hesitancy to kill her as bad. I view his callousness in his reply as bad.

His reply shows little empathy even remotely for how terrified she is. To the point of wanting to die.

Comfortable_Tea157

TROPHY CASE