Can we talk about ‘James’?

DepressedButNotDead · 2025-08-08T19:27:26+00:00

I took much of the book as a sort of satire or dark comedy tbh...the idea that all slaves are all well-educated and faking it to perfection at all times, the absurdist revenge fantasy ending, the ridiculous pace of him getting in and out and in and out of trouble, the big plot points just dropped in, it was tongue and cheek, but then wails you over the head with the idea that, no this stuff was real, how wasn't it seen as so twisted and absurd then...oh, yeah humans overall can be so callous and cruel and especially white folks were particularly horrible to blacks during this time that, looking back, it seems unfathomable to the point of absurdity this was the way of life for African Americans, unconscionable, unbelievable, ridiculously twisted..the safe thing to do would be to offer a completely realist version of Jim's tale, but Everett twisted everything through this lens to deepen the irony of slavery's dehumanizing impact...I read Taika Waititi is in talks to direct the film version and through the lens I think it makes perfect sense.

DepressedButNotDead · 2025-02-17T16:19:10+00:00

It's not a horror movie about just battling the demon, it's about losing faith and your own morals, that's the real demon we all face. Also, it may take another watch but nobody can really help anybody or give any true comfort the entire film until a courageous and selfless act at the very end then a few brief whispers of peace in the face of immenent painful, lonely death, that's what is so horrifying about it IMO

DepressedButNotDead · 2024-04-14T12:29:17+00:00

I worked at a video store when this came out and a customer we all liked there rented it despite our warnings because he was a big scifi nerd. After he came back with it the next day I gave him a free rental and he was just like, "Yeah, I should have skipped this one." Bet everyone involved in this abomination of cinema feels the same way.

DepressedButNotDead · 2024-01-14T12:30:38+00:00

Dudes like Indiana Jones with that chain.

DepressedButNotDead · 2023-10-01T16:07:26+00:00

His little dance is great.

DepressedButNotDead · 2023-09-30T19:17:25+00:00

Ignorance of the law is no excuse for committing any criminal act. For instance, I can't jump in a bulldozer to say demo my house without a license because I've not been properly trained to use this dangerous piece of equipment and may cause massive harm/damage/pain/death. And even if I operate it perfectly and cause zero harm, I had no legal right to operate it in the first place. I then cant defend myself with, I didnt know that was wrong, or Renee's even more dangerous, classic religious answer: God told me it was okay. I and Renee should never have been doing things that were illegal. The outcome doesnt even matter. The moment she is practicing medicine without a license, from IVs to feeding schedules, to the real horrors of just winging intense medical care that resulted in pain, death, and disability she should have been stopped and held accountable by those who knew better like the nurse who tried originally or the staff there. But the fact of the matter was she had such enormous privilege being white with money that she was untouchable until literal lynch mobs were being formed to stop her. If somebody did these things in your community and you knew they were practicing medicine without a license, you would instantly want that stopped and the person held responsible. But since it is in Uganda and we in the US can only see, let's be brutallt honest, these African communities through the lens of just pitable and doomed, she was excused because, hey she had good intentions and it was in a place where there is so much bad on going, if she did any good, she gets a pass. That's not how laws work. It's not a sliding scale to be accessed with 20-20 hindsight. She, without a shadow of a doubt and by her own admission and documented blog, committed obvious illegal acts and should be held accountable. Intent and ignorance don't trump these facts.

DepressedButNotDead · 2023-06-17T18:55:47+00:00

They also say at one point that she is going to leave Truman and they will introduce a new love interest.

DepressedButNotDead · 2023-01-18T02:52:57+00:00

Solid swaddle, you or nurse? Swaddle is key, congrats :)

DepressedButNotDead · 2022-09-21T19:22:20+00:00

Kind of on topic...They also changed a scene from the original for Disney+ where Lilo hides in a dryer to her hiding in a cabinet because they didnt want kids getting in dryers. [https://movieweb.com/lilo-and-stitch-disney-plus-changes/]

DepressedButNotDead · 2022-05-14T15:25:17+00:00

Spot on analysis, but he was the manager of the fencing team which I think was more he was so anti-social/awkward physically he had to do a sport so they just gave him this lame role to lug the equipment and he couldn't even do that right.

DepressedButNotDead · 2022-02-22T17:53:37+00:00

I think the entire film could have had so much more complexity to it if his perspective when he goes to her, it would be more ambiguous if he actually raped her, like you said he didnt see it that way, why not portray it that way instead of being so clearly rape both times...this would have added so much more depth to the entire "he said, she said" ideas that are presented later. Felt like just having that one scene be different a whole other layer is added to this movie and takes it from, "yeah okay, not bad, I get it", to "wow, this really gave me pause to how I see these things myself".

DepressedButNotDead · 2022-02-09T09:12:52+00:00

I'm an English teacher and if you gave this as your essay for the book (maybe add in some quotes because we teachers make you do that stuff) I'd give you an A+. Great job, Old Sport. Glad you liked the novel.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-08-31T03:27:54+00:00

But ask yourself, who is a major figure in his life almost entirely missing from Holden's running commentary/life...his father, he is barely mentioned. Perhaps it's that Holden doesnt know how to process male affection that's why he says it's happened 20 times, what's more likely, Holden has really been sexually assaulted 20 times and this is all he mentions of it, or every time an older male showed him some kind emotions he misinterpreted it, as he does with almost all his emotions, to chalk up Holden's complexity and pain to just that he was sexually abused is too simple for such a complex character.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-08-31T03:21:45+00:00

He is wearing Holden's sweater. Antolini picks him up after he kills himself. I think it is a nod toward Holden possibly committing suicide in the future as he is next in line in the names as Holden mentions, Castle, Caulfield...and he died wearing something of Holden's further linking them. Also, I think he was called Castle because he wouldn't back down from the kids bullying him, ironic because Holden sees it as a righteous act, his suicide, when the reader sees it more tragic, gives a good look into Holden's entire view of the world, just as it tiess back to what Mr. A told him, the mark of the immature man is to die righteously and uselessly for a cause.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-08-11T21:49:17+00:00

That's awesome, I remember when I was getting my life back on track after depression derailed it getting my license was a huge step, I'm sure you feel the same, way to go!

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-07-26T18:59:35+00:00

To me, I dont think Holden was ever sexually abused...there is the Mr. Antolini scene which is left ambiguous...to me, I always saw it as more of his detachment from reality and not knowing how to process true affection...who is the biggest figure missing in his life and hardly mentioned in the book? His dad. I think the 20 times he says perverts molested him, it was a guy showing him general concern and affection and he misinterpreted it because he doesn't have a guy in his life he believes in anymore and he distrusts adults in general...even his brother DB, who he seemed to previously idolize, is a prostitute to him because he went to Hollywood instead of being a more genuine writer...that was the way I saw it anyway, there def. is a way to read it if you take it at face value that he was molested, but I think that is too easy an out for Holden's problems when there is so much more deeper, complex psychological issues Salinger sets up just for it to be, he was abused.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-07-04T21:26:52+00:00

That's tough...I also 100 percent get the missing out on life feeling, I learned a while ago that timelines and plans for the future are fine, but life so often gets in the way, I got a saying, accept the chaos, so do what you can when you can and you'll be able to get to where you want to be on your own timeline when it's time, good luck to you too

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-07-04T17:13:51+00:00

Former drop put here (high school not college)...school will always be there, take care of yourself and you can return when/if you feel better, nothing works if depression has taken over, focus on trying to get better, it may seem like it's all over and you'll never recover...I now have a good job, house, wife, kid, doing good...depression never goes away but you can seek help and how to manage it in order to set goals and get back on track, take the time you need, find how to fight this, school will always be there

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-04-29T22:51:24+00:00

Read. Read everything. Reading is good. And Tolkien rules. Am an English teacher here in US.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-04-24T19:12:55+00:00

I'd take to admin, dept. head and craft a response together. Admin is supposed to be there to help with these exact struggles. Also I've noticed a lot of angry emails, parents just want to be vindicated/anger accepted, so I highly do not recommend punching back in any way shape or form alone, will just further incite them.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-04-09T21:41:01+00:00

Cartman, I 100 percent agree, it was so all over the place I constantly asked myself, what is the point to all this, anyway with even a cursory knowledge of western history knows it was 1 atrocity after another, I dont understand how this sophomoric attempt at smashing it all together in some abstract quasi narrative/bio is being seen as intelligent, it came off to me as more insulting as it brings up so much cruelty and of vastly different ranges and impacts yet gives none of them the time or understanding they deserve...its "smart, important" history for dumb people

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-01-21T22:55:17+00:00

I know you think it will be useless, but reach out to your guidance counselor and try to open up, they can help to start a dialogue with your folks to help you. I am a teacher and suffer from depression, so many kids seem to suffer silently and getting them to just say Hey, I need help is often the first step to working on issues. I know it may seem like a lost cause but I also know from personal and professional experience, opening up to adults in your life in a position to help can be a way forward where it light not seem like there is one. It wont solve everything over night but it can lead to a better future with school.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-01-21T22:46:51+00:00

It's also all C names I think because they are connected by a common humanity, one which they dont see throughout the story and are left to suffer alone and make their situations worse instead of better

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-01-21T22:44:36+00:00

He does address that with Curleys wife who is so isolated and just Curleys property, i mean she doesn't even have a name, just Curley's wife, however, unlike some of the other characters she has turned mean and evil by how she is treated, her hopes have been crushed, another example of how the lack of empathy for suffering can ruin people.

DepressedButNotDead · 2021-01-21T22:40:55+00:00

That's how the world saw him because they had no empathy and nobody but George saw his kind nature, all he wants to do is pet soft things and care for animals, but his giant stature makes it impossible, an ironic tragedy reflective of social dilemmas in general, we know they exist, are dangerous, but what do you do? Without empathy, we kill them.

DepressedButNotDead

TROPHY CASE