Hi ya'll, forgot I could pin comments on here! First, thank you all for the support and love on here, and two, thank you all for the feedback! To give some updates on the video, I have added chapters (I had no idea how to do that before based on what UA-cam told me), and subtitles failed going up on the video due to an internal issue on UA-cam's end, so I will likely be redoing subtitles today and tomorrow. Thank you all for your patience!
I've started to get sick of people (not you) constantly discussing Nostalgia without expanding it into some other facet but when combining it with the trans elements of this particular movie, it's so interesting. The older i get the more i keep finding i can't go back to media i loved as a kid bc i didn't end up being or becoming the person i associated with that media and obviously thats a theme a lot of people can relate to. But HOW anyone can think I Saw the TV Glow is ONLY about nostalgia is beyond me 😔 It feels like such a stubborn commitment to a shallower reading bc they refuse to engage with gender as a topic at all, nevermind trans themes.
I agree completely, and I feel that read about the film leading to just nostalgia has lead to some people having warm and fuzzy feelings, while I want to cry! I am going to have a video exploring some of the current state of blockbuster film and nostalgia through a movie I wish was taken a bit more seriously in a few months, I think you may enjoy and agree with a lot of it!
I’m planning on making a video on I Saw The Tv Glow. I think it is dishonest to ignore the trans themes of this movie. As result your missing the point of the movie.
There's some things in the movie that really showed dysmorphia well. In a lot of the scenes with Owen's profile, they shot the scene to exaggerate their adam's apple. I think this reflects how Owen sees their own body/feels that others see them. Great video! Glad to watch your long form content!
Thank you so much! And yes, I love this read of that! I was sure there were so many other scenes references to dysmorphia and more will come to me in time, it's such a rich movie
I really hope Justice Smith gets some award buzz for this performance. I feel like he’s the only actor who could play this role to the height that he did.
Feeling like an observer in a body that keeps moving. I think its a great way to surmise the existential horror that is being trans but not being aware/not being able to act on it. I didnt know why this feeling was inside me for years. When I first saw this film it left me struck in terror, recognizing my own lack of change and the ever increasing speed of life.
I relate to your experience as well, I only discovered I was trans as an adult and this movie felt like a mix of hopefulness and hopelessness to me. Like a cautionary tale, 'there's still time' until there isn't.
Sailor Moon and Buffy were my Pink Opaque. I'm 39 years old and came out as trans at 37. This movie hit me harder emotionally than almost anything I've ever seen in my life.
Hi. My name is Serena. This is because I finally granted myself the permission to wield the power to make myself a better person. My name is Serena also at least partly because of media that I consumed when I was a young person, media that I thought about more than a bit when I was growing up but has certainly aged in my eyes ever since. Unlike Sailor Moon, unlike Pink Opaque, our stories don't end. There is always time, even if there is absolutely a nostalgia and a grief over the fact that so much of that time was spent being buried underground. It's not a fair situation, many situations in life aren't, but sometimes a person does have to go through horrific ordeals in order to come out the other side. In other words... yes, I saw quite a bit of my own transgender journey while watching this movie as well. It certainly speaks to this middle-aged transitioner quite a bit. Thank you for highlighting how this media really speaks to many people's experiences.
Hi Serena, nice to see your comment! And I appreciate you saw this much of yourself in this movie and also for your comment about my video! I think this is a really great point, our stories don't end. They keep going and sometimes it is challenging to get over the worst parts before it gets better
Im not trans, but i am queer. The trans themese are so obvious, im shocked others dont see it. For me, what i got from the film was the horror one feels for not persuing ones deepest and strongest desires. How life can slip by you if you choose to he deaf to the voice inside of you. And how one can choose to cope with comforts, like media, even though that media reminds of the the very things we are too afraid to pursue. These things of course are related to the trans experience. I adored this film. It was so impactful to me. I cried. I cant stop thinking about it. I loved the performance by Maddy in the planetarium
Growing up with a single mother I watched a lot of “girly” media as well as lots of films in general but I feel that that has helped to diversify my taste for the better. I had to watch this film on a dodgy website as I live in the uk and I didn’t want to wait a really long time for it and I don’t regret it at all.
INFINITY TRAIN MENTIONED WOOOOOO In all seriousness, as a 22 year old gen z guy, I really appreciated your point about openly queer media being way more available now, but at the cost of queercoded media not being able to be as easily discerned by some. I think with my media diet as a kid and now, i tend to be able to enjoy both kinds of representation, but that definitely isnt a universal experience. Great video!
Thank you!!! And it definitely is nice to be able to experience both explicitly queer and queer-coded media, and it's also just so fascinating how people are resonating with this movie!
It’s so nice and reassuring to see this video and comment section! I’ve seen sooo many people miss the trans theme of the film and just talk about the nostalgia to the point where I started questioning if I was just reading too much into it. I hope we get more films like this in the future like that feels like it was made for trans people,not just for cis people to learn.
What a great video! It really feels like night and day discussing this film in and out of queer circles, but something i find odd, and something you touch on, are these weird blinders to various scenes that can only be properly explained through a queer lens. It feels like discussing the films themes without the scene where Maddy draws the ghost onto Owens neck is near impossible when, but in a lot of nostalgia readings it gets overlooked! Anyways, great video and cant wait to see what you make next! 😊
Thank you! A bit delayed on the next one due to the script being over three times as long as the one for this, and I also agree on your point about talking about the movie inside and outside of queer circles! The movie is on Max now and I am seeing some non-queer people say some of the scenes at the end of the movie are not necessary, which is so bizarre haha
This is one of my favorite films ever- it opened one of my best friends eyes and began their transition, and tv glow holds an incredibly special place in my heart from that experience alone. But outside of that, I relate to each of the leads so deeply. This film means so much to me, and I can confidently say your review of it in this video is my favorite I’ve heard (and I’ve heard way too many). So excited to see what great videos you make next!
Around the 13:30 mark when you started using Limp Bizkit music video clips, I thought it was just because it fit with the theme of late 90s / early 2000s masculinity that you were talking about at that moment, then I looked closer at footage of the dad, and thought, ‘Is that Fred Durst?’ Turns out it was.
This vid really highlights the trans themes of this film well. I definitely will share it as a "brief" (by video essay standards) explanation of trans themes in this movie to friends. If that's what was sought out to do here, it passed with flying colors
It definitely was what was sought out when making and planning this video! I'm hoping to aim for 20-30 minute videos talking about individual movies and maybe hour long ones for franchises/series, and thank you so much for enjoying it and checking it out!
So something I can't work out in my head is my theory that Maddy is, in fact, Owen's inner trans person and never actually existed, I think there's a really understated mental health theme in this movie that as a guy who came out in his 30s I really resonated with. Did anyone else pick up on that?
I have actually heard this theory before about Maddy, and I think it does make a lot of sense! There is certainly a piece about mental health as well, and that ties so deeply into the dysphoria for me. It speaks to that theme of living your most authentic life being a universal one!
Great fist video! The critics got this one wrong a lot yeah. But the thing I noticed with "I Saw The TV Glow" if you are not queer/trans/gay and have not lived that lived experience you miss a whole layer of this film.
i love this movie and this is a really great analysis, you picked up a lot of details i missed. the line “what if she was right? what if i really was someone else?” hit me where it hurts. i hope to show the movie to friends of mine at some point.
Can you believe it's taken this long for the film to become available to rent on Prime in the UK? I've put off watching this video for months... This is exactly the standard of video essay I'd expect to see accompany a film like this on a boutique release. Really good stuff and I hope the video has performed well enough to justify you making more of these videos. Unfortunately I don't share the same love for the film. But I do feel it's beautifully made and has a really unique aesthetic. Hope you're hanging in okay after last night's result.
I can't believe it has taken so long to be released there! And I really appreciate that compliment about the video, thank you. There will certainly be another video by latest Sunday, just had some personal issues that affected my ability to film the next video I had all of September and most of October, and this new one may be a tad long lol I am tackling one of my favorite films series and it became a complex video. Hope you enjoy it soon! And thank you for naming about the election, I am handling it okay and am thinking about a path forward
i watched this movie @ like 12 am bc i thought it'd be a cool, chill watch about movies & being trans. and by the end i was shaking & crying & i didn't go to sleep til like 4:30
one of my fav movies of the decade so far. i managed to see it in cinema a few weeks ago (late late release in the uk😓) but it was sooo amazing and just personal to me
Ahh I am so glad you got to see it in a theater!! I had actually held off on planning the release of this video to accommodate the UK release of the film because so many of my followers on TIkTok are from there!
So happy you’re doing long form content now James! This is easily my favorite movie of the year so far and I’m so grateful for your insight on this film and its reception 😊
I definitely will add more of an intro on the film and filmmaker next time, thank you for the feedback! I think I miscalculated what i should/shouldn't share and it became more clear in the edit!
I grew up with Buffy at a young age, and I grew up with shows like Winx Club and W.I.T.C.H at an even younger age! I never put a stop to think if it was weird or if it alienated me like Owen did in the movie. But there was so much in this film that just called out to me and clicked, the more I think about it the more brilliant it gets. Thank you for your video because it’s giving even more explanations!
Great Video James! I wasn't able to check out I saw the TV glow when it showed here, but I definitely need to check it out soon! I think a lot of people want to ignore/ or miss the queer side of it because it's something they just don't relate to. It's something that some people won't register in their brain. Look forward to seeing what you make next!
Echoing other comments here but it really was a great first video. Constantly compelling and really nicely structured. Huge fan of creators bringing personal experiences in to add layers to their critique. My read on the Nostalgia focus was that for a lot of people, this will likely be the first time they're more explicitly shown a narrative of trans experience. I can imagine that could potentially feel very new or even slightly disorientating to reckon with afterwards compared to the easy-to-understand and critique nostalgia themes that have become so intertwined with modern culture. This is not to excuse their failure to properly consider what I Saw The TV Glow was trying to convey, but more my thoughts on how so many people 'missed the point'. I can only hope that as trans stories become more prevalent audiences engage more with the themes and personal storytelling that they're trying to get across!
Thank you! I really appreciate hearing this and I hope to bring a lot of myself into these videos! And I definitely agree with this point about nostalgia vs. interpreting it as a trans film. I do hope you are right that more trans stories help people engage with these themes more, because it is important, whether it affects their own personhood or those in their everyday lives.
Fantastic to hear your more in depth thoughts and it fit really well on a different platform, the structure is great and you can tell the passion behind it.
Just rewatched this movie on Friday which was the perfect excuse to finally watch this video!! Love the discussion of how being trans and nostalgia interacts because it’s truly so hard to articulate to cis people how childhood media ended up becoming an integral part of my gender experience and just how I view myself. Looking forward to more content here!!
haven't seen this film but i thought i'd watch the video anyways. i'm not queer or trans but the way you described it i might give it a watch if it comes to streaming great video.
this showed up in my recommended; i hadn't even heard of this film before! thank you for the film rec and i'm looking forward to seeing your future videos!
First video and its a banger! I'm always holding out to see what you're saying on Tiktok, so seeing long form content like this is a blessing. Looking forward to seeing more on this channel. Watch this space.
*well* now I guess I’ve gotta see ‘I Saw The TV Glow’ asap now. I’ve been burnt with a lot of “Alternative” films this year so I’m a bit worried I might not vibe with it
It is good but I wouldn't go in with too high expectations, I'm trans and I decided to go watch it because on Tiktok it was being hyped as this masterpiece that encapsulated the trans experience perfectly, it was good but I definitely went in expecting something more grandiose. The second watch was more enjoyable because I chose to rewatch it just for myself and truly see what it was about without expecting some big twist
Great first video! Looking forward to more! I really hope you’ll do alot more queer movies! I saw the tv glow strongly resonated with me and has really pushed me with my own gender expression. Films like these AND CREATORS LIKE U!!! Are so so important. Thank u james!!!!
Thank you so much!!! And I am glad you have been pushed with your own gender expression! And there definitely will be more videos about queer movies or my queer readings of movies, sadly not for the rest of the year as I have some really specific plans on what to cover, but I do have plans for it!
Really enjoyed this! I think a lot of other people gave good feedback more eloquently and articulately than I could, but I wanted to mention that I liked how playful you got with the editing in this. It adds that extra little bit of pep without being overbearing.
Thank you, I definitely want to play with the editing more and keep finding my voice and style in the edit. I definitely am not a fan of the super punchy editing I see here a lot, but I do want it to stay creative
this was a great video james, you have a great eye for the trans references as there’s many i didn’t quite spot myself. as for feedback on the video itself, the only real criticism i have is the movement for some of the image inserts was a little distracting but besides that the editing was spot on :)
Thank you, and this is very fair! In the future, I will likely stick with still images and largely video to fill in shots, it is tricky navigating copyright on here haha
ngl I haven't seen the movie yet, I couldn't get to a screening near me and I don't think I've seen it on streaming anywhere yet, but literally the moment I saw the trailers I knew there had to some sort of queer subtext, so when people started reviewing it saying the message of the film was basically "nostalgia bad" I had a feeling it wasn't that shallow I've seen it now. It killed me.
I feel this so much. I have rewatched it multiple times and it cuts deeper each time, it has blown me away so many people looked at the film through solely nostalgia
as a trans person who was also born in 2006, it's funny to me that my personal pink opaque was ABSOLUTELY stranger things- a show that gained popularity for being shameless nostalgia bait for an era twenty years before i was born. nonetheless watching the first season shortly after it came out set me on the path to being who i am now, both as a film + tv major who's hoping to build a career making shows like the ones that have been core to my life, and as a transgender man who was very confused as a 12 year old as to why i felt like i really really wanted to be mike wheeler (before his character got ruined ofc).
Great vid James! I’m very excited to see a long-form version of your content. I hope one day you can cover ‘we’re all going to the worlds fair’ by Jane Schoenbrun. I love both of their movies but I think I prefer the latter. Anyway, fantastic video!
Thank you for saying this! I definitely am shifting some elements of the lightning in the next video, but due to limited space and resources, that will be a slower evolution I will play with and see what works. I do want to elevate it more with the next video though!
This was an awesome video. I am so glad I found your account on tiktok late last year. I really liked how you started the video with a point and brought it back full circle. I think my only criticism is maybe have more of an intro to ease into the video. So excited for the future!
i was so surprised when i went to leave a like and saw this has less than 2000 views. this is insanely good for being the only vid on ur channel, excellent work ! more pls !!
So happy to see you make the leap to Long-form content! I've loved your TikTok's so the opportunity to see you dive even deeper is great. I Saw The TV Glow is by far my favourite film of the year so far. I will say I did struggle to find the channel when just using the UA-cam search feature, had to look for a direct link on TT, maybe just as the channel grows you'll be top of the search, but also if you're not already, it could also be worth setting some tags as upload defaults for common misspellings of your username ppl could make e.g. getting the good and bad mixed in your username
Thank you!! And this is good to know about the tags, there have been lots of issues having the channel pop up with the search feature that seem to be UA-cam-related from what I understand, but knowing about the tags is helpful! Tags are very different here than on TikTok lol
i loved the video james, i love how in detail you went about the film and how passionate you are about this film honestly one of the best videos i’ve seen about the movie i’ve learnt so much more about this film bc of this video so thank you a lot
I love this video so much, it’s even more impressive that it’s your first long form video. I was completely gripped the entire time despite not yet seeing the movie. I can’t wait for more!!
Great video! I can’t wait to see more because I don’t see many people discussing films and themes like you are both on tik tok and youtube. Keep going🙌
yayyyy i’ve been waiting for your first upload! this is such perfect timing as i finally got to watch the film today. it’s been a good few hours and i cannot stop thinking about it. i saw your review for it and i thought it was just beautiful :)
Really great video. I have to confess that i haven't watched the movie yet wich i guess is kinda weird but the video was still really entertaining. It did surprise me thay you jumed directly into it without like a 1 minute summary plot but I guess the target of this video is people that have already watched the movie. thats the only main thing i have to say. Congratulations and I hope to see many more videos of yours.
Thank you! And this is definitely fair, I made the bold assumption people would only see the video if they had seen the movies, and a few comments proved that wrong! I am grateful for that, and in the future, there will be a plot summary of any movie I mention, thank you for naming that!
i’m sad that i didn’t get to watch many american tv shows besides what was on nickelodeon / disney channel because some uk shows were good but didn’t grasp me as much. the show that i think has affected me the most though is death note. i was very late to watching it but i found it so interesting and i loved the animation
I think it’s an incredibly difficult thing, witnessing people misread a movie that you love and take a lot from. Is it a fault of the movie? Could it be more explicit? Or is it something else. I know the term ‘media literacy’ is thrown around a a bit at the moment, in discussions about how it’s lacking. I’m not sure I agree every time I’ve seen the term used to argue against someone’s take but it does seem that people aren’t very adept at seeing things beyond their face value, or maybe not wanting to look for a deeper meaning in something.
Mmm I agree with this so much, especially about the term media literacy being thrown around so much. There is also certainly an oversaturation of people wanting to assess media at face value, which can always lead to disappointment
I can see that the trans/queer theme might be outside of many peoples experience, even indirectly, but how the heck don’t they see it as dealing with some other form of alienation? About the colours in the film, it did also occur to me that pink/purple/blue are the bi colours, and perhaps more likely, that purple might represent the integration or harmony of male and female aspects. Which seems even more pertinent now that I know the director is none-binary. Anyway, I enjoyed your video. (p.s. Did you gave a spoilers warning at the beginning? If not it might bean idea next time.)
This was a great first video! It came off quite professional, as if you've been doing UA-cam for a while now. I can't really give any criticism. Maybe I would've like more attention placed on Owen's parents, especially his mother. Her role in the film feels vague and obscured. I could never pinpoint what she represents. Is she a beacon of safety for Owen, or is she, also, a part of the problem like his father? Owen's father is a boogeyman, but could he, too, been a victim of the patriarchy. He's the only other character besides Owen and Maddie to watch so much tv. Owen's mother doesn't want him to watch tv past his bedtime. Why? If I could do anything, I would like to recommend the UA-cam channel Style is Substance. She's a severely underrated video essayist. She's the reason I watched and even knew about Funeral Parade of Roses. She has amazing film taste and analysis. Maybe you can take inspiration from her videos.
I will check out her channel, thank you! And thank you for enjoying it, and it was hard to make space to talk about the mom in the context of this video, but she is someone I wished more people gave attention to. To me, she is the supportive parent and someone who provides safety for Owen and likely, the person he wants to be in many ways. I'm not sure what to read into her not letting him watch television past a bedtime, but I assumed it was a value being pushed primarily by the father even if mom was saying it
I really had no idea it was anything to do with transness because the thing it's being compared to is so out there. Being transported into your own buffyverse? That sounds amazing and different enough that it involving also being the opposite gender seems minor. Ditto with your video using the Sailor Moon transformation sequence. It's conflating the _subjective_ feeling of transition with _objective_ properties and it really makes it unclear and mismatched.
Owen was Maddie. He would not let her be free. He kept her buried inside himself and at the end he totally killed her off. That is why he never seen her again.
Hi ya'll, forgot I could pin comments on here! First, thank you all for the support and love on here, and two, thank you all for the feedback! To give some updates on the video, I have added chapters (I had no idea how to do that before based on what UA-cam told me), and subtitles failed going up on the video due to an internal issue on UA-cam's end, so I will likely be redoing subtitles today and tomorrow. Thank you all for your patience!
I've started to get sick of people (not you) constantly discussing Nostalgia without expanding it into some other facet but when combining it with the trans elements of this particular movie, it's so interesting. The older i get the more i keep finding i can't go back to media i loved as a kid bc i didn't end up being or becoming the person i associated with that media and obviously thats a theme a lot of people can relate to. But HOW anyone can think I Saw the TV Glow is ONLY about nostalgia is beyond me 😔 It feels like such a stubborn commitment to a shallower reading bc they refuse to engage with gender as a topic at all, nevermind trans themes.
I agree completely, and I feel that read about the film leading to just nostalgia has lead to some people having warm and fuzzy feelings, while I want to cry! I am going to have a video exploring some of the current state of blockbuster film and nostalgia through a movie I wish was taken a bit more seriously in a few months, I think you may enjoy and agree with a lot of it!
I’m planning on making a video on I Saw The Tv Glow. I think it is dishonest to ignore the trans themes of this movie. As result your missing the point of the movie.
There's some things in the movie that really showed dysmorphia well. In a lot of the scenes with Owen's profile, they shot the scene to exaggerate their adam's apple. I think this reflects how Owen sees their own body/feels that others see them.
Great video! Glad to watch your long form content!
Thank you so much! And yes, I love this read of that! I was sure there were so many other scenes references to dysmorphia and more will come to me in time, it's such a rich movie
I really hope Justice Smith gets some award buzz for this performance. I feel like he’s the only actor who could play this role to the height that he did.
I hope he does too, it's one of those roles where I can only see one person in it and he really floored me
The finale absolutely destroyed me, he was great
Feeling like an observer in a body that keeps moving. I think its a great way to surmise the existential horror that is being trans but not being aware/not being able to act on it. I didnt know why this feeling was inside me for years. When I first saw this film it left me struck in terror, recognizing my own lack of change and the ever increasing speed of life.
I relate to your experience as well, I only discovered I was trans as an adult and this movie felt like a mix of hopefulness and hopelessness to me.
Like a cautionary tale, 'there's still time' until there isn't.
I felt this entirely watching the movie!
looking at reviews for this film and it’s so weird how many people can’t see the trans imagery because it was so obvious to me from the start
I agree, it has been bizarre to see that!
Sailor Moon and Buffy were my Pink Opaque. I'm 39 years old and came out as trans at 37. This movie hit me harder emotionally than almost anything I've ever seen in my life.
Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine! I am so glad you found the film, and I am so glad you had your Pink Opaque!
Hi. My name is Serena. This is because I finally granted myself the permission to wield the power to make myself a better person. My name is Serena also at least partly because of media that I consumed when I was a young person, media that I thought about more than a bit when I was growing up but has certainly aged in my eyes ever since.
Unlike Sailor Moon, unlike Pink Opaque, our stories don't end. There is always time, even if there is absolutely a nostalgia and a grief over the fact that so much of that time was spent being buried underground. It's not a fair situation, many situations in life aren't, but sometimes a person does have to go through horrific ordeals in order to come out the other side.
In other words... yes, I saw quite a bit of my own transgender journey while watching this movie as well. It certainly speaks to this middle-aged transitioner quite a bit. Thank you for highlighting how this media really speaks to many people's experiences.
Hi Serena, nice to see your comment! And I appreciate you saw this much of yourself in this movie and also for your comment about my video! I think this is a really great point, our stories don't end. They keep going and sometimes it is challenging to get over the worst parts before it gets better
Im not trans, but i am queer. The trans themese are so obvious, im shocked others dont see it. For me, what i got from the film was the horror one feels for not persuing ones deepest and strongest desires. How life can slip by you if you choose to he deaf to the voice inside of you. And how one can choose to cope with comforts, like media, even though that media reminds of the the very things we are too afraid to pursue. These things of course are related to the trans experience.
I adored this film. It was so impactful to me. I cried. I cant stop thinking about it. I loved the performance by Maddy in the planetarium
Yes, the monologue is one of my favorites scenes of the year!
Growing up with a single mother I watched a lot of “girly” media as well as lots of films in general but I feel that that has helped to diversify my taste for the better. I had to watch this film on a dodgy website as I live in the uk and I didn’t want to wait a really long time for it and I don’t regret it at all.
I definitely felt it helped diversifying my media taste too!
INFINITY TRAIN MENTIONED WOOOOOO
In all seriousness, as a 22 year old gen z guy, I really appreciated your point about openly queer media being way more available now, but at the cost of queercoded media not being able to be as easily discerned by some. I think with my media diet as a kid and now, i tend to be able to enjoy both kinds of representation, but that definitely isnt a universal experience. Great video!
Thank you!!! And it definitely is nice to be able to experience both explicitly queer and queer-coded media, and it's also just so fascinating how people are resonating with this movie!
It’s so nice and reassuring to see this video and comment section! I’ve seen sooo many people miss the trans theme of the film and just talk about the nostalgia to the point where I started questioning if I was just reading too much into it. I hope we get more films like this in the future like that feels like it was made for trans people,not just for cis people to learn.
Thank you, and I do hope we get so many more films like this!
What a great video! It really feels like night and day discussing this film in and out of queer circles, but something i find odd, and something you touch on, are these weird blinders to various scenes that can only be properly explained through a queer lens. It feels like discussing the films themes without the scene where Maddy draws the ghost onto Owens neck is near impossible when, but in a lot of nostalgia readings it gets overlooked!
Anyways, great video and cant wait to see what you make next! 😊
Thank you! A bit delayed on the next one due to the script being over three times as long as the one for this, and I also agree on your point about talking about the movie inside and outside of queer circles! The movie is on Max now and I am seeing some non-queer people say some of the scenes at the end of the movie are not necessary, which is so bizarre haha
This is one of my favorite films ever- it opened one of my best friends eyes and began their transition, and tv glow holds an incredibly special place in my heart from that experience alone. But outside of that, I relate to each of the leads so deeply. This film means so much to me, and I can confidently say your review of it in this video is my favorite I’ve heard (and I’ve heard way too many). So excited to see what great videos you make next!
Thank you so much, it means a lot to hear that! And I am so happy for your friend and how this film helped begin their transition!!!!
Around the 13:30 mark when you started using Limp Bizkit music video clips, I thought it was just because it fit with the theme of late 90s / early 2000s masculinity that you were talking about at that moment, then I looked closer at footage of the dad, and thought, ‘Is that Fred Durst?’ Turns out it was.
Hahaha yes it was Fred Durst! I should have made a point to comment on that, but he really disappears into this movie and is terrifying!
This vid really highlights the trans themes of this film well. I definitely will share it as a "brief" (by video essay standards) explanation of trans themes in this movie to friends. If that's what was sought out to do here, it passed with flying colors
It definitely was what was sought out when making and planning this video! I'm hoping to aim for 20-30 minute videos talking about individual movies and maybe hour long ones for franchises/series, and thank you so much for enjoying it and checking it out!
So something I can't work out in my head is my theory that Maddy is, in fact, Owen's inner trans person and never actually existed, I think there's a really understated mental health theme in this movie that as a guy who came out in his 30s I really resonated with. Did anyone else pick up on that?
I have actually heard this theory before about Maddy, and I think it does make a lot of sense! There is certainly a piece about mental health as well, and that ties so deeply into the dysphoria for me. It speaks to that theme of living your most authentic life being a universal one!
@@moviegoodormoviebad I'm really glad I wasn't the only one. I posited it to my bf after and he totally hadn't picked up the same thing lol
Not just you, I thought exactly the same about both of those things.
@@MrPotatoemouse I'm so glad I'm not the only one. love that movie so much
Great fist video! The critics got this one wrong a lot yeah. But the thing I noticed with "I Saw The TV Glow" if you are not queer/trans/gay and have not lived that lived experience you miss a whole layer of this film.
Thank you so much! And you definitely do miss so much without that lived experience
i love this movie and this is a really great analysis, you picked up a lot of details i missed. the line “what if she was right? what if i really was someone else?” hit me where it hurts. i hope to show the movie to friends of mine at some point.
I hope you can show it to friends soon and they get a lot out of it!
Can you believe it's taken this long for the film to become available to rent on Prime in the UK? I've put off watching this video for months... This is exactly the standard of video essay I'd expect to see accompany a film like this on a boutique release. Really good stuff and I hope the video has performed well enough to justify you making more of these videos. Unfortunately I don't share the same love for the film. But I do feel it's beautifully made and has a really unique aesthetic. Hope you're hanging in okay after last night's result.
I can't believe it has taken so long to be released there! And I really appreciate that compliment about the video, thank you. There will certainly be another video by latest Sunday, just had some personal issues that affected my ability to film the next video I had all of September and most of October, and this new one may be a tad long lol I am tackling one of my favorite films series and it became a complex video. Hope you enjoy it soon! And thank you for naming about the election, I am handling it okay and am thinking about a path forward
I love the idea of full-length reviews like this one, eventhough i'd understand if you make some shorter videos too going forward.
There will be lots of similar length videos too this and some longer about bigger topics!
Still absolutely my favorite film of the year by far, i have the T-shirt and the hat but i’m working on getting the rest!
Ahh I am glad it is also your favorite!
i watched this movie @ like 12 am bc i thought it'd be a cool, chill watch about movies & being trans. and by the end i was shaking & crying & i didn't go to sleep til like 4:30
one of my fav movies of the decade so far. i managed to see it in cinema a few weeks ago (late late release in the uk😓) but it was sooo amazing and just personal to me
Ahh I am so glad you got to see it in a theater!! I had actually held off on planning the release of this video to accommodate the UK release of the film because so many of my followers on TIkTok are from there!
So happy you’re doing long form content now James! This is easily my favorite movie of the year so far and I’m so grateful for your insight on this film and its reception 😊
Thank you so much, I am glad to be here too! And I am also glad it is loved so much!
Next video in the “But wait there’s more” voice please 😂
Lovely video, I feel the introduction could really use some background on the film itself.
I definitely will add more of an intro on the film and filmmaker next time, thank you for the feedback! I think I miscalculated what i should/shouldn't share and it became more clear in the edit!
I grew up with Buffy at a young age, and I grew up with shows like Winx Club and W.I.T.C.H at an even younger age! I never put a stop to think if it was weird or if it alienated me like Owen did in the movie. But there was so much in this film that just called out to me and clicked, the more I think about it the more brilliant it gets. Thank you for your video because it’s giving even more explanations!
Thank you, I am glad you got so much out of it!
Great Video James! I wasn't able to check out I saw the TV glow when it showed here, but I definitely need to check it out soon! I think a lot of people want to ignore/ or miss the queer side of it because it's something they just don't relate to. It's something that some people won't register in their brain. Look forward to seeing what you make next!
Mmmm I agree, it is something really far outside of their minds and they'll miss it. And definitely check out the movie!
Echoing other comments here but it really was a great first video. Constantly compelling and really nicely structured. Huge fan of creators bringing personal experiences in to add layers to their critique.
My read on the Nostalgia focus was that for a lot of people, this will likely be the first time they're more explicitly shown a narrative of trans experience. I can imagine that could potentially feel very new or even slightly disorientating to reckon with afterwards compared to the easy-to-understand and critique nostalgia themes that have become so intertwined with modern culture. This is not to excuse their failure to properly consider what I Saw The TV Glow was trying to convey, but more my thoughts on how so many people 'missed the point'. I can only hope that as trans stories become more prevalent audiences engage more with the themes and personal storytelling that they're trying to get across!
Thank you! I really appreciate hearing this and I hope to bring a lot of myself into these videos!
And I definitely agree with this point about nostalgia vs. interpreting it as a trans film. I do hope you are right that more trans stories help people engage with these themes more, because it is important, whether it affects their own personhood or those in their everyday lives.
Fantastic to hear your more in depth thoughts and it fit really well on a different platform, the structure is great and you can tell the passion behind it.
Thank you, it really means a lot to hear, I was really hoping my passion was clear!
Just rewatched this movie on Friday which was the perfect excuse to finally watch this video!! Love the discussion of how being trans and nostalgia interacts because it’s truly so hard to articulate to cis people how childhood media ended up becoming an integral part of my gender experience and just how I view myself. Looking forward to more content here!!
Very thorough. Shocked folks would miss it. I think they view everything through Stranger Things nostalgia lenses?
Thank you, and I feel the same, they must do that and I think that makes me sad
I’m excited to see what your long form content will look like! I’ve been meaning to see I Saw the TV Glow and now I need to!
Thank you, and please do, it is a special film!
haven't seen this film but i thought i'd watch the video anyways. i'm not queer or trans but the way you described it i might give it a watch if it comes to streaming great video.
Definitely check it out, it's coming to Max I believe very soon!
this showed up in my recommended; i hadn't even heard of this film before! thank you for the film rec and i'm looking forward to seeing your future videos!
Of course, and thanks for checking this out!!
First video and its a banger! I'm always holding out to see what you're saying on Tiktok, so seeing long form content like this is a blessing. Looking forward to seeing more on this channel. Watch this space.
That means so much to hear, thank you!!!
*well* now I guess I’ve gotta see ‘I Saw The TV Glow’ asap now.
I’ve been burnt with a lot of “Alternative” films this year so I’m a bit worried I might not vibe with it
I would still give it a shot, it is very unique
It is good but I wouldn't go in with too high expectations, I'm trans and I decided to go watch it because on Tiktok it was being hyped as this masterpiece that encapsulated the trans experience perfectly, it was good but I definitely went in expecting something more grandiose.
The second watch was more enjoyable because I chose to rewatch it just for myself and truly see what it was about without expecting some big twist
I'm very excited to write my own trans story in the future like this :)))) great video btw
Thank you so much!! And I hope you are able to soon!
Really happy you are doing longer form content and I can’t wait to see more, keep it up!
Thank you so much!!
Great first video! Looking forward to more! I really hope you’ll do alot more queer movies!
I saw the tv glow strongly resonated with me and has really pushed me with my own gender expression. Films like these AND CREATORS LIKE U!!! Are so so important. Thank u james!!!!
Thank you so much!!! And I am glad you have been pushed with your own gender expression! And there definitely will be more videos about queer movies or my queer readings of movies, sadly not for the rest of the year as I have some really specific plans on what to cover, but I do have plans for it!
I absolutely love film analyses like this. You pay attention to a lot of the same things I do! Loved this video so much, and can't wait to see more
Thank you so much, there will definitely be more videos like this!
Really enjoyed this! I think a lot of other people gave good feedback more eloquently and articulately than I could, but I wanted to mention that I liked how playful you got with the editing in this. It adds that extra little bit of pep without being overbearing.
Thank you, I definitely want to play with the editing more and keep finding my voice and style in the edit. I definitely am not a fan of the super punchy editing I see here a lot, but I do want it to stay creative
this was a great video james, you have a great eye for the trans references as there’s many i didn’t quite spot myself. as for feedback on the video itself, the only real criticism i have is the movement for some of the image inserts was a little distracting but besides that the editing was spot on :)
Thank you, and this is very fair! In the future, I will likely stick with still images and largely video to fill in shots, it is tricky navigating copyright on here haha
An excellent first video! Love the film and hearing such an interesting take on it was something I really needed. Can't wait for what's next!
Thank you so much for saying this! And the next video is coming very soon!
ngl I haven't seen the movie yet, I couldn't get to a screening near me and I don't think I've seen it on streaming anywhere yet, but literally the moment I saw the trailers I knew there had to some sort of queer subtext, so when people started reviewing it saying the message of the film was basically "nostalgia bad" I had a feeling it wasn't that shallow
I've seen it now. It killed me.
I feel this so much. I have rewatched it multiple times and it cuts deeper each time, it has blown me away so many people looked at the film through solely nostalgia
Fantastic start to a channel that i can’t wait to see more of!
Thank you, I hope you all enjoy what comes next!
as a trans person who was also born in 2006, it's funny to me that my personal pink opaque was ABSOLUTELY stranger things- a show that gained popularity for being shameless nostalgia bait for an era twenty years before i was born. nonetheless watching the first season shortly after it came out set me on the path to being who i am now, both as a film + tv major who's hoping to build a career making shows like the ones that have been core to my life, and as a transgender man who was very confused as a 12 year old as to why i felt like i really really wanted to be mike wheeler (before his character got ruined ofc).
Great vid James! I’m very excited to see a long-form version of your content. I hope one day you can cover ‘we’re all going to the worlds fair’ by Jane Schoenbrun. I love both of their movies but I think I prefer the latter. Anyway, fantastic video!
Thank you so much! And it's definitely a movie I want to cover in the future!
Your perspective on this film is fascinating to listen to. Great work!
Thank you so much!
So happy to see you're on UA-cam now!!
Wow thank you stranger!
Great first video! Can’t wait to see what comes next. Would love to hear more about the films and TV that shaped your taste today in future videos!
Thank you, and that definitely could be something I speak about in the future!
Yay! Glad to see you here!
Thank you, me too!
I really enjoy your TikTok videos, I Saw The TV Glow is one of my favorite films of the year. I just want to see what Jane Schoenbrun does next
Yes I can't wait either! I heard they are working on a slasher next, which I am excited for!
excited to see you make the switch to youtube! we get the same content in a longer, more complete form and i’m waiting for the next video!
I am excited too, I hope you enjoy the next one too!!
One of my favs of the year, loved hearing your take on it!
I appreciate hearing that!
Good luck on your UA-cam journey man. How been a fan of your TT for a while now so how to have successes here as well.
Thank you!!! I hope there is success here too!
looking forward to seeing what you do with this channel! love hearing your thoughts of film!!! :)
Thank you, hope you enjoy what is next!
really loved the lighting in your video!! You’ve got amazing potential
If I could leave a little bit of feedback, I’d say you should try and make the lighting a bit more vibrant, a bit more noticeable
Thank you for saying this! I definitely am shifting some elements of the lightning in the next video, but due to limited space and resources, that will be a slower evolution I will play with and see what works. I do want to elevate it more with the next video though!
This was an awesome video. I am so glad I found your account on tiktok late last year. I really liked how you started the video with a point and brought it back full circle. I think my only criticism is maybe have more of an intro to ease into the video. So excited for the future!
Thank you so much, and I agree, I wish I introed the movie more and it felt more obvious in the edit!
i was so surprised when i went to leave a like and saw this has less than 2000 views. this is insanely good for being the only vid on ur channel, excellent work ! more pls !!
Thank you so much, that means a lot! I am trying to have a video up here every two weeks or so and I think the next one will be even better!
@@moviegoodormoviebad yes ofc :-) looking forward to it
James! What a dope first video. I'm really looking forward to more of them
Thank you so much!
There's still time pals! Potential hype!!!
Yes there is still time!!!!!
So happy to see you make the leap to Long-form content! I've loved your TikTok's so the opportunity to see you dive even deeper is great.
I Saw The TV Glow is by far my favourite film of the year so far.
I will say I did struggle to find the channel when just using the UA-cam search feature, had to look for a direct link on TT, maybe just as the channel grows you'll be top of the search, but also if you're not already, it could also be worth setting some tags as upload defaults for common misspellings of your username ppl could make e.g. getting the good and bad mixed in your username
Thank you!! And this is good to know about the tags, there have been lots of issues having the channel pop up with the search feature that seem to be UA-cam-related from what I understand, but knowing about the tags is helpful! Tags are very different here than on TikTok lol
Loved the video James! Great film, great analysis. Excited to see what you do next 🙌
I really appreciate hearing this, thank you so much!!
really need to sort me and my friends schedule out so we can finally get to this film
Definitely make time to watch it, it is a life changing movie!
i loved the video james, i love how in detail you went about the film and how passionate you are about this film honestly one of the best videos i’ve seen about the movie i’ve learnt so much more about this film bc of this video so thank you a lot
Thank you, that really means a lot to hear, especially with the number of videos are out about the film!
Love this !! Excited to hear more from you on this platform
Thank you so much!! Already working on my next 4 videos right now haha
I love this video so much, it’s even more impressive that it’s your first long form video. I was completely gripped the entire time despite not yet seeing the movie. I can’t wait for more!!
Thank you, that really means a lot to hear, especially when I have a lot of issues with this video that I hope to tighten with the next one haha
Welcome to YT, glad to see you here! I follow you on Tik tok and I am looking forward to seeing more vids from on this platform!
Ahh thank you, I really appreciate it!!
Great video! I can’t wait to see more because I don’t see many people discussing films and themes like you are both on tik tok and youtube. Keep going🙌
I really appreciate hearing this!
Power Rangers, dbz, yuyu Hakusho all huge shows for me growing up
Thanks for all you do! 🎉❤
Thank you so much!!!
A really great first video, I can’t wait for more of these deep dives and longer form content from you!
Thank you so much, I am already working on the next few videos and one will be out in less than two weeks!
Being raised as a girl and having mostly friends who were girls, I didn't hear PPG and Totally Spies get made fun of a lot. I loved them so much!
Ahh I am glad you were given that freedom! They were amazing shows! I was glad to still watch them, just sad it was so private
yayyyy i’ve been waiting for your first upload! this is such perfect timing as i finally got to watch the film today. it’s been a good few hours and i cannot stop thinking about it. i saw your review for it and i thought it was just beautiful :)
Absolutely love this film definitely my favourite of the year thus far!
It is my favorite too!
Loved the lighting and subject matter!
Thank you so much!
Really great video. I have to confess that i haven't watched the movie yet wich i guess is kinda weird but the video was still really entertaining. It did surprise me thay you jumed directly into it without like a 1 minute summary plot but I guess the target of this video is people that have already watched the movie. thats the only main thing i have to say. Congratulations and I hope to see many more videos of yours.
Thank you! And this is definitely fair, I made the bold assumption people would only see the video if they had seen the movies, and a few comments proved that wrong! I am grateful for that, and in the future, there will be a plot summary of any movie I mention, thank you for naming that!
i’m sad that i didn’t get to watch many american tv shows besides what was on nickelodeon / disney channel because some uk shows were good but didn’t grasp me as much. the show that i think has affected me the most though is death note. i was very late to watching it but i found it so interesting and i loved the animation
1:42 **Insert Seinfeld Theme**
Beautiful video! Been waiting all week!
Thank you, it really means a lot to hear that!!!
Great content as always
Thank you so much!!
I think it’s an incredibly difficult thing, witnessing people misread a movie that you love and take a lot from. Is it a fault of the movie? Could it be more explicit? Or is it something else. I know the term ‘media literacy’ is thrown around a a bit at the moment, in discussions about how it’s lacking. I’m not sure I agree every time I’ve seen the term used to argue against someone’s take but it does seem that people aren’t very adept at seeing things beyond their face value, or maybe not wanting to look for a deeper meaning in something.
Mmm I agree with this so much, especially about the term media literacy being thrown around so much. There is also certainly an oversaturation of people wanting to assess media at face value, which can always lead to disappointment
Good insights about this great film!
I can see that the trans/queer theme might be outside of many peoples experience, even indirectly, but how the heck don’t they see it as dealing with some other form of alienation?
About the colours in the film, it did also occur to me that pink/purple/blue are the bi colours, and perhaps more likely, that purple might represent the integration or harmony of male and female aspects. Which seems even more pertinent now that I know the director is none-binary.
Anyway, I enjoyed your video. (p.s. Did you gave a spoilers warning at the beginning? If not it might bean idea next time.)
This was a great first video! It came off quite professional, as if you've been doing UA-cam for a while now. I can't really give any criticism. Maybe I would've like more attention placed on Owen's parents, especially his mother. Her role in the film feels vague and obscured. I could never pinpoint what she represents. Is she a beacon of safety for Owen, or is she, also, a part of the problem like his father? Owen's father is a boogeyman, but could he, too, been a victim of the patriarchy. He's the only other character besides Owen and Maddie to watch so much tv. Owen's mother doesn't want him to watch tv past his bedtime. Why?
If I could do anything, I would like to recommend the UA-cam channel Style is Substance. She's a severely underrated video essayist. She's the reason I watched and even knew about Funeral Parade of Roses. She has amazing film taste and analysis. Maybe you can take inspiration from her videos.
I will check out her channel, thank you! And thank you for enjoying it, and it was hard to make space to talk about the mom in the context of this video, but she is someone I wished more people gave attention to. To me, she is the supportive parent and someone who provides safety for Owen and likely, the person he wants to be in many ways. I'm not sure what to read into her not letting him watch television past a bedtime, but I assumed it was a value being pushed primarily by the father even if mom was saying it
WELCOME TO UA-cam!
Thank you so much!!!!
Amazing Video, love this movie❤
Thank you so much!!!
Banger of a first video
Thank you!!
Nice video!
Thank you!
great first video!!
Thank you!!
So here we are, second comment eager to watch the video lets go!!!!
Thank you so much for supporting, hope you enjoy the video!
I really had no idea it was anything to do with transness because the thing it's being compared to is so out there. Being transported into your own buffyverse? That sounds amazing and different enough that it involving also being the opposite gender seems minor. Ditto with your video using the Sailor Moon transformation sequence. It's conflating the _subjective_ feeling of transition with _objective_ properties and it really makes it unclear and mismatched.
Owen was Maddie. He would not let her be free. He kept her buried inside himself and at the end he totally killed her off. That is why he never seen her again.
I do love this reading and had heard of it before!
it's painful to watch interviewers not understand what the movie is about
❤
hennessey and movie good or movie bad
Sounds like a great time haha hope you enjoyed it!
Does it count if I was presubscribed 😂
It does still count haha