I clicked on this because I am obsessed with why the world even outside Lumen is so consistently underpopulated. It seems like they ran out of money for extras, but I am sure it’s deliberate. It gives the “outie” world almost as much of a dream-like quality as the severed floor. It never quite seems real. I hope the answer is not that it’s a simulation.
Isn’t this the MOST DESOLATE, dry, cold, lonely, sad, sad, sad town set ever filmed? God. Ugh, I don’t why this is so triggering, but it always gives me the shivers.
@ yes exactly. Even in the daytime its bleak. If the secret was they are living in literal Hell I would not be surprised. But I am sure its not that trite. But it seems post-plague where most of the population was killed. But no such catastrophe is mentioned. Like why is the college abandoned?
That is such a great observation, I didn’t even think of how desolate the outside world really feels, but that same dream like state is definitely portrayed in its own way. It’s really impressive they were able to keep the same theme of “dreaminess” while making two different worlds
I recently got into this show after hearing about it a year ago from my brother. It was really seeing the set design and frame composition that made me want to watch it finally. I'm autistic and regularly smoke cannabis so I know the feeling of dissociation well. It REALLY captures it, but at its core I think Severance is about compartmentalization. Also great video! Glad the algo threw it at me while I was binging Severance stuff!
Thanks so much for your comment! That’s a great perspective, there is so much dissociation in it and the way they portray it is so unique. I could totally buy into the idea that Severance is about compartmentalization
I relate to this as well; I haven’t been able to work or be normal for years. Existential depression is real. And it only gets worse the more you research it.
@@n2da9I found myself thinking that's how they hook people and make it impossible to escape. You can't work because of a condition yet must capitalism to have housing and eat. For some groups of folks with no protections, severing ends up being more viable than workplace accomodations. 💀
Good observation of the use of extreme spacial sizes. Also, once they leave the narrow corridor they enter into a unnecessarily large room with only 1 cluster of desks, so it's balanced.
Loved this, Can you also do a video of the why the spaces outside of Lumon also feel eerie? Like Pip’s, the apartments, the dinnerless dinner and some of the above ground spaces in Lumon shown in season 2? Also, many of the scenes have very few people in them and that feels weird too.
There's a similar uncanny valley environment in the video game "Control." I think of Lumon's HQ as a real-life stand in for The Oldest House operated by the fictitious paranormal government agency Federal Bureau of Control. All the objects feel out of place when the protagonist Jesse Faden goes through the building. She comes from a modern world to an office setting stuck in time. Extremely jarring and definitely worth a play-through (or watching one) if you're into video games and love Severance.
I hadn’t heard of ‘Control’ but when I looked up The Oldest House I can see the uncanny resemblance! That sounds like a really interesting game, I’ll have to give it a look
I really liked this. I would be interested to see you go deeper - especially with series 2 opening up on some of the things you've said and some of the clues to society as a whole in this universe.
The different time settings could also be so that the senior previous CEOs aren't aware to how much time has passed if their memories are placed into others and could explain the old term moppet spoken to helena/helly.
OMG because of the way the desks are situated everyone is looking at only one half of each persons head/face just like being an innie/outtie only get to see half of eachother.
Ohh thanks for the video - I've been on a severance binge. I'm a therapist and as well (and social worker) and I'm intrigued about how humans can derive meaning from architecture or anything really. There's hostile architecture which are anti homelessness mechanisms to deter unhoused folks from sleeping in certain spaces. The confinement and bleak atmosphere of jail cells (like the break room) signal that one should have an air of contrition. If we look at the arrangement of higher income areas compared to lower income areas we can see which one plainly has more resources and the intentionality that developers had. This juxtaposition can be found in the liberties and freedoms that Milchick and Cobel have in their personal lives and also their office arrangements. Cobel's office exudes more personality with the painting, plants and arrangements. Not to mention she has autonomy to prob keep or remove pics unlike MDR with their group pictures. The MDR employees have their cubicles closely confined next to each other (intentional as it can be used to surveil each other). The concept of the panopticon is evident when we see folks like Irv or how Helly is treated in the beginning. There is fear and derision when folks stray from the tenants of Kier. Irv internalizes Kier ideologies and ensures others don't deviate from this. Mark asks Dylan to be careful when he disparages Lumon in the beginning "typical Lumon BS." Speaking more on the self surveillance and the surveillance of others - the winding hallways purposefully obfuscate departments from each other. If you went to look for other departments but they're scattered from yours, I'm sure it'll invoke a sense of panic. When we see Mark first walk down the hallways there aren't any office entrances, windows, etc so if a search was conducted it'd prob be in vain. You'd be breaking the rules and unsure of what might be around the corner. The paintings of Kier ensure a consistent messaging around how employees are supposed to feel and their tactfully placed in areas where one will only have that to stare at. The rooms like the MDR and waiting room for wellness sessions are purposefully bare to direct your attention to the paintings when you're in the severed floor. Even when people have field trips to escape the office monotony - it's Kier propaganda in the perpetuity room or his house. Architecture can impose meaning when used intently. I could go on about how under capitalism, corporations are their own government and religion but that's for another video.
Omg, watch Silo! It will be right up your alley! 10000 ppl living in an underground silo, nobody remembers since when and why. There's a tonne to analyse
sorrel is brave for destigmatizing public bathing. i loved your analysis and i hope you do more of them. obviously severance is a popular choice, but i would love to hear your thoughts on whatever media you’re passionate about.
I just found your video & I think you are right about the way some scenes focus on the division of the innie's/outie's existence. If you pay attention to the different levels of the building, first Mark walks downstairs to his locker & a security person. After he exchanges some items in the locker, he gets on the elevator which also goes downstairs. When I saw that, I thought...he's already on the basement level, what's below the basement? The only answer that occurred to me was hell, maybe. I'm not especially religious but what else could be below the basement level. Today I saw another video that suggested, they could be identifying the 7 layers of hell from Dante's Inferno. It's an interesting possibility.
Great stuff Erin and here some food for thought: I happen to feel a little "at home" in this uncanny valley with the FUTURA font used throghout Lumon, just like that of HAL 9000 on Stanley Kubrick's 2001 a Space Oddysey... Also the use of RED and BLUE colors much like in Wachowskis' The Matrix. Kier Eagan appears to translate to something like "Wild eyed, vat of bleecher" so yeah, there goes the whitening... Of the memory, too. Best to you and I hope your loved ones are well.
Those are some interesting connections! Fun fact: the art designer actually designed the Severance font to be really close to Helvetica but not quite fully Helvetica. The intent was again to point to uncanny valley where things are so close but not quite there!
A quick scan of the comments reveals that I will be the first to mention Silo, which is also on Apple TV and just finished its second season. Like and subbed btw :)
Do you think that severance is an analogy for the situation we find ourselves in here in this reality? Like how we are mind wiped and thrown back in to a new body to suffer again and again in these lives. A popular term is soul trap reincarnation cycle. Whata are your thoughts? Thanks
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment! I have heard of soul trap reincarnation but wasn’t super familiar with the idea, so I had to do a little research. While I see how you could interpret it that way, I probably would argue that Severance is more about the danger of not engaging in your life and your suffering. It can be inferred that Mark did the operation because of significant suffering in his day to day life. He gets some reprieve of his suffering when he goes to work but he’s still stuck dealing with it on the outside. I think it’s a larger message of there is no true way to escape your suffering and the only way to end it, is to work through it. Had Mark engaged it more, he wouldn’t be in this position working for a company that I believe ultimately has dark and dangerous motives. But that’s just my take!!
Ooo I think that could totally be intentional. There’s a twenty one pilots song about losing his grandpa and there’s a lyric “I look forward to having A lunch with you again” and when he sings ‘having’ it sounds like heaven which I think was an intentional point to believing he will see his grandpa in heaven again
This show is a master of manipulation. It covers religion, cults, corporate, and media life. Real who has not experienced this in their life. Just brilliantly tackled my this show.
When I first tried to watch the show I didnt like it at first, and felt this continuous buzzing anxiety watching it and couldnt understand why the astetics of the show bothered me. So stop watching. One day I stumbled on this UA-cam video about Liminal Spaces and how some people have this Anxiety when they see, or are in Liminal spaces where they feel a little claustrophobic. Thats when I realized thats where my anxiety was coming from.😂 It was a claustrophobic feeling for me. So I started watching again and learned to actually like that uncomfortable feeling, it makes the show even more daunting to me and Im glad I continued its a brillaint show.
That’s also why I love watching scary movies, I love that on edge/anxious feeling. It’s like a controlled anxiety almost? Like I know it will end with the end of the movie!
Thanks, Erin, I enjoyed your video! I suggest editing out filler words, 'ahh's and 'umm's to increase the signal to noise ratio of your content. It may just be the thing to draw a bigger audience and satisfy the algorithm to expand the reach of the interesting analysis you provide. Thanks again!
Thank you, @@ErinHallO! I also need to be corrected - you DON'T use any filler words, no 'ahh's nor 'umm's. Way to go for that! You only pause occasionally, so the correct constructive feedback would be to focus on pace and flow - delivering your ideas like a well-written essay rather than a free-flowing conversation.
half of what you say is brilliant and insightful - and the other half is nonsense and I only know from having done it with my own work. work that had no deeper meaning ascribed to it upon creation other than the original request to create whatever it was. but then in a later analysis I created some gibberish that made meaning where there was none intentionally at first. idk if that was just good gut level design happening all along and maybe that's also what we're seeing here
I see what you’re saying, we ascribe meaning to art that may not be the original intention of the creators. But that’s been true of art for centuries, books and actual art pieces and movies, etc. If it’s art, it’s going to be subjected to interpretation unless the artist/creator comes forward directly about their art.
Hi there! While I could have gone more fully into disclosing my credentials, I have it more fully explained in my description on my channel. For the record, I am fully licensed by my state and have completed a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Hope this helps!
I clicked on this because I am obsessed with why the world even outside Lumen is so consistently underpopulated. It seems like they ran out of money for extras, but I am sure it’s deliberate. It gives the “outie” world almost as much of a dream-like quality as the severed floor. It never quite seems real. I hope the answer is not that it’s a simulation.
there is no "Outside" -the "Outie" and "Innie" are just two sides of the same coin.
Isn’t this the MOST DESOLATE, dry, cold, lonely, sad, sad, sad town set ever filmed? God. Ugh, I don’t why this is so triggering, but it always gives me the shivers.
@ yes exactly. Even in the daytime its bleak. If the secret was they are living in literal Hell I would not be surprised. But I am sure its not that trite. But it seems post-plague where most of the population was killed. But no such catastrophe is mentioned. Like why is the college abandoned?
@@Hykje Feels weird to say this so definitively when this question of what makes you yourself is one of the core questions at the center of the show
That is such a great observation, I didn’t even think of how desolate the outside world really feels, but that same dream like state is definitely portrayed in its own way. It’s really impressive they were able to keep the same theme of “dreaminess” while making two different worlds
I recently got into this show after hearing about it a year ago from my brother. It was really seeing the set design and frame composition that made me want to watch it finally. I'm autistic and regularly smoke cannabis so I know the feeling of dissociation well. It REALLY captures it, but at its core I think Severance is about compartmentalization. Also great video! Glad the algo threw it at me while I was binging Severance stuff!
Thanks so much for your comment!
That’s a great perspective, there is so much dissociation in it and the way they portray it is so unique.
I could totally buy into the idea that Severance is about compartmentalization
I relate to this as well; I haven’t been able to work or be normal for years. Existential depression is real. And it only gets worse the more you research it.
@@n2da9I found myself thinking that's how they hook people and make it impossible to escape. You can't work because of a condition yet must capitalism to have housing and eat. For some groups of folks with no protections, severing ends up being more viable than workplace accomodations. 💀
Good observation of the use of extreme spacial sizes. Also, once they leave the narrow corridor they enter into a unnecessarily large room with only 1 cluster of desks, so it's balanced.
Great take, I missed that! They really hit balance well throughout the season!
Loved this, Can you also do a video of the why the spaces outside of Lumon also feel eerie? Like Pip’s, the apartments, the dinnerless dinner and some of the above ground spaces in Lumon shown in season 2? Also, many of the scenes have very few people in them and that feels weird too.
Severance Filmed during covid lockdown 2020
That may have been incidental as season 1 production took place during COVID lockdowns iirc. 🤔
Great idea!! I’ll have to wait until all of season 2 is out but I’m so psyched about this
What a great thesis, highlighting so many things I've overlooked but are almost obvious with your insight.
Thank you for your kind comment! I really appreciate it!
Love this show! You’re right. You can’t overstate how carefully designed everything is. There’s always more to discuss. Thanks!
Thank you for your kind comment! I appreciate all the support :)
There's a similar uncanny valley environment in the video game "Control." I think of Lumon's HQ as a real-life stand in for The Oldest House operated by the fictitious paranormal government agency Federal Bureau of Control.
All the objects feel out of place when the protagonist Jesse Faden goes through the building. She comes from a modern world to an office setting stuck in time. Extremely jarring and definitely worth a play-through (or watching one) if you're into video games and love Severance.
I hadn’t heard of ‘Control’ but when I looked up The Oldest House I can see the uncanny resemblance!
That sounds like a really interesting game, I’ll have to give it a look
Excellent analysis, one of the best I've seen. I clicked the subscribe button so fast!
Wow thank you for your kind comment! Your support means so much!
I really liked this. I would be interested to see you go deeper - especially with series 2 opening up on some of the things you've said and some of the clues to society as a whole in this universe.
Thank you so much! I’d love to do another on season 2 once it’s all released!
The different time settings could also be so that the senior previous CEOs aren't aware to how much time has passed if their memories are placed into others and could explain the old term moppet spoken to helena/helly.
That’s a great connection! I hadn’t even thought of that. Season 2 is going to be so telling!
OMG because of the way the desks are situated everyone is looking at only one half of each persons head/face just like being an innie/outtie only get to see half of eachother.
Wow love that take! I think that’s super observant
Ohh thanks for the video - I've been on a severance binge. I'm a therapist and as well (and social worker) and I'm intrigued about how humans can derive meaning from architecture or anything really.
There's hostile architecture which are anti homelessness mechanisms to deter unhoused folks from sleeping in certain spaces. The confinement and bleak atmosphere of jail cells (like the break room) signal that one should have an air of contrition.
If we look at the arrangement of higher income areas compared to lower income areas we can see which one plainly has more resources and the intentionality that developers had. This juxtaposition can be found in the liberties and freedoms that Milchick and Cobel have in their personal lives and also their office arrangements. Cobel's office exudes more personality with the painting, plants and arrangements. Not to mention she has autonomy to prob keep or remove pics unlike MDR with their group pictures.
The MDR employees have their cubicles closely confined next to each other (intentional as it can be used to surveil each other). The concept of the panopticon is evident when we see folks like Irv or how Helly is treated in the beginning. There is fear and derision when folks stray from the tenants of Kier. Irv internalizes Kier ideologies and ensures others don't deviate from this. Mark asks Dylan to be careful when he disparages Lumon in the beginning "typical Lumon BS."
Speaking more on the self surveillance and the surveillance of others - the winding hallways purposefully obfuscate departments from each other. If you went to look for other departments but they're scattered from yours, I'm sure it'll invoke a sense of panic. When we see Mark first walk down the hallways there aren't any office entrances, windows, etc so if a search was conducted it'd prob be in vain. You'd be breaking the rules and unsure of what might be around the corner. The paintings of Kier ensure a consistent messaging around how employees are supposed to feel and their tactfully placed in areas where one will only have that to stare at. The rooms like the MDR and waiting room for wellness sessions are purposefully bare to direct your attention to the paintings when you're in the severed floor. Even when people have field trips to escape the office monotony - it's Kier propaganda in the perpetuity room or his house. Architecture can impose meaning when used intently.
I could go on about how under capitalism, corporations are their own government and religion but that's for another video.
Wow I really appreciate your insightful comment. Sounds like maybe you should do a video yourself!!
OK SAME!! Obsessed with this show and love your take on everything. You have a great eye and mind
Wow what an uplifting comment, thank you so much!!
Dope video, cool cats, and a fire throwback sweater 😂
Thank you!!! I’m obsessed with this sweater and I hoped someone would notice
Omg, watch Silo! It will be right up your alley! 10000 ppl living in an underground silo, nobody remembers since when and why. There's a tonne to analyse
Ironically my husband started watching it recently so I guess I better hop on board!! Thanks for the suggestion, it’s a great idea!
sorrel is brave for destigmatizing public bathing.
i loved your analysis and i hope you do more of them. obviously severance is a popular choice, but i would love to hear your thoughts on whatever media you’re passionate about.
Hahaha I can be assured you truly watch my video 😂 sorrel thanks you for taking a stand
But thank you so much! I really appreciate the support
I just found your video & I think you are right about the way some scenes focus on the division of the innie's/outie's existence. If you pay attention to the different levels of the building, first Mark walks downstairs to his locker & a security person. After he exchanges some items in the locker, he gets on the elevator which also goes downstairs. When I saw that, I thought...he's already on the basement level, what's below the basement? The only answer that occurred to me was hell, maybe. I'm not especially religious but what else could be below the basement level. Today I saw another video that suggested, they could be identifying the 7 layers of hell from Dante's Inferno. It's an interesting possibility.
Great stuff Erin and here some food for thought: I happen to feel a little "at home" in this uncanny valley with the FUTURA font used throghout Lumon, just like that of HAL 9000 on Stanley Kubrick's 2001 a Space Oddysey... Also the use of RED and BLUE colors much like in Wachowskis' The Matrix. Kier Eagan appears to translate to something like "Wild eyed, vat of bleecher" so yeah, there goes the whitening... Of the memory, too. Best to you and I hope your loved ones are well.
Those are some interesting connections!
Fun fact: the art designer actually designed the Severance font to be really close to Helvetica but not quite fully Helvetica. The intent was again to point to uncanny valley where things are so close but not quite there!
Thank you, you are so good and smart. Your insights will help me enjoy and understand this phenomenal show even more. I love your windmill analogy.
Thank you for your comment!!
Note the Lumon computers have no "Escape" escape button!
OMG I missed that!! Very keen eye you have
Absolutely adore the windmill theory!!!
Thank you so much!! I appreciate your comment :)
Great content Erin
Thank you so much for your support!
A quick scan of the comments reveals that I will be the first to mention Silo, which is also on Apple TV and just finished its second season. Like and subbed btw :)
Silo is now on my potential videos list! It seems to have similar themes and set ups!
Do you think that severance is an analogy for the situation we find ourselves in here in this reality? Like how we are mind wiped and thrown back in to a new body to suffer again and again in these lives. A popular term is soul trap reincarnation cycle. Whata are your thoughts? Thanks
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment! I have heard of soul trap reincarnation but wasn’t super familiar with the idea, so I had to do a little research. While I see how you could interpret it that way, I probably would argue that Severance is more about the danger of not engaging in your life and your suffering. It can be inferred that Mark did the operation because of significant suffering in his day to day life. He gets some reprieve of his suffering when he goes to work but he’s still stuck dealing with it on the outside. I think it’s a larger message of there is no true way to escape your suffering and the only way to end it, is to work through it. Had Mark engaged it more, he wouldn’t be in this position working for a company that I believe ultimately has dark and dangerous motives.
But that’s just my take!!
@ErinHallO Awesome, thanks for your reply!
The giant head carved into the wall can be categorized as a “frieze” sculpture - en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frieze
You learn something new everyday! Thanks for this!!
I'd love a breakdown of episode by episode of Severance
Oo that’s a neat idea! I’ll think about that more!
Say his name!
Kier! ❤️ ☮️
Actually though; great video, glad to see other people appreciate the setting of the world. subscribed!
Thank you so much!!
Also I totally could have said his name more lol
I get a tight chest when I see this show. Workplace PTSD is a thing.
So true, it definitely hits home for those who have been in toxic work environments.
The show i think also makes a nod to the kind of visuals in the movie Brazil
I haven’t seen it but I’ve now added it to my list. Thanks for the rec!
When you go outside it is always snow, as white as walls of lumon
That’s such a cool connection I didn’t catch!
Wow, I love all the snow. Where do you live? Canada?
Actually I’m located in the USA!
@ErinHallO I know you don't like snow, but what a beautiful view!
This might be a stretch but has anyone mentioned how the name Kier sounds similar to ‘cure’ ? Enjoyed your video 😊
Ooo I think that could totally be intentional. There’s a twenty one pilots song about losing his grandpa and there’s a lyric “I look forward to having
A lunch with you again” and when he sings ‘having’ it sounds like heaven which I think was an intentional point to believing he will see his grandpa in heaven again
Hmmm very cool, I’ll have to check that out!
Vintage Broncos sweater. Nice
People be sleeping on Facebook Market place.
But thank you!!
Shout to the cat and yes the snow is the worst 😂
Sorrel shouts (meows) back!
And glad to see I’m not alone in that
This show is a master of manipulation. It covers religion, cults, corporate, and media life. Real who has not experienced this in their life. Just brilliantly tackled my this show.
Completely agree! It’s amazing how many topics they hit while still having a centralized idea
When I first tried to watch the show I didnt like it at first, and felt this continuous buzzing anxiety watching it and couldnt understand why the astetics of the show bothered me. So stop watching. One day I stumbled on this UA-cam video about Liminal Spaces and how some people have this Anxiety when they see, or are in Liminal spaces where they feel a little claustrophobic. Thats when I realized thats where my anxiety was coming from.😂 It was a claustrophobic feeling for me. So I started watching again and learned to actually like that uncomfortable feeling, it makes the show even more daunting to me and Im glad I continued its a brillaint show.
That’s also why I love watching scary movies, I love that on edge/anxious feeling. It’s like a controlled anxiety almost? Like I know it will end with the end of the movie!
@ErinHallO Facts!
@ErinHallO Eventually I realized that was the point it was by design🤣
FETID MOPPET
Hahaha strong way to show you watch the show 😂
any and all actions by your cat will always be appropriate.
Fellow cat lovers unite!!
watch silo next and do a similar video! good series
Lots of people have been mentioning this, I think it will have to be one of my next videos!
The cat clean is permitted regardless of where and when lol. It's serious feline duty.
🫡
the office setting is depressing lol😂
Omg it’s so depressing!!
Thanks, Erin, I enjoyed your video! I suggest editing out filler words, 'ahh's and 'umm's to increase the signal to noise ratio of your content. It may just be the thing to draw a bigger audience and satisfy the algorithm to expand the reach of the interesting analysis you provide. Thanks again!
Thanks for your kind criticism, I appreciate you delivering it in a constructive way when the internet tends to be deconstructive!
Thank you, @@ErinHallO! I also need to be corrected - you DON'T use any filler words, no 'ahh's nor 'umm's. Way to go for that! You only pause occasionally, so the correct constructive feedback would be to focus on pace and flow - delivering your ideas like a well-written essay rather than a free-flowing conversation.
half of what you say is brilliant and insightful - and the other half is nonsense and I only know from having done it with my own work. work that had no deeper meaning ascribed to it upon creation other than the original request to create whatever it was. but then in a later analysis I created some gibberish that made meaning where there was none intentionally at first. idk if that was just good gut level design happening all along and maybe that's also what we're seeing here
I see what you’re saying, we ascribe meaning to art that may not be the original intention of the creators. But that’s been true of art for centuries, books and actual art pieces and movies, etc. If it’s art, it’s going to be subjected to interpretation unless the artist/creator comes forward directly about their art.
👍🏼
Three minuin, no discussion of stated topic, finally talking about tea and snow.
Bye
Cute tabby.
Thank you!!There are actually two but the other one was being more shy than normal!
Listen here all you haters and listen good: technically she is a therapist if she says so, since no qualifications are required whatsover! Be better.
Hi there!
While I could have gone more fully into disclosing my credentials, I have it more fully explained in my description on my channel. For the record, I am fully licensed by my state and have completed a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Hope this helps!
@@ErinHallO That's what I'm saying! You didn't have to do any of that, since your word is more than enough.