Hi Folks! The video is back up but still demonetized due to a copyright claim. Special shoutout to MUBI for sponsoring the video mubi.com/thomasflight and to my Patrons for their support: www.patreon.com/thomasflight // These folks make this channel possible!
I think you would really enjoy the series _From_ on MGM+ (formerly Epix). It's a horror drama and you might want to watch it sooner rather than later because mystery is a huge part of it.
We often overlook JUST how impactful Arrested Development was for creators and other performance artists… surely I’m not the only one seeing the influence here?!? Great content!!!❤
@@emerj101Arrested Development didn’t invent the “fake reality doc sitcom”. The Office 11:19 (UK) beat AD to that punch by two years. Ricky Gervais is a prick, but he and Stephen Merchant have to get the credit for inspiring a whole new wave of situation comedy.
the walk scene was amazing, it kinda felt like a Whitney POV of her thinking of herself as a disney princess in a poor neighborhood (talking to everyone, saying hi to animals, etc)
One of my favorite parts of the show is Dougie’s past with drunk driving. In any other show, with how frequently that theme comes up, you’d expect it to pay off with a horrible car crash, but it never does. It’s just a device to build tension and anxiety and give you an insight into Dougie as a character.
Great point, those driving scenes were so uncomfortable. It's the same thing with the bad interview and the casino video tape heist. As a viewer it feels inevitable that these plot points are going to blow up later into the show, but they never do.
idk. really its just the 1 episode where it is brought up and its mostly tense because he has been drinking in the scene and still claims he's good to drive. which he is, but the music cues imply otherwise. then it all works out. but the fact that it makes those 4 minutes feel like a much bigger part of the show and like the bad thing is gonna happen was well excecuted. i'll give ya that.
Love the car scene where Asher awkwardly raps when they are on the way back from the restaurant. The whole time you have this impending feeling of doom like something bad is about to happen. Dougie's arrogant behaviour, the drink driving, the secrecy, the feeling that he's trying to sabotage Asher in some way. But at the same time, despite the knowledge that both are using one another, you sense Dougie craves Asher's friendship for some sad reason. It all culminates, not with a car crash, but with Asher rapping freely as if we're to believe that Dougie thinks anything less of him than a complete dweed. It's a common device used in coming of age films to exude 'cool' and express freedom and possibility. It's used here in a much more sinister and awkward way, as the viewer you're meant to question the authenticity of it entirely.
@@nak3dxsnakethere were 2 different instances- one with his date and one with Asher where he hides how much he’s drinking- going to the waiter in secret to get them.
Best essay on the Curse ive seen. It is miles ahead of what other videos have done in a rush to say something immediately after the finale in order to get clicks. This is well thought out and constructed and analyzed.
I mean some people need a video essay to give meaning or validate a show. You can also watch the show yourself, sit with it and think about it and leave it at that. Bennie Safdie even said he doesn't want to explain too much because half the fun is discovering and thinking about it yourself. Though I liked a video essay which only delved into the visual aspect of the show.
I already was gonna watch the show cause of Nathan but this is literally the one video that convinced me to watch it. Now, months later, I've gone through the whole thing in 2 days and it's honestly the best show I've seen in the last 5 years on par with Severance, I'm not even being hyperbolic.
the moment in the scene where whitney is walking to the neighbor's house, and she says hi to the dog and tries to have a conversation with the dogs owner while he's very clearly on the phone, is one that has stood out to me throughout the entire show. I think it's such a perfect encapsulation of who whitney is - She's trying to be a part of this community, she sincerely wants to, but she just doesn't know how.
To me it felt that it wasn’t bc she didn’t know how. It felt like a lack of respect. Forcing something onto people without even noticing that maybe they’re not into it. She was so self-centred she didn’t actually care to get to know the people around her or how to cater to their actual needs, she was just serving her own needs. What she did w that man on the phone was just kinda rude lol
or maybe its bcoz everyone in the area knows who she is, who her parents are, slumlord parasites who have their claws into less fortunate people, thus they resent her and pay no attention to her.
@@marie-ye9em Exactly, she wants to be part of the neighborhood and does things -- content, you could say -- that she thinks are neighborly, without a care for how she is received. It's the same for her desire for a friendship with Cara the artist. She engages Cara with behavior that, for her part, is representative of a deep friendship, while Cara reflects none of that back to her. Or her helping Abshir. Whitney thinks that for her to gain status, whether that of a good neighbor, good friend, a philantropist, or morally virtuous person; she just needs to project that kind of behaviour out into the world, and that's it. The irony is that the one time when she does demand external validation from someone is when she asks Cara to validate her status as an artist at the art collectors mansion. Being an artist is the one thing she COULD validate for herself without the help of some external power. Being a good neighbor or a good friend isn't for you to decide, but whether you're an artist IS for you to decide. Whitney just doesn't understand what art is, she can't convince herself that she's an artist because she thinks artistry is a validated by external powers like the art community and perhaps more importantly, buyers and financiers.
All three main characters in the show are people who essentially have no "real life" and struggle to create a reality they want to believe will be better for them. Whitney is trying to recreate herself to be TV friendly by erasing her past, Asher is so terrified of being abandoned he will become whatever Whitney and the show's producers want, and Dougie is so desperate to escape the responsibility for his wife's death that he roleplays the fantasy that he's in control of his drinking as he buries himself in his job. What's brilliant about this show is that how it's shot perfectly reflects this sense that the barrier between "real life" and fiction has collapsed. So many of the shots appear to be "in universe" (for instance the shot within the car following Whitney), that you spend much of the show waiting for the reveal on who has been secretly filming the whole time. The voyeuristic nature of the cinematography creates a tension where you're never even sure of what's "real" in the context of the show. Is the shot I'm currently seeing going to cut and reveal that it's the camera crew shooting? Is this shot from the actual camera crew of The Curse and what I'm seeing is "actually" Whitney and Asher and not their "fake" show? But this reveal never comes. Just as the characters struggle and fail to create a meaningful reality, we as viewers can't rationalize a perfect continuity for everything that happens in the show. The curse of the show's title is the characters' unwillingness to humble themselves and accept the reality that they live in. When you can't accept the fact that there are certain things in your life that you can't change and you chase the fantasy that you can be "anything" you want, you become capable of limitless evil and delusion. In the end, the characters really do get what they want: Whitney is free of Asher and has a child to dominate, Asher disappears like he promised he would, and Dougie films an event that will go down in television history. Yet what we want is usually what will destroy us, and at the end of the series everyone is even more lost than ever before. The show is ultimately about how disastrous the erasure between real life and fantasy is, and the discomfort we feel as viewers is largely created by how the show never gives us an answer about what is "real" or "fake."
Thanks for that.. it’s what I have been struggling with. It seems to fly in the face of most storytelling devices I.e. Checkovs gun.. which is just so difficult to watch. When it ended I felt angry.. like I had just wasted 10 hours of my life because basically none of the other myriad of side stories was ever concluded.. I guess it’s like a wrestler playing the heel, they are doing a good job if you “hate” them. I’m just so conflicted.. I saw/felt all the beats that Thomas mentioned, but why do I still feel ripped off? Also having some context of house flipping shows helps. I didn’t have that until watching ☝️ this video. I didn’t realise that this isn’t that dramatized. Comparatively with Nathan for you, the reality TV moments don’t have the same tone and texture they are imitating. Feels like they should have used a different camera or frame rate or something.. to me it landed more like an extension to the “normal” show.. I guess something is good when it makes you think and feel this hard, leaving you reeling, but I also can’t help feeling like they took it so far away from conventional storytelling, that it left a feeling of hollowness. Incompleteness. Mmmmm 🤔
ever considered writing essay works or other media analyses? lol sorry im a writer and always notice i find the stuff i wanna read in the places i dont have to pay to read them! lol. either way, thanks, for being a thoughtful commenter in places where people have every right to say thoughtless things !!
@@ihatemickiegee thanks, I appreciate the comment, man! I don't usually do much media criticism but I'll put some effort into it when I feel inspired. Any suggestions on good platforms to post written content?
I feel like the camera is the POV of the curse. Like, we're watching these people from the curse's perspective. It's lurking in every corner and generating that feeling of uneasiness the characters refer to.
that’s how i felt. i felt like, maybe the curse is real maybe it isn’t, but due to everything we were seeing, everything it was following, it felt like our existence as its audience was almost the curse’s door into each of their solitary universes. it could just as well be karma for how they are hurting others and signify instead how all of it is seen as The Curse thru Asher’s eyes, but since we’re never confirmed we’re left to look at all of it as a curse. their downfalls being the result of a curse, the show being a curse to them and a community, and the three of them being The Curse in several peoples lives. i love unexplained unconfirmed titles like that to films, novels, shows. the ability to analyze it immortalizes the piece lol
@@ihatemickiegee oh man, almost like an audience to any artistic expression is a curse? Like, if they were just in that community doing good things for the sake of being good it would be fine, but the fact that it's made for an audience "curses" it. That's a pretty deep meaning, I hadn't thought of that.
I feel like the curse is our inability to be fully understand ourselves and others, because we see everything through a distorted lens (our own biases, the manipulation of truth on reality TV). But it can be interpreted so many ways. I think the curse for the audience could also be the burden of knowledge/education/experience. The tension in the show is horror-like and it had me at the edge of my seat as someone with views on everything being discussed. It's too real, and that's painful (or intensity) for the viewer.
He was on a talk show recently with Stone and it was so awkward. It was very strange to watch and uncomfortable. Surely to show the preposterousness of the late night talk show schtick, or to be anyone but who people expected to see in that interview.
@@julesjmaYeah I think that whole appearance on Kimmel was a bit and they were all in on the joke. I watched a Q&A with Nathan and Benny the other day and he seems like a pretty normal guy
I can’t think of anyone in Showbiz that are able to convey more uncomfortableness than the Safdies and nathan fielder. It’s like the avengers of anxiety. I think I need to build up courage to watch this show
It’s great, I get second hand embarrassment. And am usually exhausted after an episode but it’s so good that it’s worth it. I’m just watching the show slowly, it’s not going anywhere. Take your time and it’s worth it every step of the way.
In Nathan and Benny's convo with Chris Nolan, Nathan remarked that there are shows about literal murderers and heinous people who are revered (eg. Walter White), but people HATE asher, whitney and dougie with a palpable vitriol. And I really think it's because of this show's fantastic dedication to realism; is it so much that the characters are truly irredeemably despicable, or that they are so reminiscent of people who we know of and are annoyed by in real life, that we get a vicarious thrill from hating them? With shows like Breaking Bad, the "realism" is ultimately in service of escapism, building a mythology around Walt and his empire, while the realism in "The Curse" is about our own questioning of our values we perform in our day to day lives. Still trying to analyze the finale but damn this show is beautiful
Skyler from Breaking Bad is another example of that type of VITRIOL/HATE from the audience that you're talking about. Skyler denies us the total escapism of rooting for Walt as the Anti-Hero. She grounds us in the consequences of Walt's choices (and life in general) and we hate her for it. Thank you for your comment...It helped me reflect on my hate for Skyler. lol
I really liked how the show never really gives you a 'bad guy'. For the first like 5 episodes I kept trying to figure out who I was 'supposed to' like and dislike, but every time I thought I had figured out who the 'bad guy' was, something would happen to change my mind.
@@jaynestrangethis! A show that shows life and people how they really are. Rarely is someone 100% “bad guy” and by not giving us a clear antagonist it keeps us looking for the bad qualities in every character trying to fill the role of the villain. It adds to the uncomfortableness of the show.
The neighborhood walk scene stood out as a highlight, not only for the reasons you mentioned but also due to Emma Stone's impressive physicality. Amidst outstanding writing, striking cinematography, and impeccable audio, Stone's acting particularly elevated the show for me. In scenes where characters are allowed to simply be on screen without elaborate setups (before the final episode), the significance of their acting becomes more pronounced. And Emma Stone really delivered.
Making it seem like a simple parody at first and gradually getting more and more complex is Nathan’s MO. He’s the master of meta-satire. He loves having the arc be season or even series wide. Nathan for you got more and more about Nathan and the series finale was actually so difficult to see the line. The Rehearsal did the same thing!
I've spoiled show endings for myself before just out of curiosity, but I've never been like "dang...I should've just let it play out" like I was for this show. I was even IN the last episode, but when they were on the TV show and it just kept going, and there was so much episode left, the longer it went on the more uncomfortable I was getting so I was like "I'm just going to glance and see where this is going". I really wish that I hadn't.
This is an UNBELIEVABLY underrated show. I cannot get the finale, and the entire show for that matter, out of my head. I say this after much reflection; it might be one of the greatest pieces of existential art this century. No wonder; it's a project by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie.
To continue with the momentum of my comment, I have to say that Thomas' analysis of the ending is a bit reductive of what the show is trying to say, and the existential ideas it's exploring. It's way bigger than merely reality TV and "they did it because it was good TV". I'll elaborate a bit further without turning it into a 20 page essay, despite my tendency to do so: Throughout the entire show there has been this conflict of perspectives on "why bad things happen". Some explanations are more rational, and others, specifically Asher, has been ruminating that the reason these things are happening are because of The Curse that the girl inflicted on him - superstition if you will - and then after 9 episodes of tension and rumination, it finally results in the outburst and "realization" that Asher has at the end of episode 9; "It's not a stupid curse, it's me! I'm a bad person". Now, other writers and artists would have had this as the dramatic ending and the resolution to the entire curse question, but Fielder and Safdie do something so ingenious and out of left-field that it not only recontextualizes the show, but our understanding of reality itself: Asher just falls off the face of the earth - literally. After many episodes of realism and trying to ground a realistic meaning to every single thing that has happened, something completely and utterly inexplicable happens, and makes us question how much we truly understand of the world. Some viewers try to find a "logical" explanation to the ending, others will go back to The Curse being real, but once we take a step back we realize this might be the core existential message of the show: "How do we explain the inexplicable?" Final Note: I almost wish I turned this into an essay in itself, and I might if the concept/message of the show continues to haunt me.
@@KiarashTaherkhani i think it might have something to do with being the voyer. This all starts with our reality where real people try to make "reality" television through editing reality to be more engaging. A LOT of people really get a kick out of that. This show goes deeper showing actors portraying the real people behind that process. This portrayal of REAL "reality" is engaging to watch too. Perhaps to people who dont like reality TV. They might feel vindicated like they're finally seeing the REAL "reality*. Can you even do a documentary of a reality TV show production? The finale basically says, "nah, tricked ya again, bitch". Or maybe it wants you to question if reality is even real at all or what even *is* reality? I watched this show as it released so it's been a while.
I love how Witney is not in love with the community but her made up idea of the community, Asher is not in love with Witney but his made up idea of Witney. Dougie seems to be the only person to see the fantasy that the couple have for themselves and he manifests it in their show.
I thought every driving scene with Dougie was unbelievably intense. I was convinced a car crash was going to happen. The second person perspective watching Whitney then driving to Iosheka Jeans is fucking brilliant.
I think this is a really interesting perspective/layer of the show - there were so many different points, often repeated, through out the show, where you were waiting for "the bad thing" to happen. A finger pointing at our conditioning to expect conflict and trauma in our regular media consumptions. You could also say the show plays with our expectations of through lines and storytelling. There were so many unconnected scenes and moments, as if cultivated from real life, by someone who was simply observing, not cutting to get a sensational scene. Their meaning was diluted by the lack of direction of the creators of the show - but that doesn't imply a lack of direction or intent.
I never got the impression that the couple actually wanted to help anyone in New Mexico. I live in New Mexico, and any resident can tell you that gentrification here would be a major issue. They are pricing people out of their homes and building businesses the residents themselves can't afford to buy things from . She doesn't care that it's hurting the economy and displacing people; she only cares that it APPEARS that they are making things nicer. In reality, things were probably better for that community before they ever showed up. They ARE the curse.
@@maddieb.4282 Just about all of NM is pre-gentrified - dangerous, and a little busted. Gentrification does nothing to truly fix those issues, it just makes them someone else's problem for a little while plus makes it impossible for locals to sustain themselves. Gentrification is disgustingly shallow and worthless.
The finale of this show has stuck with me more than any episode of TV in such a long time. This show is definitely not for everyone but if you can settle into the characters and the world, you are in for a treat
I immediately noticed , and keep noticing, how shot after shot after shot places a layer or object we look at the characters through or past or around; a wall, door or window frame, other people, in the frame. This keeps emphasizing that sensation of voyeuristically observing the characters "real" moments and emotions.
They call that a dirty frame. You use a long lens and throw something obstructive in the foreground with your subject further away in the background. Visually, it makes you feel like you’re spying on something or specifically seeing something you’re not supposed to be seeing.
Safdie said the main inspiration for camera is 1960/70’s Candid Camera’s voyeuristic long shots. *spoiler later* I still keep thinking about angles of shots, the music they add only for tone not for actions, and the focus on emotions over hitting heavy plot-points.. so much care put into it; maybe also lucky coincidences that I link together. I started thinking “why are there so many flies showing up in these episodes, they even said these indoor shots are ‘on set’ not real”.. then Dougie says “it was a fly… I curse you”.. and Asher flies away when he’s “not needed anymore”.. Or the earlier episode where the camera moves up into the cloud pattern ceiling lights. It would be interesting to know what is planned and what the happy accidents are with plot and symbolism. Many more layers show up than that; I hope people are influenced by this careful production and technique 🍳
Ultimately, I think what the curse is trying us to ask is "What is reality in this contemporary world of so many appearances?" and another brilliant movie that I think tries to dig up this theme is Anatomy of a fall. Fantastic video!
Just like in Atlanta, when you reach a point of observing/experiencing absurdity without having the capacity to relate it to the world, you fall into surrealism to point out the absurdity of a certain reality In this case, the people of Española got to watch the surreal event of Asher flying away as a commentary on how him and Whitney are treating everybody they're helping.
The absurdity of reality conjures the thought of that meme about all of us who comment “lol” or “ROFLOL,” but our physical being is just rested face, relaxed laying in bed. It’s really funny, but also absurd yet we all seem to participate in this facade .
Great point on how the narrative is all about doing the opposite of how modern TV is. Same could be said for the overall look. The show does the complete opposite of the modern “Netflix” look where there’s hyper-shape resolution and clarity with dramatic lighting. Instead they shot it at a high ISO for crazy grain/gain levels, and lit every scene like a real life location would look like. I love everything about this series, and it was too damn funny
18:38 we need to make being bored ok again. I think that desperation to avoid introspection and reflection are attitudes forced onto us by a system that desperately needs us to believe that constant consumption is the only way to be happy, and keep us away from being ok with not
We also all but eliminated consciousness altering substances which force use to deeply introspect. We've made the aware, problem solving state of consciousness the only acceptable state. So when anything pulls us out of that excited state we immediately panic, and will do anything to not be alone with our thoughts. It actually takes practice to just sit, be silent, and think. Most of us born after a certain date have zero experience with that.
@@spracketskoochwhat do you mean by the “we all but eliminated consciousness altering substances….” part? if you’re referring to psychedelic drugs those are very very much still around, and only becoming more widely available for people.
@@jopdog If you're prepared to break the law, and even then if you don't know someone they're hard to find. I'm talking about back in the day when those things were part of normal life for normal people.
@@spracketskooch i think there’s something to the recent fda approvals of mdma and psilocybin as therapeutic substances, or at least the study of. i think colorado specifically (in the US) has legalized psilocybin and there’s tons of studies going on for their use as specifically introspective tools.
The commentary of the Curse goes beyond gentrification, and it fits the theme of the show that so many of the people that focus on gentrification are unable to see the rest. It's like Whitney showing the passive home to Mark Rose, she mentally cannot process what he's saying over what she's already decided about him.
Can you elaborate on what the themes are then? Gentrification is a very big part of the show and it does a good job in showing you what goes into it. It also shows how performative most of these philanthropists are and how they just want to soothe and exonerate themselves from their whiteness and contributions to a capitalist, white-supremacist hierarchy.
@@seyi777gentrification is one of the smallest themes of the show. But with your “copy + paste” comment filled with stereotypical self-victimization of course that’s all you’d see. Not how every single one of the characters who weren’t white also willingly played a part and CHOSE their positions. Mentioning “white supremacy” when the only white person on the show was Whitney is especially hilarious, but i guess you don’t wanna be called an “anti-semite” by your friends huh?
@@watsyourdestiny2086….they just asked a question. one you couldn’t even take the time to answer. i don’t think it’s reasonable to extrapolate everything you did from that comment. i’m curious why you think they’re self victimizing and afraid of being called antisemitic
Your critique here has me thinking about accessibility in media. UA-cam content is a perfect counter example. It’s optimized to be as accessible as possible (also to be widely and easily consumed). The “slowness” or “boringness” of the Curse is the direct opposite of that. It intentionally leaves in the parts that “should” be cut out; instead it emphasizes them. And in that emphasis it’s saying more about the characters, the world, and the story than it could otherwise. Instead of constant viewer stimulation, it moves at a pace where you can think and experience the scenes as they are happening. It’s not “wow, that was a wild ride” like an action movie might have, with all the thrills and twists and turns. But it’s “wow, that was a wild ride”, like emotionally. Thank you for introducing me to this show! Can’t wait to watch it!
Nathan Fielding was absolutely 100% born to play Richard Mayhew in a live adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere'. I am begging the universe to make this happen.
Two scenes I really liked that were particularly layered: 1) the scene with Douggie and Asher in the car where he's rapping and "letting lose" on the way home from the restaurant after they finally hang out. The discomfort and fakeness, you know both are using one another and Douggie is trying to see how far he can push Asher. You also have Dougie’s perverse and sinister obsession with befriending Asher despite mocking and belittling him. You know he only wants a friendship out of loneliness and boredom and to use Asher as his plaything. It's layered with this fake veneer of them 'bonding' as Dougie encourages Asher but you also know Dougie is secretly drink driving and has little regard for Asher's well being. It’s like a parody of a sing along car scene in a coming of age film except, as well as being incredibly cringey, it exudes discomfort rather than cool and makes you feel claustrophobic rather than free. There’s no sun shining with the top down and wind in the hair, it’s just two grown white men trapped in the car together in the dark rapping 2) the scene in the hotel where Dougie deliberately plays the clip he'd recorded of Whitney bad mouthing Asher after they preview the show. It’s the revelation: Whitney explicitly expressing how she feels about Asher, confirming his worst fears and the hollowness of their relationship. You see Dougie's conniving character, Whitney's performed remorse, quilt and hypocrisy and Asher's real-time horror as he has the information presented to him via a recording wrapped around the sheeth of the finished TV product they’ve just watched.
I really enjoyed these scenes too. The rapping in the first scene felt like a relief from the discomfort and awkwardness of their earlier hang, but it felt like _fake_ relief, because I knew the show would make me feel uncomfortable again at any moment. It made me feel just like the characters within the scene did. The second scene was also amazing because we see that Whitney is incapable of just sitting down and being real - like REALLY real - with Asher. She has to watch a pre-recorded version of herself breaking his heart (with an audience, no less). She's so absorbed in her fake reality that she's completely unable to ground herself or have raw, unedited interactions with other people. She needs to know people are watching her do the right thing, even if it's devastating.
Whitney's walk to the neighbor's house reminded me of the brilliant car hood oner from Widows. That one's more formally audacious and in your face, but they both take that transitionary moment to reveal something about the characters and their relationship with their environments.
This discussion reminds me of Ozu's classic Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story). You want to put it on 2x speed because of how it lingers on the awkward and mundane, and it can be confusing when not all the conversations have relevance to the overarching narrative. But it's beautiful. The Curse seems to draw some inspiration from that directorial style in the "behind-the-scenes" sections. It's refreshing to have that directly contrasted with a realistic performance of reality media in universe. Cool breakdown, I hadn't heard of this show before but looks worth a watch.
thomas, you are always incredibly insightful and considerate with the stuff you analyze! appreciated very much, especially for a deep and layered show like the curse
this video is so easy to watch, i have a hard time sticking with videos/shows/movies because of auditory and other sensory issues, but this video is not only well made with quality content (obviously) but the audio is clean, even, and well mixed. so many youtubers turn me off from being able to enjoy their content simply because i have to fiddle with the volume every three seconds. thank you for letting my thumbs rest lol.... also funnily enough these same reasons are why I like Nathan Felder comedy, its very easy on my sense. to kind of juxtapose that, i also love I think you should leave BUT - it is not always doable for me. Felder.... Felder is always doable. heheh
Really love all of the well thought analysis in explaining how the show's presentation subverts that of reality tv. Only thing I'd contest is the idea that Whitney walking through the neighborhood was a show of her true connection to the community, rather than a grasp at that connection or the attempt at being viewed as connected.
Great analysis. I’ve seen so many people disappointed over the ending because “it didn’t make sense.” I think everyone was expecting that the show was building up to something major that would tie everything together. But that wasn’t the point, that’s not how life is. Each episode was a glimpse into these characters lives and I think it did a wonderful job at that.
I really appreciated your analysis of the performative nature of the character's morality. They aren't really conscious of what they are doing, at least not actively so, and they aren't necessarily trying to trick anyone, they are just trying to feel good. I think we all do that to some degree. Checking a box to avoid guilt is a character flaw that I think a lot of us have, and ironically use to justify our actions, or more often, in-actions.
I have to say that Thomas' analysis of the ending is a bit reductive of what the show is trying to say, and the existential ideas it's exploring. It's way bigger than merely reality TV and "they did it because it was good TV". I'll elaborate a bit further without turning it into a 20 page essay, despite my tendency to do so: Throughout the entire show there has been this conflict of perspectives on "why bad things happen". Some explanations are more rational, and others, specifically Asher, has been ruminating that the reason these things are happening are because of The Curse that the girl inflicted on him - superstition if you will - and then after 9 episodes of tension and rumination, it finally results in the outburst and "realization" that Asher has at the end of episode 9; "It's not a stupid curse, it's me! I'm a bad person". Now, other writers and artists would have had this as the dramatic ending and the resolution to the entire curse question, but Fielder and Safdie do something so ingenious and out of left-field that it not only recontextualizes the show, but our understanding of reality itself: Asher just falls off the face of the earth - literally. After many episodes of realism and trying to ground a realistic meaning to every single thing that has happened, something completely and utterly inexplicable happens, and makes us question how much we truly understand of the world. Some viewers try to find a "logical" explanation to the ending, others will go back to The Curse being real, but once we take a step back we realize this might be the core existential message of the show: "How do we explain the inexplicable?" Final Note: I almost wish I turned this into an essay in itself, and I might if the concept/message of the show continues to haunt me.
A great first step is to realize and admit that you don't know even a sliver of what is possible, what exists in the vast expanse of reality. Then when something inexplicable happens it doesn't shatter your entire worldview and psyche. That's what bugs me about a ton of people. They're so fucking confident that what they're doing is correct, without examining their actions and the effects of those actions. A little humility, and a little gratitude go a _long_ way.
I'm sorry but that was definitely _not_ the core message of the show. Ending a series about reality with surrealism was definitely an aspect of it, but to take that as the main point is an insult to the creators and far more reductive than anything Thomas had to say.
@@Jesse-lv2yo that wasn't the entire thing I took away from the show. Obviously I can't write every single thing here. And according to benny safdie himself in a panel he did, he said art isn't about giving you the answers so even if what I took away isn't what was intended, it's still valid. And another thing entirely but Benny Safdie in that same panel alluded to the fact that what I wrote here was indeed at least close to what the show's message is, quite literally.
THANK YOU! YES! I'm so so so glad to see more people talking about The Curse. Truly an art piece of a show with the way it handles it's subtle performances and cinematography. Truly an inspiration, as it tends to be, when Nathan is involved
The thought about the comment on sharing our shared reality in this media way is so profound and a healthy reminder of where we’re at in society. I don’t think we keep good track of the concept that this is still a media platform. Yes, there’s a social auction idea to it, but it’s so hard to be mindful of the fact that it’s still media I really feel vividly uncomfortable at this thought still thank you for bringing it up and such a clearway and giving your meta metta (he does it with a compassion), commentary of this example. It’s so profound appreciate you.> I know
Thank you for such a lovely and comprehensive video! You really hit the nail in regards to why I got chills up my spine watching this show - it felt like I was looking into a mirror of reality. Just how people acted, how the conversations flowed, how insecurities and truths are hidden and shown. The scene with Dougie discussing drunk driving is one of the best scenes I've seen,.
The best video that I've seen about 'The Curse'. The one thing which I have to critizise is just, that you didn't follow up on one of your other videos about 'Metamodernism', because in my opinion this show, even without the 'magical realism' last episode, embodies everything what metamodernism art is. Well, in my opionion, but I wanted you to connect the dots. Otherwiese superb as usual. Keep up the good work.
its nice to see someone piece together the progression of representation of realism from smokers allowed and the rehearsal as well. fully love that it takes reality tv and makes it beautiful and artistic whilst still being funny and weird
16:19 up until "we might start to think that something might be wrong with our own lives because they're not as entertaining as the media we're consuming on a daily basis" (not exactly how he said it but that's the general idea) - that's a crazy interesting point that I bet very few people think about and is a little terrifying thinking about how it's going to get worse in the future.
The camera POV is the curse, that was my take on it anyway... this can be seen in the final moments with the sweeping camera shots that weren't used prior.. almost showing the curse was now at ease and it's job was complete.
Dougie's drink driving perversion is even deeper. In the sequence with Asher they're in a restaurant and Asher, having had fairly little to drink offers to be the designated driver, but Dougie argues and insists that, even though Dougie had clearly had more to drink, Asher should keep drinking and having fun and so Dougie'll be the driver, and he changes his drink order to coke. But then Dougie sneaks over to the server and tells them to add rum to his Coke, but bring it in the same glass a soda comes in, so Asher will still think it's plain Coke, and not a run and coke. So Dougie is deliberately getting as drunk as possible hoping to come in just under the legal limit. This is a betrayal of Asher and the sense of guilt and shame is almost palpable.
Great video - about half way through and I’m already thinking about the broader insights this shows as a lens on our human world...1) the world of influencers on social media, which starts off usually wanting to authentically connect with an audience and ends up being a faked version of reality carefully curated over time and 2) being mindful how what we consume can distort our sense of reality and what the world “should” look like...perfect example being that of love in the modern world and how heavily we over romanticize what it’s supposed to look like based on movies and tv shows. So important to remember that the content we consume is usually a way to escape the mundane world of reality (because, as mentioned, the day to day is often boring and no one wants to watch that), so entertainment is about getting lost in fantasy and imagination...yet it can often manifest into unrealistic expectations of what reality should be like..fascinating topic!
Astute analysis. The thesis, "The Curse looks like a parody but it is a more sincere character study" is clever. Your rhetoric is well constructed and supported. Another banger 🔥
22:20 I think there's more to Whitney and Dougie and all these characters than ONLY wanting to appear moral. I think that's one half of them that doesn't want to change to become moral, like a lot of us. But I truly believe there's the "2 wolves inside you" element to them, basically. A lot of WANT to be good people but feel too alien or cut off, or afraid, to make ourselves vulnerable to that change. In a world where Cancel Culture exists in some nebulous form, and in the social media "curated appearances" age, there's such a fear of seeming like we don't know something. As if it means we have zero sensitivity toward it and are the opposition. There's little room for neutrality and organic growth of identity. If something "un-PC" happens, we gotta prove IMMEDIATELY how much we hate it based on talking points. It's like forming an opinion on a rorschach test before your eyes have focused on it, because of what other people said it was. I feel like there was a good level of optimism in the show that these characters are in a constant struggle with themselves trying to find comfort but authenticity as well.
I know this word is overused and I'm using it kind of the same, but you're a genius. It's so well formulated, especially the part about having little room for neutrality and organic growth of identity. Like seeing a Rorschach test before your eyes are fully open
most of what you describe here is just what works (or what i love) about found footage/mockumentary horror, which is the genre i considered this show to be as well. there’s a movie called ‘they’re watching’ that is a horror mockumentary of one of those international buyer reality shows, and there’s also ‘delivery: the beast within’ that is filmed as a mockumentary pregnancy diary type reality show. i love those, but the curse still felt different, and i’d love to know why. the whole “filming moments that aren’t typically present in most reality tv” thing is still present in most of that genre of horror though, so not unique to the curse. loved your insight into the ending because honestly as much as i loved it i didn’t get it 😭 the idea of it perfectly mirroring their insistence on “helping” while not actually helping at all is so good.
It's really hard to do a weird realism feel. Nathan as sure as hell knows how to do it, along with The Safdies Bros (mostly). Emma is just Emma (taking the best roles and turning them into gold). Thomas, sad Fallen Leaves weren't nominated in Oscars, but I have a question for you. There is this big painted animated Polish movie The Peasants and it recieved acclaim in Poland (my country) and I was curious if you had chance to see this film. If you had, could you tell your opinion on it in comments. Film revieved mixed reviews in USA because of its themes (BTW It's an adaptation of Nobel Winning famous writter). Thanks for a vid. Will wait for the next one. Have a nice day.
I cannot look at Nathan Fielder without remembering the "drink grandson's pee" guy, it's just etched into my brain. That one random man is the only person I've ever seen completely throw Nathan off and get him to break character by completely flipping the situation and making Nathan the one wondering "what the fuck is happening?"
Had to stop watching when I saw the spoiler warning (thank you!!), but this video was insightful. I'm looking forward to watching the show. I was intrigued by the sneakpeek I saw, and love Fielder's work. Stone is always amazing as well. I'll come back later to watch the end of the critique!
This show reminded me of Twin Peaks The Return in it's blatant disregard for tradition and it's full dive into subversive, audience challenging art cinema in an episodic format. It walks a very strange line between comedy, horror and drama that is executed in a way I've never seen before. I was already a fan of the Safdie's, but now I'm also a big fan of Nathan Fielder (& his tiny little dick). I really hope Ben & Nathan continue to collaborate! It was a Mark Frost/David Lynch esque Yin/Yang pairing that worked marvelously! Also kudos to huge movie star Emma Stone for taking on a challenging, bizarre role and absolutely killing it!
I immediately thought of the Return too upon watching the finale! and if you liked this show and Emma's acting, you'd probably really enjoy Poor Things if you haven't seen it yet
Thanks for this video, it is excellent onboarding for the show. I've not watched much new media in the last year, and this first 25% of this essay had me step away to binge The Curse and then come back to finish where you left off. What an excellent piece of work.
This was outstanding! I really appreciate the time and thought going into this and will have to check more of you "Why Is___Like That videos, as I see there are a number of them here. Many concerning films I absolutely love. Have you done any videos on Burning (2018)? Would love to hear your thoughts on that. And since you do quite a few essays on series, curious if you've seen Deadwood or Halt and Catch Fire? Two of my favorites of the 21 century so far. Keep up the incredible work here as it is definitely appreciated. I know how much goes into these, so thank you.
Great work Thomas! I was waiting for someone to deeply analyze some of the most complex aspects of this show and you knocked it out of the park... Thank you!
Omg! I live in on Finland and "Fallen Leaves" was a huge thing here when it was released. The director is very well known and all of his films are kind of that surrealist in-between experience. Fallen Leaves was excellent!
good video. this show made me laugh harder than anything i've seen in a long time. would've been funny to see you seriously analyze the micropenis scenes. loved the ace ventura impersonation and nathan coming into the room with a cowboy hat in that phone call scene. somehow this dark comedy satire was also hilarious. other than the unique premise, i think the show is compelling bc emma and nathan played characters that seem to be opposite to their real-life personalities or other characters they've portrayed. i couldn't wait to see what happened in each episode. their relationship and person selves seemed to both be deteriorating to the point i couldn't look away and yet still empathized with them. thanks for posting.
Whitney takes that walk like she’s a Disney princess interacting with the sweet little birds who flock to her in the forest, like she belongs there but everyone she tries to interact with is apathetic. So weirddddd loved it
this was compelling af. I have had to pee since a minute in and still wouldn't leave my PC. I didn't even want to interrupt it enough to switch to watching it on my phone.
around the 18 minute mark of the video when he said "or worst of all, boring." I couldn't help but think of Bo Burnham's Inside, and the song Welcome to the internet. "apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime."
Dougie does a hand shoo motion before Asher gets out of the car after their argument in the second to last episode. When asked "what was that?" Dougie says "FLY" before cursing Asher as he walks back into his home
Once trauma becomes profitable, we all desire to be traumatized and/or traumatize others to then have content to exploit. As long as we are the ones to control the outcome of that trauma, through being disconnected from our emotions enough to be able to objectify the entire experience, we desire the perpetuation of trauma. By no means do we desire authenticity, if by that we mean the lack of the ability to exploit trauma. We desire "authenticity", by which we mean self-reflection through watching such shows as The Curse, in order to make us "more responsible" and therefore EVEN MORE CAPABLE of exploiting trauma. We're not like those unsophisticated people whose lack of cultural awareness leaves them vulnerable to succumbing to trauma and then being *made into content* instead of making content. What the show calls "The Curse" is what is presented in "Nope" through the alien creature - beings exploiting trauma for material and social gain. In other words, Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder themselves (and Jordan Peele). There are many authentic people dying on the streets. We desire "authenticity", not authenticity. The artist isn't there to tell us the truth but to exploit the truth.
My theory on the ending is that the flying off into space is Whitney's perspective on Asher leaving her/the marriage. At the end of Episode 9, Asher actually became the person Whitney pretended to be. During the Shabbat scene in Episode 10, she was playing on her phone, worried about the finances of giving away the house, making fun of Cara, and doing all the things she criticized Asher for earlier in the season. The roles flipped, but instead of her faking it, he was being sincere. That change in the relationship dynamic ripped them apart from a metaphorical perspective and the last sequence was just it being shown as literal. Just as the show started out as a goof on the "Flip or Flop" couple, it also ended as one with Dougie getting footage of and making great TV out of the separation.
Hi Folks! The video is back up but still demonetized due to a copyright claim. Special shoutout to MUBI for sponsoring the video mubi.com/thomasflight and to my Patrons for their support: www.patreon.com/thomasflight // These folks make this channel possible!
I watched the clip from @6:00-6:06 like a thousand times in a row. the recreation is so fucking immaculate its insane
I’d love to see your take on “poor things” I’m seeing a lot of people critique it and would love to hear your take on it.
I think you would really enjoy the series _From_ on MGM+ (formerly Epix). It's a horror drama and you might want to watch it sooner rather than later because mystery is a huge part of it.
We often overlook JUST how impactful Arrested Development was for creators and other performance artists… surely I’m not the only one seeing the influence here?!?
Great content!!!❤
@@emerj101Arrested Development didn’t invent the “fake reality doc sitcom”. The Office 11:19 (UK) beat AD to that punch by two years. Ricky Gervais is a prick, but he and Stephen Merchant have to get the credit for inspiring a whole new wave of situation comedy.
the walk scene was amazing, it kinda felt like a Whitney POV of her thinking of herself as a disney princess in a poor neighborhood (talking to everyone, saying hi to animals, etc)
I’m from this area and it’s for real so accurate how people are when they move here. Tourists will ask to take picture of us lol
NOBODY is better than Emma Stone at the "smile that slowly crumbles like wet sand on the beach".
Maybe the girl in pearl
i've always thought that this guy is the best at that:
ua-cam.com/video/WN71h43iR6U/v-deo.htmlsi=FNf9g6FGLTfmPRJj&t=46
@@jorg_lolMia goths acting is something else, truly UNREAL!
Emily Blunt at the karaoke bar in Fall Guy
I dunno, this guy does it pretty damn well: ua-cam.com/video/WN71h43iR6U/v-deo.htmlsi=tSMjUJMiZk-EDLBb&t=53
One of my favorite parts of the show is Dougie’s past with drunk driving. In any other show, with how frequently that theme comes up, you’d expect it to pay off with a horrible car crash, but it never does. It’s just a device to build tension and anxiety and give you an insight into Dougie as a character.
Great point, those driving scenes were so uncomfortable.
It's the same thing with the bad interview and the casino video tape heist. As a viewer it feels inevitable that these plot points are going to blow up later into the show, but they never do.
idk. really its just the 1 episode where it is brought up and its mostly tense because he has been drinking in the scene and still claims he's good to drive. which he is, but the music cues imply otherwise. then it all works out. but the fact that it makes those 4 minutes feel like a much bigger part of the show and like the bad thing is gonna happen was well excecuted. i'll give ya that.
Love the car scene where Asher awkwardly raps when they are on the way back from the restaurant. The whole time you have this impending feeling of doom like something bad is about to happen. Dougie's arrogant behaviour, the drink driving, the secrecy, the feeling that he's trying to sabotage Asher in some way. But at the same time, despite the knowledge that both are using one another, you sense Dougie craves Asher's friendship for some sad reason. It all culminates, not with a car crash, but with Asher rapping freely as if we're to believe that Dougie thinks anything less of him than a complete dweed. It's a common device used in coming of age films to exude 'cool' and express freedom and possibility. It's used here in a much more sinister and awkward way, as the viewer you're meant to question the authenticity of it entirely.
@@nak3dxsnakethere were 2 different instances- one with his date and one with Asher where he hides how much he’s drinking- going to the waiter in secret to get them.
I feel that way about Fernando's gun. I kept thinking someone was going to get shot, but it never happened.
Best essay on the Curse ive seen. It is miles ahead of what other videos have done in a rush to say something immediately after the finale in order to get clicks. This is well thought out and constructed and analyzed.
Well said. I clicked through a few videos uploaded shortly after the finale and they made me sick to my stomach.
no
I mean some people need a video essay to give meaning or validate a show. You can also watch the show yourself, sit with it and think about it and leave it at that. Bennie Safdie even said he doesn't want to explain too much because half the fun is discovering and thinking about it yourself.
Though I liked a video essay which only delved into the visual aspect of the show.
I already was gonna watch the show cause of Nathan but this is literally the one video that convinced me to watch it. Now, months later, I've gone through the whole thing in 2 days and it's honestly the best show I've seen in the last 5 years on par with Severance, I'm not even being hyperbolic.
the moment in the scene where whitney is walking to the neighbor's house, and she says hi to the dog and tries to have a conversation with the dogs owner while he's very clearly on the phone, is one that has stood out to me throughout the entire show. I think it's such a perfect encapsulation of who whitney is - She's trying to be a part of this community, she sincerely wants to, but she just doesn't know how.
To me it felt that it wasn’t bc she didn’t know how. It felt like a lack of respect. Forcing something onto people without even noticing that maybe they’re not into it. She was so self-centred she didn’t actually care to get to know the people around her or how to cater to their actual needs, she was just serving her own needs. What she did w that man on the phone was just kinda rude lol
fr and i don't remember the exact quote but he says something like "this fucking bitch" to whoever on the phone
or maybe its bcoz everyone in the area knows who she is, who her parents are, slumlord parasites who have their claws into less fortunate people, thus they resent her and pay no attention to her.
@@marie-ye9emclassic white lady shit
@@marie-ye9em Exactly, she wants to be part of the neighborhood and does things -- content, you could say -- that she thinks are neighborly, without a care for how she is received. It's the same for her desire for a friendship with Cara the artist. She engages Cara with behavior that, for her part, is representative of a deep friendship, while Cara reflects none of that back to her. Or her helping Abshir.
Whitney thinks that for her to gain status, whether that of a good neighbor, good friend, a philantropist, or morally virtuous person; she just needs to project that kind of behaviour out into the world, and that's it.
The irony is that the one time when she does demand external validation from someone is when she asks Cara to validate her status as an artist at the art collectors mansion. Being an artist is the one thing she COULD validate for herself without the help of some external power. Being a good neighbor or a good friend isn't for you to decide, but whether you're an artist IS for you to decide. Whitney just doesn't understand what art is, she can't convince herself that she's an artist because she thinks artistry is a validated by external powers like the art community and perhaps more importantly, buyers and financiers.
All three main characters in the show are people who essentially have no "real life" and struggle to create a reality they want to believe will be better for them. Whitney is trying to recreate herself to be TV friendly by erasing her past, Asher is so terrified of being abandoned he will become whatever Whitney and the show's producers want, and Dougie is so desperate to escape the responsibility for his wife's death that he roleplays the fantasy that he's in control of his drinking as he buries himself in his job. What's brilliant about this show is that how it's shot perfectly reflects this sense that the barrier between "real life" and fiction has collapsed. So many of the shots appear to be "in universe" (for instance the shot within the car following Whitney), that you spend much of the show waiting for the reveal on who has been secretly filming the whole time. The voyeuristic nature of the cinematography creates a tension where you're never even sure of what's "real" in the context of the show. Is the shot I'm currently seeing going to cut and reveal that it's the camera crew shooting? Is this shot from the actual camera crew of The Curse and what I'm seeing is "actually" Whitney and Asher and not their "fake" show? But this reveal never comes. Just as the characters struggle and fail to create a meaningful reality, we as viewers can't rationalize a perfect continuity for everything that happens in the show. The curse of the show's title is the characters' unwillingness to humble themselves and accept the reality that they live in. When you can't accept the fact that there are certain things in your life that you can't change and you chase the fantasy that you can be "anything" you want, you become capable of limitless evil and delusion. In the end, the characters really do get what they want: Whitney is free of Asher and has a child to dominate, Asher disappears like he promised he would, and Dougie films an event that will go down in television history. Yet what we want is usually what will destroy us, and at the end of the series everyone is even more lost than ever before. The show is ultimately about how disastrous the erasure between real life and fantasy is, and the discomfort we feel as viewers is largely created by how the show never gives us an answer about what is "real" or "fake."
Brilliantly put.
Thanks for that.. it’s what I have been struggling with. It seems to fly in the face of most storytelling devices I.e. Checkovs gun.. which is just so difficult to watch. When it ended I felt angry.. like I had just wasted 10 hours of my life because basically none of the other myriad of side stories was ever concluded.. I guess it’s like a wrestler playing the heel, they are doing a good job if you “hate” them.
I’m just so conflicted.. I saw/felt all the beats that Thomas mentioned, but why do I still feel ripped off?
Also having some context of house flipping shows helps. I didn’t have that until watching ☝️ this video. I didn’t realise that this isn’t that dramatized. Comparatively with Nathan for you, the reality TV moments don’t have the same tone and texture they are imitating. Feels like they should have used a different camera or frame rate or something.. to me it landed more like an extension to the “normal” show..
I guess something is good when it makes you think and feel this hard, leaving you reeling, but I also can’t help feeling like they took it so far away from conventional storytelling, that it left a feeling of hollowness. Incompleteness. Mmmmm 🤔
perfect blue uses this same real/fake dynamic that keeps you guessing. awesome movie and very beautiful art/anime style
ever considered writing essay works or other media analyses? lol
sorry im a writer and always notice i find the stuff i wanna read in the places i dont have to pay to read them! lol. either way, thanks, for being a thoughtful commenter in places where people have every right to say thoughtless things !!
@@ihatemickiegee thanks, I appreciate the comment, man! I don't usually do much media criticism but I'll put some effort into it when I feel inspired. Any suggestions on good platforms to post written content?
I feel like the camera is the POV of the curse. Like, we're watching these people from the curse's perspective. It's lurking in every corner and generating that feeling of uneasiness the characters refer to.
that’s how i felt. i felt like, maybe the curse is real maybe it isn’t, but due to everything we were seeing, everything it was following, it felt like our existence as its audience was almost the curse’s door into each of their solitary universes. it could just as well be karma for how they are hurting others and signify instead how all of it is seen as The Curse thru Asher’s eyes, but since we’re never confirmed we’re left to look at all of it as a curse. their downfalls being the result of a curse, the show being a curse to them and a community, and the three of them being The Curse in several peoples lives. i love unexplained unconfirmed titles like that to films, novels, shows. the ability to analyze it immortalizes the piece lol
@@ihatemickiegee oh man, almost like an audience to any artistic expression is a curse? Like, if they were just in that community doing good things for the sake of being good it would be fine, but the fact that it's made for an audience "curses" it. That's a pretty deep meaning, I hadn't thought of that.
I feel like the curse is our inability to be fully understand ourselves and others, because we see everything through a distorted lens (our own biases, the manipulation of truth on reality TV). But it can be interpreted so many ways. I think the curse for the audience could also be the burden of knowledge/education/experience. The tension in the show is horror-like and it had me at the edge of my seat as someone with views on everything being discussed. It's too real, and that's painful (or intensity) for the viewer.
While Fielders work becomes less 'laugh out loud' it is becoming more and more meaningful. There's nothing else like it.
I don't see this as being more meaningful than the best of Nathan For You. It's just a different approach.
He was on a talk show recently with Stone and it was so awkward. It was very strange to watch and uncomfortable. Surely to show the preposterousness of the late night talk show schtick, or to be anyone but who people expected to see in that interview.
@@julesjmaYeah I think that whole appearance on Kimmel was a bit and they were all in on the joke. I watched a Q&A with Nathan and Benny the other day and he seems like a pretty normal guy
I wish I could see this. I think fielder is the most overrated person on earth right now. I guess I don’t get it 🥱
I can’t think of anyone in Showbiz that are able to convey more uncomfortableness than the Safdies and nathan fielder. It’s like the avengers of anxiety. I think I need to build up courage to watch this show
Be brave my fragile soy.
Same. I love their work. I need to make time.
Everything Nathan does gives me a social anxiety overload
WEEEwoooweeeWooo!
It’s great, I get second hand embarrassment. And am usually exhausted after an episode but it’s so good that it’s worth it. I’m just watching the show slowly, it’s not going anywhere. Take your time and it’s worth it every step of the way.
In Nathan and Benny's convo with Chris Nolan, Nathan remarked that there are shows about literal murderers and heinous people who are revered (eg. Walter White), but people HATE asher, whitney and dougie with a palpable vitriol. And I really think it's because of this show's fantastic dedication to realism; is it so much that the characters are truly irredeemably despicable, or that they are so reminiscent of people who we know of and are annoyed by in real life, that we get a vicarious thrill from hating them? With shows like Breaking Bad, the "realism" is ultimately in service of escapism, building a mythology around Walt and his empire, while the realism in "The Curse" is about our own questioning of our values we perform in our day to day lives. Still trying to analyze the finale but damn this show is beautiful
Skyler from Breaking Bad is another example of that type of VITRIOL/HATE from the audience that you're talking about. Skyler denies us the total escapism of rooting for Walt as the Anti-Hero. She grounds us in the consequences of Walt's choices (and life in general) and we hate her for it.
Thank you for your comment...It helped me reflect on my hate for Skyler. lol
@@bradlonkey3224the hate is 90% her groundedness pulling Walt down and 10% misogyny lol
I really liked how the show never really gives you a 'bad guy'. For the first like 5 episodes I kept trying to figure out who I was 'supposed to' like and dislike, but every time I thought I had figured out who the 'bad guy' was, something would happen to change my mind.
@@jaynestrangethis! A show that shows life and people how they really are. Rarely is someone 100% “bad guy” and by not giving us a clear antagonist it keeps us looking for the bad qualities in every character trying to fill the role of the villain. It adds to the uncomfortableness of the show.
The neighborhood walk scene stood out as a highlight, not only for the reasons you mentioned but also due to Emma Stone's impressive physicality. Amidst outstanding writing, striking cinematography, and impeccable audio, Stone's acting particularly elevated the show for me. In scenes where characters are allowed to simply be on screen without elaborate setups (before the final episode), the significance of their acting becomes more pronounced. And Emma Stone really delivered.
Making it seem like a simple parody at first and gradually getting more and more complex is Nathan’s MO. He’s the master of meta-satire. He loves having the arc be season or even series wide. Nathan for you got more and more about Nathan and the series finale was actually so difficult to see the line. The Rehearsal did the same thing!
Nothing and nobody could ever prepare me for *that* finale
Same
I've spoiled show endings for myself before just out of curiosity, but I've never been like "dang...I should've just let it play out" like I was for this show. I was even IN the last episode, but when they were on the TV show and it just kept going, and there was so much episode left, the longer it went on the more uncomfortable I was getting so I was like "I'm just going to glance and see where this is going". I really wish that I hadn't.
@@CinnamonQuills honestly you should never do that ever, I can't be on your side here 😭🥲
Same @@thefreerocketman5777
Thats what happens when you include something out of nowhere with no connection to the previous work just to say look how deep i am.
This is an UNBELIEVABLY underrated show. I cannot get the finale, and the entire show for that matter, out of my head. I say this after much reflection; it might be one of the greatest pieces of existential art this century. No wonder; it's a project by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie.
To continue with the momentum of my comment, I have to say that Thomas' analysis of the ending is a bit reductive of what the show is trying to say, and the existential ideas it's exploring. It's way bigger than merely reality TV and "they did it because it was good TV". I'll elaborate a bit further without turning it into a 20 page essay, despite my tendency to do so:
Throughout the entire show there has been this conflict of perspectives on "why bad things happen". Some explanations are more rational, and others, specifically Asher, has been ruminating that the reason these things are happening are because of The Curse that the girl inflicted on him - superstition if you will - and then after 9 episodes of tension and rumination, it finally results in the outburst and "realization" that Asher has at the end of episode 9; "It's not a stupid curse, it's me! I'm a bad person". Now, other writers and artists would have had this as the dramatic ending and the resolution to the entire curse question, but Fielder and Safdie do something so ingenious and out of left-field that it not only recontextualizes the show, but our understanding of reality itself: Asher just falls off the face of the earth - literally.
After many episodes of realism and trying to ground a realistic meaning to every single thing that has happened, something completely and utterly inexplicable happens, and makes us question how much we truly understand of the world.
Some viewers try to find a "logical" explanation to the ending, others will go back to The Curse being real, but once we take a step back we realize this might be the core existential message of the show:
"How do we explain the inexplicable?"
Final Note: I almost wish I turned this into an essay in itself, and I might if the concept/message of the show continues to haunt me.
@@KiarashTaherkhanialright
@@KiarashTaherkhani I didnt look for meaning in the ending but its just a bit too random to me compared to the rest of the show so it didnt stick
Really enjoyed your longer post. If you do put it to video, let me know 😊
@@KiarashTaherkhani i think it might have something to do with being the voyer. This all starts with our reality where real people try to make "reality" television through editing reality to be more engaging. A LOT of people really get a kick out of that. This show goes deeper showing actors portraying the real people behind that process. This portrayal of REAL "reality" is engaging to watch too. Perhaps to people who dont like reality TV. They might feel vindicated like they're finally seeing the REAL "reality*. Can you even do a documentary of a reality TV show production? The finale basically says, "nah, tricked ya again, bitch". Or maybe it wants you to question if reality is even real at all or what even *is* reality? I watched this show as it released so it's been a while.
I love how Witney is not in love with the community but her made up idea of the community, Asher is not in love with Witney but his made up idea of Witney. Dougie seems to be the only person to see the fantasy that the couple have for themselves and he manifests it in their show.
I thought every driving scene with Dougie was unbelievably intense. I was convinced a car crash was going to happen.
The second person perspective watching Whitney then driving to Iosheka Jeans is fucking brilliant.
I think this is a really interesting perspective/layer of the show - there were so many different points, often repeated, through out the show, where you were waiting for "the bad thing" to happen. A finger pointing at our conditioning to expect conflict and trauma in our regular media consumptions.
You could also say the show plays with our expectations of through lines and storytelling. There were so many unconnected scenes and moments, as if cultivated from real life, by someone who was simply observing, not cutting to get a sensational scene. Their meaning was diluted by the lack of direction of the creators of the show - but that doesn't imply a lack of direction or intent.
I never got the impression that the couple actually wanted to help anyone in New Mexico. I live in New Mexico, and any resident can tell you that gentrification here would be a major issue. They are pricing people out of their homes and building businesses the residents themselves can't afford to buy things from . She doesn't care that it's hurting the economy and displacing people; she only cares that it APPEARS that they are making things nicer. In reality, things were probably better for that community before they ever showed up. They ARE the curse.
Have you lived in a pre gentrified neighborhood? Like an actually dangerous or busted one?
But yea you understood the point of the show. One aspect of it is its commentary on gentrification
@@maddieb.4282 Just about all of NM is pre-gentrified - dangerous, and a little busted. Gentrification does nothing to truly fix those issues, it just makes them someone else's problem for a little while plus makes it impossible for locals to sustain themselves. Gentrification is disgustingly shallow and worthless.
'Smokers Allowed' clearly shows the origin of Nathan's "The Rehearsal"
The finale of this show has stuck with me more than any episode of TV in such a long time. This show is definitely not for everyone but if you can settle into the characters and the world, you are in for a treat
I immediately noticed , and keep noticing, how shot after shot after shot places a layer or object we look at the characters through or past or around; a wall, door or window frame, other people, in the frame. This keeps emphasizing that sensation of voyeuristically observing the characters "real" moments and emotions.
They call that a dirty frame. You use a long lens and throw something obstructive in the foreground with your subject further away in the background. Visually, it makes you feel like you’re spying on something or specifically seeing something you’re not supposed to be seeing.
Safdie said the main inspiration for camera is 1960/70’s Candid Camera’s voyeuristic long shots. *spoiler later* I still keep thinking about angles of shots, the music they add only for tone not for actions, and the focus on emotions over hitting heavy plot-points.. so much care put into it; maybe also lucky coincidences that I link together. I started thinking “why are there so many flies showing up in these episodes, they even said these indoor shots are ‘on set’ not real”.. then Dougie says “it was a fly… I curse you”.. and Asher flies away when he’s “not needed anymore”..
Or the earlier episode where the camera moves up into the cloud pattern ceiling lights. It would be interesting to know what is planned and what the happy accidents are with plot and symbolism. Many more layers show up than that; I hope people are influenced by this careful production and technique 🍳
Ultimately, I think what the curse is trying us to ask is "What is reality in this contemporary world of so many appearances?" and another brilliant movie that I think tries to dig up this theme is Anatomy of a fall. Fantastic video!
Just like in Atlanta, when you reach a point of observing/experiencing absurdity without having the capacity to relate it to the world, you fall into surrealism to point out the absurdity of a certain reality
In this case, the people of Española got to watch the surreal event of Asher flying away as a commentary on how him and Whitney are treating everybody they're helping.
Exactly! The first thing that came in my mind watching the curse was Atlanta, even though they are really different, the FEEL the same
I literally have no idea what that first paragraph means
The absurdity of reality conjures the thought of that meme about all of us who comment “lol” or “ROFLOL,” but our physical being is just rested face, relaxed laying in bed.
It’s really funny, but also absurd yet we all seem to participate in this facade .
Great point on how the narrative is all about doing the opposite of how modern TV is. Same could be said for the overall look. The show does the complete opposite of the modern “Netflix” look where there’s hyper-shape resolution and clarity with dramatic lighting. Instead they shot it at a high ISO for crazy grain/gain levels, and lit every scene like a real life location would look like. I love everything about this series, and it was too damn funny
Here I thought my age was catching up to my eyes😂
18:38 we need to make being bored ok again.
I think that desperation to avoid introspection and reflection are attitudes forced onto us by a system that desperately needs us to believe that constant consumption is the only way to be happy, and keep us away from being ok with not
We also all but eliminated consciousness altering substances which force use to deeply introspect. We've made the aware, problem solving state of consciousness the only acceptable state. So when anything pulls us out of that excited state we immediately panic, and will do anything to not be alone with our thoughts. It actually takes practice to just sit, be silent, and think. Most of us born after a certain date have zero experience with that.
Its easier to wait in line for things when we're being entertainted.
@@spracketskoochwhat do you mean by the “we all but eliminated consciousness altering substances….” part? if you’re referring to psychedelic drugs those are very very much still around, and only becoming more widely available for people.
@@jopdog If you're prepared to break the law, and even then if you don't know someone they're hard to find. I'm talking about back in the day when those things were part of normal life for normal people.
@@spracketskooch i think there’s something to the recent fda approvals of mdma and psilocybin as therapeutic substances, or at least the study of. i think colorado specifically (in the US) has legalized psilocybin and there’s tons of studies going on for their use as specifically introspective tools.
The commentary of the Curse goes beyond gentrification, and it fits the theme of the show that so many of the people that focus on gentrification are unable to see the rest. It's like Whitney showing the passive home to Mark Rose, she mentally cannot process what he's saying over what she's already decided about him.
Can you elaborate on what the themes are then? Gentrification is a very big part of the show and it does a good job in showing you what goes into it. It also shows how performative most of these philanthropists are and how they just want to soothe and exonerate themselves from their whiteness and contributions to a capitalist, white-supremacist hierarchy.
@@seyi777 Racist as fuck, dude. You're right about these fake philanthropists though. They are literally disgusting.
i feel like your comment did not explain in what way the commentary goes beyond gentrification
@@seyi777gentrification is one of the smallest themes of the show. But with your “copy + paste” comment filled with stereotypical self-victimization of course that’s all you’d see. Not how every single one of the characters who weren’t white also willingly played a part and CHOSE their positions. Mentioning “white supremacy” when the only white person on the show was Whitney is especially hilarious, but i guess you don’t wanna be called an “anti-semite” by your friends huh?
@@watsyourdestiny2086….they just asked a question. one you couldn’t even take the time to answer. i don’t think it’s reasonable to extrapolate everything you did from that comment. i’m curious why you think they’re self victimizing and afraid of being called antisemitic
Your critique here has me thinking about accessibility in media. UA-cam content is a perfect counter example. It’s optimized to be as accessible as possible (also to be widely and easily consumed). The “slowness” or “boringness” of the Curse is the direct opposite of that. It intentionally leaves in the parts that “should” be cut out; instead it emphasizes them. And in that emphasis it’s saying more about the characters, the world, and the story than it could otherwise. Instead of constant viewer stimulation, it moves at a pace where you can think and experience the scenes as they are happening. It’s not “wow, that was a wild ride” like an action movie might have, with all the thrills and twists and turns. But it’s “wow, that was a wild ride”, like emotionally.
Thank you for introducing me to this show! Can’t wait to watch it!
it's so evident that nathan and bennie make art for the people who love to understand people in a deeper, more profound way.
Nathan Fielding was absolutely 100% born to play Richard Mayhew in a live adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere'. I am begging the universe to make this happen.
Love seeing all the best commentators contributing to the Curse dialog. Thanks for your articulation. A great perspective.
The finale was so uplifting. Really went to another dimension.
underrated comnent ;)
Two scenes I really liked that were particularly layered: 1) the scene with Douggie and Asher in the car where he's rapping and "letting lose" on the way home from the restaurant after they finally hang out. The discomfort and fakeness, you know both are using one another and Douggie is trying to see how far he can push Asher. You also have Dougie’s perverse and sinister obsession with befriending Asher despite mocking and belittling him. You know he only wants a friendship out of loneliness and boredom and to use Asher as his plaything. It's layered with this fake veneer of them 'bonding' as Dougie encourages Asher but you also know Dougie is secretly drink driving and has little regard for Asher's well being. It’s like a parody of a sing along car scene in a coming of age film except, as well as being incredibly cringey, it exudes discomfort rather than cool and makes you feel claustrophobic rather than free. There’s no sun shining with the top down and wind in the hair, it’s just two grown white men trapped in the car together in the dark rapping 2) the scene in the hotel where Dougie deliberately plays the clip he'd recorded of Whitney bad mouthing Asher after they preview the show. It’s the revelation: Whitney explicitly expressing how she feels about Asher, confirming his worst fears and the hollowness of their relationship. You see Dougie's conniving character, Whitney's performed remorse, quilt and hypocrisy and Asher's real-time horror as he has the information presented to him via a recording wrapped around the sheeth of the finished TV product they’ve just watched.
Honestly this is how those kinds of interactions always feel to me. It's kind of impressive how they brought it out.
I really enjoyed these scenes too. The rapping in the first scene felt like a relief from the discomfort and awkwardness of their earlier hang, but it felt like _fake_ relief, because I knew the show would make me feel uncomfortable again at any moment. It made me feel just like the characters within the scene did.
The second scene was also amazing because we see that Whitney is incapable of just sitting down and being real - like REALLY real - with Asher. She has to watch a pre-recorded version of herself breaking his heart (with an audience, no less). She's so absorbed in her fake reality that she's completely unable to ground herself or have raw, unedited interactions with other people. She needs to know people are watching her do the right thing, even if it's devastating.
I love how it slowly builds tension for this outlandish pay off. Stone was putting on a masterclass.
She absolutely killed it. Watching this show definitely put her in all-time top tier acting for me.
Whitney's walk to the neighbor's house reminded me of the brilliant car hood oner from Widows. That one's more formally audacious and in your face, but they both take that transitionary moment to reveal something about the characters and their relationship with their environments.
This discussion reminds me of Ozu's classic Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story). You want to put it on 2x speed because of how it lingers on the awkward and mundane, and it can be confusing when not all the conversations have relevance to the overarching narrative. But it's beautiful. The Curse seems to draw some inspiration from that directorial style in the "behind-the-scenes" sections. It's refreshing to have that directly contrasted with a realistic performance of reality media in universe. Cool breakdown, I hadn't heard of this show before but looks worth a watch.
Watched a number of solid videos on The Curse, but you really nailed everything here. 👍🏾
thomas, you are always incredibly insightful and considerate with the stuff you analyze! appreciated very much, especially for a deep and layered show like the curse
this video is so easy to watch, i have a hard time sticking with videos/shows/movies because of auditory and other sensory issues, but this video is not only well made with quality content (obviously) but the audio is clean, even, and well mixed. so many youtubers turn me off from being able to enjoy their content simply because i have to fiddle with the volume every three seconds. thank you for letting my thumbs rest lol.... also funnily enough these same reasons are why I like Nathan Felder comedy, its very easy on my sense. to kind of juxtapose that, i also love I think you should leave BUT - it is not always doable for me. Felder.... Felder is always doable. heheh
Really love all of the well thought analysis in explaining how the show's presentation subverts that of reality tv. Only thing I'd contest is the idea that Whitney walking through the neighborhood was a show of her true connection to the community, rather than a grasp at that connection or the attempt at being viewed as connected.
Great analysis. I’ve seen so many people disappointed over the ending because “it didn’t make sense.”
I think everyone was expecting that the show was building up to something major that would tie everything together. But that wasn’t the point, that’s not how life is. Each episode was a glimpse into these characters lives and I think it did a wonderful job at that.
I really appreciated your analysis of the performative nature of the character's morality. They aren't really conscious of what they are doing, at least not actively so, and they aren't necessarily trying to trick anyone, they are just trying to feel good. I think we all do that to some degree. Checking a box to avoid guilt is a character flaw that I think a lot of us have, and ironically use to justify our actions, or more often, in-actions.
I have to say that Thomas' analysis of the ending is a bit reductive of what the show is trying to say, and the existential ideas it's exploring. It's way bigger than merely reality TV and "they did it because it was good TV". I'll elaborate a bit further without turning it into a 20 page essay, despite my tendency to do so:
Throughout the entire show there has been this conflict of perspectives on "why bad things happen". Some explanations are more rational, and others, specifically Asher, has been ruminating that the reason these things are happening are because of The Curse that the girl inflicted on him - superstition if you will - and then after 9 episodes of tension and rumination, it finally results in the outburst and "realization" that Asher has at the end of episode 9; "It's not a stupid curse, it's me! I'm a bad person". Now, other writers and artists would have had this as the dramatic ending and the resolution to the entire curse question, but Fielder and Safdie do something so ingenious and out of left-field that it not only recontextualizes the show, but our understanding of reality itself: Asher just falls off the face of the earth - literally.
After many episodes of realism and trying to ground a realistic meaning to every single thing that has happened, something completely and utterly inexplicable happens, and makes us question how much we truly understand of the world.
Some viewers try to find a "logical" explanation to the ending, others will go back to The Curse being real, but once we take a step back we realize this might be the core existential message of the show:
"How do we explain the inexplicable?"
Final Note: I almost wish I turned this into an essay in itself, and I might if the concept/message of the show continues to haunt me.
Dew it.
A great first step is to realize and admit that you don't know even a sliver of what is possible, what exists in the vast expanse of reality. Then when something inexplicable happens it doesn't shatter your entire worldview and psyche. That's what bugs me about a ton of people. They're so fucking confident that what they're doing is correct, without examining their actions and the effects of those actions. A little humility, and a little gratitude go a _long_ way.
I'm sorry but that was definitely _not_ the core message of the show. Ending a series about reality with surrealism was definitely an aspect of it, but to take that as the main point is an insult to the creators and far more reductive than anything Thomas had to say.
@@Jesse-lv2yo that wasn't the entire thing I took away from the show. Obviously I can't write every single thing here. And according to benny safdie himself in a panel he did, he said art isn't about giving you the answers so even if what I took away isn't what was intended, it's still valid. And another thing entirely but Benny Safdie in that same panel alluded to the fact that what I wrote here was indeed at least close to what the show's message is, quite literally.
THANK YOU! YES! I'm so so so glad to see more people talking about The Curse. Truly an art piece of a show with the way it handles it's subtle performances and cinematography. Truly an inspiration, as it tends to be, when Nathan is involved
The thought about the comment on sharing our shared reality in this media way is so profound and a healthy reminder of where we’re at in society. I don’t think we keep good track of the concept that this is still a media platform. Yes, there’s a social auction idea to it, but it’s so hard to be mindful of the fact that it’s still media I really feel vividly uncomfortable at this thought still thank you for bringing it up and such a clearway and giving your meta metta (he does it with a compassion), commentary of this example. It’s so profound appreciate you.> I know
Curb Your Enthusiasm did this same type of concept first, but The Curse feels way more raw and real.
I'm so glad you're covering this brilliant show. It needs WAY more fans!
The way you write and present your essay videos is absolutely amazing to me
I Always look forward to seeing another
Great work
Thank you for such a lovely and comprehensive video! You really hit the nail in regards to why I got chills up my spine watching this show - it felt like I was looking into a mirror of reality. Just how people acted, how the conversations flowed, how insecurities and truths are hidden and shown. The scene with Dougie discussing drunk driving is one of the best scenes I've seen,.
The best video that I've seen about 'The Curse'. The one thing which I have to critizise is just, that you didn't follow up on one of your other videos about 'Metamodernism', because in my opinion this show, even without the 'magical realism' last episode, embodies everything what metamodernism art is. Well, in my opionion, but I wanted you to connect the dots. Otherwiese superb as usual. Keep up the good work.
1:48 i love when landlords and their ilk pretend to be poor. It’s insulting but fascinating to watch them do their best impression of honest people
its nice to see someone piece together the progression of representation of realism from smokers allowed and the rehearsal as well. fully love that it takes reality tv and makes it beautiful and artistic whilst still being funny and weird
16:19 up until "we might start to think that something might be wrong with our own lives because they're not as entertaining as the media we're consuming on a daily basis" (not exactly how he said it but that's the general idea) - that's a crazy interesting point that I bet very few people think about and is a little terrifying thinking about how it's going to get worse in the future.
The camera POV is the curse, that was my take on it anyway... this can be seen in the final moments with the sweeping camera shots that weren't used prior.. almost showing the curse was now at ease and it's job was complete.
Great take!
Bit too simplistic. You can think of it as one of the layers of meaning but by itself not enough to encompass a significant portion of the meaning.
@@xmlthegreatbro it’s a UA-cam comment not a thesis
@@xmlthegreatdo you have a more sophisticated take to contribute or just going to be patronizing?
Dougie's drink driving perversion is even deeper. In the sequence with Asher they're in a restaurant and Asher, having had fairly little to drink offers to be the designated driver, but Dougie argues and insists that, even though Dougie had clearly had more to drink, Asher should keep drinking and having fun and so Dougie'll be the driver, and he changes his drink order to coke.
But then Dougie sneaks over to the server and tells them to add rum to his Coke, but bring it in the same glass a soda comes in, so Asher will still think it's plain Coke, and not a run and coke.
So Dougie is deliberately getting as drunk as possible hoping to come in just under the legal limit. This is a betrayal of Asher and the sense of guilt and shame is almost palpable.
Nathan for you simultaneously makes me laugh so hard and get second hand anxiety/awkwardness and it’s the best
the show was so good im going out of my way to make a custom dvd for it. I need a physical copy!!
It is so avantgarde. Absolutely masterpiece of the format so far.
I’ve never cackled so hard at the ending of a show. Just incredible.
Great video - about half way through and I’m already thinking about the broader insights this shows as a lens on our human world...1) the world of influencers on social media, which starts off usually wanting to authentically connect with an audience and ends up being a faked version of reality carefully curated over time and 2) being mindful how what we consume can distort our sense of reality and what the world “should” look like...perfect example being that of love in the modern world and how heavily we over romanticize what it’s supposed to look like based on movies and tv shows. So important to remember that the content we consume is usually a way to escape the mundane world of reality (because, as mentioned, the day to day is often boring and no one wants to watch that), so entertainment is about getting lost in fantasy and imagination...yet it can often manifest into unrealistic expectations of what reality should be like..fascinating topic!
Astute analysis. The thesis, "The Curse looks like a parody but it is a more sincere character study" is clever. Your rhetoric is well constructed and supported.
Another banger 🔥
You've got a real talent, thanks for sharing!
22:20 I think there's more to Whitney and Dougie and all these characters than ONLY wanting to appear moral. I think that's one half of them that doesn't want to change to become moral, like a lot of us. But I truly believe there's the "2 wolves inside you" element to them, basically. A lot of WANT to be good people but feel too alien or cut off, or afraid, to make ourselves vulnerable to that change. In a world where Cancel Culture exists in some nebulous form, and in the social media "curated appearances" age, there's such a fear of seeming like we don't know something. As if it means we have zero sensitivity toward it and are the opposition. There's little room for neutrality and organic growth of identity. If something "un-PC" happens, we gotta prove IMMEDIATELY how much we hate it based on talking points. It's like forming an opinion on a rorschach test before your eyes have focused on it, because of what other people said it was.
I feel like there was a good level of optimism in the show that these characters are in a constant struggle with themselves trying to find comfort but authenticity as well.
I know this word is overused and I'm using it kind of the same, but you're a genius. It's so well formulated, especially the part about having little room for neutrality and organic growth of identity. Like seeing a Rorschach test before your eyes are fully open
@@Azer1125 aww heck :) thanks so much kind stranger!🖖🏼
Great analysis of the show. I appreciate your insight
This show is criminally underrated and the themes flew over a lot of people's heads. Hell I need to rewatch it to fully understand Nathan's philosophy
most of what you describe here is just what works (or what i love) about found footage/mockumentary horror, which is the genre i considered this show to be as well. there’s a movie called ‘they’re watching’ that is a horror mockumentary of one of those international buyer reality shows, and there’s also ‘delivery: the beast within’ that is filmed as a mockumentary pregnancy diary type reality show. i love those, but the curse still felt different, and i’d love to know why. the whole “filming moments that aren’t typically present in most reality tv” thing is still present in most of that genre of horror though, so not unique to the curse. loved your insight into the ending because honestly as much as i loved it i didn’t get it 😭 the idea of it perfectly mirroring their insistence on “helping” while not actually helping at all is so good.
I love your reading of the ending! It's an angle I didn't necessarily consider and I think it fits incredibly well
This show was amazing
I had no idea that this show existed. Weird, and it seems it is a good show.
Nathan is a genius, not surprisingly he graduated from one of Canadas top universities with really good grades.
😂 now I want to rewatch Nathan 4 u
Did this get unlisted? I feel so lucky to have found and bookmarked this before - been specifically waiting for this vid from you.
Don’t think so because it popped up in my recommended and I’ve never even heard of this channel or this TV show
Great video essay. I'll come back to this one, I need to think more about this.
It's really hard to do a weird realism feel. Nathan as sure as hell knows how to do it, along with The Safdies Bros (mostly). Emma is just Emma (taking the best roles and turning them into gold). Thomas, sad Fallen Leaves weren't nominated in Oscars, but I have a question for you. There is this big painted animated Polish movie The Peasants and it recieved acclaim in Poland (my country) and I was curious if you had chance to see this film. If you had, could you tell your opinion on it in comments. Film revieved mixed reviews in USA because of its themes (BTW It's an adaptation of Nobel Winning famous writter). Thanks for a vid. Will wait for the next one. Have a nice day.
I loved the similarities between Asher flying away and the chiropractor scene
I cannot look at Nathan Fielder without remembering the "drink grandson's pee" guy, it's just etched into my brain. That one random man is the only person I've ever seen completely throw Nathan off and get him to break character by completely flipping the situation and making Nathan the one wondering "what the fuck is happening?"
Had to stop watching when I saw the spoiler warning (thank you!!), but this video was insightful. I'm looking forward to watching the show. I was intrigued by the sneakpeek I saw, and love Fielder's work. Stone is always amazing as well. I'll come back later to watch the end of the critique!
jealous of your journey! have fun!
This show reminded me of Twin Peaks The Return in it's blatant disregard for tradition and it's full dive into subversive, audience challenging art cinema in an episodic format. It walks a very strange line between comedy, horror and drama that is executed in a way I've never seen before. I was already a fan of the Safdie's, but now I'm also a big fan of Nathan Fielder (& his tiny little dick). I really hope Ben & Nathan continue to collaborate! It was a Mark Frost/David Lynch esque Yin/Yang pairing that worked marvelously! Also kudos to huge movie star Emma Stone for taking on a challenging, bizarre role and absolutely killing it!
I immediately thought of the Return too upon watching the finale! and if you liked this show and Emma's acting, you'd probably really enjoy Poor Things if you haven't seen it yet
24:52 woah i never thought about that , i was always wondering, as cool as the end was, why it was included but that makes so much sense now .
Thanks for this video, it is excellent onboarding for the show. I've not watched much new media in the last year, and this first 25% of this essay had me step away to binge The Curse and then come back to finish where you left off. What an excellent piece of work.
Please explain the insane soundtrack...plus the way people are so frequently framed or separated by walls and doors and windows.
This was outstanding! I really appreciate the time and thought going into this and will have to check more of you "Why Is___Like That videos, as I see there are a number of them here. Many concerning films I absolutely love. Have you done any videos on Burning (2018)? Would love to hear your thoughts on that. And since you do quite a few essays on series, curious if you've seen Deadwood or Halt and Catch Fire? Two of my favorites of the 21 century so far. Keep up the incredible work here as it is definitely appreciated. I know how much goes into these, so thank you.
Great work Thomas! I was waiting for someone to deeply analyze some of the most complex aspects of this show and you knocked it out of the park... Thank you!
Omg! I live in on Finland and "Fallen Leaves" was a huge thing here when it was released. The director is very well known and all of his films are kind of that surrealist in-between experience. Fallen Leaves was excellent!
good video. this show made me laugh harder than anything i've seen in a long time. would've been funny to see you seriously analyze the micropenis scenes. loved the ace ventura impersonation and nathan coming into the room with a cowboy hat in that phone call scene. somehow this dark comedy satire was also hilarious. other than the unique premise, i think the show is compelling bc emma and nathan played characters that seem to be opposite to their real-life personalities or other characters they've portrayed. i couldn't wait to see what happened in each episode. their relationship and person selves seemed to both be deteriorating to the point i couldn't look away and yet still empathized with them. thanks for posting.
When this channel (I hope soon) hits 1 million subscribers, it will be the most deserved event on UA-cam
Whitney takes that walk like she’s a Disney princess interacting with the sweet little birds who flock to her in the forest, like she belongs there but everyone she tries to interact with is apathetic. So weirddddd loved it
beautiful analysis and editing my dude!
Glad I added this to my watch later before it got removed.
this is one of my favorite videos on youtube. thanks
this was compelling af. I have had to pee since a minute in and still wouldn't leave my PC. I didn't even want to interrupt it enough to switch to watching it on my phone.
Everything Nathan Fielder touches turns to gold
It's such a shame that some of those middle episodes are such a slog that some people never even got to the end
around the 18 minute mark of the video when he said "or worst of all, boring." I couldn't help but think of Bo Burnham's Inside, and the song Welcome to the internet.
"apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime."
Superb analysis. Love this and keep up the great work 👏
That's a really interesting interpretation of the final scene. I loved it.
Dougie does a hand shoo motion before Asher gets out of the car after their argument in the second to last episode. When asked "what was that?" Dougie says "FLY" before cursing Asher as he walks back into his home
Killer job. Thanks for making this!
great essay, fr. thank you for sharing this, it really cleared a lot up for me
Once trauma becomes profitable, we all desire to be traumatized and/or traumatize others to then have content to exploit. As long as we are the ones to control the outcome of that trauma, through being disconnected from our emotions enough to be able to objectify the entire experience, we desire the perpetuation of trauma. By no means do we desire authenticity, if by that we mean the lack of the ability to exploit trauma. We desire "authenticity", by which we mean self-reflection through watching such shows as The Curse, in order to make us "more responsible" and therefore EVEN MORE CAPABLE of exploiting trauma. We're not like those unsophisticated people whose lack of cultural awareness leaves them vulnerable to succumbing to trauma and then being *made into content* instead of making content.
What the show calls "The Curse" is what is presented in "Nope" through the alien creature - beings exploiting trauma for material and social gain. In other words, Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder themselves (and Jordan Peele).
There are many authentic people dying on the streets. We desire "authenticity", not authenticity. The artist isn't there to tell us the truth but to exploit the truth.
Preach Brian ❤
Perfectly said.
I absolutely love your work. Love the observations and discussion around film.
Such a great video, you are really killing it
My theory on the ending is that the flying off into space is Whitney's perspective on Asher leaving her/the marriage. At the end of Episode 9, Asher actually became the person Whitney pretended to be. During the Shabbat scene in Episode 10, she was playing on her phone, worried about the finances of giving away the house, making fun of Cara, and doing all the things she criticized Asher for earlier in the season. The roles flipped, but instead of her faking it, he was being sincere. That change in the relationship dynamic ripped them apart from a metaphorical perspective and the last sequence was just it being shown as literal.
Just as the show started out as a goof on the "Flip or Flop" couple, it also ended as one with Dougie getting footage of and making great TV out of the separation.