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[tijde]

Re: Critical Analysis

[AngryDeepground]

Re: Critical Analysis

[Geneaux486]

[Spakken]

Re: Critical Analysis

[tijde]

Oh, I definitely think it's a very well-developed story and they know what they're doing with it. I just meant I doubt this kind of subtext is intentional.  

Ok, a little breakdown. Remember, we're just playing around on a slow night. I'm no literary critic and I'm bullshitting for fun. And also I'm medicated. 
 
When all this started, Alex was a film student, yes? Pursuing an art form to make a career out of it. Let's assume that MH is his first big project--a taste of what being a director really is. Things don't go well. It's a lot harder than he thought. He starts to wonder, "Can I really do this? Can I hang in for years before I get successful? Is it even worth it? Should I pursue something safer instead?" Enter The Operator. So what is The Operator? He's a picture of what Alex is afraid of becoming if he abandons his dreams and drops his artistic pursuits in favor of security.  

The Operator:

*is a faceless, ie anonymous guy in a suit: corportate drone, his identity is erased/subsumed by the suit. The business suit *is* his identity  
*towers above everyone, but unnaturally thin: height represents 'success', he's socially and economically superior, BUT weight is satisfaction. He's spiritually (or mentally, or creatively) starved      
*cocks his head as if wondering what he's watching, while simultaneously opening his arms & entrancing: he's lost all touch with his youth and dreams, and expects it to happen to everyone. "Think you're gonna be a rock star? You'll see; you'll grow out of it and get a real job. Welcome to real life."
*looms in the background, everywhere: the thought is always there; it's a looming fear

Alex fought the fear at first. But then he saw his friends, who were just as gung-ho about film as he was, gradually fall victim to his 'monster'. Finally he gives up film, but he doesn't succumb himself--he flees. That works, but till when? Till he has a new established life... and a serious girlfriend. (She says, "I thought WE didn't have a camera?") Enter fear of adulthood again, and there goes Amy. But she's important; he doesn't want to lose her. So now Alex is trying to reconcile himself with his fear, not by succumbing, but by trying to do it on his terms. But it's not working, and he's becoming what he fears. 

As for tta/maskies.. We've seen chills, pills, and ills. We see crytic advice that doesn't make sense until it's too late. And the stalking and violence--Alex overcomes Tim, but Tim catches up anyway. Plus the sheer craziness, and another kind of lost identity. If The Operator is adulthood, the Maskies seem pretty stereotyical of old age and senility.       

I have no idea how Bruce, Jess, and Jay fit in. >.<

EDIT: "Stalking and violence" meaning you can't outrun age and your body goes to shit. Again, I'm medicated.  

[Geneaux486]

Very cool, very unique interpretation of the story. I especially liked your description of the Operator as this sort of everyman who's lost his identity in the corporate world. I'd suggest that J may just be the audience's way in to the story, but I think too much of J's character has been established for him to just be a point of view.

[Spakken]

And you say you're no literary critic. That is quite a grand interpretation! Why, if you were in my class, you'd get at least a B on that paper, provided you turn that into a paper. (A's are for people who get their paper to publishing levels, in my opinion.) Mind you, I haven't started teaching yet, so... I'll just have to file this all away in my notebook of lesson plans.

[Geneaux486]

[tijde]

Aww garsh, you guys. Thanks! Reading back over it, I hope I didn't offend by calling this kind of criticism "bullshitting." I just meant I hadn't exactly worked it all the way through. Thoughts developed and congealed as I was typing, so it wound up more fleshed out than I anticipated. I read a lot of literary horror. (I'm working toward a copyediting career and I'd love to specialize in the genre.) I like to mull this stuff over after I finish a book, but I don't often discuss it, so I don't know how it sounds to people with actual experience and education. And there's nothing wrong with intimidating teachers, IMO. The few I had in audited courses taught me the most, and I enjoyed their classes quite a lot.

Now I'm thinking Jay is representative of what Alex could have been. He continued with film and is still playing the starving artist/hobo--no security, not even a place to live, but his life has a lot of excitement compared to Alex's before Amy vanished. So maybe he represents another kind of temptation for S2 Alex, pulling Alex back toward the life he once wanted. Jess is in a type of domestic situation with Jay at the hotel, looser that Alex and Amy's. But Jay keeps her at arm's length, so when she disappears Jay isn't as fazed. He basically avoided another one of Alex's 'pitfalls', and his filming stays top priority.

Now where the heck is Owlish. I want to see other interpretations, dangit!

[Owlish]

Re: Marble Hornets Critical Analysis--A Total Nerdout (OOG)

[ieisuk]

[Spec] Amy

[rand__althor]

Re: [Spec] Amy

[tijde]

Re: [Spec] Amy

[ieisuk]

Thanks for the response guys. I saw that, I just wasn't sure if I could trust him at that point, still not sure to be honest, but things definitely changed at entry 43 with his run in with the operator there. Telling Jessica that he's been in contact with Amy also didn't help matters, I'll have to do some more detective work on my own part, and hopefully use the forums for some of the fine toothed comb details.

[tijde]

Wait, I may have misread your earlier post. Are you saying 56-42 may be a sort of #26b, showing Alex disposing of Amy (via killing, vanishing, or memory wiping) sometime after #26? I suppose that's possible. If that's what you meant, I don't quite follow how who sent #26 plays into the equation. A few thoughts borrowed from the #36 thread--they're all from different theories:

- Jay just assumes Alex sent #26. We don't know for sure, thanks to strategically placed distortion
- If Alex didn't send it, whoever did (presumably Masky or tta, if they're separate entities) must have taken it from him soon after it happened. That would mean Masky or tta knew where Alex was all along.
--That doesn't make sense if you believe Alex's comments in the parking lot fight--#47, I think? Alex says he wasn't harassed by masked people till Jay showed up. If someone stole #26 to send to Jay, Alex was lying.
--Makes sense if you think the camera/tape was planted in Alex's closet.
--Doesn't make sense if you think Alex lured Masky to his new location via Jay (Masky following Jay to Alex; Alex sending Jay the address, then staking out the #34/#35 house, specifically to ambush Masky)
- If tta sent #26, why not just post it and get Jay the address? And how would Alex know where to find Jay at the #34/#35 house if he hadn't delivered the address?