unforum

[Jane Smith]

The Numbers...ohhhh the numbers

[AntaresMHD]

If it's true that we're part of some immersive fiction, I suspect that as soon as next week we might see a post by Megan in the page, as Howard gets increasingly paranoid and anxious. Like, we weren't supposed to figure out what the gift was since it's something only she would know (despite all of our attempts), so she's the one that will communicate with him. It's less fun but it would explain why so far no one has cracked it.

[danteIL]

So about these trailer flashes ---

they are cool and all and I'm definitely interested to see where they go. BUT these trailers (or at least the flash parts) will have to be released online, right?? I mean, why would a major film studio sign off on a marketing campaign that actually encourages people to surreptitiously record the trailers?? That's lunacy from their perspective.

[gimlet]

I actually edited my post before you made yours, so you should re read that.

Also it's not a stretch at all - we know Howard was a navy vet, we have radioman 70 which has a very particular meaning. We know apx how old the actor is. Just putting those things together is pretty elementary.

I do think it's just light story background for Howard. The numbers in each image may have some sort of coded meaning too, but it's really too early to know/say.

[Jane Smith]

[kosmopol]

[DougBThree]

[gimlet]

[Jane Smith]

[kosmopol]

People, please calm down, it's a Lion.

[gimlet]

Well. Maybe my diagnosis of Howard with PTSD is a total stretch (I'm not a professional and he's not my patient OBVS - bit he's also fictional so I don't feel too bad about it), but I'm a little familiar with it, and pretty much all of his actions are SUPER consistent with it. It explains all his behavior we've seen so far. If he was a vet in Vietnam that's really really common. It's also not something that ever goes away, really. 40 years later it can hit you all over again - especially if you are retraumatized (with, say, New York being destroyed by a monster).

Here's a primer:

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.htm

Paranoia, outbursts of anger, anxiety, shaking (like the scene at the dinner table, which I've wondered about), minimizing & avoiding (the board games, puzzles, music from his youth while the world is literally burning) flashbacks, hyper-vigilance. It's textbook.

The part about not remembering traumatic events makes me go hmmmmm.
Because he doesn't Remember Megan as she is, but as she was. There's something there.

More than all this, the idea that he has PTSD gives me sympathy for his character. Pathos which I wouldn't have otherwise. Instead of just seeing him as a crazy conspiracy theorist, I see him as a broken man. A tragedy in the Greek sense.

Also, I've been confused by swamp pop for a while. We all are. What was the point? Remember when I said one thing it could be showing us is that we're going to have to work together? I feel like that's maybe what all these clips in different theaters are, exactly. A puzzle to put together, that has to be done collaboratively. Just like all the characters in the trailer work on Catfish.

I could be totally off base with this, but right now I think that puzzle is: who is Howard?

Edit: Think We're Alone Now was a hit single in 1967 - when John Goodman - and potentially Howard - was in highschool. Too young to enlist, old enough to know the song and identify with the lyrics on a very personal level. Interesting.

[JustThinking]

Radioman, Radiogirl. The historically important in radio transmissions Eiffel Tower in every part of the game and in trailers. We have done nothing with radio angle- must be missing something.

[v37]

Along those lines...

[ljm]

[brandongoeszoom]

/r/10CL