https://elisaoverhere.com/commentary daily 0.75 2024-09-15 https://elisaoverhere.com/commentary/leave-the-twilight-zone-behind monthly 0.5 2023-12-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/808b305a-72a4-40a4-bb7d-306cd86ab203/Leave_the_World_Behind_n_01_16_20_16_fr_f.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/5fdb9040-5e51-4f35-81bb-4f0b57dc6df7/maxresdefault.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out In the film, the newly inescapable 21st-century norm is access to satellite data in many households, something that wouldn’t have been experienced on a large scale in the 20th century. By cutting this one element, the film’s creators further evaluate how humanity’s reliance on outside forces (power, satellite data) both empowers and has the opportunity to disable the public as a whole. Again, this serves a reminder of the delicate nature of human reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/8abc4c22-ff96-4ae1-a474-d7f3e607d689/monsters11.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Tommy more obviously continuously references comic books in which characters experience similar events as his neighbors on Maple Street. While all he’s trying to do is offer a unique perspective, one that makes perfect sense to him, his references to media are looked at as insignificant and silly. Eventually, the finger is pointed at Tommy as the adults can’t further rationalize who’s at fault. Could Tommy, who knew the story perfectly, have been an alien in disguise all along? The creator’s of this story highlight how the fragility of human nature even impacts society’s most vulnerable age group - the children. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/58c96d0a-0dbb-48aa-a956-d30d5bb0c340/Screen+Shot+2023-12-18+at+4.44.13+PM.png commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out *Spoiler* Eventually, the primary family (Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Charlie Evans, Farrah Mackenzie) in the film and the owners of the house (Mahershala Ali, Myha’la) are in need of help as the health of the eldest son suffers as a result of the loud piercing sound that rang out hours before. The owners of the house suggest contacting their neighbor (Kevin Bacon), who is notably a sort of doomsday prepper and might have supplies to help out. As they pull up, instead of welcoming them with open arms, the doomsday prepper neighbor welcomes them with a shotgun and asks them to step off his property. The question, ‘Are you trusting of the people around you, or skeptical?’ is put on display, and the neighbor makes it clear that there’s no trust here, even with prior communal, neighborly history. The creator’s of the film are doing a lot here, mostly reflecting that individualistic nature being a threat to the community, but also digging a bit into race relations* (see below). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/44eb459d-1056-4e6c-9359-56095baf1c65/monsters10.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Tommy is the youngest apparent cast-member of the episode who is consistently overlooked, albeit in more obvious ways. As the neighbors scour to figure out what’s going on, Tommy jumps in with some suggestions that are ignored because of his age. Tommy recalls a few books he’s read before where this very scenario has happened, but the part where he’s lost everyone is when naming “aliens in human disguise” as the cause of those imaginary scenarios. This is something that the adults don’t have the time to hear, because of course there are real issues happening and real causes are needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/345b3dae-7940-41c3-bfc6-0c99829a2c53/madoms-pic-3.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out In the 60’s, consumers were reliant on power in a way that was unique to the 20th century and not previously seen in the 19th century. Power, in many homes, was the norm, as was having appliances that relied on power to operate. By shifting this one element and removing access to power, the entire cast of characters becomes disoriented enough to jump start the developing tensions. This is just another reflection of how delicate human realities are, and how humanity’s reliance on new technologies can either benefit of inhibit the public’s safety. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/2ee3f58e-a095-4dc2-82b0-069ff97ca08f/hulu0bef448b5-6e11-45fe-aab7-4a5c5f15dee7.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out A key aspect of the episode is the paranoia that the community feels and how it causes each member of the community to turn and point blame at others. Quickly, that sameness of Suburbia is interjected by the otherness of distrust that boils up when there are unanswered questions that feel threatening to the individual’s sense of safety. The neighbors who once had a lovely rapport are now ravenous in their distrust of each other, and in-fighting takes over. The creator’s of this episode drive home the reality that individualism is the community’s greatest enemy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/d15c5207-8da7-43ef-99ce-c61fd987bfbd/Leave+The+World+Behind commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/b796b334-52dc-4d2e-b920-f80f29fe9e20/leave-the-world-behind-n-01-05-36-03-f.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out *Spoiler* After the incident with the neighbor, the owner of the house fully lets his paranoia set in. He’s maintained a sneaking suspicion the entire time that an opposing governmental force, or enemy of the US, is likely causing the satellite blackout in an attempt to create a civil war amongst Americans. The idea is that in the event of one variable shifting, the American people will turn on themselves, and cause mass self-inflicted destruction: “Because if the target nation [America] was dysfunctional enough, it would, in essence, do the work for you.” And after experiencing that interaction with a neighbor he once fondly engaged with (Doomsday Prepper was once his contractor on his house), the owner of the house discovers that role of the American citizen in America’s own destruction might be more active then previously thought. The creator further drives home many points, including America’s likeliness to resort to racism and individualism, and how that might surely lead to its own destruction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/687eeba2-2258-4e4b-8ee3-a867040a5b77/PDVD_035.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out The suburban block in an undisclosed area serves as the perfect backdrop for a developing tension. If every home and every block looks the same, what happens when someone operates outside of the norm? That sameness makes the differences, even the small ones, glaringly apparent. By setting the story in this uniform, suburban town, the creators allowed for the tension to have the perfect place to develop and simmer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/3829044b-9461-4182-b39a-3e58854471e8/download-3.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Rose, like Tommy, is a story lover. In the beginning she’s almost finished with the final season of Friends, and grows heartbroken at not being able to see what happens in the end. As the story continues and the conflict is revealed, Rose struggles with her parents lack of an interest in exploring the world outside of the house. Rose notices the animals’ weird patterns and is curious for more. She even goes on a tangent about an episode of The West Wing where a character tells the story of a man whose faith in God as opposed to his faith in what’s in front of him leads to his demise. And ultimately, Rose is ignored, just like Tommy, serving as another example of society’s lack of care for the true needs of it’s most vulnerable age group. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/358b2062-f378-4ef7-a186-4dd627276147/rose-6575c387d4a65.png commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Rose is the youngest daughter of the family (Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Charlie Evans, Farrah Mackenzie) who is overlooked in a very small way. Though they obviously love and care for her, the family’s passive attitude towards Rose’s interests serve as the catalyst for Rose’s character arc. In other words, Rose’s very unimportant issue of not being able to finish the finale of “Friends” and being heartbroken at having unanswered questions isn’t as pressing of a concern as questions surrounding what is happening with the blackout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/48f0c904-e639-4226-8abb-381e953b7385/PDVD_035.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/fa18e09c-fe8b-4591-9c53-85b566d6712d/2.jpg commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out The upstate New York backdrop of the film is an almost perfect setting for a story of this nature. By placing the characters in an isolated location in upstate New York, the film’s creator has produced a setting that is perfect for building a slow and steady tension. What happens to people in isolated settings when blackouts happen? How do you communicate with the outside world? How will you know when issues are resolved if your only method of communication is clogged? With isolation comes relaxation, but also unease. And for this upper middle class family, the eventual unease of the setting nicely matches the unease of the plot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/c6903a69-c5c9-4833-b60b-f6f51f8b1137/Screen+Shot+2018-06-02+at+10.28.33+AM.png commentary - How Leave The World Behind Proves The Unique Magic & Contemporary Relevance of The Twilight Zone - Make it stand out *Spoiler* In the end, a riot breaks out in the neighborhood as a result of the constant fighting and finger pointing. Someone shoots and kills a ‘suspicious’ figure as the paranoia bubbles over, and the residents resort to further violence. And as the camera pans back, it’s revealed that aliens did in fact cause the power outage as an experiment in how humans react to change: “The world is full of Maple Streets…they pick the most dangerous enemies they can find, and it’s themselves. All we need to do is sit back and watch.” The monsters, in the case of this episode, are both the aliens in human disguise, and the people living in the neighborhood themselves. And the creators of the film finally drive home the fact that the enemy toward communal progress is sometimes simply the individual. https://elisaoverhere.com/commentary/whose-auntie-died monthly 0.5 2023-04-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/2ce80405-2707-4ea5-a6e9-288ecb8a707a/milk+in+my+coffeee commentary - Whose auntie died? Auntie literature defined, explained, venerated. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/05a29842-3a13-4219-9416-9769ea88b08d/WAD+3 commentary - Whose auntie died? Auntie literature defined, explained, venerated. - A glimpse into the moment that the term “auntie literature” emerged into my vocabulary. Screenplay re-creation of the real-life interaction that inspired this piece. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/1674345315451-4AP4P5OGPQBQMO8PP69H/WAD%253F%2B2.jpg commentary - Whose auntie died? Auntie literature defined, explained, venerated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63a7402fa89a0a25a249f3a2/1674345359516-N503NOHC72MVR0LHKHJ2/WAD%253F%2B1.jpg commentary - Whose auntie died? 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