I'm in love with the American Gothic Symbolism in Walten Files (An Analysis)
So I watched "Faces of Grief" recently and I love the artistic symbolism overall within the episode. The one thing I noticed that became more prominent after "Hotline" is the inclusion of the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood and the overall repetition of American imagery and audio especially considering the fourth of July aspect.
This, I believe, was included with intent behind it. The American Gothic painting was originally created as a means to bring comfort during the depression especially at a time where rural American values were put into question at the beginning of the Great Depression. The reception by the vast majority, however, was that it was a satirical take on Midwesterners being just a mite out of step or out of touch compared to a rapidly modernizing America.
Traditional American values serve a very important role in this episode, the most obvious being Jack Walten who believes his purpose is to protect his children and his wife and, therefore, needing to persist and remain unbothered by the chaos happening around him. He describes grief as an illness when talking to Sophie about her mother and that he's the one strong enough to take care of and manage everything; something directly contradicted by the scene of shattering being heard from beyond the door to his study as well as his brief monologue about what grief does to a person.
As for Rosemary, there's a line she utters during the projector scene in the episode.
This is more blatant throughout the whole episode but a large part of her identity revolved around her kids, her husband, and the perfect life she lead. While this isn't uncommon, she's relied on that identity for so long that when she loses any of it she's unable to move on as easily. She's a grieving mother without much else to turn to for comfort since everything had been done with the kids and her husband in mind. Her paintings rarely depict anything other than that, the animatronics were designed with her family taking heavy inspiration, and she even says that everything was taken from her and she was left behind.
Michigan is considered midwest culturally speaking, exactly what American gothic was meant to depict. A thing with traditional midwestern America traditions is these ideas are what a family is supposed to be in order to be "picture perfect". That doesn't mean they were wrong for doing so but the reliance on these ideals and resistance to change can often be the detriment to a family if tragedy occurs.
The scene where Rosemary is painting the parody is especially important given the history of the American Gothic painting. It was originally intended to be reassuring to midwestern America but was ultimately taken as satire around their resistance to change or modernize. In this scene, Rosemary is reminiscing on the last time she saw her kids while Jack's TV plays in the other room. The picture is devoid of any distortion or reality seeping through, she appears to be returning to a more comforting and reassuring idea of her life having just recently needing to sort and process her kids being gone. This is during the chapter "Denial" fittingly enough. The painting itself is unfinished and presumably left unfinished after the events of the episode.
The painting and her whole life becomes stagnant beyond this point, not adapting or moving forward just stuck in this snapshot as grief persists. Jack is also just as stagnant since he never grew to accept that he himself is also vulnerable in this point in time. He actively rejects the idea of appearing bothered or allowing himself to process the situation and his emotions; instead he's focused on trying to move forward almost immediately to "Start living" again in such a small frame of time that he actively tells his own grieving wife that they need to move on. Regardless, his moving forward is an attempt to return to his ideal life rather than trying to start a new one and actually progress to better himself.
These resistant qualities in different ways cause both's journey through grief to alternate and worsen over time, never fully processing their emotions and memories in a healthy manner. It's even emphasized during the diner scene that Rosemary feels as though she was left behind by the whole world. Without a proper support group or healthy coping mechanisms, grief can take terrifying forms as depicted in the episode and alluded to by Jack during his brief monologue.
I think incorporating American Gothic as a representation for the two is clever especially considering Sophie is typically not depicted along side them or the her siblings. She's an unwilling observer to this resistance, left alone to interpret what her family used to be and what it is now, the wedding footage being the only thing she has left as a reminder of what once was. Her journey of grief is interesting especially considering she has no one to confide in and is left alone with her emotion and turmoil. She describes not feeling anything but it's clearly not out of apathy, it's not uncommon either but that would require it's own analysis and I'd like to do more research before I dive into her. I have only a basic idea of what's happening with her grief in particular despite having experienced this type but that doesn't mean I know why it happens, I only know the others since I've observed it.
Anyway, thank you for attending my yap session on the internet
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