jeepers, gang!

throughout the story of utena, the ones who "revolutionize the world" are generally seen as the ones who buy the most into the patriarchal system and want to uphold it. their "revolution" is in controlling others for the sake of their own ego, not about genuine change. they all see themselves as revolutionary, but none of them revolutionize anything. they are all tools of the system and fail to escape it.

utena's "revolution," then, is when she no longer buys into that system. the "revolution" of rgu is one in which you realize the system is broken and reject it entirely. this could be read as an individualist perspective, but i don't think that's necessarily the case. rather, rgu's core tenant is that you cannot control other people. everyone has agency, and they must decide how to use that agency themselves. attempting to control others is childish. becoming an adult is realizing the only person you can change is yourself.

the reason i don't think rgu is about systemic change or revolution in the leftist sense is because the story ends before we can begin to see how rgu views that process. our characters' arcs are about rejecting the current system, not about building a new one, which is fundamental to the idea of revolution. the world outside the current system is a complete unknown to the characters and the audience. we don't know what a different world would look like. that's part of what's so scary about rejecting the current system, but rgu insists it's still worth it.

"Pearls" by Morgan Gwenwald

Baptiste Hersoc, “Château de cartes” (House of Cards)

by reinynui