i want it to look like you

the art of shaun tan and leviticus (2026) dir. adrian chiarella

reading this over a few times im understanding your contention as "dont be a dick to people who disagree with you abt leviticus bc art is subjective" which of course i agree with bc belittling is not constructive, but i do want to say i think most of the frustration towards negative/disagreeable takes in the tag is because of the natural blurring of lines between interpretation as opinion and interpretation as argument. from what ive seen personally (mainly on tumblr and twitter) a lot of negative reviews make strong statements about leviticus' value, but have very little evidence to back up what they're saying beyond opinion. you can say "i didn't like leviticus" to your heart's content, but when claiming leviticus is BAD, i think it's fair to want more than just buzzwords without evidence. "underdeveloped" which parts and in what way? what makes it underdeveloped rather than restrained or subtle? "poor writing" poor meaning weak execution of intent? then how so? i see so many takes i disagree with and am most irked by how naked the statement stands. why! why do you think that way! if interpretations don't come with reasoning, dismissing them is arguably justified (speaking on interpretation as ARGUMENT specifically). i might go even so far to claim that if dismissing interpretations bc you disagree with them isn't valid, then it's also not valid to dismiss negative engagment with your interpretation as "its my opinion" if you present it as argument. discussion of art is not black and white/right and wrong, but interpretation and analysis IS a skill (we're taught persuasive writing and argumentative analysis in school for a reason) and misinterpretation is something painfully observable in film spaces online. ofc everyone's still allowed to have an opinion, but if done respectfully, criticising other's interpretations is exactly the sort of intellectualism you're advocating for. naturally a lot of ppl in the tag know everything there is to know about leviticus because they love it. when you've watched a film thoroughly and combed through metatextual content such as the writer/director explaining their intention behind every aspect of it, it's natural to feel your interpretation holds more weight because it's more informed. doesn't mean your interpretation is more inherently "correct" than someone else's, but it's not baseless to feel dismissive of negative interpretations that aren't as rich with textual and metatextual references.

or when he's talking to jessica outside the hospital. he hesitates for a moment but then dives right in, do you think marnie saw you? when she died? obviously he's desperate and scared and looking for answers, but that doesn't stop him from asking quite literally the Worst Possible Invasive Question to ask!

or when he's in the mill w/ ryan and starts fights he knows he can't win! it's soooo good and i wish more fanworks capitalized on his tendency to ask invasive questions without a second thought in the heat of the moment. so much naim reid characterization online is making him timid and weary— which he can be, but ignoring his rudeness is doing him a disservice. ack!!

omfg yessss ok first of all. honored to have Thee tumblr user hystericalend here w me rn. u get it u understand love yr posts

also COMPLETELY AGREE it takes him so long to even just say he's gay to himself or to ryan. i feel like it's a lot easier for him to say ryan is his boyfriend post bandee because he loves ryan, he is fully committed to ryan, would bleed for ryan just as ryan has done for him. its a lot easier for him to embrace loving ryan than it is for him to embrace himself - i think there are still hurdles of guilt for him to cross over before he could get to a place where he even feels worthy of ryan.

post bandee i feel like i can see naim really struggling with guilt about this - why can ryan call himself gay so easily and naim can't? can't he give ryan that, does he not deserve someone who can just say what he is? and doesn't ryan have it worse, really, because he's the one between the two of them that's always met with surprise? (it occurs to naim later ryan spent years avoiding being outed in bandee, that everyone that watched ryan grow up turned on him. ryan knows how it feels to have a secret laid bare without consent, and ryan would go through it all over again for naim.)

but i think he also feels really guilty that he can't even say it to just himself. probably feels uncomfortable in his body during sex for a long time (ie mill scene where he sees his reflection, pleased and leaning into ryan feeling him up through his jeans, and pulls away. also thinking ab yr FANTASTIC fic that consumed my brain for days - your characterization of naim slowly letting go more and more regarding wanting/having more "revealing" sex... and ryan is there with him through it all. yeah. ohhhh im crying. love)

i also think because young adult men are notoriously bad at communication it's the sort of thing that unfortunately goes unspoken for a while, pushed back while they try to survive together. i think when they're settled, ryan has a steady job on a worksite and naim works shitty retail to save up for a future degree that will mean he can provide for ryan the way ryan does for him, then he really thinks about it.

i keep thinking about one of naims uni/city queer friends sharing a joint with naim while ryans out with coworkers for a few hours, and this friend says something that gives naim pause. (again. thinking ab yr most recent fic. insane devastating crazy like that's canon To Me!!!) something about being friends with an openly queer person (i imagine naim and ryan get adopted/taken under the wing of a boisterous lesbian that utterly adores them) and as much as naim knows he could tell ryan anything, anything, it's special to be able to have someone else that's there for him and understands, but from a distance - not tangled in their past.

she's talking about her days in school. she'd pressed naim teasingly about him and ryans first meeting, impressions of each other before they got together. naim, stoned and loose lipped, rambled and subsequently got embarrassed and shut down, pressed her back.

and she says something candid, loose from weed and laughter. something like "got to a point in school where i just had to accept it: i'm gay. and you know what? wouldn't change it for shit!" and naim stills, holding his breath. see, it's been a few years now. he can say ryan is his boyfriend, knows intrinsically that he loves ryan to the point he could combust at any moment, knows ryan knows/feels this too. but he's so tired of himself in that moment, frayed and exhausted. he still sees the wrong ryan outside through the windows at work, still checks the lighters in his and ryans pockets every day. but it's become so habitual compared to the wild fear that consumed him.

ryan comes to pick him up, grin blinding, kisses him unabashed while naims friend jokingly yells at them from the door. ryan has his hand rested on naims leg while he drives them home, and naim stares at it and feels the words turn in his mouth. i'm gay.

in the movie, we see naim get bravely closer and closer to the truth with people even as his trust is broken again and again. "we got together. and it was exciting, but it's only made me more scared." to someone that's supposed to protect him, but in front of naim does something irreversible. "i've been (to the mill) before. with ryan." and he's praying his mom will listen, praying his mom will help him, be present with him, but she sacrificed his safety knowingly.

naim watches people react with surprise when ryan comes out deceptively easy. post bandee, ryan refuses to make the risk of trusting those he cant, and the second he's asked about a girlfriend he answers honestly, rips the bandage off and leaves the raw uncovered truth.

naim, especially once they escape the cycle of buses, motels, and sleepless nights with nowhere to go, is ready to settle but anxious about The Question. the secret that people seem to be able to sense somewhere in his timid frame or in his haunted face. the first few times someone asks if he has someone, a "partner" with a knowing look, a girlfriend, he just says "yes." and leaves it at that.

the relief of finally telling someone yes, he has a boyfriend, he's gay, he has ryan, and the person just smiles easily and says "well, tell me about ryan, then." asks to see a picture. "what does your ryan do?"