#frenchie omfd

I suppose it was inevitable, but my reignited Our Flag Means Death special interest--that's been particularly focused on Frenchie this time around--has now turned into a whole Joel Fry thing. To that end...

Jasper, Cruella

I was intrigued by this movie when it first came out, but not enough to rate stepping inside a movie theater in 2021, and not enough to pay for a "premium" Disney+ rental. After that, it just fell off my radar, and I never came back around to it. So when I saw it on Joel Fry's IMDb, I was glad to have an incentive to finally catch up with it. That said, while the movie looked like it was going to be good and I always like Emmas Stone and Thompson, I wasn't sure if Joel Fry was going to have much to do beyond being like a comic-relief lackey.

It is a good movie, and both Emmas are spectacular in it. But Cruella definitely exceeded my expectations as a Joel Fry project. Because, and I swear this is more than just my bias talking, Jasper is kind of the heart of the film? As Cruella gets in deeper and deeper, he's trying to keep one hand on the steering wheel so things don’t get out of control. He’s standing up for himself and Horace, making it clear that Cruella shouldn’t take them for granted. And he never really stops trying to reach Estella/Cruella, worried for her even as he’s upset with how she’s treating him.

Jasper wants to help and support his friend, but he’ll also push back if he thinks she’s going too far. This is especially true when Cruella starts directing her derisive insults at him and Horace. It's an interesting take, that her descent is partly about her obsession with getting revenge on the Baroness, but quite a bit of that is actually righteous vengeance, since the Baroness is very genuinely terrible. Instead, some of Cruella's biggest missteps are 1) letting her quest consume her to the point where it threatens to crowd out everything else and 2) treating her friends less like partners and more like henchmen.

A few Frenchie parallels jumped out at me:

Con man/grifter, obviously

Minimal education but very smart and observant

A musician--loved the guitar playing!

(Note: I know Cruella came out first, so if anything, Frenchie is the one with Jasper parallels, but since I'm only watching it now, Frenchie still comes first in my mind.)

That said, one small grievance. I managed to train myself that this character's name is spelled Jesper:

And now you're telling me this movie has a lanky light-skinned Black man with a British accent who's a good-hearted thief, and his name is Jasper?!?

Holding hands

Loosely based on "Hand Holding" by Shel Silverstein:

Somebody said, “Lets all hold hands,”

So Lee held hands with Jean.

And Jean also held Helen’s hand

While she held hands with Dean.

Dean’s other hand held Sharma Joy’s

While she held hands with Lee.

So tell me just how did I wind up