#jatcch

I think he can be relatable to almost anyone, depending on one's perspective. I'll separate the way his character can be viewed by

his motivation

his character

his actions

And as a treat,

the consequences

HIS MOTIVATION

What does Joe want? Well, there are several answers to that. Since Joe is one-note, I've seen hundreds of interpretations, but let's go over three, plus an extra point related to his motivation, which I want to cover.

Miss Acacia's love

To keep Miss Acacia close

To have control

Don't misunderstand, there's definitely more to his motivation, but it isn't super relevant to how I feel about him.

First point- He wants Miss Acacia's love

(Direct translation from Theme de Joe)

"This girl is the little singer She's been my girlfriend for a long time Her name is Miss Acacia And she sings in me every moment Unfortunately, recently She has returned to her country, Andalusia And the new one who dares to talk to me about her Is increasing my jealousy tenfold

The useless presence of this dwarf reinforces The cruel absence of my love He seems to love her almost as much as I do"

Second point- To keep Miss Acacia close.

This one’s short.

What I mean when I say “keep Miss Acacia close” I mean that Joe wanting to be with Miss Acacia, even if it isn’t in a romantic way. Jack didn’t explicitly state that he was going to romantically pursue Miss Acacia (unless giving someone unprescribed glasses is romantic?), but Joe still got defensive. Of course, we can brush this off as romantic jealousy, which even I want to, but for the sake of this possibility, let’s dive a tad deeper.

If Miss Acacia were to expand her friend group, that would push Joe further away. Not in the "replacement" sense, but because she'd have more people to socialise with outside of Joe.

Joe doesn't want that; he wants Miss Acacia to stay close, which is why he pushes others away from her, even if their intention isn't explicitly romantic.

It's safe to assume that Joe had to loosen his possessiveness because the amount of socialising with Miss Acacia would be limited.

If this is true, imagine how he felt in this scene.

Also, I'm not blaming Miss Acacia at ALL. Just wanted to clarify.

Third point- To have control

The most obvious answer is a desire for control over the students, but why?

Look at this line I've mentioned in the past, "I must admit I'm not impressed by change, it’s stability for me"

Why would change be stability? The only sensible way I can interpret this in a way that makes sense is that he is usually faced with change, which is why he doesn't seem too phased by Miss Acacia's absence (or because he already knew she would leave, but the only other explanation I came up with is just nonsense I pulled out of my ass).

Despite saying that he isn't impressed by change, he seems to have a firm adversity to Jack's admiration for Miss Acacia, while it seems he is used to people trying to pursue her, we only see him tormenting Jack throughout the years.

"I make sure the other kids respect me There must be a few I simply scare" (Joe's Theme)

The reason why I point this out is because of Jack's persistance. Even after five years, he is still infatuated with a girl who could've gone through hundreds of changes. Joe saying that there are "a few [he] simply scare[s]" implies that those students stopped after he threatened them. Because Jack didn't stop, Joe might've been frazzled by this, and continued to torment him. In other words, he tried to bring everything back to the way it was before- him being the only one after Miss Acacia's heart.

Now, for the second answer as to why he wants control...

Despite having less to say about it, I actually like this theory better.

As stated in his reprise, he has tried to muzzle his attraction for Miss Acacia.

"Unable to accept my adventure had been terminated Miss Acacia haunts my mind whatever I do, whatever I try"

These two lines are very important to me 0~0

I've mentioned this before in my BPD Joe post, but empty determination seems to be a consistent theme with his character.

At a certain point, this determination went down

Then she left

and that's when he finally accepted that they would be separated (for now).

Now, what does this have to do with wanting control?

He wants control over himself. He doesn't want to be infatuated with a girl who will never love him back, but it's always easier to indulge.

If you want more about this, check here

His motivations will be connected to his actions, so I'll just skip to the point I wanted to bring up.

His motivation is covered by his actions, which isn't the worst thing when it comes to determining whether he's a surface-level villain, but when it comes to an actual analysis of his character, it's a small cancer that should be extracted if we want to get anywhere.

Joe and Miss Acacia are friends, which is something people tend to forget. Miss Acacia doesn't hate Joe; she just doesn't love him back. Because of their situation and how their relationship dynamic shifts as they get older, this builds resentment.

To put it into perspective, imagine you and a friend pursue a romantic relationship, but you don't reciprocate the feelings. Instead of breaking up, you stay for whatever reason. Having to pretend or reciprocate your friend's feelings will start to be more irritating by the day, which will build resentment. You still value them, but you're slowly becoming sick of having to pillow their emotions at the expense of yours.

With that, let's move to his character.

Now, if you read my BPD Joe post, then you'd know how I view his character. If you haven’t, here’d a brief rundown.

I think Joe places his worth in Miss Acacia. Realistically, Miss Acacia wouldn’t forget about Joe just because she meets other people, but he doesn’t think that way. He views himself as insignificant and replaceable. If Miss Acacia doesn’t love him, then he cannot consider himself valuable.

I know it’s mostly just Joe being the one-note villain obsessed with the love interest, but I like to believe.

Joe is a truly pathetic character, but I don't think people realise what kind.

Imagine- you're friends with a girl for an undisclosed amount of time. Then, she leaves for a different country.

You're approached by an ugly little boy who says that he wants to give your friend a pair of unprescribed glasses, and you get defensive from the get-go.

In the time she's been away, she sends you birthday cards.

World's blandest birthday letters. Lucky you.

Quit smiling fucker. Also, is that the same letter model used post-timeskip? That's really fucking funny.

Five years pass, and you're still in contact with this girl while beating the ass of an unprescribed-glasses-wielding bum.

You drop your copy-and-paste letter after getting bumped into.

And the bum from before picks it up.

You demand he give it back, but because he's also an idiot, he believes that two people can't share a birthday. No wonder you two are in the same school five years later.

Then you play tug-of-war and end up destroying the letter. You attack the bum and lose an eye in the process.

Now, I feel I need to mention a few things.

A train from Edinburgh to Andalusia, ON AVERAGE, takes about 23 hours. That's with modern trains.

You, YES, YOU, slap an eyepatch on your face, because fuck recovery, and jump on a train while Mister Bum gets some help from the threesome guy, George Méliès himself.

You arrive with a bouquet of flowers. Your friend immediately cuts you off & gives you short answers.

At this point, you should just give up. If your long-distance friend of five years is being short with you, I'm afraid romance won't be a topic for the time being.

Still, you persist.

Then, so I'm not just reciting the second act, you fight the bum, you & your friend are in your caravan, on your way home.

Then she remembers something and runs away.

You fail to chase her & are left alone, staring off, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this girl who can't care about you the way you wish will come back.

That, in itself, is pretty pathetic.

Now, imagine you do get married to her.

Then she leaves you. Not for the other man, she just leaves you.

For eight years, you have based your worth on this woman. You hurt others for this woman. You protected her from no one; you even harmed yourself for her. Everything you did pushed her away. You wanted her close, and your actions pushed her away.

It didn't matter, anyway; she could never love you.

So, now that I've set it up in that way, do you understand what I mean when I say that Joe is pathetic?

Anyway, let's move on to his actions.

(Also, side note, why did Joe start driving Miss Acacia back to Scotland? I thought Joe was anticipating a performance from Miss Acacia. Why would he want to go to Edinburgh? For a doctor's appointment? I literally have no idea what half of his motives are, and it pisses me off, like, THIS is my favourite character???)

Joe is an abuser and a manipulator, no matter his intentions. Is there a chance for redemption? Sure, whatever, I don't care what a 25 year old person did when they were sixteen.

Alrighty, now...

Here's your treat!!! The consequences!!!

Mentally, Joe will stand there on the side of the road until he rots away. By the time Miss Acacia will finish mourning (she won't), Joe will no longer be himself.

Joe is very self-destructive, but not in the self-harm way. He knows how Miss Acacia is, that's why he didn't lie to her, he just excluded details. Because he knew what would work. Even if it wasn't a conscious action, he did it.

Joe was the abuser and the victim, the weapon he used was Miss Acacia. She was the knife that cut him as she ran off, but it was Joe who held the blade. When she left, we saw the smallest, tiniest bit of humanity from Joe.

When Miss Acacia divorced Joe, we didn't see or hear of him because he was nothing. He's one-note because he only exists for one reason. As long as Miss Acacia tolerates him, he has a reason to live.

Joe is truly the most pathetic, poorly written character from the most unlikeable movie and book. I want another book where it's just Joe. Joe getting worse, Joe getting better, Joe gaining hope and replacing lost hope with empty determination. Even if we did get that book, it'd be about Miss Acacia.

Now, let's circle to the very, very beginning of this post.

Don't worry, you don't have to scroll back up.

I think he can be relatable to almost anyone, depending on one's perspective.

I'll water down his character-

Empty determination.

You love someone who could never love you back.

You utilise coping mechanisms that'll only make you worse.

You try to impress your peers, but you'll always be mediocre.

You continue to make art, when no one actually cares about the process and time and care you put into that piece.

You continue to work, but you'll never be able to afford what you need.

Why continue?

Because you want to chase. You want to grind your bones into a dust for the superiours that took the short route to snort.

Even if you're the only one fighting in the battle, you'll never win.

But you'll fight anyway.

"You'll never make the place, but do you even run the race?

I can't be what you need, I am stuck in a dream."

"Every day, I'll promises that plague Sarah's heart."

To quote his voice actor, Grand Corp Malade-

"We hear the story from Jack, but if Joe told the story, then Jack would be the bad guy. He is a very endearing villain, very human."

(French translations provided by one of my best friends ever!! Thank you!!! 💜 *oops I forgot to add “abusive” to the translation my bad 😭)

WHAT DO YOU GUYS KNOW ABOUT MONSTER IN PARIS AND JACK AND THE CUCKOO CLOCK HEART 💔💔💔

~~~~ Been on a EuropaCorp high recently. Had to research the animated movies I grew up watching from that studio for a colour theory assignment and have been fixated ever since. Literally bingewatched both Monster in Paris and Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart and drew these within the span of a day Idk what crack the directors put into these 2 movies, they literally have no relation at all yet are so similar in terms of vibes. The vibes? Animated musical film with a heavy French direction and delve into surrealist, almost fever-dreamesque themes.

I NEED MORE!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN ONLY 2 MOVIES OF THIS VIBE EXIST??? Rude asf tbh 😤

Did I watch that movie again ? Yes