#johnnybenny

i know it's so obvious but (spoilers ahead) the parallel scenes with benny at a bar alone at the beginning and end of the film make me so crazy. in the first he is alone but only physically - in every way except the physical he is backed and protected and defended by Johnny and the club, and those colors that he refuses to take off represent that protection, and the only way they get him to leave is to literally, physically throw him out the door and beat him. in the second he's not physically alone, he's there with people he knows, protected from physical violence, but when he's told the news about johnny's death, he pays for his drink, quietly gets up, and walks out with no fanfare. and then turns in his colors shortly after.

i will say regarding the scene jeff talked about being super homoerotic, before i saw the movie i was like yeah all right he's exaggerating to get the fujoshis interested, i get it, get that bag i respect the hustle. but no. he wasn't exaggerating. at all.

Still fully and completely insane about Benny and Johnny especially when Benny is beating the everloving shit out of that one guy and Johnny yanks him back and holds him and just says “No, no, no” quietly but earnestly into his ear until he calms down. Like talk about a guy and his attack dog. Jesus Christ

it's played for laughs (sorta) that the only time benny gets really emotional, aside from the end of the film, is when he's afraid he'll lose his foot and have his ability to ride taken away, but if you consider that like, "riding" and "the club" are one and the same to him, it's sad too. i doubt he was thinking of it in quite this way but he didn't want to lose his community. :(