#probably soon

Thank you!!!!!

what a wonderful promt <3 i love them and their tiny stupid couch

First of all the video: "My Methodology of Analysis (200k SUB SPECIAL!)" By shcnee, was a very helpful way for me to start doing these.

First of all I recommend doing what I'll tell you for any media. Any. The other day in a family gathering we watched Peppa Pig because of ny little cousin, and what I realised in 3 episodes made me really see my progress. So even if you feel like its not complex enough, there's always things you'll be able to see. Like the biases of the creators for one.

Now actually getting on the analysis part. Your first watch won't let you see everything. Don't get too worked up about it. And most things if you aren't interested enough you don't have to analyse further.

But on that first watch i do the following:

INTRODUCTION:

Notice the setting and time, it creates all the cultural and social expectations the characters may experience. When characters are introduced take notice of their general situation —What is their social class, their race, gender, sexuality, relationships, etc...— and connect those with the setting.

CHARACTERS:

Start connecting the actions/feelings/appearance/relationships with what you saw in the introduction. At first you'll miss a lot. But as you practice you'll start to see it come up more and more. Although there's a very important thing that will hide you for this. You need to actually get to known the nuances characters may experience as you see how you miss them or don't understand how they affect them. It will help in future analysis.

To make easier this part I tend to ask myself why the character does/have/likes X thing, and then I try to think about what I got in general about them —which will expand as you see the character arc— and what could be the origin of that decision.

THE PLOT:

To understand the plot and what the characters narrative weight and purpose is you basically have to get to know how storytelling works and most of the basic thropes used. Then you should be able to guess it based on the characters actions.

SYMBOLISM:

This one is much more complex. Because unless you really get to know a lot about different cultures you won't understand why some songs mean something specific without searching it or someone telling you. In audiovisual media you'll need to know how the use of lights and camera position/focus are important sometimes. Sometimes you need to know a lot of the classical films because the creators made parallels with those. There's also the postures, the faces, the clothes,... There's a lot. This is the part that is missed the most in the first watch. It's difficult I won't lie.

THE CONTEXT:

We finally have the context of the movies making, which isn't something you'll see while watching. But before or after. If it seems to have queer baiting but it's in China where that is prohibited? It's actually queer coding because that's as much as they could do. If it's done in the US in the 1900s-10s it won't have copaganda, but in the 50s it starts because of a show that was funded by the police to brainwash the population. Etc.

It sometimes changes your entire perspective on a movie/series/book/etc.

Something that's vital to understand is that you'll analyse all of this and you'll start to see plot holes, you'll see character arcs being ruined, blatant misogyny/racism/classes/etc reflected on the characters. That's normal. That means you aren't taking everything you consume as media that's very well written. You can definitely still like it, maybe even love it. But the understanding of it's faults it's what makes your experience more valuable. Because you'll be able to see those things as what they are and not accidentally internnalise them. And you still have your favorite sitcom/movie/book/etc.

Sometimes I think about Nathan being so freaked out about telling Clay he's not going to be able to do Basketball anymore. Being so scared of his reaction. Of disappointing him. And Clay just being sad for him, but SO understanding. How Nathan understood how hard Clay had worked to get him his renewed contract. But Clay understood how hard Nathan had worked on getting to that point in his career, and how hard it must be for him to leave it behind.

And I think about WHY Nathan was so scared to tell him this.

How growing up Dan drilled into him that he had to play Basketball. How he made him feel like that was all that mattered, all he was actually good for. How Dan so often took the credit for how good Nathan was, not giving Nathan himself nearly enough credit. How he reacted after Nathan collapsed from taking drugs to prove to him he could be worth it. How his reaction was that he'd be good as new in no time and refused to acknowledge the problem. How he likely made him feel like injury wasn't a good enough reason for a break, despite Dan himself having stopped due to an injury. How actually, he'd stopped because the pressure was too much and the injury gave him an out, but then eventually it was too late. So he likely refused to let Nathan take breaks due to his own injuries to make sure that didn't happen to him, only putting in his head that he had to play through any pain.

How Nathan often felt like the only worth he had to Dan was his Basketball skills.

And how in that one moment, Clay showed him that Basketball isn't all he has to offer people. Sure, he's got that with Haley and with Lucas and Jamie already. But Clay was his Agent first. And he immediately agreed he had to put his health and his family first. He was just upset for Nathan.