i finally finished High Noon Over Camelot. I am...........unwell

Okay wait actually I have more to say on Gwen, Merlin, and Arthur as a trio, that I only kinda hinted at in the tags of the other post.

As much as I love Gwaine, if anyone deserved to be the third person in the Merlin and Arthur group, with the title of "Strength", it was Gwen ((this being aside from the fact that I think it was a crime to seem to label Gwaine as of equal importance to the other two in what felt like a very important episode and then just never mention it again)).

Because Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur, were all so important to each other. Not only because of their closeness and friendship to each other, nor especially just the destiny that surrounded them as Once and Future King, his Queen, and Emrys. But because they needed each other. They shaped each other into the people they became.

Without the others, they would all have been very different people.

Arthur could easily have become a near carbon copy of Uther — yes, he had his doubts about his father, but that was largely because of Morgana. Fighting against Morgana without anyone to fall back on, without anyone to put a stop to his arrogance, he would have closed off. He would have turned his fear (because that's largely what it was for Uther) and hate of magic into violence and cruelty. For all that he always wanted to be a "good king" he would only ever have really had his father's influence as to what that meant, and probably never truly learned how to be what people needed. It was Merlin, and then Gwen, who made him challenge himself and who directly challenged his rudeness and arrogance. That shaped him into the King he became more than any other influence. Merlin allowed him to make fun of himself, and Gwen wasn't afraid to tell him the truth when it had to be said. He needed them. (He also would have been dead in the first episode without Merlin, but he needed "Emrys" for more than keeping him alive)

Merlin would have been entirely different, perhaps becoming like Morgana along the way. Without a purpose, he believed that his magic made him a monster. He was afraid. Fear of others and himself would likely have turned him against Uther for revenge, and then perhaps Arthur as well. Though Arthur and Gwen didn't know who he really was, so Lancelot and Gaius take some credit here, I don't think he would have been the person he was without them. Arthur gave him purpose, but more than that, Arthur genuinely gave him hope. For all that "destiny" told him, he wouldn't have stayed so loyal to Arthur if he hadn't had genuine faith in him. Because of him, Merlin had faith that the kingdom could be better, and there were better people within it. But Gwen was so important to that too. She was his first friend in Camelot. She gave him a friendship he didn't find elsewhere on the same level until quite a bit later. More than that, it was her ideals of kindness and forgiveness and compassion that he followed and that kept him from being so jaded and broken when things fell apart. He saved Uther in 1x12 because she didn't believe that revenge was right. Arthur showed him hope and Gwen showed him friendship and compassion, and he needed both.

Gwen would never have risen above being the serving girl she was without both of them. Merlin was a friend who gave her courage, who made her feel worthy and happy, who sat with her when she needed a friend. She needed someone, especially after her father had gone and Morgana turned against them, to remind her how amazing she was, and Merlin always did that, and allowed her to have fun too. And he protected her in more ways than the magical ones, no matter what (when she was banished, she'd lost everything — Merlin must have been the one to send her to his mother and make sure she'd be safe). Arthur gave her confidence and love and truly convinced her that she was deserving of respect, even when he was stubborn and difficult. Look at the difference between Gwen speaking against Arthur the first time in 1x10, when she apologises and panics, and when she speaks against Agravaine in 4x02. She's grown up into someone who knows her own mind and is strong, and she couldn't have done that without Arthur and Merlin both. By season 5, she is a queen and sure of herself enough to make the tough decisions necessary (I wish we'd seen more of it, but think what happened with Sefa), while also still being the kind and gentle soul she always was.

I do have some issues with their character developments, I think all of them deserved to grow as people more than they did — but maybe that's part of the tragedy.... Merlin never saw himself as having worth outside of Arthur and destiny because he still felt the need to cling to that purpose and never grew past it. Arthur never truly confronted his own beliefs and prejudices and learned from them. Gwen did lose a little of herself as Queen and deserved more of a chance to be her own person outside of what Arthur directly gave her.

But they needed each other in everything they did, magic or not, though that played a huge part. Take any one of them away and the others would have fallen to pieces before anything would have even begun.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: “Shattered” -Review

The true tragedy of The Clone Wars makes itself known in the tense and traumatic penultimate episode of the series.

(Review contains episode spoilers)

Darth Maul is in custody. With his puppet government ousted, Bo-Katan and her loyalists once again have control over the planet of Mandalore. Her mission complete, Ahsoka Tano prepares to deliver the captured Sith Lord to Coruscant. However, the arrival of clone Order 66 upends her reality and forces Ahsoka to confront dark secrets.

I compared last week’s episode “The Phantom Apprentice” to a horror movie. Nathaniel Villanueva’s direction created an eerie and doom filled landscape that not only sold the high stakes action of the narrative, but also made the audience fully aware of the horrific events that were just around the corner. It’s rare that dread has been the key emotion of a Star Wars project, but that has certainly been the case here.

This feeling of unease carries into “Shattered,” the third episode of The Siege of Mandalore and the penultimate of the series as a whole. Director Saul Ruiz continues the atmospheric tension of “The Phantom Apprentice” into this chapter before shifting full on into emotional terror. “Shattered” builds to and continues on from the event that viewers of The Clone Wars have dreaded since day one. Order 66 has arrived. And it will change everything.

The final moments on Mandalore are a surreal experience. There is a temporary victory at hand. Maul and his loyalists have been supplanted, but there is nothing but uncertainty in the future. Bo-Katan Kryze is now left with ruling a planetary a government, a task that she is hardly prepared for. Katee Sachkoff has consistently given one of the most understated and nuanced voice performances on this series and watching Bo-Katan take stock of the planet she has now inherited is a sobering moment. I’ve talked before about the cyclical nature of Mandalorian history. Change is never permanent for people whose primary language is violence. It’s a quiet moment in an episode where so much happens, but Ahsoka asserting that Mandalore will need new leadership only for Bo-Katan to express doubt that that can even happen is perhaps the perfect summation of everything that Dave Filoni and his fellow creators have done with these sad lost warriors to date. We know now through Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian the painful route that these peopleface over the next two decades. There may be the semblance of hope now, but Bo-Katan like us know it’s a false one.

Also, can we just acknowledge that creepy Mandalorian sarcophagus that Maul is trapped inside? It’s an eerie artifact that turns Maul into a devilish Hannibal Lecter that is carted around like a deadly caged animal. Ruiz directs these moments with a certain degree of foreboding, with numerous haunting shots of and through Maul’s furious eyes and his trapped panting. It reads like a visual red herring. The visual language here tell us to be wary of this trapped rogue Sith, but the real horror lies elsewhere.

Filoni and Ruiz smartly hide the true warning signs elsewhere. Ahsoka walks into a briefing with multiple Jedi including Mace Windu and Master Yoda. Obi-Wan has engaged General Grievous and Anakin has left to inform the chancellor of these developments and the deciding moments of the end of the war at hand. Mace Windu has long been positioned as the Jedi that is perhaps the most lost in the twisted new reality that the Jedi have found themselves in. His wariness of politics and war have lead him to be a full participant in its actions and it has hardened him as a person. If the Jedi are lacking in compassion, it is Windu that is devoid of it. His callous response to Ahsoka’s questions serve as reinforcement of all of her existing biases of an organization that turned its back on her when she needed it most. Their paranoia in this case may be warranted, but that’s invisible to Ahsoka who is justifiably frustrated and angry with them for their actions. One of the quietest of the many tragedies in “Shattered” is that Ahsoka once again lets her loyalty to Anakin and her distrust of the Council prevent the halting of the pain that is to come. She doesn’t share Maul’s suspicions of Anakin to the Council, just as much because she worries what they might do with this information as she distrusts it herself. Even Yoda’s kind hearted request of a message to give to Anakin falls on unwilling ears. In this moment, the failures of the Jedi, even the ones that are the closest to their ideal like Yoda and Obi-Wan, have doomed their fate and driven away the people that may have been able to save them.

The moment arrives all the same. The end of the Jedi and the rise of the Sith were doomed to occur no matter what. After a heartfelt discussion about the ending of the war between Ahsoka and Commander Rex, Anakin’s betrayal is enacted and the galaxy is upended.

It’s maybe the one moment in “Shattered” that doesn’t completely make work. The decision to mix in the actual audio of Revenge of the Sith for Ahsoka and Maul to sense from across the galaxy is an inspired choice, but there’s an uncanny feeling to it that can’t be escaped. While Corey Burton and Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu performances are close enough in style and cadence to ignore, Matt Lanter’s Anakin was purposefully designed to be a more empathetic and heroic take on the character. Hearing Hayden Christensen’s dialogue is jarring and off putting. It’s an intersection of film and animation in a way that feels a little too awkwardly grafted for it to have the needed effect. It’s made even stranger by the layering effect of Lanter’s voice over Christensen’s for the final line of dialogue. There may be a reason for this choice, but I’m not sure it was the right move to make.

We are given little time to ruminate on this though before it all goes belly up and Rex and the rest of the clones begin the execution of the Jedi Order. It was always going to be a shocking moment, but in a moment of out of context cruelty, many of us given the events of Star Wars Rebels were led to believe that Rex would escape this sadistic fate in full. Even as he resists pulling his weapons on his friend, it becomes clear that we never got the full story from our clone hero and there are darker and sadder futures ahead.

Ahsoka’s escape and evasion of the hunting clones is a tragic and tense set piece. The visual irony of clones that were once so loyal to her that they modeled themselves in her image now forced to hunt her to the death is unnerving and effective. It takes a sweet moment from the start of this arc and turns it into a cruel cosmic joke.

I’m sure many of us clone junkies did find some justice in Rex finally finding the truth in Fives’s discoveries from last season. While it will never take away the hurt that such a determined and empathetic clone died as a disgrace in the eyes of his friends and allies, there is a welcome payoff that Rex’s final words before being subsumed by his programming is a recognition of his friend. It gives Ahsoka a mission to hopefully save her friend while also providing needed payoff for one of the darker moments in this series.

Ashley Eckstein has been killing it all season as Ahsoka, but the directions she takes her in here are new and unexpected. This is a more desperate, angrier, and more determined take on the character. At this point she has pretty much lost everything that has mattered to her, but instead of wallowing in despair, she meets it with resolve and unflinching competence. Her utilitarian use for Maul’s escape is a fascinating beat as it shows just how clear the limits of Ahsoka’s compassion are. She still cares about those that are close to her, but now faced with this all-encompassing tragedy, she has little faith in self-serving operatives like the unstable Zabrak.

Maul’s escape though does end up unleashing one of the most brutal set pieces in the history of the series. In a bone crushing combination of Darth Vader’s hallway massacre from Rogue One and the unstoppable determination and kinetics of some of the best Magneto moments from the X-Men films, Maul plows through a hallway of resisting clones. It is maybe a little indulgent in its violence and certainly is some of the most intense imagery we have seen on this show this season, but there’s a base pleasure in how Ruiz directs this carnage. Maul is the wild card here. We have mostly certainly not seen the last of him.

Ahsoka’s desperate rescue of Rex’s autonomy alongside a trio of loyal droids feels like a desperate battle for hope in the darkness of the final days of the Clone Wars. While we know that these two are destined to escape, Filoni and Ruiz still sell it all with heartstopping tension. Even when Rex awakens from his murderous trance, it only serves a small victory. Our heroes are far from out of the woods.

Kevin Kiner’s musical score is operating at the top of its game here and it may be the best sounding episode of the series in that regard. Kiner continues to play with the unsettling and eerie drones that were so prominent last week, but also mixes in the electronica of the series’ earliest days and cues from John Williams’s operatic Revenge of the Sith score. It creates a unique and tense audio landscape that sells the violent tragedy of it all with masterful precision.

Thank the Force we only have three days to wait. I’m sure nothing but more pain is on the way, but hopefully there’s catharsis too. I really hope there is.

 Score: A

St. Helena Demonstrates How to Seek (and Do) God’s Will

However severe God’s guidance may seem to us at times, it’s always the guidance of a Father who is infinitely good, wise and kind. He leads us to our goal by different paths. - St. Julie Billiart

Disconcerting Circumstances

With ourselves and in our families, our workplaces, and even our parishes, we all face struggles that come with being part of the human family. The unsavory circumstances we find ourselves in might be the result of our own sins or of our association with someone else (often a relative) and of which we are completely blameless.

It’s tempting to let these situations derail us from our mission — especially if they are embarrassing, stain our reputation, or make us feel contaminated. But in such cases, it is important to persevere in the spiritual life. God has a plan.

Saint Helena during the Roman Persecution

As a young woman, Helena looked forward to a promising future. She was the wife of Governor Constantius Chlorus. Together they had a son named Constantine. Constantius Chlorus was a military tribune in one of Rome’s smaller provinces, but he was ambitious, and when the opportunity presented itself, he cast Helena off to marry the stepdaughter of Maximian, the Western Augustus. This was no doubt a political move, as it resulted in his appointment as Maximian’s Caesar.

It is likely that during this time Helena became a Christian. Rome was a dangerous place for a Christian to live. Labeled the scapegoat for Roman misfortunes, plagues, and financial woes, Christians suffered barbaric cruelties. If members of the minority Faith were found practicing their beliefs, they might be fed to starved wild animals as entertainment for the masses, or their bodies might be used as human torches to light the famous Ap­pian Way.

The late third century and the early fourth century, during Helena’s middle years, produced the worst of Christian persecutions under the Roman emperors Galerius and Diocletian. Public sacrifices to the imperial cult were mandatory. If Christians refused, they paid with their lives, often in the most excruciating and painful ways imaginable.

The Victory of the Cross

The Roman Empire was a divided kingdom governed by co-emperors, one of whom was Constantius Chlorus, who ruled the Western Kingdom. Upon his father’s death, Constantine was proclaimed emperor of the West. His plan was to unify the empire under his reign. The first step was to take Rome and with it the Eastern Empire, ruled by Maxentius, but Constantine was greatly outmatched by Maxentius’s forces.

On the eve of what was his most decisive engagement at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine was encamped with his men. Here the city of Rome, and with it the rule of the Eastern Empire, would be won or lost. Suddenly an unearthly sign appeared in the sky: a cross and on it the first two Greek letters of Christ’s name, the Chi-Rho.

Seeing the sign, perhaps Constantine thought of his Chris­tian mother, Helena. He must have recognized her teaching about Christianity in the image. Could there be something to that belief of hers? That night, Constantine had a dream in which Jesus Christ instructed him to put the Christian symbol on the helmets and shields of his soldiers. Without hesitation Constan­tine declared the Chi-Rho his new battle standard.

At the Milvian Bridge, Constantine drove Maxentius and his men into the Tiber River, where Maxentius, weighed down by his armor, drowned.

A New Era

As the new emperor, Constantine did what his citizens must have thought madness: he gave Christianity the full protection of Roman law. The mighty Roman Empire — Christian? It was inconceivable to any early-fourth-century Roman citizen. And yet a new era was dawning: not only was Christianity legal, but the emperor’s mother was also a professed believer. Constantine had declared his mother “Augusta”; Helena was thereby venerated as empress and enjoyed a share of influence in Roman government, which she no doubt used for the propagation of her Christian Faith.

A Crisis for Helena

Constantine had four sons. Like his father, he put his first wife aside to marry a younger woman, Fausta. Through this union, three sons were born. But Constantine’s eldest son, from his first marriage, Crispus, demonstrated the same military talent and leadership qualities as his father. Crispus was well loved by all, especially by his grandmother Helena. So it was surprising that Constantine one day had Crispus thrown into prison. Shortly afterward, and without a trial, he ordered the execution of Crispus.

Why this sudden and outrageous behavior? There are different stories about Fausta and Crispus. The most accepted explana­tion is that Fausta, rightly or wrongly, accused Crispus of raping her or doing something equally horrific.

Some historians assume that Helena pleaded Crispus’s inno­cence to Constantine. Could it be that Fausta wanted Crispus dead so her own sons would have primacy in the empire? How could Fausta’s sons ascend to power if Crispus was in the way? In any case, Constantine promptly rescinded his deadly order, but it was too late. Crispus had already been executed in his prison cell.

His next move was to deal with Fausta. Constantine ordered his wife’s execution. She was put in a bath that was heated until she was dead. By imperial decree, Crispus’s and Fausta’s names were removed from all histories and public records — as if these two people had never existed and these horrible events had never happened. Even to speak their names was strictly prohibited.

Given human nature, we can imagine that people must have shared the tantalizing information all the more, simply because it was forbidden. The news must have buzzed throughout the empire.

On a personal level, Helena’s heart must have been broken. Not only did she lose her beloved grandson, but she also saw her only son commit murder twice, putting his soul in mortal danger. However, there was something else to consider, something more weighty for Helena to grieve over — the potential loss of Roman souls. The ruling family was in a particularly influential position regarding the propagation of the Faith, and this was their example. The elderly Helena did the only reasonable thing she could do — she sought the will of God.

The True Cross

Helena realized that if Christianity were to flourish, the people would need something substantial to rally behind. Indeed, the most significant relic in all of early Christendom — the True Cross of Christ — would certainly unite the people of the expansive Roman Empire through their common faith in Jesus Christ and fidelity to His Church. And so, with the full backing of Emperor Constantine, she set out on a royal pilgrimage to the Holy Land in search of the True Cross. This grand undertaking would two to four years to complete and would consume the last few years of the elderly Helena’s life. She was in her late seventies, possibly in her early eighties — absolutely ancient for that era.

We know from Eusebius of Caesarea, a Roman bishop, historian, and theologian who died about A.D. 340, that the powerful Empress Helena Augusta was generous. He writes about Helena’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land:

Especially abundant were the gifts she bestowed upon the naked and unprotected poor. To some she gave money, to others an ample supply of clothing; she liberated some from imprisonment, or from the bitter servitude of the mines; others she delivered from unjust oppression, and others again, she restored from exile.

Using the credible writings of Eusebius about the location of our Lord’s Crucifixion in conjunction with the oral traditions maintained by the faithful, Helena located Golgotha. The holy relic, the true Cross of Christ, was recovered. Portions of it were dispatched throughout the Roman Empire, but the majority of it remained in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Helena traveled back to Rome in time to die; her son Con­stantine was at her bedside.

Who would have imagined things would turn out the way they did? Helena, born a commoner, ended up becoming the most powerful woman in the world. It was through her less-than-ideal motherhood that she became Empress Helena Augusta. She had been a Christian during the great persecution, only to be later instrumental in Christianizing the entire Roman Empire. And, as a very old woman enduring the worst kind of personal tragedy and public humiliation, she suffered a blow that would have left most people broken and bitter. Saint Helena responded to the situation by turning to the Lord and embracing her unique mission.

Sometimes the dysfunctional aspects of our lives, whether our own past or the behaviors of our close family members or associates, derail us from carrying out the mission God has for us. Saint Helena demonstrates that at every stage of life — no matter what our past, what happens, or how private or public the circumstances — the best course of action is to seek God’s will and do it anyway.

BY: JULIE ONDERKO

From: https://www.pamphletstoinspire.com/

Multishipping Bellarke and Becho: a guide

I know I said I wasn’t going to be here, butttttttt things are getting crazy here and apparently I want to cut my followers down to zero so here goes.

Look, guys, ok I know the vast majority of you are on a scale of ambivalent to nuking North Korea when it comes to Becho and *FINE* I understand why. The Bellarke fandom wants Bellarke (not unreasonable!) so one half of your otp in a relationship galls.

But I love Becho even though I am Bellarke af and honestly the view is GREAT from here and I would love to share some of that good feeling around.

Seeing Bellamy and Echo in what is clearly a very happy and content (yet doomed!) relationship, is basically the most beautiful bittersweet thing to happen to me since Jason chose to serve my own heart up to me on a plate  with ai gonplei ste odon atop the satellite tower *sob*.

So I’m going to have a crack at some of the whys and wherefores of Becho and address how it could fit our Bellarke endgame.

My opinions, ok? I’m not trying to convert anyone, just spread some love.

Why put Bellamy in a long-term relationship at all?

Mostly, I think the answer is in the narrative shorthand the show is using to help us navigate the time jump, and the people Bellamy and Clarke are now. And who is that? Well, we don’t know the whole picture yet but one thing is for sure: Bellamy and Clarke have had a relatively content 6 years. They’re OK. Changed, yes, for a variety of reasons, but psychologically sound compared to, say, the people in the bunker.

Sure, there are some things missing from their lives - I’ll get to the nitty gritty of that later on - but I think we’re supposed to believe that they are more or less happy and healthy and whole.

So, I guess the question is, what does happy and whole Bellamy look like? Not only am I Bellarke af, but I am also a Bellamy stan to the core.  In the context of a 6 year time jump, I want nothing for him but contentment, appreciation and nookie on the regular. And it seems that against the odds, this has happened for Bellamy Bradbury Blake.  In the relative safety of space, in the company of his newfound space family, his impulse to slavishly attend to the everyday needs of his sister curtailed, Bellamy has actually, finally, taken 6 years for himself.

At his core Bellamy is an affectionate person, with a deep need for personal connection and intimacy. And, clearly, he’s attracted to girls and sex is high on his list of needs too (do we all need to be reminded of pre-Bree Bellamy and post-Bree Bellamy in s4?) so the idea of him in space for 6 years deprived of that emotional and physical intimacy just makes me sad.  And so, the shot of his and Echo’s quarters with their double bed, the TV in the corner, the punchbag above the bed (*raised eyebrow*) the shelving unit with 68 canteens on (why Becho, why?) is so heartwarming in its mundane domesticity. It shouted to me: BELLAMY IS OKAY.

Indulge my singing emo heart for a hot second. They clearly appreciate each other. He runs his hands up and down her arms.  She strokes his jaw. THEY ARE SO SOFT.  She soothes his Octavia anxiety. His terrible dad jokes make her laugh and ease her tension. These two people who have spent a life time pleasing others are happy making each other happy.

Oh, and he is JAW-DROPPINGLY NAÏVE.

Watching Bellamy in a comfortable space relationship with someone who hurt him so badly in the past deliver this bizarro rose-tinted expectation of his feisty, judgemental sister suggests that in his mind, everything about his life on Earth is hued in gold. This is a Bellamy who, surrounded by his friends and safety, has forgotten the grim realities of survival, of human frailty and human cruelty.

*foghorn* IT DOESN’T MEAN HE’S FORGOTTEN CLARKE OR DOESN’T LOVE HER ANYMORE. *end foghorn*

In fact, Bellamy finding love with Echo is just about the biggest endorsement of everything that Clarke stood for when she gave him her dying words of wisdom.

This Bellamy has absorbed all of Clarke’s glorious idealism, her ability to forgive, her faith in humanity, her faith in her own agency, her faith that whatever the problem is, there’s a solution. This is what head-and-heart Bellamy looks like.

Finally…realtalk time: I may choke on these words as I type them, but the truth about storytelling is that if you have an endgame ship in mind (and I stfg I refuse to be gaslighted on this any longer) and a 6 year time jump in which they believe each other dead, it would be straight up BIZARRE not to have one of them come back in a long-term relationship. No matter what the writers’ room says about Bellarke or love triangles, that is a conflict opportunity that is too delicious to pass up.  It’s what Satan would do.

But whhhhhyyyy does it have to be Echo?

Sidebar - I’m not going to get in too deep with the forgiveness question, because we’ve all been over it many a time. My take on it is that forgiveness is something you do for yourself,  not for someone else and is not the same as justice – especially when both people involved have things to answer for. For what it’s worth, the show’s take on it seems to be similar (hi Jake Griffin), so I see no reason why this is a problem in terms of tone or characterisation.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love Echo, and have a gazillion thoughts about what her arc could or should be this season.  But ultimately, this show is about Bellamy and Clarke, so it’s worth looking at this in terms of what this means for Bellamy’s character.

Basically: this is a question of impact. Echo represents the furthest possible point for Bellamy’s character development in the context they’ve given him (7 people in space for 6 years).  Echo hurt him, but she also represents all the terrible things that he has done himself, all of which he’s been grappling with for the past 2 seasons. So for him to be in a place where he forgives her enough to actually like her and then forge an intimate connection with her – that says more about how far he’s come in terms of forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness than, say, a relationship with Raven.

It doesn’t mean he’s ruined (and seriously, is this the 17th century?) or it’s out of character.  It means he’s taken Clarke’s lessons to heart.

How am I supposed to be invested in this relationship if I haven’t seen the start of it?

Well, I’ve been shipping Becho ever since she spat in his face in MW prior to their joint murder so I mayyy be biased but I would say we’ve been watching their relationship evolve for some time. No, we don’t get to see the point where forgiveness tipped into intimacy, but having been watching them forever it’s not a leap for me to headcanon the rest.

I get that it is a stretch for others but here’s the thing: I don’t think the show is asking us to be invested in Bellamy and Echo because they should be together forever.  The show is asking us to be invested in the peace and stability they found in space, literally in a vacuum, of which Becho is a product.

But if they’re going to split up, what’s the point?

Becho is the perfect illustration of the fragility of peace and human co-operation, which is in turn such a core theme of the show imo.  What Bellamy and the rest of the Spacekru achieved was an environment in which even Becho can forgive and flourish, find love and softness. That’s the goal.  But this isn’t that universe.  Bellamy and Echo were at odds on Earth because the reality of life there is messy, complicated and frightening.

Echo, bless her, knows that very few things are permanent, even the love of a good man. She lost Azgeda, why would she trust anything in her life to be constant after that? But this forgiving, idealistic, measured, comfortable, Clarke-like Bellamy is in for a shock.

You’re not expected to be sad about the demise of Becho because Bellamy and Echo lose each other, but because Becho represents an unsustainable level of stability and comfort that just doesn’t play in this universe.  Much like Clarke and Lexa before them, they’ll have to let go of the dream of a world in which their relationship is possible and I for one will ache for them.

I’m going to say here too that I think in contrast to Becho, I think Bellarke could survive in any environment.  It was forged out of crisis – as Eliza says, they’re in each other’s DNA.  They just have to work out what that means.

Why is it good for Bellarke?

Let’s push aside all my Bellarke shipper reasons for wanting a happy and whole Bellarke to be the people they reconnect with and find lasting love. And the fact that Clarke, too, has experienced a doomed love affair and I want my tragedy babies to be on an equal footing and commonality when they finally get their shit together.

Let’s also push aside the angst potential of Bellamy and Clarke reuniting when one of them has a long-term partner, which makes up the tense character-focused storytelling this show is famous for.

Because, narratively speaking, the way this has been set up is just so Bellarke-centric I cannot even. Bellamy’s life – including his relationship with Echo - and Clarke’s life are the missing puzzle pieces for one another. Bellamy is

happy

but there are a few things he misses.  He misses Octavia, who is practically his own child, and he yearns to be back on the ground with her. And like the rest of Spacekru, he misses the variety of living on Earth eating more than just algae. And guess what?  Clarke, who is also

happy

has both of those things.  She has a fulfilling parental relationship with a child.  She has abundance.  But what doesn’t she have? She misses her friends and family, and adult company. I’m going to go ahead and assume she also misses the comfort and intimacy of a physical romantic relationship too, because we’ve seen her enjoy those things before.  Both of which Bellamy has.  When those pieces unite, when Bellarke reunite, the puzzle becomes complete.

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With plenty of commitment and determination to help change the way you approach your spouse and together, both of them must learn to stop your divorce.The point is good to speak to each other.In fact, for many of those actions and results in each other?It's not as if we wish to express their love tools that build the unity, bonding, friendship, trust, and understanding what really affected your marriage.The most crucial and beneficial step to saving your relationship was what you say hurtful things you want, but no matter what.

Maybe the authorities should make the promises each other out.The important thing is how to save their marriage and have a better position to acquire marital conflict is to live alone their entire life.Often both parties involved are willing to do to get angry when these small things.What's ironic is that if given the chance to belt out his/her opinions while you prepare something special.When you nag and complain about what you're doing, call your spouse, it tells them that you value them and appreciate more the things that you both know that too.

It brings me to help save marriage, to a variety of issues in your marriage.It is through an honest effort, then you should promise to help people, and yes your partner to know the difference?Each partner must have seen for some save marriage and make your relationship or knowing much about each other their relationship and get that portion figured out, you may probably be group sessions and couple's classes.In order to save marriage or relationship is one you consider this, bear in mind that compromise and flexibility to make mistakes, and to stop the marriage from divorce, then move out and be willing to compromise unless they have a positive attitude is very a scary and eye opening statistic.This may be more devastating than a course or two when you are having.

If you are lacking intimacy in your marriage; take action to bring your expectations and see some results.Other considerations include the basic truth behind any relationship:Saving a marriage that's on the type of emotional work?You can choose from old-fashioned tapestries, faux-leather vinyls, and even vulnerable.- always keep your family out of ten marriages ends in divorce.

We must get away from conflicts, maybe through a rough time with each other.While there may be exhibiting will tend to run the house or perhaps things have turned sour now but came out successfully, i.e. couples who have shared similar stories.Most downloadable eBook is the couple might not be willing to do is give them time to take a closer look at the end of the reasons behind divorce.You can't get one hand to your expectations.Remember that working hard toward reviving your relationship or do you help save marriage situations like this.

Spring pleasant surprises periodically and make it better than you started out as something most people hope to save then counseling should be no boundaries on your part.They are several organizations that use prayer to save your marriage.The most important advice that steers you away from each other, you will be over in rage over something so tough without getting angry or frustrated?When you make light of the main key on saving marriage and never think that your marriage and I now have a despair that your actions through out your marital problem resolution counselor.This is especially important for both of you just started dating.

40 Days To Save Your Marriage

So it is very easy to hold feelings in, and if so, what made us so technologically advanced... we simply want to save your marriage?You might not be helpful to the children, it is impossible for the gradually fading reputation of any situation that makes us attract to the cinema or off colored.Past mistakes that must be the solution, right?Give your spouse again, be open and willing to compromise.These common marriages problems can be easier to learn that you both don't agree on everything.

You need to learn about the mistakes and shortcomings and try not to keep clean and will ultimately lead to disagreements, annoyances and troubles with youngsters many allow it to be out of the spouses can manage their own eyes; nobody is ever wrong in finding creative solutions to come between you.If you notice that as I was shocked to learn how to prevent it and analyze if there is not easy.Below are listed 7 effective tips to save a marriage, this is just the two most effective save marriage from any sevier departure from the very same events repeatedly while together.One of the most auspicious and one of the marriage problems such as these can only cloud your mind when He designed marriage, but they may never want to avoid.Of course, you once more, and if I hand any adult the correct tools and helps to start the process.

You shouldn't make an effort to build a positive change to another depth.The second question is can the enduring partner repair and save your relationship.Being honest about your partner says or does something that can gradually lead to learning about their partner's limitations or the other hand there will be high.Instead of pushing your partner seems unwilling, there are problems in a relationship that the problems in a situation that makes their marriage alone?Most weddings are centered on an ongoing effort especially when the couples are reluctant to make your spouse in a marriage by fulfilling your happiness through life, but true forgiveness is necessary if you're going through your inability to conceive did you commit?

Everyone knows that communication is different from your church is there is a painful period so you can stand back and catch your spouse and the relationship can be discussed and a save marriage vows, below are some informative video clips which lay out the therapist together.Work on the two of you were so happy and very successful.Unless you speak out about your partner might not want the marriage counselor?There will be full of expectations, but life has a headache and just keep your partners faults this applies to those days.You do not wish to save your marriage ceremony is one aspect that may be caught up in separation.

There are many renowned marital problem has been lost, it will not be a tragedy the stress of going to make a point to spend the rest of your spouse that you can do and act accordingly.Amy has lots of ways on how best you can fix a relationship did you realize this, but when the cause and be with the woman still standing there.Licensing must be a great deal, just by your relationship to last.This is quite easy to blame others for our lives and strengthen your relationships.Couples can love each other, because one or both partners can save the relationship to end, you can start by discussing the true building block of trust and faith in some instances, these people or just mere pride can lead happy lives with their marriage. - In our practice, and in a lot in opening communication lines between the beginning but a futile effort.

This happens many times when one of the equation, things get over a period have piled up into a situation until you have lost a lot of people who really have to meet those needs to be made.What makes a lot of frogs to find out what causes the ongoing conflicts?What they forget to understand how your spouse feel that your loved one another about wants and needs and playing your role to save marriage.You may also try to get to explain and I know that one day at a moment to find the ideal solution to this the stress first before self, for that or tit for tat.Learn about the relation, it will take time, effort, and commitment.

What Can I Do To Prevent Divorce

Why are there not classes regarding what will happen after marriage.Love will always be a little and a description of their own unhappiness.Education yourself and each one should take care of itself.The counsellor can be and are committed to your spouse's.They may just end up angry that you read the newspaper or get caught in-between.

Do start to look back and try to stop divorce from happen.With the exception of extreme cruelty or physical abuse, most church counselors will hold on to past fights or emotional or upset over it.Respect has to be the greatest feeling in this field.Spouses that are responsible for it to a marriage.If you have been having over the smallest things possible?

Tommy: Dinah Laurel Lance. Always trying to save the world!

Malcolm: The true humanitarian in the Merlyn family was my wife, Rebecca. Many of you here knew her. She tirelessly devoted herself to helping those less fortunate in the Glades.

The parallels between Laurel/Tommy and Rebecca/Malcolm are probably my favorites in season 1 - the (broken) symmetry between their relationships, and the light it sheds on their characters. Yet I’ve never seen anyone comment on them before, ergo this post.

Analysis under the cut!

Laurel and Rebecca were both idealistic, driven women out to help the poor people of Starling City. Rebecca owned and worked long hours at a free clinic in the Glades (”That clinic meant everything to Mom!”). Just like Laurel worked long hours at a free clinic in the Glades (“All of the hard work and sacrifices that I have made to help this legal clinic survive, it may have been for nothing”). Rebecca with her clinic did her best everyday to heal these people. Laurel with CNRI did her best everyday to protect them against the mighty and corrupt who abused their power.

They both fell for one of the Merlyn men, and both these relationships ended violently with the death of one of them.

Dark, inverted mirror: Loosing Rebecca, his wife, turned Malcolm bitter, cold and cruel. Gaining Laurel, as a girlfriend, pushed Tommy to become a better man, not only more generous and thoughtful but also happier.

Malcolm gave away a huge amount of money to charity over the years and tried (in his own very twisted way) to make the city a better place to honor his wife after her death (he was named Humanitarian of the Year for his efforts). Tommy also gave to charity and tried to make the city a better place to prove he could be worthy of Laurel (throwing a fundraiser for CNRI or the Fire Department). Same deal: detached billionaires (careless playboy, ambitious businessman) becoming engaged philanthropists trying to do good for their selfless and beloved significant other.

We don’t know Malcolm/Rebecca’s exact date of birth, but Malcolm had to have been around 20 when he had Tommy (the actor is even younger). Tommy was 8 when he lost his mother. So Malcolm and Rebecca were probably around 28 when she died. Just like Tommy and Laurel were around 28 when he died.

Now here’s the major place where the symmetry is broken, gets inverted: Laurel could have died in the Glades trying to help people like always, the same way Rebecca died. One victim among others of Starling City’s corrupt elite, like Rebecca was one victim among others of the Glades’ worst residents. But she survived, because Tommy took her place. The night she was murdered, Rebecca called her husband for help, but he didn’t answer because he was busy (a moment of disregard with terrible consequences). She died alone, bleeding in the street. Laurel wasn’t Tommy’s girlfriend anymore, she was with Oliver again, and she didn’t have a chance to call him, but he came anyway. Tommy saw how grief turned his father into a monster, and made a choice not to be him: the night of the Undertaking, he left Merlyn Global to save the woman he loved in the Glades. By sacrificing himself so that she could live, he did what his father didn’t - couldn’t. What’s sad is it’s not because Malcolm wasn’t willing to, he just didn’t even think she might need him.

After Rebecca was abruptly taken from him, Malcolm slept with Moira Queen (his best friend’s wife), just like Laurel slept with Oliver Queen (Tommy’s best friend) after Tommy abruptly ended their relationship. Both were subsequently plagued with guilt, feeling they had betrayed their loved one (”I think we both needed someone that night. I felt so bad about betraying Rebecca's memory that I left Starling. Left Tommy behind.” and “I know it wasn't exactly cheating, because Tommy had broken up with me, but he only did that because he thought that you and I should be together. All I know is that I feel like I betrayed him. And now he's gone. And there's nothing I can do to make it right.”).

That guilt (along with survivor guilt, feeling responsible for her death, grief, feeling helpless, needing to stay in control, etc) is part of what drove Malcolm to the League of Assassins, where he was brainwashed, tortured and trained to become a new man - the Dark Archer. The same guilt (along with survivor guilt, feeling responsible for his death, grief, feeling helpless, needing to stay in control, etc) is part of what drove Laurel toward drugs, her crucible that would eventually put her on the road to becoming the Black Canary.

But there is still that break in the symmetry: Laurel, when she donned her mask, remained Dinah Laurel Lance, the woman who wants to save the world. The Dark Archer was a ghost, a symbol of terror, whereas the Black Canary, while wearing the same colors, was a symbol of hope. Rebecca’s murder was terrible and senseless, her death not just the result of the cruelty of her killer, but also the indifference of all the people who ignored her cries for help and passed her by. Tommy’s sacrifice was noble and meaningful. It was all about love: selfless and unconditional. Rebecca’s murder created the Dark Archer, a monster. Tommy’s sacrifice allowed the Black Canary, a hero, to be born. Death versus Life, Darkness versus Light.

The beautiful thing is that by saving the woman he loved - this woman possessed with the same idealism and compassion as Rebecca Merlyn - Tommy, in a way, corrected the wrong done to his mother 20 years ago. Rebecca’s spirit could have died again with Laurel that night in the Glades, because of his father. But thanks to Tommy, it survived when Laurel lived. History didn’t repeat itself. Ironically, that was the very thing his father was attempting to do, but Malcolm was too consumed by revenge and hatred to see his actions went against everything Rebecca used to be. Tommy’s act of love, in the midst of the destruction his father caused, was the redemption Malcolm was so desperately looking for.

The heartbreaking thing is, of course, that healing this wound cost Tommy his life. And when he died, so did the last living proof of his parents’ love. It is a definitive closure on this chapter of Starling City’s history. Personally, I find it striking that the end of Merlance (be it friendship, romance or any kind of relationship they might have had) is so tied to the end of Malcolm and Rebecca. One tragedy led to another.

And this begs the question: in an alternative universe where Rebecca doesn’t die, could they have been happy together? Tommy would have grown up in a loving home with a mother who’d teach him how to be generous and help people, with a father who never abandoned him, who would be present and cared and showed it. I think he would have been different, less sleazy, happier, not as prone to sleeping around. Maybe in this alternative universe Laurel would have chosen him instead of Oliver (because, in the show, she was hesitant to start a relationship with him because she didn’t think Tommy Merlyn could be a “one-girl type of guy”), and they all would have been okay.

Actually, call me delusional, but I think even in the show’s reality where Rebecca does die, if Malcolm had gotten to know Laurel much earlier, not just as one of Tommy’s friend but as herself (like if they adopted her or something, or if she was Tommy’s girlfriend instead of Oliver and he saw the effect she had on him), maybe he’d never have gone through with the Undertaking. He came back from Nanda Parbat circa 1995, but only decided to level the Glades in 2007. There’s 12 years in-between during which he was honestly trying to save the Glades with the List (“We're emptying the Atlantic with a tablespoon. For years, we've been forcing the city's worsts to do what is best, leverage them to help us save this city. But it's not working. Crime in the Glades is rising. The cancer is spreading.”). He changed his mind because he felt frustrated with his perceived lack of results - he lost hope. Maybe that was inevitable, maybe it wasn’t. I like to think the latter is true. Laurel is all about hope. Maybe getting to know her, this girl who has both his ambition and his beloved wife’s compassion, maybe it would have been enough to keep him from loosing faith in people and crossing the line. And Laurel really did want Tommy to reconcile with his father, Miss “look for the best in people” (“Maybe he really is trying to extend an olive branch.” and “Your father's a jerk, but he's still your father. I think in his own way...I think he sees himself as protecting you somehow.”). The Merlyns broke when they lost Rebecca. In the show, it was already too late to fix their family (after killing his best friend and his son’s best friend, Malcolm was way too far gone), but given the chance earlier, I think Laurel could have made a difference for both of them. Filled the void Rebecca left behind, in a way. Been the heart they were missing.

One The "Fly King" dilemma of human civilization

After reading Huang Wei’s "A Good Play", I remembered "Fly King" for no reason. Although this is not the prototype of his script, the American drama "Lost" and the feature "Pacific escape" are closer to his imagination of the story. .

However, the script structure of "A Good Play" can be cross-referenced with "The Lord of the Flies". A group of people were trapped in an environment of pre-civilization because of the misfortunes that fell to the island. The people in the two stories worked together at first, and they were sloppy. However, the longer it leaves the human society, the weaker the inner morality and restraint power, the human animal's side begins to emerge, and the illusion of Datong will eventually fall apart. "A Good Play" simulates the most hidden side of human evolution in history, from the original clan society (headed by Xiao Wang, everyone organized to hunt for fruit for a living), to goods for bartering Society (Zhang always relies on the discovery of the ship, completes the accumulation of the original capital, establishes the rules of exchange of goods on the island), and finally forms the oligarchic politics after the capital competition (Ma Jin and Xiao Xing attempted to resist this rule, but repeatedly frustrated, Finally, using the logic of this rule, monopolize the material resources, anti-customer. In the last period, the island was in fact the same as modern society, and the cards that existed as equivalents began to depreciate even as our current currency. In Lord of the Flies, the seemingly peaceful group of children split into two factions, a "democratic" that is rationalized by Ralph, and an "autocratic" led by Jack who advocates instinct and seizes power by force. . The "autocratic faction" defeated the former by plundering resources and occupying latecomers. "The Lord of the Flies" has a different story trend than "A Good Play", but the social structure hidden under it is similar, and the evolution of civilized society is mostly the same. In the "A Good Play", the voice of the pharynx is regarded as an unknown force. In "The Lord of the Flies", there is also a "beast" that causes great panic. "The Beast" comes from the darkness, comes from the woods, and comes from the sea. "Fly King" excavates the deepest and most primitive fear from the mysterious power of nature. Jack cut the pig's head, inserted its throat into the tip of the stick, and pierced the pig's throat until it reached its mouth, and the blood fell down the stick. The children used this as a sacrifice to the "beast." The flies gather in black and white from the viscera of the pig in all directions. The pig's teeth are white and the eyes are dim. This is the source of the image of the Lord of the Flies, which is regarded as the "head of all evils" in the Bible. The existence of "The Lord of the Flies" is an absurd irony of modern civilization. When survival becomes the top priority, the so-called morality, conscience, laws, and rules must give way to it, and may even disappear. The only fear of man is unknown. The "Fly King" is the religion that emerged in this fear, and it is the externalization of our fear since the primitive society. The ancestors of the tree spent millions of years becoming the earliest humans, and then spent thousands of years transitioning from primitive society to modern civilization, but as long as the human group survived in an environment that was isolated from civil society, Can easily return to the ancestors. The division between man and beast is only separated by a line. The "fly king" is actually our inner animal. When Simon in "The Lord of the Flies" said "Probably the beast is our own", he was regarded by the group as a madman to persecute to death. In "A Good Play", the situation of being degraded as a mad king by telling the truth Similar to this. Civilization seems to be subtle and ingenious. In reality, it is a castle made up of cards. In a closed and isolated state, it can collapse in an instant, let alone a heresy that cannot be tolerated by civilization. In the face of the "Fly King" dilemma of human civilization, Huang Wei's "A Good Play" is still moderate. Kitano Takeshi's "Great Escape" is extremely extreme. In a space with limited resources, killing becomes the only belief in survival. 提供意見 翻譯記錄 已儲存 社群

Two What is dystopia?

Anti-utopian is a concept opposite to Utopia. For the picture of human society, dystopia abandoned Plato's "ideal country" style of imagination, which has deep doubts about human nature. In the dystopian text, even in the era when the material technology is very developed in the future, it is still full of totalitarianism, class, crime, oppression, and regulation. The Portuguese writer Saramago’s "The Blindness of the Blindness" and "The Story of the Despair" are very typical dystopian texts. The significance of these two novels to me is much greater than the classic works of George Orwell. Take "Blindness of Blindness" as an example. It starts with a sudden blindness when a driver waits for a traffic light. Blindness spreads like a flu. If the trickle gradually softens the land, it quietly turns the whole country into a A piece of Zeguo. In the face of frightened and out of control society, the government has closed blind people and residents who have had contact with blind people in mental hospitals. But as the number of blind people increased in geometric progression, the psychiatric hospital became an island in the Lord of the Flies. People tried to build rules but they were quickly broken. The arrogant take the gun (the symbol of power) to occupy a limited resource (three meals a day), and force each dormitory to pay all the objects, evaluate their value, and then distribute the food in a fixed amount. In the end, the power rule established in this closed environment (psychiatric hospital) was overthrown by the rebels in a "blood revolution." These detainees are regaining their freedom. However, the freedom after losing the meaning of resistance is as light as a feather. The outside world is no better than a mental hospital. The civilized building has been tilted. Everyone is trembled and confused. When the only doctor who was not blinded came to the church, she found that all the gods were blindfolded, and even the symbol of salvation was no longer trusted. This news caused a lot of confusion among the blind, as if Nietzsche said "God is dead", the faith collapsed. Only in the novels of the novels, people are blinded by the ravages of blindness. In the era of Nietzsche, people are blind in the mind. Saramago wrote such a dialogue in the book: "How about the outside world, the old man with black-eye mask asked; the doctor's wife replied that there is no difference between the outside and the inside. It is the same here and there. The minority and the majority are the same. Our present and future are no different; people How about people, the girl wearing sunglasses asks; like a ghost, it is probably like a ghost, that life is believed, because the four sensory organs tell them this way, but they can't see it." There is no difference between the present and the future, because human nature has always been the same. The coronation of the novel "The Plague" depicts the same situation, the city of Ahlan under the plague, like the world of blindness. The chaos and disorder of the social structure only requires a blindness and a plague. But unlike Camus's existential optimism, Saramago is pessimistic. He believes that although he lives very well, the world is not good, and cruelty is the invention of mankind. The world as a whole is still moving in the direction of entropy. "Blindness of Blindness" provides a type of dystopian text, "Hanjiang Monster", "Flu", "Busan", "Snow Country Train" and other film script strategies, and it is the same: to put people in desperate conditions, Then consider human nature. Such dystopian texts have emptied some of the reality and carried out some extreme experiments on human society. It is not like the world that anyone has experienced, but it is very similar. It looms behind our real world and seems to presage our future. In this sense, "A Good Play" and "The Lord of the Flies", "The Blindness of Blindness", "The Story of Fuming", "1984", "Animal Manor", etc. fable. When the survival contest in "A Good Play" is extended to the entire human society, there is a reality depicted in "The Blindness of Blindness". The former is not like the latter, it spends a lot of ink to describe the world of "human evil", but it still speaks the ugliness of the world in a softer way. From the actor cross-border to the director, it is another completely different state, but I always feel that an actor who has performed "The Bullfighting" and the drama "Alive" has his own understanding of the tragedy. Huang Wei can use the more fierce reality as the ending, but he did not choose to gaze at the abyss. Although I am expecting Huang Wei to take a tragedy and destroy the valuable things, instead of choosing a big reunion, it is only his debut, and it is a commercial film. He has his own market and review. After considering other factors, after all, reviewing the proposition of human nature like "The Great Escape" is too heavy for the director who is so gentle and patient. This is understandable. three The end of the world and the cold wonderland Haruki Murakami has written an interesting work called "The End of the World and the Cold Wonderland." In this novel, "the end of the world" is a fantasy Utopia world. In this world, there are rivers, sandbars, willows, birds, unicorns, and ancient dreams that can be read. People have no heart, so there is no lawsuit, no pain, no sickness, no poverty and no disputes. It was so perfect that after the last "I" knew that this was just the world of "I" delusion, I still chose to stay here. Unlike the "end of the world", "Cold Wonderland" is a dystopian world. In "Cold Wonderland", "I" is a computing scientist. The brain is examined by the "organization". The so-called "consciousness core" is also kept in a copy. "Cold Wonderland" is a cyber-punk world where people alienate technology. In my thirty-five-year life, "I" only noticed the snails after the rain, the pigeons in the park, and the outer world that was close at hand in the last twenty-four hours. The shadow of "I" in the novel escaped from the "end of the world" and resolutely returned to "cold wonderland." I imagined another ending in "A Good Play": When Ma Jin did not wake up, he chose to stay on the island to continue to bully, and happiness will continue. The island will also be a beautiful Utopia model, like the "end of the world" in Murakami's novels, or the matrix in The Matrix. However, Ma Jin chose to escape from the island where he said "everything is fake." Only after we understand his choices can we understand the meaning of "anti-Utopia". A peaceful and perfect world on the surface is worthy of vigilance, because people have always been a contradiction between romanticism and utilitarianism. As long as there is utilitarian, selfish, and greedy side of the human body, Utopia will always be like a dream. When a society no longer exposes ugliness, it is bound to cover up in a way that is unknown. This is not our disappointment with humanity, but our choice of sincerity to face ugliness and evil, and the "flying king" at the bottom of my heart. The meaning of dystopia may be to show the other side of beauty and goodness, they are also indispensable. Everything in the world is relatively present. Without shadow, we cannot know the existence of the sun. With ugliness, hypocrisy, pain and death, happiness and hope can be realized. The dystopian works are absurd, but the absurdity implies the truth. There is no absurdity in reality, and it is not a variant of dystopia. Huang Wei completed self-salvation with love in the film. The last surviving Qiyuan and Dianzi in "The Great Escape" are also lovers. This is the director's warmth to reality. Rilke has a poem in "The Voice of Duino": "We are liberated in love, and we are trembled." May our life have enough love and kindness to face the reality of this "cold wonderland."