Finally returning from hiatus for #PortfolioDay (swipe for samples): hi, I'm Allison Perry! - I have experience in art direction, vis-dev/concept art, BG paint/design, props, and characters for TV, feature, games, and tech. Currently I'm doing environment design at Flying Bark, and my past clients include Disney, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Gameloft, Snap Inc., and more. You can find my portfolio link here: https://www.allisonperryart.com/ and I'll be available for new work November 2023!
30 notes
·
View notes
Quick and dirty power/structure/agency meta for y’all because my brain is going HAYWIRE at how Kinnporsche ended.
I’ve seen several posts explaining why Porsche becoming the head of the minor family isn’t the power move that it first appears (see posts from @atlasshrugd here and @deliciouswastelandgoddess here).
I fully agree. A big thematic element throughout this season has been Structure vs. Agency -- basically a question of freewill, self-determination, the ability to bring about what YOU want to happen, and the limitations that are placed on those things by the context you find yourself in (see my full KP meta of this here).
Throughout the series, we’ve seen Porsche lose more and more agency. First, as a bodyguard he is severely constrained in nearly every way. Where he can go, what he can do, what he can eat, who he can have contact with, all are limited in the extreme. Yes, Porsche technically CHOOSES to be a bodyguard, but his list of choices is pretty damn proscribed. Is it really a choice, if there are two options and one puts you on the mafia’s bad side?
He gains a bit of that back when he wins Kinn’s affection, and later gets Korn’s blessing as Kinn’s boyfriend. He gets a phone (only to call Kinn, ofc), permission to call and visit his brother, etc.
Slowly, though, Korn is amassing all these different ways of controlling Porsche’s options. Chay gets brought into the fold. We find out Korn has been keeping Porsche’s mom locked in the attic. And obviously Korn has a great deal of influence over Kinn.
In the finale, Korn makes his big power play of the season and assigns Porsche as the head of the minor family. Note that he doesn’t ASK Porsche. He simply decides, and Porsche acquiesces.
And the thing is, this COULD be Porsche gaining a good deal of agency and power! IF WE KNEW THAT PORSCHE ACTUALLY WANTED THAT POSITION (or, uhhhh, would be any good at it...).
We’re not given any insight into Porsche’s thought process. He doesn’t volunteer. We never see him debate it, waver, gladly accept. Anything.
As @yeetlegay and I have been discussing, the choice is fundamental--is this something that Porsche WANTS, and therefore accepting it is an act of agency that allows Porsche to fulfill his own desire?
Or is Porsche only accepting it because it’s what he thinks is necessary to get the other things he wants: namely Kinn, access to his mom, and protection for Chay?
Is it even really a choice, when one option has the very real potential of tearing you away from those you love?
Fundamentally, would Porsche choose to be the head of the minor family if he could keep Kinn, his mom, and Chay safe and by his side regardless of his choice?
Korn is pulling Porsche further and further into the structure, and into his game. He’s the puppet master pulling the strings, giving power over the minor family to someone he can CONTROL. He is amassing everything he needs to constrain Porsche’s agency and choices; he always had Porsche’s mom, but now he has his brother and, serendipitously for him, Kinn whom Porsche loves.
The noose is tightening, and we don’t even know if Porsche KNOWS that it is.
I think this is, actually, a BRILLIANT set-up for a second season; Porsche discovering that he’s stepping further and further into the trap. Doors are closing all around him. How much of your agency are you willing to give up, for love? How much of yourself can you stand to lose, and how much can your beloved stand to SEE you lose? Can you have both love and freewill, in this violent world?
It’s also a great parallel to what’s happening with Vegas and Pete, who have been yeeted out of the system and, in some ways, CHOSEN that (Pete by leaving the main family and Vegas by choosing to live despite being stripped of his position/power). They have a great deal of self-determination at the moment (...as long as no one drags them back in. Ohhh noooo, who would do that?? I WONDER).
I could see a nice balancing act of Vegas and Pete being drawn back into the structure/game, while Kinn and Porsche struggle to escape or at least establish their own agency. Both couples will need to cement their own power, outside of Korn’s chessboard, and it looks like a perfect narrative set up for them to do it by working together from opposite ends of the spectrum.
282 notes
·
View notes