I was eating sweet potatoes, salmon, and lettuce 3 times a day for 9 months. And that’s it. You know, sometimes cubed, sometimes in a strip of salmon, but that was it. That was tough.

so i went and saw monkey man

I love how Dev Patel’s Character (I’m going to call him Hanuman) was told by his mother that his future can be found in the roots (lines) of his hands.

And how he tried to save his mother from the fire, grabbing with child’s hands, but instead burned his future away.

And how our first real view of them is when he bargains his way into a job that will lead him to the men that took his future away. Scarred, pale, blank and ruined.

Just like the monkey, Hanuman reached out to the burning desired life, and was supposedly stripped of his potential and power as punishment by the powers that be.

But then, with love and care from others battered, he was guided to his heart, and found it still beating and unfettered. A warrior’s heart.

And so drumbeat by drumbeat, he shaped himself, his hands, into a weapon of justice. To save the future. To remain nameless but to return vengeance upon those who would do others harm with no thought.

His hands, created by the past, shaped and balanced the future.

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR MONKEY MAN!!!! GO WATCH THE MOVIE IF YOU HAVENT ITS REALLY GOOD DAMMIT!!!!!!!

Anyway

I think an overlooked bit in Monkey Man is how bleach is used as imagery and association. Bleach is often use is to remove stains from clothes/surfaces, disinfect things, and just generally clean stuff. I think this plays a lot into the revenge narrative central to the film, as well as offering a comparison/contrast to the villians’ methods of “removing India’s scars”

When the Kid first shows his hands he says they look that way from bleach and chemicals and calls them his CV. Now, without the mention of bleach this scene is still impactful within context, bc the Kid is indirectly saying that his life is defined by his trauma and the death of his mother (and maybe even his inability to save her). Hands are also a reoccurring symbol throughout the film in an of themselves. But back to bleach. I think mentioning bleach is important bc it depicts bleach as corrosive and something higher ups don’t want to engage in. “Give me the job no one wants to do, and ill do it.” No one at Kings wants what the Kid wants, and no one there is willing to cleanse the city and the establishment of its own corruption.

There’s also the fact that Kid’s pseudonym comes from the brand of bleach he uses at his job. By naming himself after the bleach he uses, Kid associates himself with an aggressive way of cleansing, which is kinda the whole message of Monkey Man as a narrative. It’s telling that the closest thing to a conventional name we have for the Kid just reinforces his purpose within the story.

Finally, the Kid bleaches his monkey mask before he goes to Kings for the final act. I think this is symbolic of him stripping away his persona of “Kong” that he used as a fighter from the mask, replacing it with the identity of Hanuman he has come to inhabit. The lighter fur looks more like the fur Hanuman is shown to have throughout the movie, both in the children’s book and the puppet in the stage play. It could also symbolize the Kid “cleansing his mind” of what remains from before he was saved by the hijras, and fully embracing his purpose.

Am i thinking about this way to much? Obviously but i don’t care bc its fun lol. Love this movie.

question for the timeline: what are you reading right now?

Y’all’ve seen that random pic of Dev Patel as Gawain from The Green Knight holding that absolutely massive realistic heart right

just saw Dev Patel’s Moneky Man…..and I too would like to be nursed back to health and trained by a loving and supportive group of beautiful transwomen…

i knew that monkey man would have at least one needle drop that took me out and it had like ten actually (somebody to love. ooh la la.) but the one that really got me was the metal track during the hijras + dev fight scene bc LOL that's the bloodywood song about how we should kill all domestic abusers. im like not joking the lyrics are literally like if you disrespect our beautiful queens we are going to crazy murder you

Monkey Man gotta be one of my favorite hijra movies that features a commune of trans South Asians killing cops while their dresses twirl

just finished one dark window and looking at fan art and im not sure what I expected… all these abysmally white Ravyns and Elspeths when Dev Patel and Jesse Mei Li are RIGHT THERE???

dev patel covered in blood. that's it, that's the post.

You do this one thing, you return home a changed man, an honorable man? Just like that?

Yes.

I wish I could see the new you.

"My Lady... Are you real, or are you a spirit?" "What is the difference? I just need my head."

The Green Knight (2021)

MONKEY MAN (2024)

I watched monkey man for the plot

The plot : - Dev Patel cutting open that evil guy’s neck with a knife while holding it in his mouth

monkey man is the best movie of this year idc idc