#they/them movie
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I just watched They/Them and it was fucking perfect
This won’t be a detailed review or anything I just really wanted to share my thoughts cause I’m already seeing posts saying to boycott it and it makes me so upset to see people misunderstanding this movie.
(And to people saying to boycott it cause Blumhouse made it: were y’all saying the same thing about Halloween or Halloween Kills? Or The Invisible Man? Or Get Out? Or Ma? Or Freaky? Split is an awful Ablest movie I 100% agree and saying Blumhouse produces everything isn’t an excuse for their hand in making that, but if anyone should be blamed, it’s Shyamalan. He wrote, directed and produced it while They/Them is made by completely different people so it’s unfair to punish it for the actions of another director who worked with the same production)
Let me start off by saying yes, it was absolutely difficult to watch at times thanks to the in universe homophobia, transphobia, biphobia (both acted out by others and internally), abusive actions and language, the death of an animal and if those things trigger you, you don’t have to watch this movie and I don’t blame you for not wanting to watch something triggering. That being said, that is not an excuse to spread misinformation about what it is or isn’t just based on the trailer and summary.
This is not a movie made with the soul purpose of making and hurting/killing queer characters. This is a movie exploring the horrors of gay conversion, the unique struggles we go through, queer friendships and relationships and taking actions into your own hands to defend yourself and others. Queer characters are insulted and hurt by the camp counselors to show how evil they are and spoiler alert: all of the homophobic camp counselors and only one gay camper die (and I believe the way it was handled was for the most part pretty good). People saying it’s not a gay revenge movie are just wrong. Perhaps a spoiler but the slasher is absolutely doing this to take revenge on the counselors and to make them pay for what they’ve done to gay kids.
The slasher isn’t treated/viewed as just as bad as the counselors or worse (though they are arrested but honestly just a commentary on how fucked the legal system is and vigilante stuff). The gay characters don’t call them a monster for what they’ve done, only that they don’t want to join in their vigilante work and instead try to return to normalcy, which is completely understandable. As much as I’d love to kill a homophobe, the idea of actually ending someone’s life is fucking terrifying so I can fully relate to the main nonbinary character not wanting to spill the blood of another person.
Speaking of the gay characters, I thought they were all amazing, likable, relatable and realistic. I was extremely attached to them and felt their joy and pain and fear and it was a relief when they all survived. They weren’t all perfect and that’s what makes it so great. You have one or two gay characters who, despite being gay, hold partially transphobic beliefs or didn’t get people’s pronouns correct right away, showing the very real existence of inner community conflict and that yes, gay people can be transphobic or not understand the struggles trans people go through.
I can speak for myself at least when I say I’m so happy this movie exists. It further inspires and motivates me to work on my own queer horror story.
#they/them#they/them movie#they slash them#they slash them movie#sorry for any weird spacing#typing this on my phone
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just finished THEY/THEM and there's one scene where all the campers are singing P!NKs "Fuckin Perfect" and that was personally written, shot and directed FOR me
#they/them 2022#they/them movie#they slash them 2022#they slash them movie#i LOVE P!NK and the song holds such a special place in my heart#so when i saw a bunch of queer teens singing at the top of their lungs it felt so personal
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my thoughts are very messy but. the they/them movie is not queer torture porn. it's queer resistance, it's queer healing. it's a movie about the micro aggressive ways queer people are belittled and talked down too, it's about the horror of conversion therapy camps, and most importantly (slight spoilers for the ending)
it's about choosing to heal yourself instead of devoting your time to attacking your attackers.
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I thought they/them was going to be a spoofy satirical slasher along the lines of Scream but. I just watched it and it is deadly fucking serious. it does such a good job of portraying the homo- and transphobia as the vehicle for the horror and showing the many different ways that marginalization can truly fuck a person up. there were so many characters that really showcased the diversity of the queer experience and how they all respond to that societal pressure in different ways. overall I highly recommend; it's one of the few horror movies that has kept my thorough attention throughout and it was almost too well written in it's realism. that being said, massive trigger warning for the bigotry in this movie because it is some of the most real and raw queerphobia I have ever witnessed and was hard to deal with, even as somebody relatively unaffected by queerphobic violence
but. every single one of those queer kids makes it out in one piece.
#they/them#they/them movie#also group singalong to p!nk's 'fuckin perfect' so automatic bonus points
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stop putting the They/Them movie on my DASH its made by the same studio who made Split. yknow the fucking awful movie that ramped up the stigma for the childhood trauma disorder. fuck that movie and fuck Blumhouse.
#neo.txt#they/them movie#ok to rb#sick of fucking seeing it can people at least pretend to care abt people with DID / OSDD for once
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From what I’ve seen about that horror movie, They/Them, the team is really amping up the horrors of conversion therapy, and showing how much or a terrifying place it can be. The horror derives from the way that queer people are treated, and how normalized our fear and us being in danger is, on top of how dangerous ‘conversion therapy’-type rhetoric really is.
I dig it.
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REAL QUICK, THIS POST DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THEY/THEM
SO i watched that new queer slasher, they/them !! and honestly ? it was pretty good !! outside of the many possibly triggering scenes (i can make a full trigger warning list if you guys want me too, it is literally a slasher film that takes place in a conversion camp), it was actually really good ? there were a few very cute scenes, one being where they all sing and dance together to fuckin perfect by pink (my description does not do this scene justice), it had plenty of good jokes, the ending was pretty sweet as well !!
if you were worried or nervous about this movie being a movie where a bunch of queer kids get sent to conversion therapy and die, do not worry !! this movie is not at all that !! in fact, the only people that die are the people running the camp !! the antagonists !!
(saying not a single queer person dies in this movie isnt exactly true, i can elaborate if need be, but none of the kids that are sent to the camp die.)
i personally disagree with the vibe of "if you are violent towards/hurt/etc your oppressors you are just as bad as them" that was going on when the killer was revealed. i personally think that killing conversion camp runners (and queerphobes in general) is a good thing.
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Guess who's not done talking about They/Them
That's right, it's this blorbo enjoyer. Today, we're gonna be talking about Owen.
We'll start with an in depth at his opening monolgue, and how he fills his introductory speech with rhetorical strategies popular with gaslighters and weaponized progressive language to make the campers vulnerable because it's something I found deeply fascinating on my first watch: how he privately believe all kinds of monstrous biboted shit and then turn around and publically says all the correct well-rehersed words that nearly perfectly hide his cruel intentions.
"I can't make you straight. I don't wanna make you straight. Gay people are A-OK with me. If you're happy the way you are, then more power to you.
"And I know what you're thinking. You hear the words "gay conversion camp," and you start to imagine all kinds of homophobic bullshit. Well, that is not what we're about here. And let me tell you another thing.
"God… God doesn't hate you either. And any son of a bitch that tells you otherwise is a bigoted asshole. And that is officially the last time that you're gonna hear about the man upstairs. I promise you.
"But I'm guessing that some of you are here because in some way you're not happy. Maybe you don't fit in. People make fun of you. Maybe you wanna find some new kind of peace, a new way of thinking about yourself. Well, you give us this week, and we might be able to help. And if not, just enjoy the sunshine, and work on your tan."
I briefly touched on its first section in my first analysis of They/Them here because it was marginally relevant to the discussion I had there on the symbolism of the establishing scene's composition.
But now I'm going to focus on the meat of this sections rhetorical strategy, which are the preemptively disarming statements (blue), progressive language (orange), presenting a false choice (yellow), and framing all his actions as being in the camper's best interest (green).
The main thing owen Owen does a lot here during his introduction, both here and throughout the other sections, is acknowledge the camper's expectations and subvert them. By acknowledging the expectations, he shows the campers that he understands what they assume about him, and then by presenting himself in a way that subverts those expectations, he disorientates the camper's initial guardedness, creating a crack in their armor. This is an important technique which can render people more vulnerable to gaslighting, which he and the staff use throughout the rest of the film.
He pepper's his speech with the kinds of language you expect from progressive person with a deep and nuanced understanding of gender, so far, the words "homophobia" and "bigotted" which he uses exclusively to imply that he doesn't hate gay people, but more notably later down in the monologue "safe space," and "gender normative lifestyle." While his language ain't exactly correct, oweing to the fact he doesn't believe a word of what he's saying to the campers and his real intentions and beliefs leak through just a bit, he's clearly studied and learned the language of queer progressives so he could easily weaponize it.
His rhetorical strategy is further enhanced by how he frames his intentions, as helping the campers find happiness, inner peace, or a new way of knowing themselves; he isnt trying to 'make them straight' but 'showing them their options' presenting himself as naively assuming that they might like being straight more than being queer, and that he might be able to help them get to that happiness. For some of the campers who came of their own accord, this works wholeclothe, and for others it doesn't work at all but it catches them off guard: and it's supposed to serve both those functions.
Lastly for this first section, we see him falsely promise the campers the ability to opt out of the program, reenforcing his rhetorical opening that he can't make them straight. By promising them the opprotunity to work on their tan, he gives them the false sense of security that if they don't like what he wants them to do, they can leave. Of course there's no real exit or opt out, but the promise of one is... disarming.
OK. Let me introduce you to my colleagues. They do all the real work. I just cash the checks. This is Dr. Cora Whistler. She is our licensed therapist, and as you might have guessed from the name, my wife. She who must be obeyed.
Next to her is Nurse Molly who takes care of any little mishaps that may occur. Molly's new here, so take it easy on her.
And that's Zane, our athletics director and a former student here. So, he knows all the ropes. And, boys, he's taken, so hands off.
And that beautiful woman right there is Sarah, Zane's fiancé. She's our activities director, and she is going to keep you busy. Believe you me.
And over here we have Balthazar. That's our handyman, all-around Mr. Fix it. Say hello, Balthazar!
And that, finally, is old Duke. Duke is one old hound dog. So please treat him kindly.
In this section, we see Owen pulling and pushing his role as the camp's top-most authority. He very carefully establishes the authority of the camp verbally while offuscating the heirarchical relationship between the campers and staff from which that authority is derived.
Dr Cora Whistler is a liscenced Therapist who must be obeyed, Zane is the athletics director who knows all the ropes, Sarah is the activities director who'll keep them busy. Even Molly and Balthazar who're the weakest links in the structure are introduced by their titles to establish their place in the heirarchy.
But, contrast that subtle emphasis on the authority with what he not so subtlely asks the campers to do, which together with his 'request' that they please give him the opprotunity to 'help them,' are all he's asked so far in his interactions with them: take it easy on Molly and treat Duke kindly.
His joke about Zane's sexuality is carefully considered rhetorical point designed to disarm the campers and reenforce his first point that formerly "gay people are A-OK with [him],"
While he establishes his authority, Owen is playing a foot in the door salesman, peppering the group with innocuous requests to prime them to accept the larger demands both immediately as he makes his first demand and later on after he drops his established pretenses.
OK. I'm gonna need you to hand over all your cell phones and computers. As well as any medicines, narcotics, or cigarettes that you may have. Cell phones don't work out here anyway, and I'm glad to say that we don't have any Wi-Fi. So we are off the grid which will be a nice change, I'm sure. Molly, if you would. Thank you.
I'm gonna talk about the pink sections a little later in a reblog as it contrasts well with the first true dialogue we see in the film, and this first post is about Owen's monologue as a jumping off point for his character
OK. Let me tell you how the next week is gonna work. We have a number of planned activities and therapy sessions that we would like you to be part of. But other than that, you're on your own. We do have one hard-and-fast rule here. And it's about respect. We deal with some sensitive issues, and we expect you to treat your fellow students with care. And allow them their dignity.
This is a safe space. For everyone.
And this is the most important thing that I want to say to you. I know that many of you are here only because your parents made you. And while their intentions may be honorable, only you can know what's best for you. Because the idea of this place is not to come outmore straight or less gay. Of course we hope that through your time here you will discover a gender normative lifestyle that is authentic for you but… you must find your own truth.
Let us help you do that.
Please.
Okay. So, uh, why don't you head to your cabins? Settle in. Unpack. We'll meet in the lodge in say, uh, a half hour and get started. Boys' cabin over there. Girls' cabin over there.
This section doesn't really have too much going on here that I haven't touched on before, as it serves primarily to transition smoothly from the heart of the monologue into the conclusion of the scene, but there's two interesting points left.
First, Owen admonishes the parents of the campers who were forced by their parents to come to Whistler Camp. It's again an example of a preemptive disarment (acknowledging their circumstances before they can state them), but more than that, he's planting the seed of the idea that he agrees with their intentions while disagreeing with their means.
The second interesting thing happening here that I want to draw attention back to is "Gender Normative Lifestyle." I touched on how it sounds like progressive language on the surface, and it does, but there's more to it than that: it sets up Owen's actual opinions, which will slowly be revealled to the audience as the mask comes off. Beneath the fauxcceptance he uses to introduce himself, he thinks he and his are normal, buys 100% into patriarchal cishetnormativity as the superior belief system (and the film will explore and flesh out his beliefs some), and think the campers are freaks that no one will care about when he hurts them.
Owen is the monster. He's just clever enough to appear well-dressed.
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im gonna jump.
god please let it be poorly budgeted let it be sloppy let it be comically over the top and miss the mark entirely let it be ANYTHING but another queer horror that plays it so aggressively safe and hammers in its point so hard it just feels like Nothing
#i hate fun sounding concepts that try to make their point so hard they become insufferable i hate good ideas by lgbt creators that flop#barking growling snarling biting#they/them movie
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i had so many thoughts about they/them (2022) and i really think i on't ever stop talking about this movie – not because it's particularly great, just because it is So Much (when i watched it with a friend we were taking breaks very very frequently) and i decided to write a paper about it!! before you read the paper, read this first:
i wrote this paper because i think people are misunderstanding this movie.
overall i do not think i recommend this movie as a horror movie because i do think you need to be informed that this movie has some pretty grisly elements (animal death, electroshock, some other psychological stuff) that you should definitely approach with caution but if you are looking for a deep emotional reaction this might be the place to find it? of course, its not going to be everyone's thing.
i think there are conversations and critiques that can only take place after you have seen this movie – the actual traditional horror plot is shoddy, and should be talked about as well because it is definitely not without flaw, but it is not the source of the horror in this movie
frankly, the body paragraphs in my paper could easily be expanded into their own papers, and i definitely shoehorned my thoughts about this movie a little – BUT, i strongly stand with everything i said.
please please read and tell me what you think!! i would really really love a larger conversation about this honestly i'm just really excited about my paper heehee
#they/them#they slash them#horror movies#horror genre#horror#they/them movie#2022 horror#art#movies#queer culture#queerness#theo germaine#queer#lgbtq community#validation please?#engagement please?#reblogging again#emotional reactions to art
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Hello I forgot that train wreck of a movie existed and was released two days after Nope’s release
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One of the few things that I didn't like about They/Them was that the WLW sex was quiet, soft and had music over it but the MLM sex was loud, not very cinematic and rough. It kinda rubbed me the wrong way to have them be so close together and be so different. I know it probably wasn't meant to given the amount of queer people involved in this movie, but it felt like 'WLW sex is always gentle and sweet and MLM sex and rough and fast', if that makes sense. Why did they mute the girl's moaning but keep the boys? Then you have the fact the girls are lit in soft summer sun with slow and beautiful shots of their body with close ups vs the boys fuck in a dark barn and moan shown by about 3 base shots then its over. I get the story telling of it and why it was shot that way for the plot but it felt weird. Idk, I'm Asexual and could just be reading it over too much because in sex repulsed.
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the slasher bits in they/them served the film more for providing levity and release from the psychological horror and the emotional trauma. i definitely don't think of it as a full slasher film because the kills were relatively painless and short with no chase scenes, no big tensions builds, nothing.
i still liked it as a horror/drama. I liked the character growth and the relationships and the final message.
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I keep seeing people in the tag say that the ending of They/Them was disappointing bcs it frames people who take revenge on their oppressors as just as bad as the oppressors themselves, when that is not at all the reading I got from it
Angie became a killer because those camp counselors Made Her That Way, just as surely as they made Gabriel and Sarah and Zane. That's part of the horror, that their personhood was so thoroughly condemned and rejected that they had nowhere else to put everything that hurt them except onto others. Angie was rendered incapable of healing from what was done to her and reconciling who she is because of the hatred that Owen and Cora instilled within her. There was nothing else she could do but lash out, as that was what was ingrained in her, she just managed to turn that violence around at what had hurt her, instead of who they told her to hurt. And is that not tragic? That her chance at a normal life, at health and joy and safety were stolen from her?
And note that Jordan never condemns her. Never calls her a monster or says shes "just like them". They only say that they cant be what she has become, that they dont have that violence and hatred withing themselves.
And in my opinion, that is a success. Angie saved them before they were unsalvageable. She allowed them to leave that camp intact.
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Mom: Do you want to watch that new horror movie They/Them?
Me: Sure! I wanted to watch that already. But are you asking because I'm queer, because my pronouns are they/them, because I like slasher movies, or because I love Kevin Bacon?
Mom: All of the above.
Me: Cool.
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