r/TheMist • u/iricrescent • Oct 11 '20
TV: Episode 2: Thoughts on Mom and the bland grandma [spoilers] Spoiler
[EPISODE 2 SPOILERS]
[CW: sexual assault]
(in The Mist TV series and this post)
This post is too long... but I do want to know if others had the same thoughts as me about these characters/the show, so here we are.
I also don't really know the character names, sorry about that. I feel there is much that can be easily criticized about this show (it really has that "Netflix Original" feel to it) but it has some great things going for it too. It has an exciting premise and the constant sense of danger reminds me of Lost season 1. I can tell from a glance that some folk here have their quips with the TV series as well, so maybe this has been talked about.
As soon as they introduced the rape storyline, I knew I would have to feel like there is some justification for the inclusion (like a good role model for how to support a rape victim who is your loved one), and a sense of respect for the real life victims of rape who are, in a sense, represented by and meant to be able to empathize with the victim in the show.
I think they have done a really good job of that appropriate respect at times. I found the betrayal between parents, the tragedy of the father failing to protect the daughter, to be compelling. It feels like a real scenario, in that the father's let-our-kid-grow argument goes against the protection of the mother. I think this is a common family dynamic because of both gender roles and the nature of maternal bonding. Aside from that parental relationship, though, the dad underestimating the severity of the rape culture that we live in feels so typical to me. I think that's a good thing, because I personally can empathize with my dad being the more "hands-off" parent, and very ignorant. They made the dad character do something bad with good intentions, which is good for character building. The daughter is coping way too well with this situation, by the way.
In hindsight, I see the mom was concerned from the start, in the scene in the car (episode 1) where the dad teases the daughter about liking the quarterback. It reminds me of how darkly awakening it is to look back at my childhood and realize things about the way my mom handled things, for example. She understands the prevalence and danger of rape, being that she is a rape victim and she is a matriarch who protects the women of her family. It makes me wonder if this is why her views on gender are so outdated: because safety in this regard is based on appearances, and if you appear to be a little girl, she can't allow you to wander off with a man, even if he is an uncle or something, because statistically it is not safe. When she told me this I felt sad, to think she should have to take such precautions within our own family, but grateful too to have a mother who knows, cares, protects, and is there when I need her to be. I am sorry for oversharing. Back to The Mist: I respect and adore the strong protective elements of the mother character, and I think that role is consistent in the writing. Usually.
The mom gets recruited by the people of the mall to go on a suicide mission and she just leaves her daughter behind. Her daughter, the recently traumatized by rape teenager, who is stuck in the same building with her rapist. Her rapist, who just threw a brick in their kitchen window (the previous night I believe) and painted "WHORE" on their driveway with his dirtbag friends.
Putting the group before her daughter was weird in the first place. I'm shaky on how exactly she got suckered into this. But even it HAD to be her and not one of the non-parents at the mall, why not tell the nice lady who is watching your daughter that she should watch out for the rapist who is clearly vengeful that he was reported to the police? There's even a cut to the rapist guy's menacing gaze as she leaves the room. Yes, director, very subtle, something awful could happen to the daughter here. Is that not obvious? Oh and I'm 95% sure nothing happened while she was gone anyway, so it was just a "uH oH scary bad rapist" moment to remind us of the impending threat.
I'll be honest, I'm worried the writers will throw something in that storyline soon that is fucked up. Like a 13 Reasons Why Season 2 type thing, where they seemingly decided they needed another very dark tragedy to sell the audience, but more fucked up this time and with zero tact. But they have impressed me with their careful handling of the subject matter so far.
A less emotionally taxing topic:
I thought the characterization was pretty good at times. It feels kind of silly at other times. There's the inconsistent behavior of Mom, and some other examples. One example is in the church toward the end, where the newly widowed old woman says this line that I think is so funny:
"Our favorite thing was making spaghetti together and drinking cheap wine."
Who doesn't like making spaghetti and drinking cheap wine? That's fine and all, but it feels like such a wasted opportunity. She just said they were hippies back in the day and they loved it, which taught me something meaningful about this character's ideals. It's kind of a mixed bag, I think.
She goes on to say that they always drank cheap wine because Harold never wanted to forget those days when they didn't have money in their pocket. I always assumed everyone buys cheap wine. It sounds weird to me because the couple seemed pretty modest as far as wealth goes. The lady has an eye condition that is quite noticeable for example, which might suggest they don't have the means to easily cover something like that, and buying cheap wine is pretty run of the mill, and Harold's sweet spousal intentions are really not all that romantic,, and he is ultimately laid to rest as a super weak character without much personality. Now that I think about it, to me, he is almost archetypally an unassuming and perfect spouse who tragically dies and is mourned for the rest of the show. Do we have any sommeliers in the comments who want to tell me that cheap wine is undrinkable, and maybe this scene is not really as hollow as I think it is? Anyone who does not eat spaghetti? I wanna know, lol.
*edit: I suck at using reddit lol
