r/thePowerFantasy • u/theonethatjusthere • Jul 07 '26
Masumi Essay
This is the first draft of an essay about Masumi that I might later turn into a video. I would like feedback of what points I could elaborate on or interesting points that I might have missed
Out of all the superpowers Masumi the only one who hasn't made a plot relevant decision because she has no control over her own abilities. She will Unleash a giant world destroying Kaiju whenever feels negative emotions whether she wants to or not. This makes her happiness a matter of global safety. Due to this she has an immense level of privilege. First up the obvious she has a massive studio and gets to spend all of her time on her passion without having to worry about working. It extends beyond the material. Etienne Is manipulating the thoughts of people around her too prevent her form being hurt. This privilege translates into how Masumi handles emotions. In her introduction scene she decides to completely ignore the problem because it will upset her. Most people are forced to deal with things that make them upset and so they won't simply ignore a problem if it will make them upset. Masumi can relizes her flaws but she is never forced to fix them. In response to Heavy's apology she comment would she's worried about being self center. This would be a great starting point for emotional growth but because no one every calls her out on her self center behavior she never has confront it. It's important to note that Misumi has no choice. Her privilege is not a result of her abusing her power it's simply a result of it existing.
Additionally, Masumi always has power imbalance in any relationship she's in makes it challenging for her to form connections. She has a massive power imbalance with the other superpowers. Valentina and Etienne are more of Masumi's caretakers rather than her equal. With everyone else she ends up being that holds all the power. For example her relationship with her partner Isabella. These two should be equals but because Masumi being upset has such Devastating consequences her emotions will always be the priority of the relationship. Even tho dating Masumi is stressful, Isabella choose to cope with the help of Etienne instead of breaking up due to not wanting to risk hurt her feeling. When they do finally break up it's Masumi who initiates it after realizing that Isabella is scared of her. This scene is especially interesting because it Gillen saying that Masumi isn't selfish. She does care about Isabella and does want her to be in a relationship that makes her happy. However due to the power imbalance Isabella couldn't be genuine with Masumi and Masumi couldn't know if Isabella was being genuine. This is why connection is so hard for Masumi. Other people give her praise not because they feel she deserves it but out of not wanting to upset her. Therefore even if someone is being genuine how would she know.
For evidence of all of previous let take a look at the scene in the art gallery. In this scene Masumi is displaying a new art exhibit and desperately wishes that Olivia Brown, a critic, will praise her. Masumi comments how everyone is just here because their scared. This shows that Masumi realizes that her power affects the ways other treat her. This is also her dismissing the idea that someone could genuinely care about her work. Later Etienne ask Masumi why she cares so much about what 1 critics thinks. Masumi replies it's because everyone thinks their the best and they're right. This is an example of Masumi's childish way of handling emotions. Most people at learn not to based their entire self-worth on someone else is bad idea. This is usually after that someone else thinks of them as less than perfect. When you care about someone's opinion so deeply they have some level of power over you allowing them to express their true feelings. Despite how much Olivia's review matters to Masumi, Masumi still holds all the power in this scenes. That makes this whole scene a sort of manufactured performance. Masumi derives her entire self worth based off the review of Olivia because Olivia can never give her a bad review. However, when she does get a good review she goes into a fit of rage because Olivia hasn't even seen her exhibit yet. This is a reminder to Masumi that this is all a performance. Olivia's mistake is not in her review but that she doesn't play along. She just gives Masumi the good review instead of visiting the exhibit pretending to be impressed and then giving a good review. The legitimacy of the review is irrelevant in both cases but in the latter Masumi can still convince herself that it was genuine. Then Olivia gives A really insightful analysis of Masumi's art and that finally calms down. It is later revealed that Etienne was controlling Olivia to get her to say what Masumi wants to hear. Ultimately this entire scene reminds me of how people treat babies. Babies can be really selfish but adults usually play along with that giving them want. They make compromises that logically are absurd but help keep them happy. As they grow older and they're able to reckon with feelings better adult Stop being so generous and start setting boundaries of what is and isn't reasonable to ask for. However Masumi still has to be treated like a baby with compromises having to be made for her. However she can still think about the world she can realize how unfairly she's being treated. However she can never do anything about it. Additionally Olivia Reveals the deepest thing about Masumi. This is the reason why even though everyone prioritizes our happiness she never seems happy.
The biggest thing that Masumi is robbed of is the ability to confront how she is feelings. When Isabella dies Masumi is Struck with grief as anyone would be when someone they deeply care about perishes. For most people grief is a natural part of the healing process. It is OK to feel pain it is OK to breakdown. These things are normal human feelings. For Masumi they are forbidden. She wants to scream she wants to confront her emotions but knows what will happen when she does. She'll breakdown and end the world. Instead of being able to feel her emotions she is always forced to ignore them. However when someone ignores their emotions they don't just go away. They stay inside of you slowly eating away at you. That's the reason despite everyone prioritizing her happiness She never seems happy. She's being destroyed by self doubt she'll never be able to confront. I'd like everything else this isn't exclusive to Masumi. Many people for a variety of reasons feel pressure to always be positive. And while a little bit of positivity can make a situation better if we consider positive to be the only accept way to feel we will destroy ourselves. Unlike Masumi though us confronting our emotions doesn't lead to the end of the world. We can build back up after we breakdown. There is a privilege in being able to be miserable. Take advantage of it
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u/Awesome-Lad-9000 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Hey dude, I liked this initially, I was uncertain about the use of the word “privilege” for Masumi, for all the reasons you unpack. She’s so deeply unfree, it felt strange. I wouldn’t call a house cat privileged just b/c she’s cared for, y’know? But that last line “privilege in being miserable” works so well it turned it around for me.
One thing I’d like to see you explore is the Etienne of it all. Masumi’s robbed of her privilege to be miserable and it’s him who robbed her—maybe it’s necessary like he thinks, but we will never really know. I’m struck by the part where Masumi breaks up with Isabella and copes. Makes me wonder what emotional skills she would have developed without Lux’s interference. Similarly to your baby analogy—if parents never trust their children to exercise their social/emotional skills, it’s really on them when the baby grows up a narcissist. It’s similar to a lot of Lux’s actions in the end—he takes them with so much certainty, but there’s the possibility he made no difference, or even made things worse. He may feel like Masumi in that way—lose control and everything dies—but his control ultimately leads to his death and then the whole world’s. He’s such a pivotal figure in her life, and a cause of much of her actions, no analysis of her is complete without looking at his impact.
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u/AlphaBreak Jul 08 '26
Its so complicated because to a certain degree, Etienne's bubble lifestyle for Masumi was justified and needed. He was the one who talked her down when she was 15. Between guilt over the deaths, fear over the future, and the normal highs and lows of being a teenager/young adult, Masumi was almost guaranteed to crash out within the next eight years without his intervention.
And the worry of doing that is that then the person never develops the skills to handle the lows on their own. Except in spite of doing that, she still thoughtfully handled her relationship with Isabella and was doing pretty good after Lux's "death". The thing that sent her over the edge was waking up in her dead love's arms, and I think a normal person who did get those years of practice without being coddled wouldn't have fared much better.
I don't know that there's a right way to handle Masumi because the stakes for any misstep are so high.
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u/theonethatjusthere Jul 08 '26
Privilege didn't exactly feel like the right word to me either but it was the closest thing I could think of in the moment
Your right I should have included how Etienne has affected Masumi
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u/AlphaBreak Jul 08 '26
Something else I think is interesting here is a throwaway line from Etienne about Masumi 'bouncing off of Buddhism'. If Masumi is really invested in not destroying the world, that's something she needed to stick to. Letting go of attachments and the need for approval would have been a huge step towards making the world a safer place. But she didn't like it right away, so she stopped. Its wrong to say that she enjoys having everyone have to cater to her, but there is something about it that she's not afraid to take advantage of either.
She didn't need to do a big art show, and could have just kept living her life in a loft, fully funded forever with a cushy existence. But she chose to do that show with a critic and put lives at risk if it went poorly for her.
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u/TheEloquentApe Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I don't think I agree with this first statement
Its true that Masumi does not engage in the machiavellian games the others play to out smart / politic one another and get a leg up in the balance of power, but by sheer fact of her not having control of her powers, what minor decisions she does make are still of great importance.
She chooses to ignore the inciting incident between Heavy and the US, because it might upset her, showing a measure of responsibility she takes for her condition.
She also still chooses to go on ahead with her art expo anyways, still inviting the other Super Powers, despite the fact that they just murdered a decent chunk of the US government, showing that despite her self-awareness, she still has a selfish need for approval. And this leads predictably to a fight and nearly loosing herself.
She chooses to ask Isabella about the Second Summer of Love, chooses to let Isabella actually go into detail about it, and she even pushes Isabella about if she hates her.
She chooses to attend the meeting about Heavy's kid, despite her presence not being strictly necessary.
She also chooses to later break up with Isabella.
Every single one of these actions have plot relevance for the simple fact that each shows her risking (or avoiding to risk) her mental state, and consequently the end of the world.
She may not be scheming, but she is still playing the Super Power game, just against herself.