To All The Exo Ls That Let This Fly

my kai-ly theory has evolved I want this to be taken seriously so I will try to organize it in the most take seriously way possible.

eleanor in park indie film by next year

Movie review/recap 1.0

MIDNIGHT

The 2021 sleeper hit psychological thriller horror of my dreams.

it reminds me of that old movie with the Korean psychopath and the innocent young woman trying to avenge her sister monster.

but it feels like both an evolution and a rehash of the old Japanese dramas that purposely put disabled characters in shows to show more diversity. It works in midnight in a way I don't think many modern-day movies do.

Firstly we have a sympathetic character targeted by a ruthless predator.

in recent years, protagonists in horror films known as the final girls have purposely become the opposite of the old tropes. They are loud, bossy, annoying, and extremely modern. Which, to be honest, makes the audience less sympathetic when a terrifying sociopath is after them. In recent years, people not only don't care if characters get whacked in horror movies; they wait for it and enjoy it. Characters usually purposely embody one of the seven deadly sins in order for the audience, usually endowed with subtle Christian Judea values, to deep down believe the characters deserve to be punished. This is very apparent in modern horror films. In Midnight it takes you back to when horror movies had innocent characters you didn't want anything bad to happen to, like in the 1980s.

When villains punish evil people, the villains become more like anti-heroes. This bad becomes good trope has been popularized through movies like suicide squad

and Deadpool.

Where bad guys are not only cooler but more relatable than the goody two-shoes heroes. Yet in a world like the Avengers and Batman v Superman. The heroes aren't just saviors; they are people who cause millions of dollars of damages, cause people to be injured in the crosshairs and become a nuisance to the general public.

So a movie like this is refreshing because the bad guy is actually bad. End of story. No tragic backstory, no he-had-to-do-it, no revenge plotline. There is no reason for him to go after innocent women; he just does.

Not only does he go after innocent women, he goes after the most innocent woman he possibly can. A disabled woman who cannot hear and relies mainly on reading lips and sign language. Many people would definitely draw the line when it comes to robbing or victimizing someone who cannot properly defend himself but in this movie it becomes an afterthought to the villain, who goes after anyone who catches his eye. The easier the prey, the better.

Kyeong-mi is a nice change from the sassy, independent heroine people are used to, not because her personality is not tenacious but because she is pure, a quality the movie hammers down quite nicely.

It's an incredibly energetic movie. The chase just hits differently when a character has not got to live life yet. Kyeong-mi was not a party girl, nor did she have tons of friends or even family. She lived a nice, quiet life with her mother and she couldn't hear. It is the equivalent of a lion hunting a lamb.

This is in juxtaposition to the other women kidnapped in the movie by the stalker, who were either on their way to a date or were living their busy metropolitan life.

Thematically, it is just a more impactful story when a character who has done nothing to deserve it gets hunted. People feel bad when a gazelle is hunted but even worse when it's a baby animal. It's just necessary to pull on people's heartstrings; even animals hesitate to hunt young defenseless animals.

In this movie, Kyeong-mi is very resourceful, quick-witted and strangely athletic

though that could of been because she was running for her life

the most interesting part of the movie is when the story and the villain weaponize the fact that overemotional women are unlikely to be believed when compared to a smooth-talking, good-looking male.

Multiple times the villain simply pretended to be a regular guy trying to help the same women he was preying on. I believe it was a smart move to switch up the casting for a villain. I believe whenever movies portray all male predators as ugly, scary, or creepy, it paints a picture that men who are attractive can do no wrong and they should be who women seek out. But in reality, most predators are the nice, charming person that everyone likes. They are incredibly social, talkative, and have a great smile.

That's the most annoying part about when people have discussions about male predators: women always make sure to leave out their favorite sweet, charming, handsome guy, which is a very off thing to do. Always making sure to talk about how unattractive guys who caught abusing are and how they have to go after women because they are unattractive. This is not only completely ignorant but also incredibly wrong. The most successful predators are usually attractive, charming people because most of them are able to gaslight their victims. Most only slip up when they get sloppy due to their high ego. There are many real-life examples of very attractive men being predators; for some sad reason, women delude themselves into thinking it's only guys they do not find good looking but that couldn't be further from the truth. What women call predator behavior, any anthropologist would call natural male behavior. Males with higher testosterone, better looks, and greater pheromones get away with things lesser males cannot due to social hierarchy.

I think nature shows us the best that the more visually striking a male animal, the more testosterone they have and the more dangerous they are, but oddly enough in the media it is usually completely the opposite.

In the movies it's the dorky beta males that seek to prey on women while the alpha males are almost always portrayed as the hero.

though I guess to some degree that is displayed in this movie as well. It's definitely a hybrid of typical tropes, which I think keeps the movie interesting.

The best part of the film was definitely how the women stuck together to take down a man even though they just ran and saved only themselves.

I also appreciate the happy ending. Too many horror films feel the need to end with trauma or anguish. This ending showed strength and resilience, and I loved it.

I think it's a nice continuation of the disadvantaged woman vs. the handsome psychopath. Sadly, these are the only Korean movies I can really sit through now. I cannot stand Korean movies when they make commentary on classism when the movie is funded by a chaebol group. The cops being useless to the point of literally letting the killer walk out freely seems unrealistic unless you look up actual cases in Korea of the cops being very useless to the public and victims. So actually it is very accurate. But to be fair, they don't have that much funding, proper tools, or training, so it's a bit complex, but that's the only real issue I have with the film.

8/10

It's a nice watch alone or with a group. I somehow got my family to watch it years ago and it's fun. It has a high rewatch value as well.

kpop fans and morality is an interesting combo. People actively s*xualize people who at times debut looking legitimately 14, act younger than they really are, yet fans will say the most dehumanizing things, read horror stories about them on ao3 yet still with they dense selves can't look from above the situation and realize wait maybe they are into stuff that WE the fans find weird because THEY the artists have been misused and dehumanized and relate to stories of mistreated young people. People wanna be the victim so bad. So sorry but stans are not on the right side of history no matter how you flip it. I've seen those weird fancalls, kdolls are treated like actual dolls, them being grown isn't even a thought on the fans mind unless its for their entertainment. Yes most likely they find solace in twisted things that match their twisted lives. The big tell is throwing bad 'idols' away then holding the other good well behaving idols close, like thats a human being shouldn't of been worshipping a person anyway. Asking any grown person to act 5 and shimmy shimmy/ do fanservice when they grew up looking up to pop stars thinking they too were gonna be well respected by their fans is probably giving many idols psychological breakdowns. Not surprised one bit if many watch disturbing content its very common with people who had their childhoods taken away. Sadly kpop fans have such a big head because the companies act like they can't do any wrong. I think some like being angry just so the idol can do some big apology its at least some type of feeling they have control over the idol. Its cool to drop people but its the underlying superficial reasoning behind it. Defending a grown person is a waste they can stand on their own two feet but its the bigger issue I'm worried about. Like the irony of wanting to protect young people but supporting kpop

I'm sorry but no the idea people can have big moral guns concerning art(never seen the show but I'd be shocked if its worse than the 1st season of berserk) but not with kpop companies and idols telling you they using kids and working them til they ready to pass out..but thats okay..telling you they train young idols to seduce noonas and oppas..and thats okay its simply seen as a cultural difference. When idols cry about missing their families and falling behind in life +not having kids whenever they initially said they would but to the public that's cool cause at least they are successful. The sm basement jokes are plentiful..kids in basements sweating, not eating and being taught how to be romantic with other young people for fans so they'll buy they future albums...this is seen as okay as well....but they should not relate to art about misused young people ...uhm no life don't work like that sorry. Same reason why kids in america relate to hunger games they don't like totalitarian government and survival of the fittest THEY ARE LIVING IT GENIUS!

making fun of women and children should be a crime tbh. Like that's a new mama and her baby her brain and his is rewiring she's literally crazy in love. why people on here hate true happiness?

short lil tease teases

I try to explain that its racist and dehumanizing to do this to people but no, they like it too much. The history of western media demasculizing asian men, asian men working hard to stop that myth and the western women doing it but they think its okay. Nobody is your baby, go have a child if you want to infantilize someone that badly. They are grown people, its rude but particularly so if you are not korean or even asian.