i am studying-blr

I've rarely seen a more validating sentence in my entire life.

High fives all around, friends. If we’ve accomplished nothing else today, we still have this.

I feel the need to add this

Death Of The Author is out, Bullying Of The Author Out Of A Forum About Their Own Work is in

After "millennials are killing xyz industry" we have "gen Z are killing the germ industry"

I love that no one even pretends to know where Oliver is from in Saltburn lol. They just hear him say a town they haven't really heard of and are like "oh okay wow that must be rough" lol. The wealthy can be led so easily into equating something that is out of their scope with "poverty". It's actually interesting because it kind of illustrates the invisibility of the middle class as well. The Cattons are actually far more invested in the extremes of ultra rich vs. impoverished than they are with anything that's just ordinary. I honestly believe Oliver when he says that Felix would have never gotten invested in him if he hadn't lied. Both Oliver and Felix are drawn to extremes, that's what ultimately brings them together.

Rest in peace Felix you would have loved vaping and being able to carry your little easily accessible oral fixation apparatus around with you everywhere!!! Oliver took so much from you bby im sorry

Hmmm interesting that Farleigh immediately clocked that something is off with Oliver. I remember seeing this scene the first time and thinking it was super interesting. Farleigh tells Oliver that he is "almost passing" and Oliver responds reasonably, asking "for what?" And Farleigh says this:

I thought it could be read 1 of 2 ways.

First interpretation that came mind is that maybe this was another class insult. He tells Oliver he is "almost passing" after criticizing his tux, clearly the suit is a rental he says, the sleeves are too long. So he isn't *quite* passing as being anything other than low class yet with his untailored rental tux, maybe the insinuation is that poor people are less than human. Honestly this was my initial reading of this moment and the one I found to be most intuitive at the time.

I do think after a rewatch though that it could also be Farleigh insinuating that he knows there is a deeper problem with Oliver. Farleigh likes to focus on appearances and he also has a very keen eye for detail, which is something he shares with Oliver. They both notice EVERYTHING and even acknowledge at one point (albeit indirectly) that they have this in common. Maybe Farleigh has realized even this early on that there is something fundamentally wrong with Oliver. Honestly I thought of his comment again much later in the film. After they've found Felix's body in the maze, Farleigh is understandably shaken, he's crying and generally externalizing his feelings about his cousin's death. He's immediately criticized as being a hysterical American who doesn't know how to behave in civilized society.

James and Elspeth clearly have no idea how to handle his emotional outburst. Meanwhile Oliver sits there, idly discussing his cake from the night before, trying to keep his feet on the ground. Trying to ensure that his open invitation to Saltburn stays active. Oliver is displaying an almost inhuman indifference in the face of an unthinkable tragedy and James and Elspeth are both *grateful* for it. Oliver then points to Farleigh's emotional response as part of his incrimination. Like oh he's crying from all the guilt, he's crying because he knows it's his fault Felix is gone, he's crying because he's *bad.*

Oliver remembers EVERYTHING. Honestly I feel like Oliver using this human response against Farleigh and to elevate himself could have been a response to Farleigh's little jab about him not quite passing as a "real human boy." Like yeah Farleigh, you are a real human boy and look where it has gotten you. Exiled from your family home. Cut off from some of your closest family members. Removed from whatever inheritance you were once entitled to. Oliver doesn't forget and he notices every detail. He saw that moment as another way he could really stick it to Farleigh that not only is he inhuman but that there is strength in his alienation from humanity.

It is also ironic tho bc we as the audience know Oliver is deeply, deeply enmeshed in the most primal, visceral parts of the human experience. Desire, obsession, fear, power, death. He simply separates himself from those base elements publicly. Privately he is feeling everything, accessing every part of himself. Oliver denies himself nothing and Farleigh ends up being denied everything. Idk I think it's interesting. One day maybe I'll run out of things to talk about in this film but it isn't today lol.

so you know that oliver loves felix, that oliver lives in the shakespearean love drama, that oliver lies and fails. but for a terrifying moment imagine this: he lies about deliberately throwing up the poison, and threw it up because he genuinely couldn't stomach it, too much alcohol or what have you; maybe even forgot he did, maybe thought that throwing up wouldn't help the overdose. for a terrifying, poetic moment, imagine he lies to us about everything else because he did not expect to survive felix.

the swig of the wine was a gamble, but not in the way you'd think. oliver was freshly rejected, oliver came to his last resort: the poetic romeo ending to his juliet lover dying. felix would die in the maze, and oliver would in his bed, overnight.

how genuinely startled he is out of sleep by the family's cries! how grief-stricken he is, how fast he clings to whatever's left of felix!

he should have died. he failed to die. he lives to spin the new, equally beautiful tale.

how it feels to be a saltburn interpreter

Oliver getting insanely turned on bc he's filling out some paperwork for school where he has to list an emergency contact and he's telling Felix like "I don't even think I can list my parents, they're so strung out, I don't have any reliable family" etc and ofc Felix insists that Oliver just put his name down. "Jesus Christ Ollie just list me, you know I'll be there." And Felix feels so useful and pleased with himself and Oliver is sitting there literally having to adjust himself in his jeans lmao

Your suffering does not have to be beautiful. It does not have to culminate in an eloquent writing piece or a tragically gorgeous painting. It does not have to “make you stronger” or “be part of a greater plan leading to something better.” It does not have to be romanticized or presentable. Yes, you are artistic. Yes, you are beautiful. Yes, you are strong. But before any of those things, you are a feeling human in a world where nothing is certain. Allow yourself to be so.

i needed to read this today so im sharing it to all of you!!

Rayne Fisher-Quann, no good alone

‘dont die wondering’ was such a beautiful slogan for lesbians we need to bring that back in a major way

I bet Emerald Fennell was thinking about this when she created the story of Saltburn

"Felix is nice" this and "Felix is mean" that - like I'm sorry guys but this is Felix :

oliver going through the trouble to kick farleigh out twice instead of killing him is gay little freak solidarity for real

THE GOOD PLACE 4.04 | Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy

Man, the flesh sucks. I'm gonna abandon it for the machine.

"we didn't even fuck!" the sex was implied. i'm not about to explain high art to you. put your clothes back on