watched nimona and can i just say i absolutely loved this shot
its just. in this scene nimona turns into a flying light creature headed towards the cannon (and by extension, the director) to save the kingdom, and the light emanating off her reflects off the walls going from the hero figure to the monster, showing that it was never her who was the monster
she really is rewriting that story ....
Is it not the queerest thing in the world to explode in power out of anguish? To scream and have it topple buildings. To make them look. Make them see.
The thing about Nimona (the movie) is, as you begin to watch, you think the knights have been fighting off monsters, like, regularly. That if not the last few generations, than at least a 200, 400 years ago, right? They've built the wall and they've made the Mega Destructive Canons, and an 1000 years worth of (possibly a tad inbred) Knights trained to fight monsters, and you think, well, they must have USED them
And as the movie goes on you realise, people haven't just never seen a monster in recent memory, the Kingdom has never seen a monster At All.
Gloreth was a child, she turned on her friend because her parents told her to. Nimona left after Gloreth turned her sword on her. She "defeated" the monster.
Gloreth's home was destroyed by the foolishness and hatred of the adults around her, but she was raised to believe it was her friend's doing. Her memory of the event was probably twisted by this narrative, until she remembered it as the little girl turning into a fire breathing monster (Nimona never actually turns into anything that looks like that dragon image in the scroll)
Then, raised to believe she'd been the hero, told over and over again that her positive memories of Nimona were lies, Gloreth grew up hating "monsters"
But she never actually fought them. Her knights never fought them.
No one did.
Because the monsters never existed
Nimona is the perfect rep for weird little middle school girls with no concept of gender and a taste for blood
okay i love this child's tale of antifascism where a lil gal gets to turn into a creepy beast the size of an apartment complex
Okay I don't think this is super spoilery, but man, that scene where Ambrosius goes into a meltdown rant about everything that's gone fucked up only for it to smash back that this is all in his head and outwardly he looks totally dead inside?
Relatable. As. Fuck.
God knows how many times I've been the exact same way with people who are like "Why don't you ever tell me what's wrong?" because they're the reason I keep quiet.
Thinking about how Ballister tried to convince Nimona to conform when he’s been singled out and targeted his whole life — how the whole kingdom was against someone outside the original knight bloodline joining them, how he had to work harder and still faced backlash, how even on the day he was supposed to be officially made one of the knights he still visually stood out because his armor was black while everyone (save Ambrosius, Glorith’s descendant) wore white
He was ignorant and sheltered, and he was also a queer elder seeing a queer kid embrace things that scare him because he was hurt just for existing — imagine how much worse it would’ve been if he intentionally rocked the boat like that
Thinking about how, despite everything he tried, he was still labeled the villain and she was still called a monster, and eventually he was willing to throw away everything he knew and loved to protect her. Thinking about the joy he experienced once he started cutting loose and questioning all the limits he put on himself and others put on him. Thinking about how he was tokenized and targeted growing up, thrust in the spotlight from a young and how even then very few people were willing to try and actually see him for who he is. Thinking about how he saw Nimona
Thinking about evolution and growth within the queer community, about in-fighting from actual good (if fear and ignorance based) intentions can be even more damaging than malicious intent, about how for some queer people being seen as “just like cishets” is a matter of life or death while for others embracing being “different” is the thing that keeps them going, and how empathy and understanding of others can unintentionally heal yourself. Something something something, we come together and then we win
The ancient scroll taken out of context? It’s application to a time period so far off it is to be irrelevant? The use of ancient words to discourage progress and maintain an oppressive regime? The avoidance of accountability via the head of everything? The fact that they would literally kill half their civilian population if it means destroying that which they find abominable? The fact that the thing that is so frightful is that which cannot be categorized or controlled, and their hatred proves it was never about protecting the people? Impeccable.
- [Nimona]:You should be questioning everything right now. The will of Gloreth, the Institute, the wall. What's it all really for? - [Ballister]: For protecting the realm. - [Nimona]: Oh, you mean from villains like you? Or monsters like me?
when people complain about “too much gender-fluid/non-binary/trans rep is with shape shifters” I counter with: every gender-fluid/non-binary/trans person WANTS TO BE A SHAPE SHIFTER
Releasing Nimona on the last day of pride month 2023 was such a great move because it’s a really needed piece of media right now. Lots of countries that legalised gay marriage years ago have been grappling with this rising TERF narrative of “if you’re gay it’s whatever but if you’re trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming in some way you’re a PERVERT! A MONSTER trying to GROOM CHILDREN!” The outrage against simple things like pronouns and drag events, and the movement against gender affirming healthcare have reached a terrifying peaks for contemporary times.
So a kid’s movie set in a fictional country with controlling government officials with personal agendas, with an openly gay couple but also a shape-shifting kid who cannot even be afford to be out is our reality in the US today. Nimona’s feelings about her vibe, body and form, her insistence that she is only “Nimona” no matter what she looks like and her aversion to “small-minded questions” together forms such a beautiful allegory about trans, genderfluid individuals.
Ballister asks her to be a girl, but for whose sake? It’s only for the comfort of people who refuse to understand her, and would rather see her die than let her be herself. And it’s this widespread rejection and loneliness that has eventually made Nimona indifferent to pain, that makes her feel suicidal.
In the end, it is another member of the LGBTQ+ community that truly sees and accepts Nimona for who she is. And that should be a reminder that we cannot let them divide us. Trans people stood up for the rest of us and made historical change happen, and we need to do the same for them. Besides, cis queer people are only the “good ones” until they’re done with trans people and then will turn on us.
June was THE month for top tier animated movies that give a good ol' "F*** YOU!!" to rules, government and restrictions through true punk icons.
And I'm living for it!
Anyway, please watch "Nimona", it's metal!
We started this pride month with Across the Spiderverse and ended it with Nimona, this was a fucking win
