I SAW THE TV GLOW | Review
Do you ever feel trapped inside reality? Trapped in a world you have no control over? I SAW THE TV GLOW defines what it can be like.
“Time wasn’t right. It was moving too fast. I was 19, and then I was 20, and then I was 21. Like chapters skipped over in a DVD.”
Cinema has always been an outlet for the deepest, darkest parts of us. Throughout its history, we rarely see this expression meet something that is not personal in any way. The personality of a film like I Saw the TV Glow grapples with identity and not knowing where to go inside a world that constantly takes things away from you.
How can you be active in a society that cannot accept a lens you believe to be true?
This coincides with the themes from an LGBTQ+ member’s perspective. Through deep conversations between our two leads, we discover that they are both lost at different points in time within their story. The one thing that brings them together is a mythological, Twin Peaks-esque TV show. This show shows them both who they really are, the main characters in their own story. They both obsess over the thought of watching it every Saturday. The obvious Lynch translation into this film is beautiful and, quite frankly, something that has not been done (like, at all) among new filmmakers. Schoenbrun morphs the message of a film like Videodrome into a Lynchian thriller, a truly stunning story about what media can capture and create for people of all identities. Some of us have personalities that align with characters in TV or movies. These silly shows and movies can shape who we ultimately become. Movies like this are for a specific person, and there is power inside doing a film like this. This is the point of all media, isn’t it? To feel heard? To feel welcome?
Whether or not you are a person who feels exactly this way, it is easy to see how powerful its message is through a community that has been subsidized and beaten to a pulp throughout its history. The dream-like feel of this film creates a layer of augmented reality for us as an audience, making us unable to discern what is truly real and what is not. For a person struggling to find their identity, nostalgia can be your only outlet. Having a TV show to grow up with and remember is powerful and can have a lasting effect. The film does not like feeling like it’s going nowhere, because no one does. The harder answer is to accept who you are, no matter what others pray for around you. It’s Schoenbrun’s message that speaks to that specific person who needs to understand that being lost is okay and that focusing on what you fall in love with in life is all that matters.
Thank you for reading!
Let me know what you guys think!
Message me on Instagram @avaloncinephiles, or check out my Letterboxd for more daily reviews!