WE'RE NOT OKAY--POWER OF ILLUSION (THOR: THE DARK WORLD)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THOR: THE DARK WORLD, AND THE THOR STORY. MINOR SPOILERS FOR THOR: RAGNAROK. DISCLAIMER: HEAVY TOPIC. FAKE MOVIE BLOOD IN PHOTO. IF THIS MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, PLEASE LEAVE. 

Life is hard. There is no question about that. There should be no glossing over it. There should be no sugarcoating of this fact. There should be no need to hide it. And yet, somehow, we constantly trick ourselves, trick those around us, that we are just fine, no matter what. We hide it, even from our best friends, our own family, those who are closest. We isolate ourselves to prove that we don't need help, that we are just fine, and that cutting our lifelines will somehow ease the pain....

ALSO, THIS GETS REALLY HEAVY. I HAVE MY CADBURY MINI EGGS HERE, XD 

Let me re-introduce you to our good friend, Loki. In Thor: The Dark World, his arc is quite interesting. He is imprisoned for his Earth crimes, in a transparent cell in the dungeons of Asgard, presumably eternally. (After getting broken out by Thor, he later fakes his death and impersonates his father, Odin, in order to escape being thrown back in his cell, and ultimately turns out for the better in the follow-up film, Thor: Ragnarok.) Anyway, he mentions the fact that his crimes are nothing compared to Odin's, and if Hela is telling the truth in Ragnarok, then Odin and Hela probably killed millions in their conquest before Odin became a peaceful king. Loki has over eighty confirmed kills, and probably a few hundred more at the hands of the Chitauri in The Avengers. Still not excusable, but not comparable, nonetheless. (Also, the Hela and Odin subplot may be an allegory for White colonialism, "Glad to have it, shame how he got it," but that's for a different post. I love you, Taika Waititi!) By this logic, Loki should be imprisoned, and Odin executed, or Loki should be king of a greater realm than Odin. Yes, it is Loki's own fault for the predicament he is in, but based on Odin's own crimes and hypocrisy, and Hela, of course, I can understand why he feels like he is being treated unfairly. With a five-thousand-year lifespan, lifelong banishment for crimes does seem a bit excessive, doesn't it. I'm not stating that he should be dissolved, and everyone who commits murder techically deserves death; I am only pointing out that with Odin's crimes, Loki has a point, like always. 

But that isn't the culmination of the story. His mother, Frigga, comes to visit him as an illusion, creating an interesting exchange where Loki states that Odin is not his father, making Frigga not his mother. (Loki was adopted as an infant, but that doesn't matter, imo!) Frigga later dies at the hands of the Dark Elves, whilst protecting Thor's girlfriend, Jane Foster, and Loki is notified by a guard. 

Later, Thor comes to Loki for help, desperate to get the evil force, the Aether, out of Jane, and not being allowed passage off the planet. The scene goes down like this. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K0cZ-5Mqec&t=0s&index=14&list=LL1-KS75CNYZStEushTr1hqw 

I'm sorry it ends abruptly, and the conversation goes on with Loki agreeing to help Thor, and ultimately tricking his way to the throne. The TLDW version of the above clip, is Loki in his glass prison, surrounded by fancy furniture, mocking Thor for vising him. Thor tells him to drop the illusion, and we see Loki in the state he is truly in, disheveled, bleeding, and surrounded by broken furnishings. This is clearly Loki in an unstable mental state, probably sad about his mother, and guilty for what he said to her, as well as his Earth crimes. He is all-around guilty, but more than that, he is going crazy. His foot is presumably bleeding in the shot (assuming he didn't step in anything,) and there is no one else in the cell, which leaves a few options. He broke the furniture in rage, and accidentally stepped on glass, which is unlikely, as it looks like a widespread injury. (I'm on a REEEEEEALY weird corner of the internet right now, tbh. A twitter account for Loki's foot. Oh, the things, I do for my non-existent readers. It ain't pretty, but here. Visual assistance.
 

Aside from the fact that it's a movie, so it's clearly juice or paint, that is a LOT of blood, either obtained from kicking something sharp repeatedly in anger, or a self-inflicted injury. Either way, it's not good to see. He either doesn't care enough to stay out of pain, or he is actively inflicting it upon himself. Sad. Here's a cute puppy xD. 





Okay, so now I have to talk about the deeper meaning of this scene, other than that Loki has hit rock bottom (seriously, he was bound to get suicidal if he stayed in their for too much longer, I'm glad he had time apart from his family between TDW and Ragnarok to emotionally heal, and is now at a much better place with his brother,) but this is a metaphor for how most of us handle grief or other emotions. Isolation. Illusions. Cutting ties. Blaming others. 

Now most of us don't possess Frigga and Loki's magic, but we all make illusions, literal or not. The definition of illusion is the state or fact of being intellectually deceived or mislead. So it doesn't have to be physical. It can be. You might dress nice, wear lots of makeup, put on that fake smile for work, or even your own family. But mostly it's in the words and emotions we choose to express, and with whom we express them. 

Imagine if we lived in a world where you walk into a Starbucks and when the barista asks "How are you?" You answered honestly. I'd say that 98% of the time we say that we're fine or okay, or even good, we don't mean it. It's literally just a weird way of saying hi. And I hate it. Your neighbor Sam next door could spend an hour at the counter telling the barista that his girlfriend dumped him two weeks ago, he's behind at work, he misses his uncle, and his dog pooped in the neighbor's yard. That would be ridiculous, wouldn't it. They are a complete stranger you're never going to see again, and they have a job. 

But when we do this with our own family and friends, that's the real problem. And I'm not even going to pretend that I don't do this all the time. I'm not even exactly ashamed of it. I'm not calling anyone out. I'm stating the facts. This is what I saw. And it's the truth. Saying you're fine when you aren't; when you have a million emotions and just need someone to talk to you, to give a damn, but that person happens to be your parent, sibling, or bestie, who just went through (the same or a different) hard thing than you. It's worse even worse seeing the other person upset. It's worst of all, if they share your sentiment, if it's a mutual friend of relative you are grieving. It's the most uncomfortable feeling to make someone else sad or upset. It's a huge pain, and a burden, that's why anonymity is beautiful on the internet. 

My advice: Keep a blog. :). But, more importantly, handle the tough talks and conversations with friends who are more removed from the situation, but still care about your well-being. Talking to relatives and learning to be honest is hard, and will take time. Even physical interactions. My dad isn't allowed to hug me, but my friends' therapist who's moving? A little awkward, but no problem. My Godmother? Sure. My BBF. Only when she's chill with it. (Shoutouts to my Loki homies :)My uncle? Chill. My female friends? Give me effing space! But sure, jsut warn me first. Any guy friends? No way in heck. (I'm not even like super straight; and I'm mostly asexual, but it's still super creepy to me, worse if they're straight or bi ;)I also have the same problem with lesbians or trans girls tbh. Basically anyone who might want to bang me is a NOOOOO.) Random tangent, lol, but I do have a serious problem with getting touched unexpectedly. 

Seriously, though, it's all about the right people. But try to be more honest at least with yourself, and others. It's hard. It sucks. It hurts. And I'm flippin' terrible at it. Just teleport me to another dimension, please. I can't do it either. Help meeeee! Seriously, this was a really hard post to write, but I wanted to get it off my chest. Thanks for reading, and leave your thoughts in the comments if you have had similar thoughts, or you disagree! Also let me know your opinion on TDW. Maybe I'll write a review sometime! Bye!