Okay, so, either the trailer for Monkey Man was horribly put together, or I completely misunderstood what was presented, because I had NO IDEA what I was getting into. The entire plot took me completely by surprise several times.

This film is deliberately political. I can't recall the last time I saw an action film have such a clear focus on government. It's relatively common for the Big Bad to be a person in government -- that makes them an even bigger threat because in addition to the Criminal Thugs they employ they also have the Police and Media on their side -- but when this happens their actual politics don't matter. They're also a drug dealer, or human trafficker, and that's what the hero is fighting against. Usually we don't even learn what their politics even are. We may see them give a speech saying "Family values!" intercut with them doing drugs and having sex so we know they're a hypocrite, but that's the extent of it. In this film we know that the villains are part of the Hindu Nationalist movement, and are encouraging violence against religious minorities and gender-nonconforming people throughout India.

The condemnation is so direct that I'm not surprised Netflix backed out of distributing out of fear of the backlash in India. The only way the film could have been bolder would be if they used actual political party names instead of the "We're not actually saying 'Bharatiya Janata Party'" angle.

I was also completely unprepared for the inclusion of the hijra temple commune. I was already surprised just by the mention of crime against trans people on the news in the film, but then the main characters finds himself rescued and rehabilitated and welcomed into their society with open arms. They counsel him both philosophically and physically, and prepare him to resume his quest. And then they join him!

A literal army of trans women toppling the oppressive power structure was not on my BINGO card, I'll tell you that.

This movie was intense and an experience, and if you can see it in theaters I say you go right now!

edit: the commenter has a tumblr! go check out her blog @haintxblue

I love how in Monkey Man, when Dev Patel is fighting the brothel owner, he's just fighting because the guy started it. But as soon as he sees the little girl there? The implication? He instantly goes batshit and is ready to kill this motherfucker, chase be damned.

A bloody man with a slutty waist who just can't win enlists the Trans community to help him gain his revenge on those who killed his mother

Did anyone have "Dev Patel makes working class trans rights John Wick, with a spiritual angle and a message saying fuck Modhi" on their bingo card? (I also appreciate that the movie didn't do the usual: "Break the cycle of violence" but instead went: "Nah mate, channel that shit and put it into being FUCKING BASED! Kill that fucking guy! Fuck him!")

for me, the heart of monkey man was its immense love for india, and the confidence of articulating that love through representation and criticism—the things that make india beautiful are not the colorist, hindu-nationalist propoganda stories of bollywood but largeness of the diaspora: indians who trans, who are muslim, who have been oppressed by their government, who are unacknowledged by society, etc—and prevail despite the odds stacked against them. they are encouraged to be themselves and fight against these occupational forces.

major props to dev patel for showing that hey, you actually can make a movie about indians in a way that perfectly encapsulates the various cultures, mythologies, AND egregious political climate, while also highlighting indian people and giving them the recognition and respect they often don't recieve in western—OR bollywood—canon. now that we know it's possible (it always was) i want more! thanks!

(also it helped that he was either in a suit, shirtless, or covered in blood [sometimes two at a time] for most of this movie. dev patel, i literally only need one chance...)

let’s boogie

I hope everyone is aware Dev Patel has a movie in theaters right now where he guts a bunch of Hindutva fascists with an army of hijra to a heavy metal soundtrack about killing rapists ok good thanks

dev patel really said "i support trans ppls rights....... trans ppls rights to kill bigots with guns and metal pipes and chairs and cool knives'' anyway watch monkey man

the dev patel girlies have KNOWN how hot he is for years and years but the little giggle I heard from a grown man seated next to me when he took his shirt off in monkey man tells me it's truly over for everyone else. god bless

friendship breakup movies are the most heartbreaking

Thinking of Ramy's family. Their sweet boy. Their smart boy. The one who would have done anything for his family. He never forgot them.

He wanted to bring his friends and boyfriend to meet them. He told Robin all about Calcutta. Wanted to give him mangos and spend time in the warm sun. A place of peace away from Oxford.

Ramy's mom would have cooked for Robin. Robin, who lost his mother so long ago, would feel so at home. Finally. A family he could call his.

And Ramy's sisters. Their squeals seeing him as he walked through the door. They would have loved Victoire. Shown her the clothes, the language. Take her in as a sister. And Victoire would embrace it. Finally have the friendship she always wanted.

What did his family think when they stopped receiving letters from Ramy? Surely not that he had forgotten to write. First, his father said the post must be delayed. Then, his letter must have gotten lost but he'd write again soon. His mom would have tried to convince herself that Ramy was just having too much fun in England to write. Still, each passing day without word from him would be agony.

And then one day, a letter would arrive. Handwriting they had never seen to Mr. and Mrs. Mirza. They would not get past the first sentence without letting out a scream. The one only a mother could let out when she lost her child. His sisters would run into the room, one would pick up the letter and see, through blurring vision, "It is with deep sadness..."

They would never get over that moment.

Then, years, decades later, a beautiful woman named Victoire would show up looking lost but at home all at the same time. She would sit at their table with a cup of tea. Mr. Mirza long passed. Mrs. Mirza would be frail but still insist on feeding her. And Victoire would tell her how much she loved their boy. And it would still hurt, but it would feel good to pour all this love out. To remember him and Robin and everything they had done. And all they never got to do.

the way victorie and robin and ramy all loose their birth languages has me in shambles. victorie never really spoke hatian creole, she moved to france at a very young age, and when she tried to bring it into babel, she was dismissed. ramy, who’s from kolkata, who’s bengali, only speaks bengali once in the book and his speech has become rudimentary because the british saw urdu and sanskrit and arabic as more valuable. robin has forgotten cantonese by the time he goes back home for the same reason. it’s utterly tragic it comes with a deep pain that’s hard to describe the pain of loosing your mother tongue.

Babel, by RF Kuang, is fun cause the first half is sad but also really sweet and hopeful and relatively low stakes and you’re like “aw this is nice, found family, thanks” and then suddenly it’s the most intense most emotionally heart wrenching book you’ve ever read in your life so that’s cool I guess.

“I chose her because I couldn’t imagine we’d ever be friends” I wonder just how many percabeth edits will transition from this moment. How many gif sets will include this line. This line, and an underwater kiss. If we’re lucky, someone might edit this dialogue over Percy letting go of a tiny ledge, or kissing annabeth in front of where the Athena-Poseidon rivalry started. I’m so normal about them definitely