Spider-Man: Brand New Day Was Written for Me (No Spoilers)

No spoilers, don't worry.

I'm not one to say something is a sign. It clashes with my internal logic because I'm aware of The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon which is a cognitive bias where something newly learned suddenly seems to appear everywhere. It is also known as the frequency illusion. I've noticed it a lot. I'm struggling with something, anxious about something, discovered I'm dealing with something and then all of a sudden, that thing is everywhere.

But, on the other hand I'm not arrogant enough to deny that there are many things I can't explain. This year is one of those years. I'm having a run where both the good and the bad things feel scripted, in a sense. Sort of like when you zoom out it feels like some things happened because of me and because I'm heading in a direction I'm supposed to. Does that make sense?

Ironically, that's also a little arrogant, like yeah, sure, of all the infinite possibilities of random things that could've happened this year, this sequence of events just happened to happen because of me. But if that's what I'm arrogant about in the list of all the other options, I'd take that lol.

The truth, as usual, is probably somewhere in between. Some form of combination of my actions, focus, motives, and forces beyond my control.

This movie was another one of those questions.

The question of why I like Spider-man so much is probably answered by a common reason. Each movie basically is a cultural moment so it's not like I'm original here. But it's something I'm not used to feeling, which is being seen. Beyond the cool acrobatics, parcour, action, scientific genius, and charm (none of which I have, except one 🙃) is feeling like it could be me. "Anyone can wear the mask" is not just a cool saying that Miles Morales quoted in Into The Spider-verse. You can see Peter Parker as a stand in for myself. Outside of fighting uncanny threats is a guy who faces the same shit I do, except that he's defintiely a much better person than I am.

I had my issues with the movie. It wasn't a perfect one but it had heart. And in hindight, I feel like the entire movie was an allegory for some of the things I've been struggling with in my personal life and if he could figure it out, then I can. I watched it with someone and they said, "I feel like this movie was written for you."

And you know what, they were right.

And that goes beyond exquisite plot devices, star studded casts, CGI and all that good stuff. The fact that this $200 million+ movie looked me in the eye and said "I see you," is much better than any technicalities that would've made it a "better" movie.

It's just one of those things that either you get it or you don't. If the past few paragraphs didn't make any sense to you, then a full thesis or well articulated video wouldn't explain it either. It's also one of the many reasons why I love movies. Every once in a while you come across something that makes you actually feel something and that's a tall order for someone like me. I've been accused of/complemented for being stoic. Movies and media in general, when hitting the right notes, get to me in my small corner of the world and while I struggle to find people to relate to, I sometimes get to tap into a bigger thing that makes me feel less alone in certain things, and also that I can get through it.

So, no, this wasn't my favourite Spider-man movie in terms of quality but it doesn't have to be. I like each one for different reasons and that's the beauty of it. This is one that will mark a checkpoint in my life, like how you imprint a memory on music and I can't wait to look back at the movie many times and be reminded of all the things I overcame.

Hell, even the subtitle feels on the nose. "Brand New Day".

But yeah, go see the movie if you can. And remember, whether what you love is popular or not, love it how you want, and love it without shame. Don't be afraid to like and want things you can't explain. Your community may be large or small, popular or niche but you can connect and get all the things you want.

And you will.

Content I Found Cool This Week

What a time to be alive. Feels like everyone picked this year to drop the good stuff. I'm behind on so many things, which is a good problem to have. I'm glad I got to watch this, though. Like Spider-man, it had heart, didn't feel like a cash grab or an excuse to use the IP and was a fun time. I wouldn't mind a few more movies in this vein tbh, even if I'm the guy who says we should leave certain IPs alone.

Yeah, in this case, i'm a hypocrite till they fuck it up.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed it.

À la prochaine 😊.