Just… The way Milchick is reprimanded for his vocabulary in a cult full of people who all use an overly verbose vocabulary and revere an idol who also uses the same overly verbose way of speaking in their revered texts and in theory it should be something that makes him fit into Lumon’s culture, but now he has to “fix” a problem that isn’t a problem for anyone else because what they’re really saying is not “you use too many words” but “this way of speaking is not for you, you will never be one of us.”
im seeing people complaining that they answered nothing so lets run it down:
the goats are for sacrifices
the numbers being refined were gemma’s tempers/mind
cold harbour was a test to see if the severance chip would prevent a new gemma innie from feeling pain regarding her miscarriage/fertility issues
all the rooms/files were to create severance barriers between the outties and innies based on negative experiences so outties never have to experience pain again
drummond mentioned kier’s mission to eliminate pain. it stands to reason that the entire point of gemma’s testing and mdr’s work is to mass produce severance chips that eliminate humanity’s painful experiences so only innies experience them
it is so funny that apparently outie irving is like deep in the conspiracy and making clandestine phone calls and sending carefully crafted subliminal messages to his innie and meanwhile innie irving has just been living a gay romantic drama and trying to fuck his coworkers. barely even going “hey what’s up with this goo”
you arrive at work (hungry, as usual) excited for more under-tarp sex with your work husband only to find that he’s not there. when you ask your boss about it he berates you. you talk to your only remaining work friend about it, but he blames you for not being able to be with his not-work wife and then kills himself. you decide to seek out the treasure map hidden by your other dead work friend. the treasure is your work husband’s not-work wife, who is currently trapped in work hell. you’re trying to memorize the directions in your darkened office (no work is being done). and then elon musk walks in
obsessed with the Helena and Irving parallel and what it says about the aspects of our identity we think are fundamental (but aren’t)…
Like Outie Irving assumes his Innie is just as radically anti-Lumon as he is. He assumes his hatred of Lumon is something ingrained in his personality! That’s why he stays up at night drinking coffee and making paintings, because he hopes that when his innie dreams about the testing floor, he’ll say “okay bet” and start exploring. That’s what Outie Irving would do, after all. But he miscalculated! His hatred of Lumon isn’t inherent— his desire for meaning and art and spirituality is inherent. That’s what his hatred for Lumon is built on. But in a world where there’s no meaning outside of Lumon propaganda, of COURSE his innie would become ridiculously devoted to the company.
And Helena!! She is the corporation, that’s her whole identity. She presumably assumed that Helly would be just as pro-Lumon as she is. But she miscalculated too! Her devotion to the company isn’t inherent, her headstrong and entitled nature is what’s inherent! And in a world where she’s denied any agency whatsoever, that manifests as rebellion.
It’s the same dynamic flipped on its head. They both sent their innies in there with opposite intentions— one to take down the company, one feed the company’s expansion— only to realize that rebellion and devotion aren’t inherent characteristics. Their innies have become the exact opposite of their outie selves, while still being exactly the same!! Because even though your personality is inherent, the values you hold are determined circumstantially. OUGH IT’S SO GOOD.
Bob Dylan is really such a funny dude to exist. you’re a teenager who’s really obsessed with this one folk musician. ok. normal. then you hear said folk musician is in the hospital and what do you do? drop out of college and travel all the way from minnesota to new york to see him. and while you’re there you might as well become a folk singer yourself. okay sure. you sound a little weird but damn can you write. you get signed to a record label. record an album. does pretty well. record another album. does really well. now you’re famous. you go on tour in the uk. you sing at the march on washington. you release another album, and another. you’re the spokesman for a movement, for a generation. you’re a poet. you’re a golden child. thing is, you hate all that. so you learn electric guitar and everyone else hates all that and boos you and you cry but who cares? they can keep booing you, you’re still bob dylan. you keep going with this electric thing. someone calls you judas but at least you’re not christ. oh yeah and you’ve been on and off with the second most famous folk singer of your generation. well that’s over now. you marry someone else. you get in a motorcycle accident. finally a fucking break. you don’t appear in public again until woody guthrie (remember woody guthrie?) dies and you perform at his memorial concert. you change up your musical style. you make friends with george harrison. you’re not getting good reviews but who cares? youre bob dylan. you act in a film. sure. you go on tour again. you’re having problems with your wife. you go on tour again but this time it’s this vaudeville thing and everyone’s on drugs. joan baez is there in drag as you. you make this weird, bad, half-improvised film where you’re there with your ex and your wife. everyone has signed up for these psychological mind games and no one wins. you convert to evangelical christianity. everyone hates it. you drop it. you release some of your most negatively reviewed music. you form the greatest supergroup of all time. great. you have a resurgence in popularity. even better. you get a nobel prize. you don’t even show up to claim it. you’ve been considered one of the greatest musicians of all time for sixty years. they make a movie about you. it stars one of the biggest actors of the day. and now over sixty years after you dropped out of college and traveled to the east coast, people are writing fanfic of you getting topped by johnny cash.
