'I Saw the TV Glow' Is Electrifying
What did I just watch? That question might run through your mind when I Saw the TV Glow cut to black. There are no clear answers or a hand to hold you along the way. Like a David Lynch film, you're not meant to know what the film means. It's up to open interpretation. By leaving everything up to the audience, writer/director Jane Schoenbrun leaves you with more questions than answers. But in the best way possible. I saw The TV Glow is a challenging film but one that makes you want to re-experience it to spot all the clues. It's not a film to be understood but experienced. It's trippy but doesn't get lost in its style.
The film is well shot. Matching the film's title, I Saw the TV Glow, most of the film has things reflected in neon blues and pinks, like a TV reflecting off the viewer. The film is extremely colorful while also being very dark. Cinematographer Eric Yue does an impressive job of depicting a feeling of constant tension in the image. The harsh color tones are highly stylistic, but the film also has more faded colors for the quieter moments. It's a perfect balance between subtlety and bombasticness.
The story of the film is simple yet complicated. It starts with our main protagonist, Owen (Justice Smith), developing a friendship with Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine). Maddy is obsessed with a TV show called The Pink Opaque. Think of The Pink Opaque as a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark? The film is a period piece. It takes place in 1996, then jumps two years later into 1998, and then twenty years later into the modern day. It's a telling portrait of a long-past generation.
The movie shows Owen watching The Pink Opaque on VHS tapes that Maddy lent him. Twenty years later, Owen can watch all of The Pink Opaque on his telephone, computer, or television. The world has changed, but Owen hasn't. Neither has Maddy. That’s because The Pink Opaque Is a show that contains some supernatural force that sucks its viewers into the program, causing them to be trapped in time.
At least, according to Maddy. We don't know if everything is in our character's heads or if there is some power The Pink Opaque has over its viewers. If it does, why is it not happening to more people in the nondescript suburb where the film takes place? Surely, more people in the suburbs are watching the show. Why aren't they being affected by it?
I saw The TV Glow transcends genre. The film is a mixture between horror and coming-of-age drama, but it doesn't feel cliché. It's something fresh. Well, maybe not completely. There are some slight genre conventions and predictable dialog. But man, is it a trip, especially with its killer soundtrack. I Saw the TV Glow can't be categorized. It can only be felt. The film's horror doesn't rely on violence. There is not a drop of blood to be seen or a jump scare hiding in the corner. Everything that is frightening is in the character's head, where we question what is or is not real.
Underneath the film's metaphysical elements is a metaphor for dysphoria and identity. Maddy identifies as a lesbian, but the year is 1996. Being openly gay could be met with some resistance at that time. Maddy's fascination with The Pink Opaque is the only thing that keeps her getting out of bed every day. It's like a home away from home for Maddy. But it's also a prison. Maddy suffers from a crippling depression. It keeps her from being the person she wants to be. Unable to identify with other students in her school, Maddy asks Owen if he prefers men or women. Struck by the question, Owen implies that he doesn't know. So he deflects the answer, telling Maddy he likes TV.
Both of the film's protagonists are LGBTQ, yet they're unable to be open about who they are. Maddy's insistence on escaping from the suburb she's withheld in is a reflection of a backward-thinking community that doesn't accept what they don't understand. Maddy and Owen are trapped. Their only easy escape is their childhood memories.
Nostalgia is a powerful tool. It can remind us of better times or mementos that carry meaning. If we get too lost in our nostalgia, we run the risk of never growing, staying dormant in our place of comfort. I Saw the TV Glow is a film about the dangers of nostalgia. By investing so much in The Pink Opaque, Maddy and Owen allow life to go by. Their prisoners to their entertainment. Heed this film as a warning: don't get lost in childhood memories. You'll feel like you want to be part of a show that has long been off the air. Don't let time be cruel to you, as it easily can.
