We do special orders, we sell Record Players too
All about the Trickster. Loki, the different rating.
Rooster Records, by Marvel
One day in the 80s. He watches television. On the TV screen we see a boy who is slightly older than the viewer. He slides dynamically down a banister. The two protagonists briefly introduce themselves to each other. The sister also slides down the banister. The viewer is only around 7 years old. He is looking at children of almost the same age, who are perceived as slightly older. The viewer has a strange feeling. Affection for the opposite sex. The two heroes have introduced themselves. But a little later, someone completely different was to be introduced... What does this children's movie watched in the 80s by our viewer have to do with Loki?
Before I do explain here a lot about the 2nd season Loki and a way other stuff, I'd like to say to Marvel that you have a very unpleasant critic here. We are on this Quentin boy's side, which is that we're fed up with all the superheroes [because there are no superheroes]. But we wouldn't publish negative criticism because this world is already experiencing too much negativity - and we want this to be a positive contribution. If we were to quickly rate most and the better of what Marvel has to offer with a simple German school grade - it would be a “3” = satisfactory. And we say the better stuff of Marvel...art is still in the eye of the beholder. We quote Helena Bonham Carter (Marla Singer):
"I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art."
Back to Loki. The series on Disney+. Admittedly, we, the censors, do not have all the necessary knowledge of the Marvel fantasy character Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, in its entirety, we have only seen the series. The inner counterpart of our equation may have something in common with the Trickster. So, we'll just have to talk a little about this archetype. Also, we're not quite as familiar with Norse mythology, in which Loki takes on the role of the Trickster God. Probably the same as knowing that Tolkien was influenced by Norse mythology.
We promise a different kind of review. A rating. We assume that you know the series, so if you don't like spoilers, you should watch the series. Then read on. This different review and rating are characterized by the fact that we only pick out one scene. Our favorite scene.
He got just TheThing
Pictures say more than a thousand words. Is there a female Trickster? This one will of course touch our hearts! And if there is something even closer to the original idea, the thing in itself, which can objectify itself in an artistic way, it is, and I don't have to quote our friend Arthur again this time, we have done this so many times, because the many arts often speak only of the shadows, but music of the thing in itself.
An ordinary woman enters the vinyl store, no superpowers.
It's that scene when the feminine Trickster Loki[?], named Sylvie, enters the record store in the 1982 time branch, the record dealer slips you a vinyl over the counter with the remark "I got just TheThing", Velvet Underground's Loaded, immediately a goof happens because it's the last song on side B[not first]...Oh sweet Nuthin' - when a Time Branch collapses, the universe collapses (People say spaghettified these days), the representation, with tiny threads of time collapsing in on themselves, falling apart, dissolving, into this indescribable Nuthin’. Wonderful. Transience shows up with all its magnificent and marvelous beauty to lift the last veils, the final curtains of Maya. Death comes very close in this scene. We touch it with us. We feel with it. We sink into the music, lose ourselves in the Quietiv. For it will all of us, that we will stand one day in a light in which the sunlight is merely a shadow (Arthur).
Already dreaming. Open your eyes. AND let everything fall apart.
We say that Sylvie's life as a McDonald's cashier is the normal life of an ordinary woman in time and space. Subject to the laws of causality. We say that from our point of view, Sylvie is the only heroine. Or the main heroine. We could draw conclusions from this about other protagonists in the series and their normal lives - we want to focus on this, our favorite scene. There are no superheroes. Who can find a "superhero" in Campbell's hero's journey? The hero's journey is the right-handed path. Always two there are. No more no less. Hero[ine] and mentor. No superheroes. To decrypt the series a little further, we have selected only this scene. Because it exposes exactly what we have just described above. We see a Sylvie in time and space entering the record store. We learn that she is there regularly. We learn that the dealer may need to work on his sales strategy, because he hands a record to Sylvie, who listens to it in the store. So we assume that she doesn't buy records there that often. We further deduce that this record store is a special place for Sylvie, a kind of "sweet spot" where she can lose herself and forget time and space.
We come to the scene in which Sylvie spins the vinyl record and drops passively and somewhat disillusioned onto the sofa in the middle. This whole scene relates to Sylvie in this moment. Centralized and focused. The lights of the store and the record shelf point to her. Sylvie's eyes are closed as the music starts to play Oh sweet Nuthin'. Up to this point, everything is fact or science. Law of causality. Then she opens her eyes. Welcome to the dream. Welcome to fiction. Maybe another person really is entering the record store. Irrelevant. She is dreaming. She keeps dreaming and does what she can do in her sweet spot. Letting go. Falling down the abyss. Letting her universe fall apart. Choose Oh sweet Nuthin'. NDE. That moment when the door of time opens and she steps through, plunging into nothingness. This is the moment when the empty StickyBottle is briefly handed over. The ego and persona system with all its memories and dreams takes a short break, does not exist at all? Do one hand over the sticky bottle completely ? No, the ball still is in game. That is why it is a NDE. Then comes the resurrection process in the dream world - of course the Loki plays the major part as the inner opposite- but not as a villain. He is the divine counterpart. The Mentor in this series. Because we don't want to give too much away - and our review is limited to this wonderful and revealing scene - time to congratulate !
Congratulations Marvel. You convinced one of your major critics. Indeed, marvelous scene. With this. And we do not want longer to talk about school degrees. We want to talk about simple categories. Marvel, you have been upgraded from C to B. Always be happy to be upgraded to a higher category. Say hello to your new brothers and sisters. Say hello to Star Trek TNG, say Hello to Star Wars original. Say hello to Matrix triology and TimeTraveller Dr. Who. Say hello to Rübezahl as well. Some are scratching to category A, like TNG and Star Wars. The original untouched Idea is what matters. When fantasy stories are used over and over again, new storylines branch out. What is the sacred storyline? Hard to discover. Perseus and Medusa. More of a Roman(Ovid) story than a Greek one . But when a story is overused and no longer bears witness to its original idea, it can also be downgraded. That's actually what we, one of your harshest critics, observe some storytellers do, like you Marvel. Today is a day to celebrate! This Loki series is great. It's more than just a copy of a copy of Norse mythology. Once again, congratulations on being upgraded to category B !
Light at the end of the Tunnel ?
There are some more Rivals in B cat. You are riding now with all those guys, because of this wonderful music scene, you have been enforced to the higher category B. The first Time that you really impressed us more than the ordinary.
And once again. Everything is a dream of Sylvie's. The TVA, her appearance as a variant - and yes - in a dream we can be superheroes. Because dreams are created to engage us with the supernatural. There is nothing super-natural in the outer world. There is science. The inner world reveals to us the full glory of fiction. But speaking of fiction. To be able to separate this so skillfully. Then we can elevate ourselves to much more than just superheroes. Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?
Marvel, you may want to know who is in A? Who plays in the A Category? Thin air. Art is in the eye of the beholder. We as a Team want you to know only 3 Players in the A Cat.
We introduce the man who not only created the grey wizard, but also his own version of the feminine divine: Galadriel. The Tolkien Universe is in Category A.
Furthermore. For its still actual true points on criticism capitalism and our whole society, the story about spiritual awakening, with the incredible idea of an imaginary friend who can changes one’s life, who will either cure what’s ailing you, or make it a whole lot worse.
Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is A category.
AND now for something completely different.
The boy of about 7 years is still watching a children's story on television. He is fascinated by a girl his age. She seems to play an important role in the series. She is 8 years old. The two children are on their way to school. They are talking about the neighbors' house. As they are on their way home, they take a look at this strange house in the street. And then someone appears who is extraordinarily mighty and powerful. Someone with a special character. The viewer at the age of 7 will forget the other girl of 8 years. He will be overly fascinated by this character of the nine-year-old girl. It will be the me in our equation who will be just as cheeky as the nine-year-old fantasy girl by simply saying the 3 magic words.
THIS
IS
ME
Can you follow what happened? And why the viewer of an old TV series from the late sixties likes the Trickster so much ?
And finally - something not to be expected – since we are talking about the Trickster God. About Science/Fiction in western society. About Art. We cannot miss the incredible 9-year-old girl with its pigtails left and right standing out.
Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking, you are A category
Neo, do not mess with Pippi. Mr. Smith, do not mess with Mrs. Prysselius.
Pippi, the Trickster God. Not Heroine.
So this is IT ?
Mmmmmh…NO !
All I am offering you is the truth. You want to buy a refrigerator. There are some more categories. What if I told you there is A+!
It is about a Loki. This whole contribution. More or less. Welcome A+. A proper myth. Deeply hidden in our collective unconsciousness. Still working.
Hello Norse mythology. You are A+.
We are still not there. Is Jesus a Trickster ? Can Jesus go beyond ? Making out of Water a splendid Wine ? Just like that in the outer world ? By all what we have learned about science in the outer world. Is this possible ? In a fantasy story this is possible. Because fantasy stories are fiction. We only can belief that the Hero, the historical Person, the guy from Nazareth bound in time and space was able to go beyond the Image, beyond the Trickster. With his mentor the father Archetype. The Archetype of Jesus can go beyond the Trickster anyway.
Christianity. The 4 Gospels with Jesus. You are A++.
AND now. The winner. Marvel, you like them. Point for you. But we talk now about the original myth. A proper Mythology. We want to connect this as well with the ancient Egyptian mythology. Because there was once a man called Plato, we recommend reading Timaeus 21. To know the most powerful Deity in Greek/Egyptian mythology. The best described character in mankind of mmmmh…who ???
Who is the question? Who is the most powerful? Who is the God? Who is this mentor ? Who is just a hero or heroine ? No superheroes. Who plays with heroes like toys? Who is the major creator deity in Egyptian mythology ? Aligned to whom in Greek mythology ? [Platon Timaeus21] Who already holds the aegis right after an unconventional mysterious birth. TheOne who holds the aegis is theWho we are looking for. Who plays tricks and interacts in the affairs like a cheeky Trickster, not revealing itself just like that. Shows up in disguises, foxy, ingenious and to be known for telling cunning stories, too. So many of the humans still looking for IT in the outer world. Remember Nietzsche ?
She is dead. She remains dead. And we have killed her. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? Mmmmh…No! Nietzsche. You got it wrong. Despite that we know that it is about morality. AND that we already started to correct your words. Loki is about the Trickster. The most powerful deity in Greek myth, can be cheeky like a Trickster. And we as thinking humans can never be gods in the outer world. We will always be trapped in time and space. Bounded to the rules of causality. No supernatural superstitions in the outer world. Science in the outer world. Fiction in the inner world.
The winner is: Greek/Egyptian Mythology. You are A+++ !
Is there an A++++ category? No. Not really. But yes. There is a myth. Your own inner myth. Your personal myth. Like a personal watercraft. To be able…well not to walk over the water. Have your poseidon moment. For us as a team now labeled with this category:
A∞. A eternity. A Figure 8 = Out of competition