Today, we're gonna sit around the couch and yap about my most recent favorite writers: Brit Marling and Zal Batmangilj, and more importantly, the fruit of their cowriting and almost techno-spiritual muse: The OA.
This discussion will contain spoilers beyond this paragraph. If you wish to go into The OA with a completely fresh mind, thank you for coming by, but please click away now. <3
With that warning out of the way, I think a good place to start is the aspect of unreliable narration, and how effectively Marling and Batmangilj execute this without ripping their plot apart at the same time. There's a form of integrity to be admired, I believe, in the literary references littered through OA's story--even as a child in Russia. The conversation on the bus gave us a massive foreshadow onto events peppered throughout the story. One could argue that the strongest literary reference--or that which is most on the nose--is Homer wanting to return to his son and (not) wife, a straight line to Odysseus. But that's still a disconnect, isn't it? An unreliability?
A review credited Marling's style of storytelling unreliably as her innate talent that's really watermarked her career, and I have to agree that it's a defining characteristic, but I wouldn't say that's what makes The OA The OA.
I mean, obviously it's the paranormal sci-fi intersection, right? If I'm totally honest, I couldn't bring myself to hold a villain-grudge against Hap because he was doing such remarkable work. Yes, his methods were vile and inhumane, but knowing that it was fiction, I was completely enthralled in his fascination. I can't remember the last time that's happened to me in a viewing experience, especially with the narration being so entirely biased.
I really hope this one gets bites.
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