Normal People Analysis

Normal People (2020)

Starring: Daisy Egdar-Jones, Paul Mescal
Based on the novel of the same name.

It's a super intimate show. Most of the scenes of the show feels like a conversation that happens inside of a warm blanket. Like cuddle talk. Even the voices sound that way. This is a show which you perhaps can't watch with your friends. Because you can't watch it without having your guard down. It puts you in that spot. It makes you vulnerable. There are some amazing songs that are used in the show, you could check out for some good music recommendations. My favorite is 'Warped Window'. There's an amazing scene where she talks about her new partner is into pain and rough stuff - and he asks her to elaborate. That scene captures how you sometimes knowingly get into a spot which would lead to pain. It's perhaps because of the fear of unknown, that he wants to ask her and know everything so that he'd at least know.

The show ends at a space of moving on, the feeling of having done with a phase in your life. They talk about how good they'd have done to each other. That's the feeling that I resonate with the most. Where you cherish what you had, along with missing what you don't. The show captures something beautiful - where people talk about their feelings very well. They talk about even simple stuff. About feeling awkward that the other person didn't introduce them to their friends. Also the scene where she says that, 'I'd have liked it if you wanted to do it' - the cuckold thing. She says that I like doing things for you. All of this feels so banal, and futile - but perhaps it leads to a feeling which feels purposeful.