Edit Of That One American Psycho Picture That's Been Living In My Head Rent-free For Months

update: it's gone from a semitone to roughly 58 cents off but it's still really really annoying. never thought there would come a day when i'd wish to be tone-deaf

my family and i have been fighting a nasty bronchial infection for the past week and a half and today i woke up with an earache from sleeping on my side

AND NOW EVERYTHING IN MY RIGHT EAR SOUNDS A HALF-STEP LOWER THAN IT SHOULD BE

i can't listen to music because it sounds exactly like this

like i'm bummed but it's also extremely funny

completely enamoured with this thread

It's interesting to me that so many take Winslow's interest in Phoenix to be romantic, because it's always seemed to me to be more based in what she can do for him -- or, more specifically, to be based in what she can do for his music. This, of course, plays into the film's exploration of the exploitative nature of the entertainment industry.

Even if Winslow were to feel some sort of physical attraction to her, which he never explicitly indicates, he states himself upon their first meeting that he would "never let his personal desires influence [his] aesthetic judgment." To him, Phoenix's ability to adequately perform his music is what matters.

[Further analysis under the Read More]

This is not to say, however, that Winslow is shielded from the film's searing exposure of the entertainment industry's tendency (specifically, in pertinence to male desire, be it sexual or otherwise) to exert ownership of the women operating within it. Philbin attempts to exert this ownership sexually, Swan attempts to exert this ownership literally, via the predatory contracts so often seen in the industry (though, of course, not quite to the degree seen in the film), and Winslow attempts to exert this ownership creatively.

He is using Phoenix too, albeit in a different way: everyone in the film wants something from her. Philbin, the audience, Swan, and Winslow. The only exception to this is Beef, who is immediately confronted by Winslow---which foists the attention back to Phoenix and which directly juxtaposes Beef against Phoenix (in that Beef's attempt to assume the role that 'rightfully' belongs to Phoenix will result in his death). The free will of both Beef and Phoenix is smothered and eradicated by the desires of the two primary opposing characters. It is interesting as well that Beef, who is equally used as a pawn by the traditionally-masculine Swan and Winslow, is queer-coded: which in the 70s would certainly have been meant to indicate that he was feminine. But, I digress...

Whilst not conventionally manipulating Phoenix, Winslow still forces his desires onto her. He wants to use her for his music: he knows she will be forced to sing if he kills Beef. He shows her what happens to those who do not "listen to [him]" when he takes her to the roof and reveals what he has done; he tells her that she is all he has, that she is the only one fit to perform his music, that she can be HIS voice now.

He does not want her to give into her desire to become famous, or to enact her own fantasies; he wants her simply to remain as she is, unknown, uncorrupted, 'pure,' -- a fit vessel for his music. He does not want her to pursue the path she wants to take, knowing that fame will transform her into an agent of the industry he so desperately despises and yet seeks to break into (on his terms, of course -- yet, Phoenix is not allowed this same choice).

He does not love her romantically; he loves that she can voice his music the way he wants it voiced. His music has always been his sole passion, and his sole obsession: his cantata is his soul, and Phoenix is his instrument. He cares for her the way a seasoned jazz musician cares for his saxophone.

His agony on the rooftop is not borne of jealousy of a romantic origin, but rather of his torment that Swan is yet again ruining his music: to claim Phoenix is to permanently divest Winslow of his voice. She is his last chance, and he does not intend to allow Swan to crush that.

This is not to claim that Winslow does not care for her as a person: of course he does. He would not attempt to save her from Swan's assassination plot once she has been 'corrupted' (in his view) otherwise. It is poignant that this act of selflessness not only results in his own destruction, but is ultimately meaningless: he may have saved Phoenix, but died amid a massive, televised Bacchanal that served only to exponentially augment Swan's fame. (An assassination live on television, coast to coast? Now that's entertainment!).

Just as the other characters in the film, be they major or minor, Winslow's designs for Phoenix exist to lampoon the entertainment industry, whose dulled teeth gnash ceaselessly as it devours those who leap into its insatiable, gaping maw.

Romantic love for Phoenix does not exist in this film for a reason: not from Swan, and not from Winslow...and that is the point.

I get the mask but... Was the cunty black lipstick necessary? I mean, not that I'm complaining, you'd get all the hoes nowadays (im hoes)

"You loose something sometimes you've got a choice. You can either grieve it, and that's temporary or you get the chance to celebrate something new. Nobody was going to recognise me either way. 'Winslow Leach' was dead to the world. I was 'dead' and I'd never even gotten the chance to be my whole self. So what was I to do? I had nothing left to loose? I felt I owed it to myself to really figure out whoever 'Winslow Leach' was really meant to be."

the 'pain piano', a prototype synthesizer played by touching sharp nails

by amazingrolo on reddit

HORROR'S NEXT TOP GENDER, ROUND TWO MATCH SEVEN: Winslow Leach (Phantom of the Paradise) vs. Ellen Ripley (Alien)

PROPAGANDA FOR WINSLOW:

"So when the movie starts Winslow already has major egg vibes with her artsy little turtleneck and “this is the longest i can grow out my hair without raising suspicion” haircut (although it was the 70s and i think longer hair was more common for men at the time. still counts tho). Then when she’s trying to sneak into Swan’s house so she can talk to him after she’s been kicked out, she puts on a dress and pretends to be one of the women there to audition!! there were other ways she could have snuck in but she chose to wear a dress. she doesn’t act ashamed or embarrassed either, and when she’s caught she seemed to not have been suspecting Swan and his guards/police to be disgusted with her. Then once she’s the phantom she puts on a cunty little outfit with a cape and black lipstick and heavy eye makeup!! The mask makes sense to hide her injury, but the rest of the outfit was completely unnecessary. she just wanted to explore her gender and be a creature of the night and slay while doing it. also says a lot that once she can’t sing anymore and is picking a singer to, in her words, “be my voice,” she picks a woman and gets incredibly upset whenever men are chosen to present her music. she’s also just generally more comfortable around women ,, every time i watch this movie i am more and more convinced winslow is transfemme"

PROPAGANDA FOR RIPLEY:

"The character of Ripley was originally meant to be played by a man. also pleaseeee if this competition is a bunch of white guys im going to lose it"

"She is so incredibly butch and cool, she has that butch mechanic thing going on"

"The character was originally going to be a man but Sigourney Weaver killed it at the audition so she was hired and not a single line of dialogue was changed. Also, overall, most of the films leave an implication that gender is not very important to the point of being a practically genderless society. Everyone in these movies is too stressed and too busy working under late, late stage capitalism. My point is that Ellen Ripley is definitely (however unintentionally) agender"

before it's over happy 50th winslow breaks out of jail day

he can't keep getting away with it

:V