2024
Were you the kid who sat on the floor next to a grimy, dusty corner of a vending machine to eat lunch alone? I was. I was reminded of this in some of the opening scenes of I Saw The TV Glow. A part of me wishes that I’d had a kindred weirdo to connect with. But…not like this.
I Saw the TV Glow unfolds as a tale of two outsiders, Owen and Maddy, bond via their shared obsession with a mysterious TV show called “The Pink Opaque”. Set against the backdrop of a nondescript suburban town in the late ’90s, the film follows Owen from his introduction to the show as a shy seventh-grader through to his unfulfilling adulthood.
The Pink Opaque, a Buffy-esque series about two psychically linked girls battling supernatural forces, becomes more than just entertainment for Owen and Maddy – it’s a lifeline. When Maddy suddenly vanishes, leaving only a burning TV behind, Owen is left adrift. Years pass, and he finds himself trapped in a dreary existence, unable to move on or fully embrace who he is. The film weaves between Owen’s memories, the eerie world of The Pink Opaque, and his present-day struggles, building towards a confrontation with the truths he’s long avoided about himself and the inexplicable events of his youth.
I’m not quite sure what to think of I Saw the TV Glow, and yet even so, this strange, sad tale of outcasts searching for belonging and identity has burrowed its way into my thoughts. And sad it was. Relentlessly sad. Owen and Maddy’s journey, so intertwined with The Pink Opaque, speaks to the pain of not truly knowing yourself yet being acutely aware that the version of you the world sees isn’t authentic. Their diverging paths – one fading into an uncertain void, the other slowly suffocating in suburban purgatory – leave a hollow ache in my chest, with its heart that already carries an inexplicable emptiness all its own.
I found myself entranced by the moody soundtrack, which, according to an NPR article, was curated with a great deal of care. Featuring original songs from indie artists, the music captures what the article describes as “teenage malaise and … a ‘Ph.D. interpretation of goth.'” It perfectly complements the film’s themes of alienation, longing, and despair. Also, I want a perfume that smells like how King Woman’s brutal, howling “Psychic Wound” performance in this movie makes me feel.
Day Thirteen of 31 Days Of Horror in years past: 2023 // 2022 // 2021
If you enjoy posts like these or if you have ever enjoyed or been inspired by something I have written, and you would like to support this blog, consider buying the author a coffee?
