Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
Did anyone appreciate the shape of water for the disabled love story it told. I just wanna know. I just wanna make sure we’re all aware that it is the most genuinely romantic love story a disabled character has ever been given as far as I know. I just wanna make sure amidst the monster fucking that we are all aware that it is a story about a disabled woman finding love and accommodation for her disability
“Since childhood I’ve been faithful to monsters. I’ve been saved and absolved by them because monsters are the patron saints of our blissful imperfections.”
—Guillermo del Toro | The Shape of Water | Illustration: James Jean
Throwback Thursday: It was 5 years ago when we were celebrating award season for The Shape Of Water, and I got to live my dream of being in an old musical dance number (dressed as an Amphibian Man, of course) with the amazing Sally Hawkins.
Good catch! Shape of the Water doesnt use modern day American sign language, but this was intentional. There were two ASL coaches who taught Sally Hawkins (the main actress) how to sign using period appropriate ASL to match the time period depicted in the film.
“Unable to perceive the shape of you, I find you all around me. Your presence fills my eyes with your love. It humbles my heart, for you are everywhere”.
i genuinely don’t get cishet monsterfuckers. for context, in the wake of shape of water i participated in this loving-the-monstrous type discussion event slash publishing party wherein i debuted a short story about a woman who “befriends” a cave monster—but that isnt the point. the point is i had to hear straight women talk for hours about how the appeal of monsters is some kind of weird “taming the beast” fantasy—loving a monster until it loves you back, sounding like every bad beauty and the beast take ever.
And there’s my queer ass being like literally none of you get it. this isn’t about power, this is about love and alienation and acceptance. you dumbasses, I’m the monster. this isn’t a metaphor for your shitty boyfriend, this is a metaphor for my own alienation from a society that tells me a the way i am and the way I love are grotesque. this is a fantasy of love free of judgement, separate from societal standards that I’ll never live up to anyway. that ghoul doesn’t care if I’m fat, they think it’s hot that I eat well. that immortal fae creature doesn’t care if the gender on my birth certificate matches the one I use now, they barely have a concept of gender in the first place. that tentacle monster doesn’t care if I shave, they don’t have eyes
monsterfucking is queer culture, everyone else go home
Oh. I’m guessing those were all yt women, too. Del Toro isn’t Queer, afaik, but he -is- Mexican in the us. It wasn’t really that long ago that interracial relationships were just as forbidden and taboo as Queer ones and there’s still obviously race tensions going on. The other in Shape of the Water is just as much, and likely written as, being a different race and the feeling of alienation of having a different place of origin. It happens to resonate with everyone who’s ever been considered a monster by society, and there’s not just one way this has happened.
The whole “love someone until they’re not a monster” is extra, super gross in that context because people don’t feel BIPOC are actually capable of human emotions who need to be taught to be human by some benevolent yt person who’s fetishised their body.
reblog this version pls
It’s important to remember that disabled people are also included in this other, both by society and textually in Shape of Water. Elisa, the lead, is mute, and deals with a lot of shit because of it, particularly from the cishet white man villain. Her disability is also what allows her to connect to the monster, as she’s able to teach him ASL signs he can communicate with. They’re able to connect because they’re both different. To this day, disabled people face a lot of barriers to relationships, like potentially losing disability benefits if they get married in the US.
Del Toro has a lot of works that boil down to “Different is good and the people trying to fight for the status quo are the true evil here” (shoutout to Pan’s Labyrinth where, in a world full of monsters, the primary antagonist is a white fascist general and abuser).
