there is not NEARLY enough noise on this post !!! CELEBRATE ITS BIRTHDAYYYYYY

• when introducing himself to Father Jud, Blanc says "my mother is—was very religious" which is not a slip you make if your mother has been dead for a long time (compare to Knives Out where he says "my father was a police detective" with no hesitation)
• his litany against Christianity in that same scene feels very personal, which could be for any number of reasons, but I think the line I mentioned in the previous bullet point is meant to provide context for it; he's expressing anger towards his mother and her loyalty to the church during her lifetime
• similarly, when Blanc has his "road to Damascus" moment and his speech about giving grace to those who deserve it the least but need it the most, he's not really (or at least not only) talking about Martha; he's realized that he needs to find forgiveness and grace for his mother as well
• Blanc's mother being dead would make him a thematic parallel to Monsignor Wicks, whose own unresolved trauma with his deceased mother informs his hyper-religious worldview (which stands in opposition to Blanc's hyper-rationalist one)
• it also seems very intentional that when Father Jud prays for Louise, it's because her mother is dying and she doesn't want their last words exchanged to be in anger

I think I'm really onto something here

I'm actually watching this movie again right now and thinking really hard about how Benoit Blanc absolutely hears Jud ask Louise "Can you tell me your mother's name?" as he leaves the room in that one scene, reacts to it with a surge of silent emotion (maybe just impatience, maybe something else), and then waits for what must be hours for Jud to finish the phone call without ever trying to interrupt him, even though he's wasting time that could go toward the investigation. and then he never reprimands him for it or even mentions it again

Okay inflation is crazy.

We bumping up the price to $15,000 for 2026.

I love it especially when it cuts to them like this:

Queen: My love, please return to bed.

King: *pacing* Why would a gelatinous cube come to a tavern? Can it even get drunk? How did it fit through the doors?

to everyone who has been talked out of testosterone HRT because it will make you "scary": no it will not. testosterone isn't "scary". masculinization isn't "scary". being masculine or a man isn't "scary". it's just another way to be a person. testosterone HRT is a good thing. it helps many people. if you want to take it, take it. don't let anyone else tell you not to because it "scares" them. it's not happening to them. their fears don't matter to you. it's happening to you. it's your choice.

let’s start parsing who does and doesn’t deserve representation and assign moral weight to agreeing to protect their rights I don’t see how this could possibly go wrong

The purpose of a defence attorney is to make sure the police have done their job. The prosecution says "they did the thing" and the defence says "well can you prove it?" and if they can't, the defendant goes free because the prosecution fucked up.

All they have to do is their job. As long as they don't fuck up doing ther job, the guilty will go to prison. The reason the guilty go free so often is because the police are constantly fucking up and not doing their damn job.

It's very telling that these people can't really conceive of a situation where they might be wrongfully arrested for something and labeled "very problematic and guilty" and may, in fact, need exactly the kind of legal representation that they're side-eyeing. Even in the realm of thought experiments there are the categorically ""problematic"" and they can't even imagine a world where they could ever be lumped in with them, even wrongfully, because surely people would OBVIOUSLY know they're innocent, surely this only happens to Others

#even if the client is totally guilty#the defense attorney's job is still to make sure they're treated fairly#even guilty people should not be abused by the system because no one wanted to speak up for them#once again as soon as we decide some people don't deserve rights#we're on a fast track to no one has rights