"The Umbrella Academy" uses Alternative Reality to depict a different parallel universe for the audience . This overhead world is highly similar to our real world, but it is full of steampunk style and cosmopolitan fantasy .
Similar to the familiar DC Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Umbrella Academy" also hopes to adapt the comics to recreate an overhead world . The story setting is similar to "X-Men", both are composed of superpowers, school adoption, defending justice and other elements; the difference is that "Umbrella Academy" digs deep into the love and killing between "brothers and sisters" As well as the complex family emotions under the patriarchal system , it feels more grounded. To put it simply, the characters in "X-Men" are classmates, teachers and students, and the main focus of the relationship between the characters in "Umbrella Academy" is the family.
In "Umbrella Academy", in addition to the protagonist hero with supernatural abilities, the chimpanzee butler who can talk and think, the kind AI machine "mother", the cold-blooded killer who travels through time and space...There is also an interesting setting: the play seems to be inclined To use public telephone booths to realize remote communication; in addition, it seems that there is no computer and network, and the most traditional way of "message" is still maintained-carried by "letters, newspapers, television broadcasts". This is also one of its characteristics, giving people a sense of anachronism .
The so-called "overhead" technique is based on a certain reality, adapting and recreating the world and history of the character. The advantage is that it can highlight the originality and randomness of the creator, and focus on the entertainment and ideology of the film, instead of pursuing the authenticity of reality too much-because in the overhead world, there can even be different Historical trends and laws of physics. Under overhead, some of the absurd "groove point" can often be converted into nonsense "humor" . (This may also be the reason IMDb classifies it as a comedy Comedy)
01 Worldview
One sand, one world. Since it is an overhead world, let's talk about the world view under the "umbrella" first.
(1) Superpower = Nietzsche's Superman?
Or take "X-Men" as a reference. "X-Men" talks about the struggle for survival between humans and mutants . It discusses in-depth attitudes toward "different species". Is it to eliminate or coexist?
In "Umbrella Academy", the children appeared in the training of human and superman lines, from Nietzsche ’s philosophical work "Zaratustra Says This" (Preface-4): " Humans are tied in The rope between the animal and the superhuman. That is, the rope above the abyss. It is dangerous to walk past, it is dangerous to stop in the middle, it is dangerous to tremble, and it is dangerous to stop ."
Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman—a rope over an abyss.
A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.
As Zarathustra says in the latter sentence: "The greatness of mankind is that he is a bridge, not a goal . The loveliness of mankind is that he is both a traverser and a faller. ."
What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an over--going and a down--going.
Human beings are the " rope ", the process, and the "transcendence" itself. The two ends of the rope are safe, one end is animal nature, the other end is "superman", and the process of walking on the rope is dangerous . Justice and evil are often only between one thought .
This may be the hidden meaning of this superhero-themed movie: it explores the transformation from human to superman . Even a seemingly ordinary girl may have great potential, but the seemingly powerful "heroes" have various growth problems and personality defects ... Just like Sir Reginald Hargreaves in the first As taught in the first episode, "Life is full of hardships and pains", the protagonists need to learn how to face the pain of growth in the ordeal .
(2) Time travel and fatalism
"Umbrella Academy" uses the concept of " time travel " to promote the development of the storyline, and at the same time set up an organization called " time committee ". From the perspective of God, the Time Committee understands the causal relationship between historical events, examines every character's behavior that intends to change the course of history, and dispatches time-space killers to remove them ( amendments ) to ensure that the course of history is performed along the established script .
Interestingly, the concept of "time committee" is very similar to Hawking's metaphor about the "Chronology Protection Agency" . Hawking used such a metaphor in a 1992 paper, "It seems that there is a chronology protection. The Chronology Protection Agency prevents the generation of closed time-like curves, so that historians can get a safe universe."
It seems that there is a Chronology Protection Agency which prevents the appearance of closed timelike curves and so makes the universe safe for historians.
With the development of the story but also make us feel a little like a fatalistic pessimism like : the history of mankind and the future is determined by the small number of people and can not be changed . Individuals cannot exert their own subjective initiative, and the entire life is controlled by a powerful "time" will .
Now that the end of the world has long been determined, does it matter whether the protagonists fight or are decadent? Perhaps it is like the explanation of the "Novikov Principle of Self-Consistency" on time travel: " Man can go back to the past, but it cannot change the course of history. "
———————— (High-energy warning, spoilers in the following part) ————————
02 Character introduction
Unlike other superhero movies, the hero lineup of "Umbrella Academy" is more balanced. There are not only tank heroes like "No. 1", but also pure auxiliary heroes like "No. 3" and "No. 4". Friends who have played "League of Legends" and "King of Glory" know that such a lineup is more synergistic and more suitable for team battles :)
number 1
Name : Luther Hargreeves (Luther Hargreeves)
Jianghu name : Spaceboy, homophonic loser...
Super powers : Juli (throwing out adults at will when I was young), resistance to hitting (the chandelier stays on top of the ceiling)
Mantra : "Only my father can call me Number One!" ("Only my father calls me Number One.")
Character analysis : As the last "child" to stay in the Hargreaves family, he blindly respected his father and tried his best to maintain his father's authority; he was strong on the outside but fragile on the inside (wounded because his father did not read the moon report he sent back) Thoroughly), a very straight guy (not forgetting his love for No. 3), and his mind is not so developed (doing all stupid things...), he belongs to the kind of silly big guy who does bad things with good intentions.
number 2
Name : Diego Hargreeves
Names of the rivers and lakes : Number Two (Number Two), The Kraken (Sea Monster)
Super powers : cold weapon enthusiasts (Xiao Li Feida), hold your breath forever (in the comics)
Mantra : "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." ("If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead.")
Character analysis : Echoing "No.1", "No.2" seems to be a little Oedipus, he has the closest relationship with his mother; he is competitive and has a strong sense of justice (self-reliance and self-reliance), and his personality is irritable and impulsive. It is dry, but at the same time very stubborn (never compromise in emotional relations), but it belongs to the knife-mouthed tofu heart type (the heart has a very warm side).
number 3
Name : Allison Hargreeves (Allison Hargreeves)
Names of rivers and lakes : Number Three (Number Three), The Rumor (The Rumor)
Super Power : Rumor Terminator (to force the other party to do what she wants with the power of rumor)
Mantra : "I heard a rumor, I can get whatever I want without any effort." ("I heard a rumor I got it in one take.")
Character analysis : Because of the ability to control the minds of others with rumors, Alison seems to have been smooth in work and life, and excessive and improper use of superpowers on her relatives caused her to lose the trust of her family, leading to the breakdown of her marriage and sisterhood. . I deeply regret everything I have done in the past.
No 4
Name : Klaus Hargreeves
Jianghu name : Number Four (Number Four), The Séance (The Séance)
Super powers : psychic, summoning (remaining awake may be able to resurrect the dead)
Mantra : "Stay sober is severely overrated" ("Sobriety is super overrated.")
Character analysis : He has the ability to see the soul, which has caused him tortured from a small mind, so he upholds the rare and confused "Bacchus spirit", chooses to escape from reality and sober, all day long under the anesthesia of alcohol and drugs.
Number 5
Name : Number Five (Number Five, because he disappeared too early when he was a child)
Names of rivers and lakes : Number Five (Number Five), The Boy (The Boy)
Super powers : space teleportation, time travel
Mantra : "Do you know what the worst is? Going through puberty, or going through it twice" ("You know what sucks? Going through puberty. Twice.")
Character analysis : The American version of Conan, the lone ranger and military strategist in the team, has strict logical thinking and firm conviction, and has overcome great loneliness and nihilism, trying to change the ending of the end of the world on his own. In the comics, he is actually twins with No. 1 (why the IQ gap is so big).
number 6
Name : Ben Hargreeves
Jianghu name : Lambeth (Number Six), Fear (The Horror)
Super power : summon monsters in different dimensions from the body
Mantra : None
Character analysis : The sacrifice was earlier, the epitaph "May the darkness in your heart rest in the light".
Number 7
Name : Vanya Hargreeves (Vanya Hargreeves)
Jianghu name : White Violin (White Violin)
Super power : transform into a white violin with powerful destructive ability
Mantra : "What's so bad about being ordinary?" ("What's so bad about being ordinary?")
Character analysis : She was considered mediocre since she was a child, with a fragile personality and low self-esteem, and was squeezed out intentionally or unintentionally by other brothers and sisters; due to the lack of family care, she wrote a book about the unknown stories behind super-powered families, which led to misunderstandings among brothers and sisters And disgust.
03 Details and doubts (pit)
(1) The relationship between Umbrella Academy and Time Committee?
The Umbrella Academy is a "civilian" organization founded by billionaire Sir Hargreaves. It aims to save the world and represents the side of justice.
Although the manipulator behind the Time Committee is not yet clear, it can be seen that it is more like an "official" organization, with a clear division of labor, aimed at maintaining history, and seems to represent the evil side.
The difference between the two is that they both know the direction of future development (so Sir Hargreaves predicts the end and prepares accordingly), and they both have buildings and equipment similar to the observatory. It is inevitable that there seems to be a connection between the two?
(2) Does the butler of Umbrella Academy have a "conspiracy"?
There are multiple plots in the series, which seem to imply that Pogo, the steward of the apes, is the hidden villain behind the scenes. For example, secret background music, always silently observing children's words and deeds behind their backs, and severely warning the robot "mother" Grace to keep secrets.
With the subsequent plot reversal, it proved that he was not the behind-the-scenes boss in the first season; but he knew the inside story early, why didn't he tell the inside story directly? Still think he is suspicious.
(3) Daddy's age and true identity
The foundation of Sir Hargreaves is a successful industrialist and scientist.
There are many doubts about him:
The first is age. From the plot details, it is known that the old man passed away in 2019. The time on his entry stamp shows that he entered the country in 1928. He was 30-40 years old. It is conservatively estimated that he was 130-140 years old when he committed suicide .
The old man seems to have the ability to predict the future , at least he knows the timeline and the arrival of the end of the world, so before the end of the world, he summoned the children home to respond in the extreme way of suicide.
In addition, Dad’s hometown is also bewildered. From the screen, we can see: the landing module on the field, the rocket that lifts off, the curved building structure, the "golden spirit" in the glass bottle... It is completely different from the real world of the Umbrella Academy. .
Set in the comics, the old man comes from outer space and pretends to be a human being. In addition to being an industrialist, he is also an Olympic gold medalist. He also won the Nobel Prize for his achievements in the transformation of the orangutan's brain. This at least revealed that Dad did not come from the real world (outer space? Parallel universe? Time traveler?), and the life experience of Boge, the ape butler.
04 Random conjectures and expectations
(1) Is the number five expected to become the leader of the time committee? There are several details in the series that show that the Time Committee attaches great importance to the ability of No. 5. For example, Mrs. Mystery has publicly praised him for "being a leader", "becoming a successor soon", "redesigning your body"... In the next season, " Whether the fifth will be black " will be a highlight.
(2) In the end, saving the world depends on the "resurrection" ability of the waste material Krauz? Often the seemingly weakest characters can burst out amazing energy (Vania No. 7 is the case). In this season, the waste material Krauz has gradually overcome the fear in his heart and possesses the ability similar to "resurrecting the dead". Looking forward to the outstanding performance of Scrap Krauz in the next season.
PS As a digression, the title "Revelation" is actually "thinking". Forgive the author's brain opening~
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