OPAL
this is the only short film ive ever rated. ive been a huge jack stauber fan for years and when this came out i was OBSESSED with opal. i kinda see myself in her so this one's important to me.
okay. there'll be spoilers but im not marking this as one, just in case someone wants to read anyway and maybe end up watching it. (we’re not calling her claire. she’s opal. and we’re saying "real family" and "fantasy family").
leaving the obvious aside (the beginning and the ending being a fantasy from a burger ad), her fantasy family doesnt do anything extremely sweet or loving, they do the bare minimum; they <i>see</i> her. thats what the whole short is about: opal feeling seen.
it starts with the fantasy dad looking away and smiling, just like in the burger ad. then he sees opal, <i>he's the first one that looks at her.</i>
the first song is "we see you, opal". while the fantasy family sings, we see lights above them, the same lights above the burger ad, because opal cant imagine them without those lights. in this song, they say "your troubles are miles away", and later, when we see the burger ad for the first time, it says the restaurant is "exit 22 — 9 miles away", meaning opal’s troubles are literally troubles away because that place is.
opal never eats the burger because she doesnt know how it tastes, she cant imagine it. she just knows what it <i>represents: </i>yummy food and a perfect family. when she sneaks out and leaves her fantasy house, the ad lights go off, such a pretty detail.
the first person she finds in her real house is her real grandpa, and we see he’s blind. despite that, he sits in front of the tv, smokes, and doesnt even talk to her. when he does, its just to ask her to leave or bring him more cigarettes. he doesnt pay attention to her. in the beginning, the fantasy grandpa doesnt say anything special, he just says "hi opal", and she’s happy with that. imagine how lonely she feels, she just wants her grandpa to say "hi" to her. 💔💔
the second person is her real dad. he’s in a room surrounded by mirrors and all he does is talk about himself, look at himself, listen to himself. he’s egocentric and self-centered. he’s not blind, he <i>could</i> look at her, but he <i>chooses</i> not to. thats even worse than being blind, because he’s able to see her but decides not to. he even says "why do people look at me like the way you PROBABLY are?" he doesnt even check how she’s looking at him. thats why her fantasy dad being the first one to look at her means so much more.
the third and last person she meets is her real mom, an alcoholic, probably depressed, violent woman. she belittles opal, tells her she’s just like her, powerless, while her fantasy mom says "you can do it". in her song, she talks about opal like she’s there to take care of her, when it should be the other way around.
at the end of the song, we see her mom’s eye, someone calling 911, violence (between all members of the family, not just towards opal).
"mama needs a mama’s girl to take good care, mama needs a babygirl to hold her hair"; her mom looks at her but doesnt <i>see</i> her. she sees <i>herself</i> in opal, sees someone to unleash her anger on, someone to take care of her. she never sees opal for what she truly is: a little girl, her daughter.
in the end, we see her real mom taking pills with opal’s face. opal’s face reflected in her grandpa’s eyes, in her dad’s mirror. everyone’s consuming opal in a different way, but no one cares about her. no one takes care of her. no one actually <i>sees</i> her. so she just hides in her fantasies where she can eat a burger with her perfect family.
this is probably my longest review, but i really love this short too much not to say anything about it.<blockquote>they never repent how i want them to.</blockquote>