The way Crowley swings around Aziraphale on the bus, the way the Bentley drives around the bookshop...Crowely is in orbit around Aziraphale. What does a planet do when its star vanishes? Does it go rogue? I remember when I first learned about rogue planets and saw an artist's rendering of one. It was beautiful. It was just out there in space, wandering, other stars in the distance but there were none it belonged to. There was a tremendous feeling of wrongness, loneliness, confusion, abandonment, and hopelessness.
As someone knowledgeable about art history and sacred symbolism I completely agree with your analysis on every point. Actually I feel much better now that my intense obsession is grounded in the truly artful beauty of this show. THANK YOU
There's a passage in the Bible (I think it's in Matthew?) where Jesus is telling a parable about how in the end of days, God will sit upon his throne and sort the people into good and evil the way a shepherd sorts goats and sheep, and the sheep will go to his right (to Heaven), and the goats to his left (to hell). I find this particularly interesting because Crowley seems to be rather fond of goats.
Yes!!! There's also the connotations we English-speakers have with "scapegoats" as an ancient practice and "scapegoating" as an idiom that evokes it. Of course the funny thing there is that the goat is chosen because it's a *good* offering, and it only carries the sins of others (hence the "lamb of god" as the crux of supersessionist belief). And...oh Crowley. Being cast out so that The Good Guys can continue doing what they do unquestioned is a bit like being a literal scapegoat, isn't it.
@@lexismoreyes! And when Crowley is talking to the goat, saying "God has abandoned you. The God who claims to love you and demands your praise has given you up to be destroyed," he was talking about himself. No way Crowley could ever go back to being a trusting and praising angel after that, not without a lobotomy.
It's in Matthews 25. It's the chapter that laid the foundation of my belief when I first heard it in church at 9 years old. But not for the 🐑 and 🐐 part.
This was absolutely fantastic! What a fantastic analysis and I absolutely appreciate the effort and the investigation into the meanings here. This is probably the best analysis I’ve seen on Aziraphale and Crowley. I loved this! Thank you so much for this information.
I've watched both seasons all the way through three times and I NEVER NOTICED all those moments you showed from the final two episodes where they are standing in their reversed positions! (At the ball, during the Gabriel/Beelzebub reveal, etc) The amount of attention to detail that went into this show is astonishing.
There is so much to digest in the show. Each rewatching you see something new. Actions taken by characters who, while on screen, may not be drawing your attention, but are doing something important. Or, like the left and right dichotomy, they are communicating emotional depth and meaning that we don't even realize. Crowley constantly evolving, while Aziraphale remains rooted in the past. Traditional masculinity vs modern masculinity. The corporate organizational structure of heaven, concerned with implementing the predetermined plan handed down from the boss and "winning", versus the monarchic organization of hell, with mutinous attempts to gain power and status, while the "serfs" are destroyed or punished on the whims of the nobility. Both operating with an absent CEO/king. Neither allowing natural curiosity or creativity. Both crushing the powerless inside their own organizations and neither functioning to the benefit of the human population, who in their own ways, they are meant to service. You could even look at heaven as an American style political structure and hell as a bastardization of the English monarchy. They are all intentional choices from the actors, the writers, or the director and create an intricate tapestry, on which every inch is a statement, a question, a joke, all of it intent on making you think and feel. To quote Pollution, "It's just so damn beautiful!"
Wow, great insight into heaven and hell and their real world corporate/monarch counterparts. Not something I'd thought about, there is always something more to see in this show, indeed!
True true! I really enjoy your reinterpretation of the classic Cold War allegory in the show as industrial capitalism / neoliberalism vs monarchy / oligarchy. And those can be further boiled down to the Progressive / Conservative divide. The Conservatives may be nasty and ugly but the Progressives can be downright terrifying at times. With that distinct Orwellian chill that only the truly well-meaning can give off. Come to think of it, we never find out what the other defectors (i.e. Lucifer and the guys) rebelled against in the firsts place.
@@lexismoreI hope we learn more about Crowley's fall. Furfur and other demons talked about being there with Crowley and going into battle. What was Crowley's motivation? What was he trying to acomplish? Just hanging out with Lucifer and the guys or asking questions is what he's telling himself now, but there must be more to the story. Aziraphale tells Crowley he's fallen with a tone of someone talking to a dog who's peed on the carpet. I wonder if Aziraphale will see records or hear stories of Crowley's fall and see Crowley differentty.I wonder what Aziraphale was doing while Crowley was going into battle.
@@halfkinrainbolt7041 Wow! It's just so good! The levels of substance and meaning are unparalleled. I don't know of any other offering that does so much.
Lovely! I think the left/right thing possibly jumped to viewers’ minds most obviously during the body swap-they return to their proper places in regards to each other. But I love your point about Crowley circling, always moving, and how it gives him away during the body swap. Such genius direction! And I appreciate the reading and work you put into this-that is no easy read indeed 😅
It‘s interesting too that when Crowley leaves after the kiss and the Metatron goes into the bookshop, Azirahale starts walking around, moving super much, turning back and forth, while - as we see later - Crowley stands still like a statue at the Bentley.
Oh this was brilliant, I knew about the left and right symbolism but this takes it to a whole other level. For instances where they're facing each other, I always take the camera's position into consideration, with some leeway given to how the actors need to be coordinated so the scene can function. And I never thought about how much Crowley _moves_ around Aziraphale before, one could attribute that to how a snake needs to coil around things in order to actually move. I already equate his changing appearances to a snake shedding it's skin, I just love pointing at Crowley details and going 'snek'. Speaking of the visual cues, I wonder if you've noticed the colour grading in season 2, particularly in episode 4? Aziraphale's colours are yellow and blue, Crowley's colours are black and red, Heaven's colour is white, obviously, and Hell's colour is green. The 1941 flashback happens directly after Aziraphale realizes he's in love with Crowley, and it's the first time- to my knowledge- that they've ever done anything _fun,_ no jobs from their respective offices, no debates of morality, no saving Aziraphale from something silly, it's just _them_ having a night. And the colour grading, the set design, and the costuming, are all awash in yellow, blue, red, and black. It's as if, for a short time anyway, Heaven and Hell don't exist, only they do. I would also suggest taking a closer look at Crowley's tie. You can only see it when he sits down and opens his jacket, but I see it as another conscious detail from the costuming department.
The colors in the show are a whole thing for sure! I have it on my list, but I'm not sure I'm the one to do that analysis, lol. But I love that you noticed the actual grading, that's exactly the kind of subtle film shorthand I'm talking about. Well spotted!!
I noticed that when Crowley is in heaven disguised as an angel, his silver costume is lighter than Michael and uriel's. I also love the 1941 bullet catch seen because aziraphale is crazy giddy with love realizing Crowley would actually do anything for him. Including attempt to shoot him in the face. But then he realizes the hell is watching and that actually has consequences for Crowley and he needs to back off.
@@theonlylunchbox A white diamond on top [Aziraphale], a white diamond on the bottom [Crowley], connected by a swirling white line going across a black diamond in the middle [Earth]. That's how I see it anyway!
Simply amazing.....and in almost all of the S2 promos that they got done prior to the strike, David especially always uses ying and yang to describe the characters. And another random thought I noticed the other day.....Mr. Brown. Did the demons kill him? Seems like it was implied that they did. Neil has stated that neither Aziraphale or Crowley can bring back someone from the dead. So how come Crowley was able to miracle him back at the end with his clipboard all chewed up? God this show can make you just go GAAAH!
Neil did state that he was just "tucked away somewhere" by the demons. They aren't allowed to outright kill humans, which they do say before they attack the shop. It IS confusingly filmed, though.
Wow, this video is just beautiful! You presented the information so wonderfully, and made me even more emotional for this show than I already was…Thank you so much for talking the time and putting in the effort to research all of this for us. I always love a good literary, artistic and philosophical analysis.
This was so good! I hope you never stop doing Good Omens analyses, but also, when you finally run out of Good Omens content, PLEASE keep making videos of other works that have been meaningful to you!!!
Thank you so much. I'm sure that I'll start to spread out to other content, once Good Omens stops inhabiting 98% of my brain....😂 I'm currently very interested in Only Murders, and also Beef, which is just one heck of a show. Lot's to analyze in that one!
@@Sendarya I've never heard of Beef, but now I'll check it out! I need a new show to really get into... I've been watching old seasons of Masters of Sex and Broadchurch because what I really want is more Good Omens 😂😭😂😭
What I love about Good Omens is that there isn't much that doesn't feel deliberate. There's so much symbolism and so many interesting details to unpack. It can be easy to watch this series casually and just think of it as a quirky fantasy comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously, but dig a little deeper and you realize there's so much more. Analyzing Good Omens is incredibly satisfying, more so than a lot of other shows I've gotten invested in over the years.
7:21 in the bandstand scene, not only are crowley and aziraphale on the wrong sides of each other, but crowley is the one already in shot and aziraphale moves to him. the attention to detail in this show is fantastic
I love your videos. Thank you for doing them and asking all the questions, I had and the ones that I didn't even think to ask. I haven't read any of the other comments so if this is repetitive, I apologize. What really struck me at the end of episode six, Aziraphale and Crowley switched places (no, they didn't body swap again) but Aziraphale was in motion and Crowley stood completely still and didn't move again until Aziraphale was in the elevator and completely out of sight. I believe that Aziraphale saw Crowley out the bookshop window and then again before he got in the elevator. Crowley is now acting as Aziraphale's anchor. I think (hope) that Crowley's message behind it is, "I will wait for you."
Aw, I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! Sorry, I'm ok. But really, that's beautiful, and a wonderful interpretation of that final scene. Indeed, that's about the longest we may ever see Crowley not move at all. I definitely agree that he is saying, through actions, that he will wait for Aziraphale. Thank you for sharing this amasingly thoughtful comment!
You know, the funniest thing about this commentary is that if you watch carefully in the opening credits of season 2, they show Crowley and Aziraphale sort of swapping places - most people thought it was an easter egg about the dancing or the kiss, but now it seems like it might have been a more, er, *sinister* easter egg? A warning about the conflict to come, perhaps?
Respect! Not in a million years I would have recognized all this symbolism. 👍 Thank you so much for your videos. I really love them, and I love how respectful you honor the show, it´s storytelling, the art and the acting.
I wonder if Crowley is on the right during the kiss because, at that moment, his desire (that he and Aziraphale be together) is the more stable one. It is the position that offers the most stability for them, as they are more stable together than they ever were with their "sides." Aziraphale's position will be the one to offer the most change and chaos, as it will tear that 6,000 year stability apart.
🤯 I didn't get that left/ right theme until now!! Ohhhhhhh, boy. I'm going to have to sit on this one for a while (and watch this several more times, of course!) Thank you SO SO much for this analysis, and of course, for all of the help, Emily! This is... 🤯
Mr. Neil Gaiman is a genius. I lack words. I believe that many "common" viewers have missed symbolism and only those re-watching and fanatics are aware :D Thanks for this content.
This is awesome! I noticed both the left/right and the moving/still themes in GO, but wasn't able to verbalise what I was seeing. And beyond "left=wrong/bad, right=good", I only had the vaguest idea about the cultural symbolism you presented so beautifully. Seriously, I learn as much about culture, art, history and literature from your videos as I do about Good Omens! The S1 scene in St James's Park in 1862 stands out to me in visually using (almost) only the motion/stillness dynamic to make it feel jarringly wrong. They're in their balanced left/right places. But it's Aziraphale who's in motion, while Crowley is standing still, his pose almost rigid. Crowley doesn't even feed the ducks; Aziraphale does. The feeling of wrongness is underlined, I think, by their clothing: Aziraphale's is relaxed, Crowley's is... I can only call it severe. I keep getting floored by the beautiful complexity and the many, many layers of symbolism in _everything_ in this show!
the ineffable yin and yang, also very much emphasized by their clothing choices (Aziraphale beige/light and Crowley dark/black). I'm wondering if, on set, they did this on purpose or instinctively. PS: Thank you for continuing to make analysis videos about this show because it took over my life.
This is a fantastic analysis! I always felt there was something interesting and important about how they were positioned in frame with each other throughout the shows. This analysis discusses it so well.. I never thought about it in this way though before, this makes me appreciate the shows writing and thought put behind it even more
Please, don´t apologize, your videos are perfect to explain many things fans have think about and your voice is beautiful. Thank you again for your videos.
what a wonderful compilation of all the thoughts id been having about this storytelling device! the enitre gomens crew are such geniuses and you do a spectacular job at interpreting their work!
Your videos are a treat, and I especially love the beginning of this video, as to how often I've watched the series. That's so witty. Your editing is amazing! As are all your videos, I do rewatch them almost as often as I try to rewatch the series itself (as time permits...). Thank you so much for all the love and research (and editing skills!) and thoughtfulness you put into these videos. As you put it in this video, the series has so much more to it, and your videos really help to grasp this and appreciate the whole show even more. Biiiiig thank you for this!!
This video is so...ugh- It gives me comfort, really, knowing that i'm not the only one to have noticed all this visual poetry and then some. Well done You, well done! 👏👏 I also happen to have a random thought now, it's not about right and left but you managed to spark a long lost memory of mine i hope i can put it into words and make sense of it somehow (pardon me if it doesn't make ANY). So, Neil Gaiman introduced the 'Jane Austen' device to convey parallels and build context for a nice ball; Austen's books and how she makes characters fall in love are relevant to Aziraphale so that he gets the inspiration that leads to where we know, as said before, the *ball.* The fact that Aziraphale gains inspiration thanks to a book (an author in general) and that we visually see references to Pride and Prejudice on screen, reminded me about something really specific inside Dante's Divine Comedy. (thanks for mentioning it, that's where *this* comes from uwu ) In Canto 5° of the Inferno - the place in which we find whom sinned of lust, forever damned - Dante asks Francesca what actually sparked the deep love between her and Paolo what made them realise they were in love; and she tenderly admits that the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere *unexpectedly* caused them to fall for one another while reading it together, the lovers' tale was so strong and their love so compelling that Francesca and Paolo ended up having this forbidden love themselves! She was promised to Paolo's brother, in fact. Dante uses exceptionally tender and visceral words to convey this, the poetry is so raw and - ugh. The passion, the striking beauty of the fifth Canto comes from the description of that first kiss between Paolo and her that Francesca recalls ('cos they've just read the ancient tale), and that's the point that wins us all over. A Kiss! "la bocca mi basciò tutto tremante" / "(he) kissed my mouth, all trembling" I MEAN ---- *A Kiss! ALL TREMBLING* Now what does that reminds to us all? UUGGGHH GAIMAAAAANNN!!!! SO. I don't even know if my words make any sense at this point, in conclusion: A tale inspired love between two people, Paolo and Francesca, they sinned, got caught and killed during the act of love by the future husband and ended up together in hell for it but their love is still strong and true so much so that Francesca doesn't hate Paolo for this awful damnation, her love is so strong and her words so powerful when she sums up their story to Dante that Paolo silently and inexorably weeps and cries beside her the whole time never uttering a single word! (Dante too was moved to tears) My heart clenches every time i read it or hear it as someone is narrating the Canto! A Book can inspire love between two people, how to set it in motion, the attempt to make someone realize they are in love. Aziraphale remembered what Jane Austen wrote and tried to make it happen. Yeah, in the 'Divine Comedy' Dante Alighieri used the tale of two lovers to explain how Paolo and Francesca fell in love, Neil Gaiman put Jane Austen's ball tactics inside Aziraphale's mind so that a couple could realize to be in love ( >Nina and Maggie, kinda worked, right? ç^ç ) thus this worked as a narrative device for the plot of the final episode of season 2. I'm not saying Neil had any inspiration from Canto 5°, but it's funny that this small detail surfaced to my mind. This, i've remembered, the devices two authors used to bring together two lovers: an ancient tale and a ball. ç^ç
Beautiful! Dante's Inferno really is a masterwork. The Canto you mention is deeply sad and beautiful all at once. IT's odd how humans find so much beauty in broken things and conflicting emotions. There are definite parallels, and I completely agree that Aziraphale is heavily influenced by the books he reads. We know he reads Jane Austin for certain. And although Crowley doesn't read, he's seen movies that follow the same general sort of romantic outline. I'm guessing the Richard Curtis film that he mentions in the Pub is Four Weddings and a Funeral? Is it weird to think of Crowley sitting in a theater, watching romance movies all by himself? Gah, this show finds a new way to break my heart constantly. Oh, and thank you so much for the wonderfully thought out and detailed comment, I love it!
You did it again! Brilliant analysis, well researched. Learned a lot from this one. It was also so refreshing to hear the "wrong side standing" theorized as symbolic of them being out of balance with each other, rather than just "it means they switched bodies again" that some fans keep saying (and that just doesn't fit this time, IMO).
ALSO NOTING HOW AT THE VERY END IN THE CREDITS THEY ARE IN THE WRONG SIDE....AND CROWLEY IS DRIVING IN HIS CAR WHILE AZIRAPHALE STANDS IN THE ELEVATOR...ENOUGH ENOUGH I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS
Im a little bit in love with you and I've never met you before. All your videos are just works of art but this one is such a "omg THATS what that is" eureka moment that ive been smiling like an idiot the entire time. Great analysis! I look forward to more!!
That is really so kind of you! It's good to be appreciated. 😅 I love doing these, but it is an absolutely ton of work. I'm just thrilled that other people get so much joy from it!
@Sendarya omg and you respond too! Whaaaaat. Best youtuber ever! Lol You do great work and I'm sure everyone prefers quality over quantity so we can wait for more videos so you're not overworked rather than pumping them out but they're not as nuanced or in depth.
Great video - absolutely on point re the visual language and the historical importance of left and right. Indeed my dad (left handed) was forced in school to write right-handed in the 1950s - so the prejudice (if it has died out) has only disappeared fairly recently in historical terms; also the etymology of left - sinister - sin, bad - wrong - dark - evil has permeated our language at a fundamental level - as you point out. Our language is very bigoted (as well as sexist, patriarchal etc...) in so many ways for those who care to delve into etymology. My only slight observation would be to say that although minor chords are often used to denote sadness - major chords can too (for instance, listen to the slow movement of Schubert's String Quintet D956 - it is in E-major and yet conjures sadness more than most minor pieces do). Equally minor chords can conjure horror, rage, disdain, cheekiness, frankly just about anything. It's all in the context, pace, texture and harmonic world in which the chord is placed. From a soundtrack point of view - a purely atonal approach, not major or minor, but often focussing on dissonance -- is very common on soundtracks when showing darker moods.
You are absolutely correct about chords and music. And a blue tint isn't always horror, either. I was really over-simplifying there, lol. I think prejudice towards the left is far less nowadays, but it's still there. As you point out with your dad (I'm sorry he went through that), it was withing recent memory we were still beating people for being left handed, and forcing them to use their right. And our language is absolutely loaded with prejudices, many that never even cross our minds they originate so long ago. Thank you for the thoughtful comment!
One justification for forcing right -handed writing was due to the way students were seated in 1950s crowded classrooms (often alphabetically by last name). Desks were shared or situated closely together so that a left-handed writer would knock elbows with the right-handed students. It was thought to be more expedient for a ‘southpaw’ to learn to write right. It was about conformity, forcing those non-conformists into line. 🤬
@@nancyrogan8985 You may well be right, but two points: (i) my own class (in the 1970s) was more crowded than my dads - according to my dad - although I am sure in general your point would stand, and (ii) Dad's teacher simply told him it was not right to write left-handed. Probably was a poor teacher, but the prejudice did exist - whether intentional, official or not.
I don’t doubt for a moment the prejudice; it was definitely there: subversive and abnormal. In fact, one of the tenets of US public schools (which were a completely disorganised reaction to the paradigm shift of the population moving from rural areas to urban centres for work after WWII, deciding the best way to separate baby-boom kids was by age) was to root out anything that didn’t conform to the dicta of ‘normalcy’. McCarthyism had left its mark: between the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare, any behaviour that stood out as ‘strange’ was to be immediately quashed and corrected. I’m sorry your dad suffered the pain and injustice of systemic prejudice.
You REALLY did a deep dive there! This is lovely to watch. I've enjoyed all your essays that I've seen so far, and this one just gives us so much depth. We can see the care that you put into this work and the love that you clearly have for the series. I agree with you by the way about the show finding a lasting audience and becoming a timeless classic. I don't know if the show itself is literally The Mona Lisa, but I do see several fan art pieces that are more than gallery-worthy each week. *tilts glass* To the world!
Thank you so much 😊 I love sharing the love of this show! It's true, I was being somewhat hyperbolic with the Mona Lisa comparison, but I think this show may end up being Neil (and Terry's) Magnum Opus...so a tiny bit comparable in that way? lol. Perhaps I fangirl a bit too much at times!🥰
I don't know what can I add, you said it all ! You blowed my mind. The "Crowley's anchor" and the fact Aziraphale turn his head where Crowley isn't anymore brought tears on my eyes. You're brilliant ! You explain very well and see things that I didn't see while I make analysis too. I'll come back in comments if I found something more after processing your amazing video x) Thank you.
me thinking I can't get anymore obsessed with this show, then I watch another analysis and feel the urge to scream into a pillow because this show is just so good and normal words cant describe my love for it 😂 (Man will I even survive season 3 like this 😭)
Interesting! As a left handed person (who was forced to use my right and punished for not), I'm a touch sensitive about the topic of left being evil. But if Crowley's on the left that's okay then.
I'm so sorry you were mistreated simply for being left handed. That's awful! If you watch, I notice that not only is Crowley on the left, he also uses his left hand a lot. David is right handed, and he did use his right as well, so to me it seems Crowley is a left hander, slightly Ambidexterous! I hope you didn't find the video too troubling.
hadnt thought of any of this symbolism. much thanks. I do spend a great deal of time rewatching GO and looking at clothing and architecture (is it really a cardboard set?). the wonderful use of shading, how often the time of day seems to be at dusk. but I never thought of the placements of the main characters. mainly I look at Crowley. he spends the entire series moving in one way or another. I always credit that to Tennant for being one of the few actors today that uses their entire body not just a talking face to emote. I so love that and Tennant for doing it. so much of this series could be a silent film. you're right- the entire series strives for visuals and symbolism. one thing that always bothers me and I dont get it. In the beginning sequence shot of the nebula why does it look like a giant FU behind them formed in the nebula?
It really could practically be a silent film! Tennant does "chew up the set" as I heard someone else describe it, once. About that FU, I had never noticed it before. Unless it's some cosmic joke where the universe is telling Crowley to FU, my guess is that it's patternicity. Like how when you look at clouds they look like animals, or you see faces in grains of wood. Sometimes random stuff looks not random, even when it is. Humans see figures in all sorts of things that aren't intentionally there. I hope that made sense?
Yes, you hit so many nails on the head. I never knew the visual art analysis of it. I love how you are taking this seriously and I am so eager to see the rest of the show
I'm floored. I have, like you say, been totally overtaken by this show. I'm loving all finding all the symbolism I would have missed. It's such a fantastic spot to see the left and right symbolism. I definitely agree Good Omens has already become permanently beloved.
The thought came to me that Crowley tends to rotate around Aziraphale like the moon around the sun. Crowley embodies the feminine fluid principle such as the moon, and Azriphale is the masculine solar stable principle.
When I started doubting if it's right for me to get so obsessed with what seemed to be JUST another tv show, you and your excellent analysis explained its many depths. I just couldn't catch that glimpse of a thought myself, so THANK YOU A LOT!
I’m really enjoying your breakdown/analysis videos. Thank you for the amount of work you put into these. I actually watched GO for the first time about a month ago and I’m already rewatching it for the third time, and keep discovering new things each time. Like everyone else, I’m now a devoted fan and obsessed. I’m also going to purchase the book to read while waiting [im]patiently for S3. I’ve been watching your videos in order so far from oldest to newest, so here I am…this is one of my favorites. It’s such a special analysis. On a random off topic comment to this piece, I’m curious to see if Azi is going to have to wear a light gray suit and change his hair color/style a bit. Maybe that’s a given, or not.
I think it's a good question. It would be unsettling to see Azi change his hair after having the same blonde spiky curls for millennia. But that might really signify something! Same with the suit color change. Great ideas :) Also, welcome to the fandom!! And I'm so glad you are enjoying all of these videos. This is one of my favorites as well :)
I just want to say that I really, REALLY appreciate that you did this deep dive into the symbolism of left and right fro Crowley and Azeraphele without going into the theory that this is a sign that they switched bodies at the end of S2. It's just nice to appreciate the definite symbolism that is there, without having to go into the switch theory (which I personally don't love) And i love this interpretation. Yes they are on the wrong side of each other that's why they are in conflict and can't communicate properly. They are out of balance I love it You could even take it further but I'm going to have to think that all through before I write it down just to settle my thoughts so thanks for the brain food 😁
Great video @Sendarya! Now that you've shown it to me, I can't unsee it!! Also reminds me of this bit Michael Sheen and David Tennant talked about their doing Staged, how Michael was always in the same place, but David kept moving around. It was from an appearance they did on the Graham Norton Show (here's a link to that clip queued up to that point, if you'd like: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mmgz5tWFYFs.htmlsi=oCxFgwS_f1PHU4Bq&t=321 )
I don't normally enjoy rom coms, but this one, in this one the love between the characters are both in your face and not at the same time. Nina and Maggie are obviously in love and going to end up together, before the end of the story Crowley and Aziraphale to will end up together but it is not overdone. It is not shoved down our throats. It is (in my opinion) done in the best way it can be. Not forced none of the characters stop acting like themselves it is beautifully written and acted out. This is my kind of romance.
This is amazing! I never noticed how they stand in the same way next to each other, so those shots blew me away. Something to look forward to on my next rewatch 😇. And it makes complete sense with that symbolism of right and left sides as you explained. And just le sigh at how religion conveniently linked the feminine with evil and masculine with good, because of course they did.
I love this! I hadn't picked up on the left-right recurring theme, but you're correct, I had absolutely subconsciously felt the "rightness" of it, and it absolutely did affect my whole reading of the final episode, even before the final conflict. Something felt OFF, and this explains it (at least partly; I'm sure there were other subconscious clues). I'm very excited for your future analyses! The symbolism and intellectual depth of the show has been a big draw for me, completely aside from my fannish glee of the ineffable husbands.
I find some of this confusing. I'm not so much ambidextrous as ambi-awkward--a corrected left-hander. I find it hard to understand that you are talking about THIER right and left, rather than my own. I guess I'd make a lousy angel or demon!
Don't worry, it's actually quite common. modern viewers generally see things from their perspective, but it used to be the cultural understanding to view things from the "object" perspective, that of the person(s) in the work of art. The book explains this, and I started to do so in this video, but I had feedback that I had made it MORE confusing, so I just left it off. Sorry about that!
I don't know if you said it, but when they switch back to their balanced positions in Scotland, Aziraphale is holding up an unbalanced, off his head on laudanum Crowley. Just another example of Az being the rock
Fantastic, I love it! I also noticed it, but not in this depth. So once more thanks for this great analysis 🫶 Funny that the two actors also choose this positions when they get interviewed 😉
Thank you for this video essay, I have issues telling left from right, so seeing it actually helped me a lot (even though I still struggle to remember on which side they should be). These are the things I can't notice on my own, so I appreciate it when people write meta about it 😂💕
That must be very frustrating! Maybe one way you could help orient yourself, with this show anyway, is imaging them in two scenes. The Gazebo is when they are off balance. The miracle when they hold Jim's hands is when they are in balance. Then just compare what you are seeing to those in your head, no need to remember left and right. ?? I am very glad you enjoyed the video!
@@Sendarya yesss thank you so much, this video really helped me visualize on which side they usually stand, just perfect and exactly what I needed 💕🧚🏻♂️
Because it is Crowley (the feminine ♀principle) that moves/grows/evolves, it makes sense for Crowley to be the Tempter and for Eve to accept the temptation. Without these movers/shakers (Crowley and Eve), the World remains static: humans still in Eden and Aziraphale still on the Wall. Sendarya, your analysis of left/right on 2-dimensional, Western painting equally holds true of movement/stasis in 3-dimentional film. Finally, Neil originally wrote AziraCrow as ONE character. Sir Terry split that single character into two halves.
Thank you for this! The recognition of the left/right positioning was just on the edge of my awareness, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I love this analysis so much as it adds another layer to my understanding of why I find the Good Omens show to be such an exquisite work of art. Adding further to your theory, the left/right thing may not be simply something that our brains have been trained to recognize, it may actually be the result of the physiology of our brains. Iain McGilchrist has a brilliant book about the right and left hemispheres of the brain. He explains how they "see" the world differently, and he maps a sort of power struggle between the two of them through art, literature, and philosophy from antiquity up to the present day in his book, the Master and His Emissary (which does include the James Hall book in its ridiculously extensive bibliography). One of the things that McGilchrist proposes is that these different aspects of right-hemisphere and left-hemisphere qualities in art, literature, and philosophy are actually an attempt by the brain to cognize itself and thus to understand itself. I had never considered it before but having now made the right/left connection from watching your video, I now want to go back and do a full analysis of how Crowley matches up with left hemisphere traits and how Aziraphale matches up with right hemisphere traits. Off the top of my head, I think the correlations would actually be quite significant. Is Good Omens helping our brains to understand themselves and find balance?! This is a level of awesomeness I hadn't even considered.
Well, that book sounds fascinating! I will have to add it to my reading list. The James hall book touched on biology, and breifly on physiology. It makes a lot of sense that there's an actual biological reason, since right/left symbolism exists in every culture, and the two halves of the brain do have different functions. Good Omens, helping us reconcile our own left and right? What an interesting idea, I love it! Thank you for this fantastic comment!!
Yes, the Coffee Theory is not only unlikely, but impossible IMO. I have a video on that as well, if you are interested, a full breakdown and explanation of what the entire coffee/death coffee thing means. No miracles involved, just manipulation.
Ooooh on the subject of Crowley and trauma, have you read Nnm’s fic Demonology and the Triphasic Model of Trauma Therapy? Also Nnm has a new sequel in progress where Aziraphale is getting therapy himself and hopefully will work through religious deconstruction type issues, but it’s obviously not S2 compliant exactly, or perhaps should say takes place before S2 maybe?
I'm at a loss for words. 😮🥺 You just made be even more obsessed 😵. You're right, this is a work of art. And yes, I know all the lines. Never gets old! BTW, there is this scene, before they get caught in the paintball crossfire, they get out of the car, Crowley is on the right of course, but they cross paths. Azi follows the lane while Crowley walks straight on the grass. I thought this was showing Azi following the rules, the path of righteousness, while Crowley didn't care if he damaged the lawn, he's a demon after all. But they end up in their usual positions, and at the exact same time, Crowley on the left, Aziraphale on the right.
Aren't all the little details like that just amazing! Well spotted. Much like driving too fast, Crowley would not follow rules about not walking on a lawn, lol
I have not seen that, so wasn't aware. Just went and looked, and wow! Yes, my point exactly. Modern media uses these sorts of images over and over. Well spotted, thank you for sharing!
The balance between the two sides that Crowley and Aziraphale represent is very important. It only works in a very strong way when they are at an even level. This is the reason why Aziraphale's offer to Crowley couldn't have worked out. "I would run it and you can be my second in command." he says to Crowley - but that would put him and Crowley at the same side of the scale (Heaven) and would officially make him Crowley's boss, too. No more even balance there! Therefore I believe that season 3 needs to restore some kind of even balance between the two. Maybe with a hurt and angry Crowley rejoining Hell again which would at the same time render the sort of interaction they had up to then more difficult as give them some opportunity to communicate again. After all, Gabriel and Beelzebub had opportunities to meet and ended up doing, what Crowley wishes to do with Aziraphale: go off together. Season 1 also gave a hint when Crowley and Aziraphale are considering what might come after Armageddon failed. Crowley says 'I believe it's all of us against all of them" and Aziraphale's question is " What? Heaven and Hell against Humanity?"... leaving it to be decided whether 'us' means 'Heaven and Hell' or 'Humanity'. The natural conclusion from the first two seasons would be: put the best of Heaven and Hell together and you get Humanity!
Oh! I think you’re so right on with this left/right aspect, of A and C being in “correct” or balanced positions, and the significance when they are not. A kiss with them re-balanced … makes my heart ache to contemplate!
🐈⬛ I loved this. In part it explains why I'm so obsessed with GO. I'm rewatching again and again and again, I know all the words, I don't usually do this, so OMG WTF is going on? It makes such sense that the beauty of it, grounded in Renaissance painting, is pulling us in. And the Left/Right visual poetry makes sense of how we are being affected subliminally. At the end of Ep 6 everything is out of balance and we are completely thrown off balance. But I'd like to offer an additional idea of my own, and for that must refer us back to the Maestro, Terry Pratchett. Near the opening of his novel Witches Abroad, you find this: "Stories are important. People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way round. Stories exist, independently of their players. Stories - great flapping ribbons of shaped space-time, have been blowing and uncoiling around the universe since the beginning of time. And they have evolved. The weakest have died and the strongest have survived and they have grown fat on the retelling... stories, twisting and blowing through the darkness, And their very existence overlays a faint but insistent pattern on the chaos that is history. Stories etch grooves deep enough for people to follow in the same way that water follows a certain path down a mountainside. And every time fresh actors tread the path of the story, the groove runs deeper. This is called the theory of narrative causality, and it means that a story, once started, takes a SHAPE. It picks up all the vibrations of all the other workings of that story that have ever been. So thousand heroes have stolen fire from the gods. A thousand wolves have eaten grandmothers... Stories don't care who takes part in them. All that matters is that the story gets told, that the story repeats... It takes a special kind of person to fight back-" I think that Pratchett and Gaiman, master story-smiths that they are, have cut a groove that allowed in one or maybe two of these ancient, powerful stories, which are trying to tell themselves again. Maybe Paradise Lost, or the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, along with the theme of star-crossed lovers,,. These all pull towards tragedy. For our lovers, angel and demon, there's a tidal pull of attraction between them, it's as if you had split the atom, and the two parts are striving to reunite, but the Story keeps pulling them apart, but we don't want that. Now, bring these stories to life onscreen, with two of the world's finest actors: Michael Sheen, the archetypal protean actor who dives down deep and disappears into his character, and David Tennant, with that mercurial, combustible energy, ready to erupt out of nowhere. Plug these two into one another, and you have the equivalent of high-octane rocket fuel! Now channel the Story through these actors: it's like lighting the blue touch-paper that send the Story roaring up into the stratosphere. So I think that is what is happening. The Story has gone feral, trying to write itself, sparking and fizzing and crackling and exploding through the ether, and we're picking it up, and it's probably doing our heads in! I'm a writer, but at the moment, instead of writing my own stories, I've got this one roaring around in my head trying to get written and I bet some of you are doing the same. No wonder I am obsessed (Yeah, you can probably tell, can't you?) So: for Season 3 - and there has to be a Season 3, or The World Will End - the writer will have to catch the Story, wrestle it back into its container, and earth it. Good luck with that - but he is Neil Gaiman, so he won't need it. And my wish is: that tragedy is averted: that Paradise Lost resolves as Heaven on Earth, and the lovers, angel and demon, now healed and whole again, can be together in whatever way they want, and need to be .And I hope they live happily ever after! Apologies for the length of this, and thanks for reading, if you did! And thanks again Sendarya for what you put out. I love your videos. Keep 'em coming!
What a lovely idea! I do think people are shaped by stories. I love thinking these important stories just need to be told and retold, as if they have a life of their own. Beautifully put!
@@Sendarya Thank you. I don't know why RU-vid is doing odd things with my posts. I'm new to this, so wonder if I'm doing some tech stuff wrong Anyway, glad it got through at last. I really love this channel"
OMGOD! AMAZING ANALYSIS! I didn't realized so many things that you said😮...I would like to add a tiny thing that I did realized and I would like to add❤ I started to see videos about no-verbal language and microexpressions since a long time ago and in this show I did realized of AMAZING character study from Michael Sheen as Aziraphale. For example, when Aziraphale see to his left under after being Kissed for Crowley, in no-verbal language means that he is connecting with his feelings about Crowley😭 (a little observation that I had)... There are so many microexpressions and no -verbal language in this show that demostrates the amazing commitment of David and Michael as actors❤ thanks so much for all these videos❤
This is such wonderful analysis. Thank you for making this - it's reframing how I'm doing my rewatch and how I'm going to call attention to their positioning in ficwriting. And you're helping me to appreciate even more the amazing acting both Tennant and Sheen bring to this - they make Crowley and Aziraphale so perfectly complementary on so many levels. A bit of a side note on Aziraphale's stability of position: I've been watching Masters of Sex with an eye towards motion and position inspired by this vid, and Sheen brings this stillness to his character that's uncanny. It's different from Aziraphale's, but it's so powerful to watch when everyone else is in motion around him. In Masters' case, I think it's vigilance and readiness to react to an attack (for reasons that are brought up in the show and the book it was based on). Sheen brings so much skill to make stillness in both characters interesting through his eyes and expressions.
Whether or not these details were intentional, I really admire your attention to detail and analysis of the characters. Never in a million years would I have noticed this. Great work!
Thank you for this: the fact that we instinctively ‘know’ when something is incorrect due to the staging is because of the brilliance of the people doing their jobs behind the scenes, as well as that of the actors. There’s something so satisfying about how fluid and effortless the feel of a piece of art can have when it is rendered well. And this was done perfectly. In some ways it reminds me of the work of Mike Flanagan: classical symbolism, casting of a corps of versatile actors, religion as a reflection of (personal/societal) humanity, ‘impossible’ visuals, & imminently rewatchable. Neil’s fairy tales tend to hide their claws behind the veil of dreams in a way that I find more appealing to obsess about. (In the case of ‘Sandman’, literally) Neil’s work has always had the feel of something classical we were never taught, a type of rhyme-scheme long forgotten. Thank you for helping to explain why this adaptation translates it so well Brilliant work, as always 💜🌈😈😇
In my opinion, it would be suiting to see an official documentary release on Good Omens. Sort of like there was for Star Trek: DS9. I love all the fan analysis now! Your videos are next level, I love them all. But in a few years, maybe they'll eventually let us in on all their secrets. I can't imagine all the things going on that we haven't noticed yet!
With every film I find out about more missed things, interpretation or easter eggs, and maybe in a week or two(probably less than that) I might have to rewatch both seasons. I write it with a smile on my face so it's good😂 Oh I love my fascinations about a book or a movie when I watch and think about is most of the time.
Wow! Thank u for ur research and analysis! I enjoy all ur videos but this just simultaneously broke and fixed my brain! The obsession is very real, but more than just the stuff I knew I loved about it, it's also on a subliminal level!? Perfection. New level of obsession unlocked. Never stop doing wut u do, I need this. Also ur random thought at the end deserves a chef's kiss. 2 halves of the same s(whole) I adore them❤
Excellent analysis! I love your thoughtful and thought-provoking videos and the time and effort and research you put into all of them! What clued me in on the right and left thing is I got a bunch of Good Omens pins and when i was arranging them, Crowley was always on the left looking right and Aziraphale was always on the right looking left - except for the pins where their backs were turned because Aziraphale had his wing over Crowley. So I knew something had to be up for so many fans/pin makers to position them the same way.
I knew about the left and right and picked up on the movement thing when rewatching series 1 for the umpteenth time (I thought, "Ah that's Crowley keeping watch for danger and protecting his Angel" but I missed the St Thierry reference. Well done, such an insightful video! Subscribed for more! :)
Thank you for your interpretation, it was enlightening and you captured some symbolism that I hadn't noticed and that I like very much. Every day I discover new things about Good omens and thanks to you for pointing this out to me! Incredible ❤❤❤❤
@@Sendarya I truly did ❤. I will watch more of your Videos soon ❤🤗❤. This show got so much into my brain and heart ❤❤❤. I can relate so much to the characters. Especially Crowley. Always moving, always evolving and exploring. He is like a Scientist 😄❤❤❤. Always changing his looks ect ect. So fascinating!Aziraphale is also lovely and so wonderful❤💫💕. I Loved the Video you made about his ring too 💕
