{"id":7448,"date":"2019-12-02T13:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T21:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7448"},"modified":"2019-11-15T20:57:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T04:57:23","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-33-a-childs-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/12\/mark-watches-monster-episode-33-a-childs-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 33 – A Child’s View"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the thirty-third episode of Monster<\/i>, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what to say. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of manipulation, suicide, death of children, PTSD\/trauma.<\/b><\/p>\n

What the fuck.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What the fuck<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Games<\/b><\/p>\n

I have repeatedly spoken about Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s M.O. as a game. It has seemed that way to me! Johan plays with people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s emotions, and he finds ways to take the experiences of people and turn them against them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not simple manipulation because, as far as I can tell, Johan fucks with people purely for the delight of it all. I say that because I genuinely can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever figure out what his endgame is. Why does he do what he does? Because he had a messed up childhood? Maybe, but what is the goal his actions lead toward? I. DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T. KNOW.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s View\u00e2\u20ac\u009d takes this understanding I had and advances it, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to say. I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. How do you provide commentary on something so chilling and disturbing and deeply fucked up? I suspected fairly early that these children were talking about Johan, and the confirmation comes with another gut punch: Johan is playing this game of chicken with children WHILE ALSO OPENLY TELLING THEM THAT DR. TENMA IS ABOUT TO ASSASSINATE HIM. What the fuck??? Why is he telling these kids that if they survive falling off a roof, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be chosen? What is the reason for all this? I know that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obsessed with children, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a link between his behavior and the traumatic experience he went through as a child, but WHAT THE FUCK.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Watching the young boy in this episode terrorize others\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot to take in, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get over how big of an influence Johan has over the kids he works with. Children can easily idolize and emulate the adults in their life, and Johan knows this. He most likely did it himself. And this<\/i> is what he does with them?<\/p>\n

Look, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get over that kid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s emotional breakdown on the roof when Dieter makes an impassioned plea for the importance of being alive. In that moment, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a stark contrast between Tenma and Johan, since they are both adults with impressionable children in their life. Look at what Dieter values because of Dr. Tenma! Tenma values human life, and this random kid absolutely does not. Humans are boring; humans are banal; humans are unimportant unless they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re part of this special group that Johan has assembled. (Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 has<\/i> he assembled it? Are there multiple young kids waiting for more instructions for games from Johan?)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unconscionable. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that I thought Johan wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t evil before, but what the fuck, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all? CHILDREN ARE LITERALLY DYING BECAUSE OF HIM. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teaching them to de-value all life, including their own!!!<\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that perplexing scene in the library. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, what the fuck<\/i>? What was that book that Johan picked up? Why did he have such an intense reaction to it? Something in that picture book triggered some awful trauma in him, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to guess it was linked to his experience at Kinderheim 511. Which made me think: Did Johan experience \u00e2\u20ac\u0153games\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at that orphanage like the ones he is enacting now? Is this just some terrible cycle of abuse?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ceremony<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, I feel like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s View\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is setting up a huge moment in this series: Dr. Tenma has found his setting, the place where he can assassinate Johan. But what about the crowd? What about all the spectators and witnesses? And is Dr. Tenma going to actually go through with it? I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop thinking about Karl. At some point, is he going to learn the truth about his friend Johan? WHY DID JOHAN INSERT HIMSELF INTO SCHUWALD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LIFE??? I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that!<\/p>\n

I feel like all these various plots\u00e2\u20ac\u201dKarl, Schuwald, Johan, Tenma, Dieter, Reichwein, Nina, Lotte\u00e2\u20ac\u201dare all going to come together at this donation ceremony.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I AM AFRAID.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s View\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"