Monday, August 14, 2023

Great Quotes About Mixed Emotions

The first comes from Golden Girls: Blanche's speech about "the color magenta." 

Dorothy is trying to explain to Blanche that she is upset and she doesn't know why--in fact, she isn't even sure if she is fearful or jealous or mad or something else.

I love Blanche's response (see video below). It is such a fantastic encapsulation of why emotions don't remain in tidy boxes and why emotional intelligence is not about having the right emotions or expressing the right emotions but about being able to handle whatever the emotions are, as Blanche does.

The second quote comes from My School President, episode six. By this point in the series, Gun is fairly certain that the person Tinn likes in the music club is him. There are no rivals. For that matter, there's no push-pull. Tinn is totally committed. And Gun is interested but wary.

As well as push-pull (I like you-I don't like you-I like you-I don't like you), the series also avoids the revolving door relationship, which latter trope is fairly detestable. Nor is Gun a particularly self-doubting person. That is, he doesn't sabotage the relationship with his angst. By episode 7, the relationship is a known reality between the two.

However, the lack of rivals and angst doesn't preclude some doubts, and I love the way Gun phrases his doubts. He knows and doesn't know. He is sure and not sure at the same time. He can't read minds (and if he could, it might not help!).