i can see the end as it begins

[kaydeefalls]

For the record, I completed a first draft of this vid right around New Year's. It took me until this past week to actually tackle the second draft. It's still not quite what I wanted it to be -- meta commentary vids are not my strongest suit -- but I did my best.

Wildest Dreams
edited by kaydee falls
Music: "Wildest Dreams", by Taylor Swift
Summary: Someday when you leave me, I bet these memories follow you around. Literally, in some cases. (A multifandom Women In Refrigerators vid.)
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit, don't sue.
Warnings: All of the character deaths.
Notes: Created as part of the 1989 Vid Album. Thanks to such_heights for being very honest about why the first draft didn't work!

Primary fandoms: Arrow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Donnie Darko, Heroes, Inception, Merlin, Supernatural, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Torchwood, X-Men

With cameos from: Amazing Spider-Man, Angel, Casino Royale, The Dark Knight, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Indiana Jones, The Matrix, Star Trek (Reboot), Star Wars, Thor, Vampire Diaries, X-Files

Watch on Vimeo

On Tumblr!

Download! (.mov, 76 MB)


LYRICS:

He said let's get out of this town
Drive out of the city
Away from the crowds
I thought heaven can't help me now
Nothing lasts forever
But this is gonna take me down
He's so tall, and handsome as hell
He's so bad but he does it so well
I can see the end as it begins, my one condition is

Say you'll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams
Wildest dreams

I said "No one has to know what we do,"
His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room
And his voice is a familiar sound, nothing lasts forever
But this is getting good now
He's so tall, and handsome as hell
He's so bad but he does it so well
And when we've had our very last kiss
My last request is

Say you'll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams
Wildest dreams

You see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burnin' it down
Some day when you leave me
I bet these memories follow you around
You see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burnin' it down
Some day when you leave me
I bet these memories follow you around

Say you'll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again even if it's just pretend

Say you'll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams
In your wildest dreams
Even if it's just in your wildest dreams
In your wildest dreams

Comments

[obsessive24]

This is gorgeous. I loved it. I particularly liked how you chose to focus on the initial few fandoms to focus the message, and then once the message was firmly established you pulled in all the other sources to make it much more emotionally expansive. It worked really well for me.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! I'm so glad it worked for you.

[laurashapiro]

What a great concept! Perfect song choice and wonderful parallels. I was nodding along approvingly!

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you!

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, well done! This is beautiful and sharp.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you!

[brainwane]

I've only watched this once but I intend on watching it again -- nicely disturbing! I don't know all the fandoms but the ones I know are helping me understand the trope nuances you are exploring.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! I'm glad it works despite not knowing all the fandoms.

[kaberett]

It really does :)

[purplefringe]

God, this is breathtaking and gorgeously edited and hits you like a punch in the face. I will probably come back later to flail in more detail about why I loved it and how amazing it is, but am v tired right now - just wanted to tell you first that this is AMAZING.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you so much! :D

[chaila]

This is really brutal, in a good way. The juxtaposition of the pretty imagery in the lyrics of the song and the brutality of the stories works really well and is so unsettling. I don't even know these fandoms, but this still packs a punch!

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! I'm so glad it works for you.

[mfirefly10]

This is so well-edited. I've watched it like 5 times and can't find a single flaw. I loathe this trope but love the way you highlighted it here.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you so much! I despise the trope, too.

[fiercynn]

oof, this is heartbreaking and infuriating and gorgeous. And as usual, with all the songs you vid to, I probably won't be able to think of this song the same way again.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! And hey, all of the songs on the 1989 album have a darker underside.

[such_heights]

This is brilliant - I love the final version, it works really well. All these women deserve so much better, sigh. <3

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you again for your feedback on the first draft! I still think I could've taken it further, but I'm glad this version was better.

[goodbyebird]

Superbly constructed. And that last clip, with Logan going to touch Jean's face and his hand getting stopped!!

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! And yeah, I knew from the start that that would be the final clip. ;)

[beatrice_otter]

Great song for the topic, and this must have been THE EASIEST VID EVER TO FIND STUFF FOR, given the prevalence of this trope.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! It was actually tricky at first, since I wanted girlfriends who were killed and then reappeared in visions of some sort, but the free-for-all at the end was REAL easy to source, let me tell you.

[cosmic_llin]

Ooooh, I love this, it's so interesting and I love the way you've structured it! I love how you've used the combination of lyrics and clip choices to make this actually from the women's point of view, like you're adding back in the voices that are silenced by this trope.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! I tried my best to keep it from the women's POVs, inasmuch as the sources allowed.

[serrico]

OOOHHHHH, SICK BURN.

Seriously, though, this is GREAT. So many dead ladies! Which is not the great part. So much facilitated manpain, the pointed commentary on which IS the great part!

And the end, with the insinuation that not letting Wolverine touch Jean is going to prevent her tragic demise. :D :D :D

I enjoyed this very much!

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you! Seriously, don't touch Wolverine. Just don't. His mainpain kills women in virtually every movie he shows up in.

[rosaxx50]

I have watched this video so many times, and it's no less devastating each time, the way it slowly but inevitably builds up to the deaths in "I'll see you in hindsight..."

The moments that stood out for me were the 2:37 switch to the pattern across fandoms, pointing out that the problem is so much wider than the fandoms focused on; and the thread following Jean throughout the films, because arguably her X2 death was, unlike the other girls, part of her personal story arc, but even then it gets swayed into Wolverine's Pain, and still ending on Scott stopping Wolverine from touching her, not Jean herself.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you so much! And yeah, Jean's X2 death was HERS, for all the angst it caused among the dudes. And then X3 happened. *facepalm*

[alwaystheocean]

I FINALLY found time to watch this (it's been a ridiculous summer) but oh my GOD it was worth the wait. Like shit, talk about a punch in the gut. Your anger at the trope is so clear, your use of the lyrics to contrast with the brutality of said trope is brilliant, your editing is spot-on. SO well done. Will def be watching again (if sparingly, cuz ow), and reccing widely.

Also agree with whoever above said it works really well setting the trope up step by step with your initial examples, and then sort of hammering it home with more and more examples. Also I found because I knew a few fandoms, I could extrapolate out for the ones I didn't know so well.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you so much! I'm really glad it worked for you -- I'm always a bit iffy on meta vids.

[cadenzamuse]

I apparently downloaded this and then didn't watch it until today. HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. So, I love this song (I find the music video very problematic, though) and...this is a totally different, fiercer direction for it. The fridging of all kinds of women to further the plot, the way it's so obvious that the women lose way more than the men, even with the manpain ending. The way the women start to all look the same--that same head drop in the same direction meaning death. The idea that men could be happy or let women in to their secrets or that women could live being "your wildest dreams," and how clear it is that it's the fault of the men, but not in the manpain "I couldn't save her/keep her safe" way, but in the way they ignore the women's strength and agency and personhood beyond a doll to be adored.

Plus the line up of "this is getting good now" with Oliver Queen taking his shirt off is both hot and utterly hilarious. A+

[kaydeefalls]

GAH somehow I totally missed this comment for months and months, but thank you so much! I'm so glad this all worked for you. (And yeah, oh Ollie, how could I resist.)

[kiki_miserychic]

Wow, amazing concept and really expertly put together. The establishing sources are used well and others are brought in at just the right point in the vid.

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you so much!

[pennyplainknits]

This vid is so clever, I'd never have thought to make the connection between song and trope but now you have it's transformed the song for me.

I'd really like to show it at the Taylor Swift vidshow I'm curating for VidUKon next month. I've grabbed the download but I think the con organisers also need a streaming option on Vimeo or Youtube. One option would be for it to be temporarily uploaded to the Con's youtube and then deleted after the show- is that something you are comforable with?

[kaydeefalls]

Thank you so much! And sure, I'd be honored to have it as part of your VidUKon vidshow. At the time I created it, I kept running into difficulties uploading it to streaming services (the TSwift song, which was fairly recently released, kept pinging copyright infringements). But! Seems like Vimeo is letting me upload it now! So here's the streaming link: https://vimeo.com/701031316

[pennyplainknits]

oh fabulous thank you so much!