what i wanna know is where the heck does ed find these people who are willing to dress up as a bunch of grapes and sing a riddle in the middle of the g.c.p.d., and rap and beatbox to the kingpin of the criminal underworld?
Presentingā¦.The Use ofĀ āFreakā in Gotham (so far)
Lisa and I have been talking about this for months (especially regarding itās pejorative queer-coded use) and I have (finally) collected every (as of 4×03) reference
to someone in Gotham being called a freak or being described as one:
Unsurprisingly Oswald and Strangeās Monsters are called freak the most, with Azrael, Bridgit, and Ed tied for second place.Ā
The only people to self identify as a freak are Ivy and Oswald.Ā
Cops are the biggest users of the word, accounting for almost 1/3 of these (and Bullock accounting for more than half of those).Ā Ā
None of Strangeās Monsters are ever referred to directly as freak. Oswald is referred to directly 3 times, and Bridgit and Ed are referred to directly 2 times.Ā
Freak is used almost exclusively used for villains and true to comics, villains of a particular type. Even when Fish has powers, sheās wasnāt called a freak, and Mafiosi are never freaks, only masked villains (to quote Harvey āanother freak in a mask, awesomeā) and those with super abilities. (Which makes Oswald here so interesting since in the comics heās much closer to a gangster type, and in Gotham too, than the freakish masked villain type, hence the queer-coded pejorative discussion. Ogden Barker calls Oswald a freak immediately after referring to him as a āfruitcake leprechaun soā¦ And both Ed and Oswald end up killing someone in reaction to being called a freak)
Thereās a ton more info in the document (including the full line, who said it, if at was said directly, and if it was a self identification) which can be found hereĀ but this feels like enough to be getting on with. And Iāll update the list as we go through s4,Ā
[*] at the beginning of the quote means the line refers to more than one person and has been entered again separately for each personĀ
oswald gets called a freak even more than iād thought, poor thing. no wonder he uses it for himself – likeĀ āpenguinā, sometimes itās better to take a word for yourself to lessen the sting and take back some power. iām sad they havenāt followed through with the whole freak family thing so far this season for exactly that reason; it was such a nice idea. and i 100% agree about the whole queercoding thing.
(also, it doesnāt surpise me at all that harvey is the one calling people freaks most of the time. that kind of thing seems to be his shtick.)
I feel like someone with more patience than me could do a whole essay on Gothamās use of food and eating in relation to life and death and relationshipsā¦
It would probably end up being largely Oswald centric, but thereās a pretty strong thread there with Ed tooā¦
Oswald killed two people for sandwiches (admittedly it was a secondary motive the second time but still, he did very much stab a dude then buy a sandwich with the money he looted off the corpse), and got his second chance in the underworld via a job at a restaurant. He poisons his co-conspirators with cannoli, and eats an apple while watching a guy get tortured for information. He makes a sandwich in Loebās kitchen as a power display, and when heās lost everything itās stealing another sandwich from Edās corpse-burying picnic that leads to him being saved. In Arkham heās beaten up over ice cream, and in his brainwashed state he brings the trio cupcakes as a peace offering. Grace insults his motherās recipes and shortly thereafter he serves her her own children butchered and roastedā¦
Then thereās Ed – with his mildly creepy food offerings to Kristen (cupcake with a bullet in it, watermelon left over from where he was testing a theory on how a guyās skull got caved inā¦), and his gourmet cooking and advanced fondue knowledge. Plus you have the fact that his dark half hid Kristenās hand in a snack machine and theā¦ creepy as fuck song chosen to accompany that whole thing on the soundtrack comparing women to literal pieces of meat.Ā
And of course Nygmobblepot is basically built on Chinese take out, spicy mustard and ginger teaā¦
Side note; I think Iāve mentioned it before but thereās a LOT of cannibalism in season 2. Like, three unrelated Arkham inmates, plus Eduardo Flamingo, plus Oswald getting his Titus Andronicus on with his step siblingsā¦ itās a thing.
Thatās not even all of it, and thereās plenty more with other characters, but yeah. Food in Gotham, itās a topic.
This may not be that good of an addition, butĀ psychologically speaking, when eating food, your brain unconsciously registers that you are safe/relaxed, as you would not be eating if you were panicked. Thatās one of the reasons people ācomfort eatā and whatnot.Ā So in a nutshell, when people see/eat food, they feel safe.
It is clear that Oswaldās mother is the only person in his whole life that have loved him and cared for him, and has kept him safe, and itās I think itās fair to assume that as an Eastern European woman, Mrs. Kappleput offering food to guests is a sign of good faith and welcoming.Ā This is usually known as offeringĀ āBread and saltā. With Oswaldās loyalty and love towards his mother, it is likely he would also see food offering as a way of showing people his welcoming attitude. It is always a way to flaunt wealth, but considering Oswald doesnāt really care about money, I doubt that that is his objective.
But being the prick he is, he uses this fake use of trust as a way to attack his enemies before they even know they are his enemies, mainly referring to the cannoli scene.
Secondly, gaining a job as a dish washer to gain access to Maroni, was probably more motivated by the fact that he could blend a lot more easily into the background as a dishwasher, so he could slither his way up Maroniās gang. That being said, Although Oswald has no direct link to the food, he is using the psychology ofĀ āI am safe when I eatā. When Maroni and his gang are sitting, eating, and discussing their plans, they are not in a state of alert, allowing Os to be there without gaining their unwanted attention.
Also, just to point out, (not that I know from experience), but sometimes fighting and being shot and shoved into a lake and travelling makes you hungry. You ever see that snickers ad? āYouāre not you when youāre hungryā. That describes Oswald. Plus, as mentioned, food = safety/relaxation, this can show his state of casualness. Especially in a position of power, eating is a hell of a lot more intimidating. ie. āThis crazy person is casually eating an apple while I am here scared out of my mind and shitting my pantsā¦ If thatās him at casual, I donāt wanna see him angry.ā
And on that note, I believe you are completely right about the power play while making a sandwich at Leobās. As I did mention before, offering food is a sign of wealth and greeting, but when someone comes in and takes itā¦ It undermines Leobās status as an authority figure, and a man of wealth, stealing both of those things from him in the swift motion of making a sandwich (and Iām sure Victor holding a gun to Leobās head probably had something to do with that too).
In Arkham, when he is given ice cream, this is directly after heās been tortured, so he clearly wasnāt in the right state of mind, as was intended to show. This would be the first time (Iām going to assume) that Oswaldās offering of food has ended with him getting hurt. Being genuinelyĀ kind did not go well for Oswald; being kind is not who he is supposed to be.
Once he meets his father, and he has dinner with hisĀ ānew familyā, it brings back that sense of security and safety for Oswald. Even after his father dies, he still continues to cook as to be a part of the illusion of that safe family environment. He even uses a recipe that his mother would have made.Ā Since heās already gained her trust by having already cooked multiple meals, it makes it easy to get his revenge by messing with the food- something that he has clearly already done before. Oswald was able to have a taste of what life would have been with his father before he died, so why not show his step-mother what her children taste like before she dies š
So it comes full circle: Oswald growing up with his motherās cooking, a woman that wouldāve used food as a gesture of good faith, and, when grown up, Oswald uses that facade of good faith to murder or maim (via the food or not), or uses otherās phycological belief that they are safe when eating, and strikes when their guard is down.
I know this isnāt the best essay, and most of it is just personal opinion and observation (and it is nearly 12am, and Iām tired as heck), but when you mentioned about Oswald and food, I thought that was a very interesting subject to bring up. Ed on the other hand, I think is just a crazy motherfucker (Also, too tired to analyse his crazy food ethics right now). But I hope you gain a little enjoyment and/or insight š Please add to or correct anything I have said.
š„ There is beauty in destructionš„ 