I Saw the TV Glow

Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine

I can see both what admirers and detractors found in Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow. Overall, I found the film to be an advancement over her premier feature, We're All Going to the World's Fair, but I still have quibbles. Chief among those is the comatose performance by lead Justice Smith. I get that Smith's character is uneasy in his own skin, but that doesn't mean he has to be uneasy with his line readings. Compare Smith's readings of his monologues with that of co-star Brigette Lundy-Paine and one can judge the competence of the respective performers. I also thought the film had pacing problems throughout. I especially disliked Schoenbrun's cutting away from the two leads crucial dialogue during the "Double Lunch" sequence to show the musical performances at the club. I get that Schoenbrun wanted to show off the big time rock stars she had recruited for the film, but thought the cuts from the dialogue to the musical performers detracted from the sequence.

However, the mise en scene of the movie is continually impressive. The "bisexual lighting" of the film is apt for this allegory of queer unconsciousness cracking into consciousness. Even little touches, like the Fruitopia vending machine, lend the film the appropriate coloring and thematic weight. The TV show that the leads bond over, entitled The Pink Opaque, is a brilliant stroke, standing in for 1990s shows like Xena: Warrior Princess that have been read by their audience as metaphors for same sex relationships. I Saw the TV Glow also displays the attraction and alienation wrought by watching the cathode ray tube. Smith's character suffers from such cognitive and technological dissonance that by film's end he is spewing technicolor static. Moments like these show Schoenbrun's promise.