More interpretations of Eva through the Becker lens
circuitbird:
It’s worth noting that both SEELE and Gendo have mechanisms for eliminating the fundamental Death Anxiety in ways that Ernest Becker suggests are doomed to fail.
The terror of the mind/body dualism – which, in Evangelion, is symbolically represented by the Fruit of Knowledge and Fruit of Life – cannot be resolved through carnal reverence nor traditional religious means. Both are alternate versions of personal delusion in which existential meaning is sought through faulty channels: the body, which by definition cannot lend itself to spiritual transcendence, and monolithic faith systems, which are themselves imposed hero systems that cater deceitfully to the fear of oblivion they intend to absolve.
SEELE = a symbol for the classical religious pathway, in its singular control and perversion of spiritual goals. This is echoed by the imagery that represents SEELE, from the angel-like appearance of the Mass Production Evas to the biblical/numerical significance of the seven organization members.
Gendo Ikari’s agenda = a symbol for the bodily pathway, since his desire to reunite with Yui is precisely that: desire. His goals are rooted in the corporeal dimensions of human love and attachment, and he is clearly not satisfied with her occupation of a purely spiritual space, or at least not one that is separate from him inside Unit 01. His obsession with this physicality is so all-consuming that he creates a clone of her – Rei – to serve as the body vehicle for his ultimate plans.
The focus is then on Shinji, the despairing boy, the individual, to discover his own purpose and existential value for himself. And his only hope for doing this is by directly confronting the terror of oblivion, the terror of death and of fundamental aloneness, in all its forms. Only then can he truly transcend. There is a reason why he is the hero of the story.
Misato and Shinji are extremely afraid of being hurt. They both are unsuitable–lacking the positive attitude for what people call heroes. But in any case, Misato and Shinji are the heroes of this stories. - Hideaki Anno
his scene is loaded. there’s a whole constellation of themes that are finally being realized here, as shinji and misato – the two protagonists of NGE – share one of their more subtly powerful exchanges before everything goes to proverbial shit. this is the last ‘real’ moment of the show; come episode 25 and the audience is catapulted right into the throes of instrumentality.
a lot of people don’t know why misato says what she says, and what it actually means - for her, for shinji, and for kaworu (and others!). here’s my attempt at teasing some of that out.
discussions of self-alienating love, suicidal idealization, becker, feuerbach, and various other revelations below.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion Gifset Series - PARENTHOOD
“Through the blur, I wondered if I was alone or if other parents felt the same way I did - that everything involving our children was painful in some way. The emotions, whether they were joy, sorrow, love or pride, were so deep and sharp that in the end they left you raw, exposed and yes, in pain. The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that - a parent’s heart bared, beating forever outside its chest.” (x)
demigirl-sei:
Something I noticed during my most recent viewing of 2.0: the little round thing in the center of the chest of Shinji’s plus suit has changed colours between versions. I checked, and this differentiation seems to be pretty consistent.
There aren’t really any other noticeable differences about the suit, so why change that one specific thing? Hmmmm.
I’m not saying I think it’s a core allusion, but I think it’s a core allusion.
Anonymous
when did shinji try to drown himself?
around 00:01:40~ into the beginning of end of evangelion, the morning after shinji has his talk with misato by the lake.
granted, it’s never stated outright, but little in evangelion is, and the above cuts stand on their own merits. this wordless scene is pretty indicative of an huge shift re: shinji’s character development (albeit a negative one) since anno has always described shinji as someone who has “convinced himself that he is a completely unnecessary person, so much so that he cannot even commit suicide.”
some of anno’s most important cuts are brief, ambiguous, and very easy to miss. personally, this is one of my favorite ones.
