As It Is: The Great Depression Theories (Pt. 2)

As we all know by now, our boys have been doing one music video for each stage of grief portrayed in the album. So far, we've got The Wounded World for Act I: Denial, The Stigma (Boys Don't Cry) for Act II: Anger, and two days ago, they released the music video for The Reaper as the representation of Act III: Bargaining, and let me tell you: it was revealing.

Revealing and beautiful as far as cinematics go, so I, being the grown up I am made ten thousand gifsets from it and posted them on tumblr, as I do, only to be surprised by the response of one person who was getting into the video as much as I was. I mean, even further, because I was still bedazzled by the pictures and hadn't quite analize the concepts touched in the video yet, but as soon as I read it I realized they were onto something.

So, here are all the thoughts I have on the As It Is' newest music video for The Reaper and how I tried to connect them with the whole album concept based on hellboygay’s theory.

The general idea is that each of the boys represent a stage of grief, here we go.

‘The first reaction is denial. In this stage, individuals believe the diagnosis is somehow mistaken, and cling to a false, preferable reality.’ - Kübler-Ross model.

The Great Depression - The Wounded World -  The Fire, The Dark.

Patty wakes up on an unmade bed, he's alone in a room with a giant window you can't see outside of because there's literally a wall. I believe the imagery of this room represents perfectly the explanation Patty gave of the album before its release, where he referred to The Poet as someone who's so open about his mental health he's become a profet to certain people and how "[...] the guilt of that wears away at him until he isolates himself from everybody he loves, like his wife.". He's literally isolated with a wall of bricks. Also, when the pictures of The Wife are revealed, you can see they're scratched up, as if somehow the idea of even looking at a picture of her hurt him. I thought that was a great detail for telling that part of the story.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am about the fact that the whole appearence of The Wife is a representation of The Fire, The Dark. The way she appears out of nowhere, and how she doesn't seem to be there at all, like it's a figment of his imagination. The opening lines for The Fire, The Dark come to mind: She holds my hand / But it doesn't feel the same / Is it in my head? / Or has she really slipped away?

Patty could be Denial because he's the only one who doesn't get a key at the end of the video and he's the only one who sees The Wife, if you think about the The Fire, The Dark reference. Although, that can also be because Patty is the one who has become The Poet, physically. So, maybe the idea of him representing Denial came from that, it just made sense.

‘When the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue, they become frustrated, especially at proximate individuals. Certain psychological responses of a person undergoing this phase would be: “Why me? It’s not fair!”; “How can this happen to me?”; “Who is to blame?”; “Why would this happen?”.’ - Kübler-Ross model.

The Stigma (Boys Don't Cry) - The Handwritten Letter - The Question, The Answer.

Ben wakes up on the floor in a room that has two mirrors and it's lit by red lights. This may be a little too on the nose, but red = anger, generally. Another reason why I think Ben could be the one portraying Anger is because maybe the idea behind the mirrors is so that he has to look at himself. They're there to point out his mistakes, flaws, and pain. There's also the fact that Ben seems to be haunted by his own mind. There's nothing in that room but himself and those mirrors, and when Death (played here by Aaron Gillespie from Under¢ath) appears to him, he drops to the floor and pulls at his hair, like all his worries come from within him, from his mind.

When Ben looks at himself in the mirror at first he sees himself as he is, and then he's suddenly bruised. I think maybe with this, they could be referring to The Stigma (Boys Don't Cry): You feel an emptiness inside / How it sinks into your soul.

Finally, Ben's pleading look at the end, once he's spat out his own key to leave the room, makes me think of The Question, The Answer's chorus: Show me how it ends / Will I still be scared to live? / Show me how it ends / In the ground, or in the clouds / Is there anywhere? / Can she find me there? / Show me how it ends / For us, for us, for us.

‘The third stage involves the hope that the individual can avoid a cause of grief. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. People facing less serious trauma can bargain or seek compromise. Examples include the terminally ill person who “negotiates with God” to attend a daughter’s wedding or an attempt to bargain for more time to live in exchange for a reformed lifestyle.’ - Kübler-Ross model.

The Reaper - The Two Tongues (Screaming Salvation) - The Truth I’ll Never Tell.

Foley wakes up at an altar. A very creepy altar, I might add. Like, what's up with the skull and the rotten food among Catholic imagery, you guys?

Anyways, he’s at an altar, literally begging for his life, as its said in The Reaper: Now I'm begging him "Let me keep my wasted life / Please, it's not my time".

Who is this woman, though? Because she isn't The Wife, and Foley seems to be surprised when she appears before him, as if he was hoping for her to come but didn't actually believe she would. Maybe she's Hope? I'm not sure, but she seems to have some sort of control or decision over his life because she's the one who takes the key from him.

That makes me think of The Two Tongues (Screaming Salvation)'s second verse: Her voice so beautiful will find me and explain / That life is agony but worth it all the same.

‘“It’s going to be okay.”; “I can’t fight it; I may as well prepare for it.”
In this last stage, individuals embrace mortality or inevitable future, or that of a loved one, or other tragic event. People dying may precede the survivors in this state, which typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a stable condition of emotions.’ - Kübler-Ross model.

The Haunting - The Hurt, The Hope - The End..

Ali wakes up covered in vines in a room with a TV displaying static. I believe the static represents the fact that he can no longer comunicate with Death (since that's the way Patty's been comunicating with him) and he has to make the decision on his own, whatever that decision may be, which in the video is pictured as two different colored pills (love that Matrix reference).

The vines around him made me think of The Hurt, The Hope's second verse: And an early grave weighs me to the ground / Where I gently rest quiet and alone.There's also an hourglass counting down, that may mean that he needs to make the decision quickly because he's running out of time.

So, he has to make the choice between two pills, and according to the Kübler-Ross model’s diagram of grieving after/during bargaining it can either go to depression or acceptance. Ali chooses a pill that disociates him from himself (maybe he dies?). The way Ali makes the choice and chooses a pill brought me back to The Hurt, The Hope's ending: And maybe I'm wrong, but I pray that I'm not / It's got to get better.

I don't know if this was made on purpose or not, but the way Ali looks at himself lying 'lifeless' on the armchair reminded me of this part in The End.'s bridge: Am I awake, or am I asleep / Is this the end or just another dream?

Then, at the end, he takes the key from himself, from his ‘dead’ body. I wanna point out that there's light coming from under the door in his room, so the fact that he got the key by taking the pill he chose to take may mean he made 'the right' decision, into acceptance.

Or maybe I'm overthinking all of this too much, but that's just who I am. I'd leave you with the music video, if you haven't seen it, you totally should. It's brilliant.

If you're interested, Pt. 1 of "As It Is: The Great Depression Theories" is where I talk about the whole concept of the album, track by track.

~talk's a waste of time~