An Ode to the Midnight Society
On 'I Saw the TV Glow' and growing up with SNICK
Director Jane Schoenbrun tapped into a particularly powerful nostalgia thread for their second feature— a Saturday night programming block on Nickelodeon. SNICK, apparently short for Saturday Night Nickelodeon, was a programming block in the early ‘90s that catered to a pre-teen audience with shows like Clarissa Explains It All, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Roundhouse, and All That. One show that I was always timid about was the horror-tinged half-hour of Are You Afraid of the Dark? It was a children’s horror anthology series inspired by public-domain fairy tales, short stories, and urban legends. Yes, it was horror for kids, but it was also hugely influential in shaping the future horror interests of countless impressionable youths. Not to mention that the show had this eerie Canadian feeling to it as it was filmed in Montreal. It was suburbia, but not our suburbia.
I Saw the TV Glow taps into that eerie feeling with a dash of Twin Peaks here and a smash of Buffy the Vampire Slayer there. Owen (Justice Smith) is a child trapped in the monotony of conforming. He’s supposed to live a specific life laid out by his parents. That doesn’t include staying up until 10:30 PM on a Saturday and watching the “girl-targeted” TV hit, The Pink Opaque. Even though he isn’t supposed to be watching, he discovers upperclassman Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) reading an episode guide for the show. Their mutual interest connects them and they become friends.
Maddy’s life is complicated due to the disinterest of her parents. They care so little about what she’s doing, she has friends come in and out of the house at all hours. One of these evenings becomes the first time Owen gets to watch The Pink Opaque and it changes his life. This little Canadain-produced horror show lets these adolescents imagine a life outside their own and gives them some measure of purpose. Their relationship grows as Maddy continues to supply Owen with fuzzy VHS recordings of the show. Their friendship transcends sexual attraction— Maddy explains that she’s into girls, while Owen isn’t even what he’s into. Actually, Maddy and Owen can’t explain it, but maybe they don’t even belong in this world. When Maddy mysteriously disappears during the finale of The Pink Opaque, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur as Owen has to comfront his existence.
The second half of I Saw the TV Glow takes a more abstract journey while contemplating teenage dysphoria and repression. Schoenbrun who identifies as a queer, trans, non-binary filmmaker who uses they/them pronouns, wrote I Saw the TV Glow based on their own experiences coming out as trans. They envisioned the movie to specifically highlight a moment known as “my egg cracked” or “cracking the egg,” a term meaning that a person has acknowledged that they’re trans and is not in denial anymore. This makes watching Owen navigate the world not sure how he truly fits in truly tragic.
What’s striking about I Saw the TV Glow is how accurately Schoenbrun has captured the early-90s. Contributions from Caroline Polachek, Sloppy Jane ft. Phoebe Bridgers, and Yeule among many others transports viewers back in time. I remember vividly turning the TV on and basking in its glow waiting for my favorite shows to come on. SNICK was must-see TV in my household, those Saturday night hours showcasing shows that excited me, while also holding the keys to more inappropriate titles like The Ren & Stimpy Show.
I Saw the TV Glow is like telling someone of a fever dream consisting of Are You Afraid of the Dark reruns— you aren’t sure you can articulate what you saw, but it moved and excited you. It’s a sophomore triumph from Schoenbrun that makes me excited for what they have in store next. [B+]
I Saw the TV Glow is now in theaters nationwide and distributed by A24.
Programming Note
May is a busy month and there’s been fewer newsletters, but I wanted to get this review out. I’ve also seen recent releases The Fall Guy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes which I’ll discuss on a new episode of the It’s the Pictures podcast on actor Ryan Reynolds. I’m also working on a feature for the newsletter about movie trailers. I’ve been conducting interviews and transcribing that so that should be coming.