This video essay, by Pablo Torres, is very interesting in that it relies very much on breaking the 4th wall. The essay is themed around the theme of uniting queer subjects via the movie Lawrence Anyways, bringing the media itself, the creator, the essayist, and the audience together through shared experiences. One of the most principal experiences is that of recognition, often shown as staring into/near the camera, where the stares of the background cast are contrasted with the stares of the protagonist. This act of staring is sometimes used in conjunction with original clips of Torres, sharing their experiences with recognition visually while they narrate over the whole piece.

On a technical level, the essay works by being filled with a lot of parallel media, as in media that often isn’t directly connected to each other in ways that we would expect. The most obvious example of this is the narration, which isn’t a narration but rather an interview on the themes and process of making this essay. In addition, the clips of Lawrence Anyways are sometimes intercut with original shots made by the Torres, often creating interesting and funny gags (ex: someone looks out the window in the film to smile at Torres dancing on the street). The prevalence of multiscreen throughout the essay is another example theme of parallel media, playing clips that aren’t directly connected simultaneously, letting the audience construct their connective tissue.

The only real issue I found with this essay is that the sound mixing wasn’t very good and made Torres hard to hear at times.