MovieChat Forums > Love (2016) Discussion > Finally figured out what bothered me (SP...

Finally figured out what bothered me (SPOILERS)...

posted 8 years ago by brizzosaurus
1 reply | jump to latest

So, I watched the whole season and something was annoying me the entire time, but I couldn't figure it out. It really bothered me that Mickey and Gus got together - or more so that Mickey picked Gus (although, she is a flailing addict and he's a pretty convincing fake nice guy). I knew it wasn't because he was so awkward that I was second-hand embarrassed (which he was and I was) or because she's "out of his league" or whatever like some reviews have said. Finally, in the last episode I figured it out. They wrote Gus like one of those *horrible* nice guys (about 5% of nice guys are horrible, *beep* nice guys). Like the kind of guy who seems really nice and goes out of his way for people in his life, but it's pretty self-serving so he can get what he wants from them. Not all of the time, but at least 50% of the time his character seemed that way to me. He seems to me like the kind of guy who would latch on to a girl like Mickey and help her move and find her cat and try to save her and then get pissed when she went on a date with someone else even though they've always been *just* friends and he's never pursued anything beyond friendship. The kind of dude who would eventually imply something like, "I'm so *beep* nice. I'm the nicest guy ever, you stupid bitch. Why won't you *beep* *beep* me?!".

I realized that this is the vibe I got from his character sometimes when Mickey was in tears telling him about the plethora of issues she was dealing with and saying, "I need to be by myself for a year to work on my issues and figure myself out" and rather than hearing her valid concerns and recognizing copious cries for help on her part, he grabbed her and made out with her. She just told him what she needed, but he did what he wanted instead of listening to her. It, for me, was very true to how he had treated her for the entire show. He met her, fixated on her, and then got mad at her for not being exactly who he wanted her to be. You wanted to date a human person, but expected her to not have flaws and love magic just because you took her to the show? I mean, Mickey is wildly flawed, but at least we see her at the crux of her addiction. Gus should be functional, but is this crazy dichotomous mix of narcissism and incurable self-doubt. He even yelled at a *beep* 12 year old who told him multiple times that he was her best friend. Mickey definitely hurts a lot of people in her life, too, but they could not make her enough of a "villain" (as hard as they tried toward the second half of the season) to make her more selfish or annoying than Gus.

[–] pdlussier1 8 years ago

The main characters are deeply flawed; they're very human. And that's what makes this show great and getting to know them so much fun.

I really get the sense that you're excusing Mickey and being harsh on Gus for reasons that have little to do with the actual behaviour witnessed. Could his lanky geekyness and pasty sex-appeal have anything to do with it?
Mickey is way more guilty of flipping on someone just 'cause she's not getting her way, a main behaviour you complain about re Gus. Remember how nasty Mickey becomes with the clerk when he won't let her leave with the coffee, or the scene she creates at Gus' work 'cause he's not all smiles at seeing her there, or how rude and disruptive she was when the usher wouldn't let her keep Gus' jacket at the magic show (it seemed silly to enforce the jacket "tradition" so strongly but she did flip to unjustifiably-hostile in no time). And what about when Gus is playing bass at the party but, after disappearing for a while, she explodes 'cause she's not the center of his attention? More examples if needed.
It's too early to say in any definite way, but I do think that Mickey exhibits all the hallmarks of someone suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). These people are usually sweet as they're extremely manipulative and pro liars (Mickey showed us this), but they need all the attention and quickly flip on someone in the way you describe (Mickey). Also, BPDs are very impulsive, take serious risks, usually have had run-ins with the law, suffer from several addictions, are promiscuous and invariably have a continuous string of failed relationships that end abruptly and in bitterness… and nothing is ever really their fault (always a victim), or things get totally played down or turned around, no matter how illogically. Remember when Mickey is finally busted by her ex, after swearing on a baby’s life that she never cheated, and snaps, “OK, I cheated. There are more important things in life when you’re 28 then cheating on your boyfriend!”?

These people are the ones that typically latch on, but only to fulfill particular needs, and past that point is when the more ugly BPD behaviour rears itself as the triggers are usually rooted in abandonment issues. Before that, they can't quite hide it totally, but they're quick to ask for forgiveness and offer external justifications when they do explode, just as she does with Gus.
So, clingy? Who always shows up unexpected? Mickey. At his work she obsessively sticks around, makes a scene, then calls the minute she’s thrown out to apologize and obsesses, sending a constant flow of texts… All Mickey, not Gus. Plus, she lied to her roommate, telling her she was offering the tour to apologize for abandoning her at Gus’ place the night before.

We'll know in season 2, I suppose, but the ending does hint further at a BPD direction, Gus surely fooling himself into believing that he’s not being selfish, he’s the one who can save her, yet not knowing the hell he's heading toward and wholly unequipped to deal with.
If she is borderline, than a year of celibacy is the best thing she can do, but that will NEVER happen with a BPD sufferer (otherwise someone stable and grounded may be the thing, but I foresee much turbulence in season 2). And let's be frank, Mickey isn't a victim—she “stalked” him down to the store to tell him she couldn’t see him for a year, let’s have coffee then. C’mon! Though you know she’ll instantly flip and play that card and blame Gus for everything as soon as things turn ugly. “Why did you move in with me, you *beep* I told you I needed a year alone 2 months ago!”
But neither do I think she’s a villain. She’s a genuinely good person with serious emotional baggage (regardless of how the writers will frame her dysfunction in season 2).
Plus, that whole quick-orgasm-with-her-boss-but-needing-her-vibrator-with-Gus thing is pretty revealing...

I also think Gus isn’t a villain and I think all that “fake nice” crap is complete hogwash (Heidi. Now that's fake nice!); he’s also a genuinely nice person, but with his own serious issues, one of them being "expectations" vis-a-vis his niceness. The “ugly” comments and theories annoy me, but what can you do?
I have a different take on Gus (lot's to say; rich show) but I’ll stop here as I think I amply made my point: Your assessment appears to be driven by an unconscious bias; I don’t think you’re being fair.

As an aside:
That 12-year old, Arya, is an absolute brat who's just saying whatever crap to manipulate Gus so she can do anything BUT schoolwork. And that's the only reason why she threatened to quit to save Gus; she knows full well that whoever replaces him will surely be more authoritative and she'd probably not get away with, say, not finishing a test but still managing to pass it... The way Heidi discarded Gus when he no longer served a purpose, that's pretty much how I see Arya treating Gus when the time comes. Recall that Arya, that 12-yr old, gives the director *beep* for even giving Gus a chance as a writer for the show. Conversely, was he really mean to her? He didn't attack her verbally, he gave her the straight dope, though not in any pleasant way.

Ignorance is bliss... 'til it posts on the Internet, then, it's annoying.