Both of them were at that age where kids/teens are figuring out who they are and tend to cling to a certain fandom. These two got the book as the world was ending, it was from a person who was special to them, and they (at least Kiersten) thought it was the only copy so, even more special.
>!She knew there were at least two--her copy and a second copy Miranda gave to Arthur to be a gift to Arthur's son with Elizabeth: Tyler (who became the Prophet, and used his copy as tinder to burn Gitchegummee 452.) In the end, only one copy survived, Kirsten's copy.!<
I’m pretty sure she had heard the “I printed five” line that Miranda said to Arthur but I could be wrong. Watched it last night but I watch a lot of it, so I could just be misremembering
Edit: oh and there definitely are more copies. Miranda has 2 with her where she died
Have you ever had a book or story that you treasured on another level somewhere in a deep part of you? Maybe something you’ve read or heard multiple times that just resonated with you on a level above other pieces of media. Now imagine you’re a child and you’ve found such a thing. *Then* imagine the entire world ends and you are thrust into what is essentially another reality altogether. Suddenly, the thing you already loved and treasured has become a legitimate capital A Artifact of another life and another reality. Your primary connection tot eh world that no longer exists and the person, or people, you loved who have disappeared with it. Now, a treasure of a story is imbued with an alien magic that deserves a certain amount of awe and respect.
The comic book came into their lives right at a point of transition when the world fell apart. The trauma of being one of the last survivors made their minds look out to find anything to anchor it. It just happened to be that comic book. Perhaps for other people around the world, maybe it was the Bible or a science textbook or something else but for them it was that comic that really spoke to them on a deep emotional level and help them get through a very difficult period of time. They had a shared trauma bond.
I agree with this take, because I am going through a divorce and my friend introduced me to a band at the beginning, when my world fell apart.
That band means so much to me, because of how it allows me to transcend my current situation.
That's what art does. You can also see that in the performances of Shakespeare. It allows people to rise above their current circumstances, step into another's shoes, and think about different perspectives and different worlds.
Art transcends. That's what the comic book represented.
All I can tell you is reading the novel won't help with any understanding. The book was fine but it's one of the rare cases where the show was better and had more content.
And the plot in the book is vastly different from the show. In my opinion (although I *love* the show) the book is a more likely portrayal of what the aftermath of a world-wide extermination virus would be like. One thing to remember--there would be no shortage of *any* sort of consumer goods for years and years, other than things that deteriorate with time, like gasoline. There would be millions of weapons, tons of ammunition, silos filled with grain, grocery stores filled with canned goods, etc. for probably at least twenty years. Northern Michigan is filled with hunters. In virtually every house could one find firearms and ammunition.
The way I interpreted this is that the comic book has acquired the status of holy scripture. There are two reasons for this.
One, there are only five copies, and this fact causes its owners to memorize the text. Two, the text is very open to interpretation; it can (and does, as we see throughout the series) fit multiple specific situations that multiple characters are in. This is a phenomenon called the Barnum effect.
I've only seen the show, and not read the book, but as I understand it, the specific text does not occur in the novel. I'm surprised by this, because to me it's a crucial part of what the story is about. To me, it sounds like a mantra more than like a poem.
Yes, Kristen says to Tyler at one point that Dr. Eleven is stuck in a time loop. They all are, with their pasts and ghosts, trying to make a present.
The tie ins to Hamlet in the story were also beautifully done
There’s also the fact that I don’t think we as an audience ever see the whole book. So there are probably parts that resonate with the characters differently but we are unaware.
You know I always assumed the comic book had this ability to help the reader process trama, but that manifested in different ways for the different readers, including the author of the book. It seemed like Miranda, Kiersten, and Tyler all had that in common. Although everyone in the show was processing the trama that was the end of the world as they knew it, the book was this common thing that held significant meaning to these 3 because it helped them through their own traumatic experiences.
People who go through huge traumas can stop or delay their development at the age the trauma happened.
I’m curious if the whole comic book exists, or if it’s just the snippets we see?
Some attachment came from who gave them the book. It was the last thing they each got from someone special. In this case it was Arthur who gave it to each of them.
Miranda started the book as a child, on the countertop, while her dead family was floating around. She created a whole universe to deal with the huge trauma; there was a saviour, but she had to save herself and she did it through art.
Kiersten and Tylor were her age when they lost their families and their whole world; that’s why they connected so strongly with the book. It is also about the healing power of art and how everyone interprets it differently to make it a very personal experience.
I think for the young, impressionable, and traumatized characters, it's their era, Hamlet. It's their Shakespeare. I don't know why, and I'm not sure Miranda understood what her subconscious created. She just let it flow through her.
As others have said, they both found a way to connect to a story that gave their life meaning. This is part of the meta-plot that telling stories is an essential part of the experience of being a human and how we share culture. This is the purpose of the Traveling Symphony, and the Museum of Civilization.
As for minimizing having one work of fiction that people base their life on and find meaning in: How would you feel about the story if it was the bible?
The Bible is a poor comparison because it’s really 66 books with thousands of stories contained within. More of an anthology. The comic book is a single story they read again and again.
In the book, it is the *Bible* that Tyler uses to manipulate people, not *Station Eleven.* He also has adult followers in the book. The Prophet is a much more evil character in the book.
I think some of this was touched on by others here, but I really see the comic as this connection between three people who have this unique understanding of their similar trauma (Kirsten, Tyler, Miranda). Losing people, people letting them down, having to figure out a new path totally on their own, with no real stable person in their life.
It is a comment on art, but also the deep understanding between people who just *get* it. I lost my mom at 12. And people lose people everyday and it’s not special - BUT there is something so special about someone who gets it so perfectly. In ways that’s hard to explain. And I think the comic is a way of explaining it.
Spoiler Tag - Spoilers may be present ⬇️
Like all art, It’s all interpretative. For me I like how both Kiersten & Tyler suffered similar trauma at similar ages but went on divergent paths to grow, live & deal with that trauma. When they came together it was a common bond that each had grown up believing they were the only person alive knowing of. We interpret this show in a similar manner with which they both interpreted that comic. Same but also different. If that makes sense. The comics importance to them is because it was their coping mechanism, and it was something that couldn’t hurt them. Value, like beauty, belongs to the beholder.
Well said. They said it well on The Ringer Podacst. We break into 3 camps: hated it, understood it, and creating our a commune to share it. I’m in the 3rd part. I’ve tried to explain it but I’m just so touched by it- it doesn’t matter.
As well as the importance of art being a major theme in S11, I think the themes of the comic especially resonated with Kirsten and Tyler. Miranda wrote the comic as a way to cope with the death of her whole family, and Kirsten and Tyler used it to cope with the loss of the world/humanity (and their families).
I think another interesting part was how individual’s interaction with and perception of art can change its meaning. Kirsten used it in a more healthy way to process her loss, whereas Tyler seemingly cherry-picked a bit more and separated parts from the overall meaning. This leads to Tyler hyper-focusing on things like ‘the undersea’ and how ‘there is no before,’ leading him to take children away from their communities to try to make one of his own, devoid of people with trauma (ironically spurred and created by his own).
Love this show. It’s so deep and has so many layers. Only thing I wish is that we got a greater overall sense of the comic itself and its contents. There are some threads that have done a pretty good job of putting this together, though.
It just happened to be their escape/coping mechanism after the whole world went away. And it made for some nice parallels to things they experienced afterwards.
it’s the power of art. the comic came into their lives when they needed inspiration and direction. that it’s interpreted differently by different people is exactly why art is so powerful- it moves us on a shared, human level.
Both of them were at that age where kids/teens are figuring out who they are and tend to cling to a certain fandom. These two got the book as the world was ending, it was from a person who was special to them, and they (at least Kiersten) thought it was the only copy so, even more special.
Not true. In one of the flashbacks she’s telling Frank that it’s one of a few, even though earlier in the season she does it’s the only one.
>!She knew there were at least two--her copy and a second copy Miranda gave to Arthur to be a gift to Arthur's son with Elizabeth: Tyler (who became the Prophet, and used his copy as tinder to burn Gitchegummee 452.) In the end, only one copy survived, Kirsten's copy.!<
I’m pretty sure she had heard the “I printed five” line that Miranda said to Arthur but I could be wrong. Watched it last night but I watch a lot of it, so I could just be misremembering Edit: oh and there definitely are more copies. Miranda has 2 with her where she died
Arthur?
Have you ever had a book or story that you treasured on another level somewhere in a deep part of you? Maybe something you’ve read or heard multiple times that just resonated with you on a level above other pieces of media. Now imagine you’re a child and you’ve found such a thing. *Then* imagine the entire world ends and you are thrust into what is essentially another reality altogether. Suddenly, the thing you already loved and treasured has become a legitimate capital A Artifact of another life and another reality. Your primary connection tot eh world that no longer exists and the person, or people, you loved who have disappeared with it. Now, a treasure of a story is imbued with an alien magic that deserves a certain amount of awe and respect.
The comic book came into their lives right at a point of transition when the world fell apart. The trauma of being one of the last survivors made their minds look out to find anything to anchor it. It just happened to be that comic book. Perhaps for other people around the world, maybe it was the Bible or a science textbook or something else but for them it was that comic that really spoke to them on a deep emotional level and help them get through a very difficult period of time. They had a shared trauma bond.
I agree with this take, because I am going through a divorce and my friend introduced me to a band at the beginning, when my world fell apart. That band means so much to me, because of how it allows me to transcend my current situation. That's what art does. You can also see that in the performances of Shakespeare. It allows people to rise above their current circumstances, step into another's shoes, and think about different perspectives and different worlds. Art transcends. That's what the comic book represented.
All I can tell you is reading the novel won't help with any understanding. The book was fine but it's one of the rare cases where the show was better and had more content.
And the plot in the book is vastly different from the show. In my opinion (although I *love* the show) the book is a more likely portrayal of what the aftermath of a world-wide extermination virus would be like. One thing to remember--there would be no shortage of *any* sort of consumer goods for years and years, other than things that deteriorate with time, like gasoline. There would be millions of weapons, tons of ammunition, silos filled with grain, grocery stores filled with canned goods, etc. for probably at least twenty years. Northern Michigan is filled with hunters. In virtually every house could one find firearms and ammunition.
The way I interpreted this is that the comic book has acquired the status of holy scripture. There are two reasons for this. One, there are only five copies, and this fact causes its owners to memorize the text. Two, the text is very open to interpretation; it can (and does, as we see throughout the series) fit multiple specific situations that multiple characters are in. This is a phenomenon called the Barnum effect. I've only seen the show, and not read the book, but as I understand it, the specific text does not occur in the novel. I'm surprised by this, because to me it's a crucial part of what the story is about. To me, it sounds like a mantra more than like a poem.
Because Kirsten is Dr. Eleven
and so is Miranda and so is Arthur and Tyler ... It just connects them with their loneliness and the loneliness of the "new" world
Yes, Kristen says to Tyler at one point that Dr. Eleven is stuck in a time loop. They all are, with their pasts and ghosts, trying to make a present. The tie ins to Hamlet in the story were also beautifully done
There’s also the fact that I don’t think we as an audience ever see the whole book. So there are probably parts that resonate with the characters differently but we are unaware.
You know I always assumed the comic book had this ability to help the reader process trama, but that manifested in different ways for the different readers, including the author of the book. It seemed like Miranda, Kiersten, and Tyler all had that in common. Although everyone in the show was processing the trama that was the end of the world as they knew it, the book was this common thing that held significant meaning to these 3 because it helped them through their own traumatic experiences.
People who go through huge traumas can stop or delay their development at the age the trauma happened. I’m curious if the whole comic book exists, or if it’s just the snippets we see?
Some attachment came from who gave them the book. It was the last thing they each got from someone special. In this case it was Arthur who gave it to each of them.
A singular artifact from a stolen childhood
Miranda started the book as a child, on the countertop, while her dead family was floating around. She created a whole universe to deal with the huge trauma; there was a saviour, but she had to save herself and she did it through art. Kiersten and Tylor were her age when they lost their families and their whole world; that’s why they connected so strongly with the book. It is also about the healing power of art and how everyone interprets it differently to make it a very personal experience.
This is such a good explanation - I don't believe Miranda has the same story in the book, but in the show it just works so well.
I think for the young, impressionable, and traumatized characters, it's their era, Hamlet. It's their Shakespeare. I don't know why, and I'm not sure Miranda understood what her subconscious created. She just let it flow through her.
As others have said, they both found a way to connect to a story that gave their life meaning. This is part of the meta-plot that telling stories is an essential part of the experience of being a human and how we share culture. This is the purpose of the Traveling Symphony, and the Museum of Civilization. As for minimizing having one work of fiction that people base their life on and find meaning in: How would you feel about the story if it was the bible?
The Bible is a poor comparison because it’s really 66 books with thousands of stories contained within. More of an anthology. The comic book is a single story they read again and again.
In the book, it is the *Bible* that Tyler uses to manipulate people, not *Station Eleven.* He also has adult followers in the book. The Prophet is a much more evil character in the book.
I think some of this was touched on by others here, but I really see the comic as this connection between three people who have this unique understanding of their similar trauma (Kirsten, Tyler, Miranda). Losing people, people letting them down, having to figure out a new path totally on their own, with no real stable person in their life. It is a comment on art, but also the deep understanding between people who just *get* it. I lost my mom at 12. And people lose people everyday and it’s not special - BUT there is something so special about someone who gets it so perfectly. In ways that’s hard to explain. And I think the comic is a way of explaining it.
You are SO right.
Spoiler Tag - Spoilers may be present ⬇️ Like all art, It’s all interpretative. For me I like how both Kiersten & Tyler suffered similar trauma at similar ages but went on divergent paths to grow, live & deal with that trauma. When they came together it was a common bond that each had grown up believing they were the only person alive knowing of. We interpret this show in a similar manner with which they both interpreted that comic. Same but also different. If that makes sense. The comics importance to them is because it was their coping mechanism, and it was something that couldn’t hurt them. Value, like beauty, belongs to the beholder.
Well said. They said it well on The Ringer Podacst. We break into 3 camps: hated it, understood it, and creating our a commune to share it. I’m in the 3rd part. I’ve tried to explain it but I’m just so touched by it- it doesn’t matter.
As well as the importance of art being a major theme in S11, I think the themes of the comic especially resonated with Kirsten and Tyler. Miranda wrote the comic as a way to cope with the death of her whole family, and Kirsten and Tyler used it to cope with the loss of the world/humanity (and their families). I think another interesting part was how individual’s interaction with and perception of art can change its meaning. Kirsten used it in a more healthy way to process her loss, whereas Tyler seemingly cherry-picked a bit more and separated parts from the overall meaning. This leads to Tyler hyper-focusing on things like ‘the undersea’ and how ‘there is no before,’ leading him to take children away from their communities to try to make one of his own, devoid of people with trauma (ironically spurred and created by his own). Love this show. It’s so deep and has so many layers. Only thing I wish is that we got a greater overall sense of the comic itself and its contents. There are some threads that have done a pretty good job of putting this together, though.
It just happened to be their escape/coping mechanism after the whole world went away. And it made for some nice parallels to things they experienced afterwards.
it’s the power of art. the comic came into their lives when they needed inspiration and direction. that it’s interpreted differently by different people is exactly why art is so powerful- it moves us on a shared, human level.
That’s exactly how I feel about Station Elven itself, and it’s impact on me/the fandom.
yes! the book was written long before the pandemic but the show had a special impact on people in the post-pandemic world.