Eternals is Good, Actually | A Video Essay

Chloe Zhao's and Marvel Studios' latest film Eternals has been much-maligned, and this is completely undeserved. This video essay is my reading of the film as philosophically complex and thematically deep, and in it I discuss the case the film makes for humanity, through the actions of Sersi and her fellow eternals, as well as the writings and thought of figures such as the poet William Blake and the existential philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. I also discuss the role of the deviants and the celestials as well as explore the forces behind Ikaris' antagonisms in the film. Beware - full spoilers ahead!

This sort of full-length deep dive video essay isn't the norm for my channel, so please do let me know what you thought of my take on the form.

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:14 Chapter One - William Blake, Jack Kirby, and Mythopoeia
11:21 Chapter Two - Purpose, Free Will, and Jean-Paul Sartre
23:45 Chapter Three - Ikaris and Existential Anguish
30:22 Chapter Four - Defending the Deviants and the Case for Humanity
38:50 Conclusion - The Role of the Viewer

Links to resources:
Blake's Auguries of Innocence:
https://poets.org/poem/auguries-innoc...
Antony Keen's piece on Kirby:
https://www.academia.edu/7445680/New_...
Satre's Existentialism is a Humanism: https://www.marxists.org/reference/ar...
Seattle Refined Review:
https://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/...

Eternals follows Sersi and her fellow eternals such as Ikaris, Sprite, Makkari, Kingo, Druig, and many others, as they attempt to save the earth from a deviant. And there's celestials!

#eternals #marvel #philosophy