The Confusing Lore of CATS or (The Morality of Jellicles and non-Jellicles)

[@clarasoares8941]

have i ever watched CATS the musical? no. have i watched the movie yet? no. will i watch this whole video anyways? yes.

[@kaylandra]

me rn.

[@Darkdaej]

@@kaylandra Same here :P

[@TheTardisNamedSexy]

Same.

[@lunaamore2713]

Please start with the Broadway recorded performance first . If you're a first-timer. Js

[@clairepettie]

I think there needs to be a suuport group for those of us fascinated by KZbin reviews of Cats.

[@viceroymarx406]

what were the moral implication of jason derulo almost sucking victoria cat toes

[@TaylorJWilliams]

Jellicles can and Jellicles do

[@k1zm3t]

@@TaylorJWilliams Jellicles do and Jellicles can!

[@rhino8817]

is this real? im so terrified that i dont know if this is real or not.

[@myjunkdrawer8014]

He kinkay

[@irelandevr4046]

Its hilarious how Jason Derulo was bragging in interviews how they had to edit out hit massive schlong. What a damn tool who can't act.

[@TorresProductionsLLC]

People don't understand. Your hair isn't just messy, you've spent so many hours thinking about Cats you're becoming one.

[@Kristyle187]

I feel a bit silly broadcasting this… but my thumbs-up vote brought this comment to exactly 1,000 upvotes. In all my years on KZbin, this is the first time this is ever happened to me. So I just couldn’t help myself. Sorry 😬… this comment just made me laugh way too hard

[@arnesahlen2704]

Haha. Good one - still, he has GREAT hair! Lucky guy

[@succulentboi676]

Having no knowledge of either the musical or the movie, hearing you talk about cats is like listening to someone talk about their fever dream.

[@Verocapote]

Dude yes I feel like that's when you try to explain your fever dream

[@liammail3710]

Hi

[@glamazon6172]

I feel like I’ve been sucked into a memory of a college party. This guy I don’t know has been talking at me about Cats for 10 minutes now. Someone help me.

[@SeeSebastian]

His hair looks great. Leave him alone.

[@TaylorJWilliams]

🥺

[@Raph584]

they look better than digital fur technology

[@worrywirt]

Right?? Timothée Chalamet who?

[@amphalure]

It really looks beautiful

[@IlianaSparrow]

yeah, he looks cute

[@theswagman1263]

This video feels like a descent into insanity

[@jam33033]

cats also feels like a descent into insanity

when Cats turns into Joker

[@goliathtigerfishes]

Share an egg for these trying times?

[@JeddtheJedi]

Ever since I watched the movie twice, my friends have done nothing but ask if I'm okay in the comments of every social media post I make.

[@adelinacetaj620]

I thought that the 1998 vhs tape was the scariest it could be and then Rebel Wilson took her skin off and I was proven wrong

[@reubenfromow4854]

Does it frighten you that Rebel Wilson is less naked when she takes off her skin It terrifies me

[@mcclimaestediversx219]

Updating the nightmare

[@Teaser7780]

I’m glad this video exists, something more than ‘looking bad’ in it’s criticism

[@jonesyxperia7]

Ditto ☝🏾

[@FPSDIESEL]

Cats was such a bad movie I needed to find everything out about the play. Looking at the play how it was structured all of that. Not only did I grow an appreciation for the play but honestly I was kind of annoyed they adapted this. Cats is very clearly a play for the medium of theater. The people behind the movie didn't adapt it. Really it felt so slapped together. The new additions to make it better for the medium of the film made it more confusing. Cats being a play and all the cats songs just the entire structure is meant to include the audience in the process of picking the Jellicle choice. Seriously I thought the movie was hot trash it's hideous to look at but honestly I don't mind the play. I'm not a huge theater person but Webber has made classics. Stuff that's definitely better then Cats. I mean I bet everyone has seen some rendition of his plays. This movie though feels like some of the most empty corporate trash since the emoji movie. I go out of my way to see bad movies but Cats is the only time I have cared enough to have wished for something better or not at all.

[@yukikanegawa7470]

The movie was literally incomplete. They were rushing to polish it on the premier date. The people that made it saw the finished product at the same time we did. I saw some interviews and behind the scenes and some people had to learn their choreos on the filming day and the main girl had to learn the new song Taylor swift made for her (finished the day before) on filming day as well as her choreo. The movie is bad but it was so badly managed I feel bad for the participants too. They literally had to go to cat school to crawl around and learn how to cat like cats.

[@WobblesandBean]

The musical is so odd, in that it is 100% spectacle, and almost zero substance. It's theater for the sake of theater, which is either enthralling or pointless, depending on who you ask. That's also why trying to shove a linear, narrative plot into this film is kind of missing the point entirely.

[@eadlynjune]

Thank you! I've actually seen the play and...liked it kinda? It's not perfect but it's just kinda mesmerizing to watch and super creative. Also the scene never changes but it always kinds feels like it does which is interesting.

[@lmabacus404]

Corporate? What was corporate about Rebel Wilson ripping off her skin and eating cockroach people? Or having characters that many people have difficulty even looking at? The Emoji Movie went for the lowest common denominator, while this movie went for, like, no common denominator.

[@noonenowhere877]

@@lmabacus404 I mean Corporate people are eldritch abomoniations in human flesh so that sounds pretty Corporate to me.

[@DitisEmile]

Just the DEFEATED way you said 'So I guess none of it matters! You know ... Jellicles can and Jellicles do! We're all in hell!' in the end really resonated with my soul.

[@aliceh5289]

read this right as he said it

[@luke6952]

“Hal Prince later recalled, “I looked at him curiously and said, ‘Andrew, I don’t understand. Is this about English politics? Are those cats Queen Victoria, Gladstone, and Disraeli?’ He looked at me like I’d lost my mind, and after the longest pause said, ‘Hal, this is just about cats.’””

[@cydneyking7453]

This is a lovecraftian protagonist’s decent into madness.

[@OneAndOnlyYesMan]

The hair, beard, and fashion style is very 1970’s I love it

[@redactedredacted6656]

ASMR you're seeing a film studies teacher in the 1970s lose his mind because he can see the future and sees CATS!

[@serenitynow85]

I call it the "Cool-drama kid look" I just clicked the video because of it

[@SpaceandGoats]

He looks like a young George Lucas

[@WTKB82]

Yes Man i want him to nut in me.

[@umaganguli5797]

@@SpaceandGoats its actually scary how much he does, even the clothing and the film studentyness

[@LordSandwich97]

The J in Taylor J. Williams is for Jellicle

[@dantesdiscoinfernolol]

I can't believe I just heard the words "canonically" "lore" and "cannibalism" while talking about CATS.

[@NothingXemnas]

And that isn't enough. He should add "pedophilia" and "incest", too.

[@brynn8443]

is this just taylor having an emotional breakdown over cats for 20 minutes

[@amia560]

yea lmao

[@overwhelmed_cactus6820]

”Lets face it guys, Cats takes place in hell” Aaaaannd you’ve won yourself a subscriber

[@VideoBloggerify]

With that hair you look like the literature teacher all the girls have a crush on because he is too deep.

[@TheNameIsNym]

That’s really specific niche but he fills it well

[@VoidedMirror]

A Cats video that isn't just "movie bad".

[@satansmascara9756]

A zero escape pfp in a cats video

[@cam-tw8eq]

OK but movie bad

[@nootnewt3]

The movie cats is really bad but I found myself engrossed in what the hell the show was about afterward.

[@TheWonkster]

Movie is bad, there is nothing wrong with people saying that

[@plus9775]

@@TheWonkster wow, your so brave with your new and innovative opinion! Everyone knows its bad, and i just couldn't give less of a shit about some gamer bro's opinion about it, unfortunately that's been the entirety of KZbin for like a month, at least this has some substance

[@Davey647Returns]

I've only now realized, 13 minutes and 23 seconds into this video, that I'm watching a video called "The Confusing Lore of CATS or the Morality of Jellicles and non-Jellicles" at 1 in the morning. What even is my life anymore?

[@thenixer209]

I thought it was pretty clear that the Jellicle cats are, if anything, a breed or line of succession (i.e. Old Deuteronomy's "numerous progeny" that Rum Tum Tugger mentions while gesturing to the cats in the stage play) where they embody the mystique and magic usually equated with cats IRL; like each of them embodies an exaggerated "spirit" or cat archetype. Like how Mistoffelees is the magical cat, but in the human perspective he's just a cat that disappears and seems to act aloof and tricksy like a magician, or how Rum Tum Tugger is the punk rebel cat, but in the human perspective he's probably just an annoying and loud fussy cat who's extremely self-obsessed. It's strange, it's such a straightforward story but it gets analysed so literally that it ends up being more confusing when you try to rectify all the misinterpretations about it. The stage production (especially the 1998 recording) basically tells you the plot straight up, but nobody seems to pay attention to that, so they just blindly make crap up that contradicts what's actually said and implied in the play. In short, I think the play was trying to portray the Jellicles as 'how cats see _themselves'_ and it's all distorted and mystified by their perspective, with what's real and what's not being blurred because... well, they're cats with their own understanding of the world. I'm pretty sure if you could talk to an actual cat as a human it'd have a _very_ different perspective on reality, which I think was the goal with the play (and the poetry by extension kind of being a tongue-in-cheek literalisation of how cats act and think).

[@ruthielalastor2209]

The realization alone that 'Jellicle' is actually spelled like that instead of how I thought it was has broken and rebuilt my mind anew.

[@shadowmsc7278]

how did you think it was spelled?

[@hyperion3145]

ShadowTheWolf AJ Gelical? Like “angelic”?

[@gcooper642]

He mortgaged his house for the monstrosity of stage show Cats?! Wow, that's daring.

[@MiguelHerrera-nh9qw]

The thing I’m most surprised by in this video is that you actually managed to remember all the Cats’ names

[@ashlynnheller8400]

I love Cats. Im also suprised I remeber everyones names.

[@myahackeberg9755]

your hair is absolutely FABULOUS by the way

[@emijstarovic9657]

“Jellicles can and jellicles do. We’re all in hell.” I kind of want to put that on a t shirt not gonna lie

[@greatergoodguy1]

I love how gentle your delivery is. There are a lot of critics that go for that angry style that avgn popularized. Even those that aren't angry can still be the loud type. But listening to you feels like having a good discussion with a patient intelligent friend.

[@houston-coley]

"Skimbleshanks has the entire railway relying on him! If he gets reborn, everyone is fucked!" was delivered with such earnest solemnity that I couldn't help but adore it

[@TaylorJWilliams]

All the guards and all the porters and the station master’s daughters would be saying “Skimble, where is Skimble” and they’d never find him!!

[@fionaburgos6109]

Thank you smart man for taking your time and attempting to break down the storyline of cats. I appreciate it

[@robrick9361]

Thank you smart woman for taking your time and attempting to understand his thoughts. I appreciate it

[@mcclimaestediversx219]

Never before I ve enjoy someone rambling about something this much

[@danielsimmich1858]

I just remember in grade 1 we were made to watch the Cats musical on VHS so after that whenever I wanted to force myself to cry I’d think of the scene where the old cat lady sings memory and walks up the stairs and it would work. I can cry on command now without having to think of the old cat lady so I guess this is character growth for me

[@Advent3546]

That hair is looking pretty jellicle Taylor.

[@perrilewis180]

I'm glad someone else has these questions. I do think that you could get a weird almost secret of nimh type story out of cats and you just pulled me down deeper.

[@jennyparkoo]

your hair. i love it.

[@KittyDelRey]

The more people talk about how crazy this movie is, I want to watch it, I’m into masochism, what a way to find that out, also thank you for trying to explain the plot/story.

[@chesterstevens8870]

Don't bother. I also went to see it out of morbid curiosity, expecting it to be a "so bad it's good" type psychedelic horror-comedy. What I ended up with was a mixture of revulsion and frustration, but mostly boredom. The only denominator this movie seems to appeal to are pretentious theater geeks and people who are into musicals/byzantine choreography.

[@noonenowhere877]

@@chesterstevens8870 To be honest...as someone who has always liked Cats 1998, I think you might be doing us all a diserrvice by claiming we'll like the movie version. What if someone actually believed you and went to see it?

[@chesterstevens8870]

I didn't claim that, I said that seems to be the core demo that this movie, very poorly, is trying to appeal to. It's also the core demo of people defending the premise of the film, if not the film itself; I don't know anyone who actually WANTED a _Cats_ movie, but the only ones who are sating they would are the same sorts of people who went to go see _Wicked_ and _Hamilton._

[@masonweaver5455]

he just really is going for the young George Lucas look

[@dominiqueknight6707]

Cool and fun Cats Lore (tm): Grizabella and Macavity did have a thing together, it wasn't just added for the sake of the movie. She left the Jellicles to be with him, and then was later dumped for Bombularina (Taylor Swift Cat) Macavity can't teleport in the original, but he can levitate Mr. Mistoffelees CAN teleport, and actually does bring back Old Deuteronomy Jenny Enny Dots doesn't eat cockroaches in the original, she would've never done that and Rebel Wilson must be arrested for Jellicle crimes.

[@theotherghostgirl337]

EVERYONE has cryptic memories of watching cats on vhs as a kid

[@noonenowhere877]

My memories weren't that cryptic to be honest. I watched it over and over again. I never really got what it was about except that they were all cats and Grisabella was dying. Also got read the poems...those made more sense to me though I was always confused where Grisabella was till I learned just recently her poem was scrapped from the book for being too sad.

[@Moony1568]

I dont

[@alyssaking3663]

0:51 theater kids at my school were extremely popular and self centered, the CATS poster was front and center. 🐈 To this day, I hesitate to show my love for theater because of how judgemental everyone was in high school.... if you showed interest they had to prove their knowledge and "special understanding."

[@shahinaakthar2112]

Urgh exactly the same from when I was a teen! it's the same in any kind of group... Mine was was the Metal heads... "Oh you like slipknot? ... That's cute" I guess we're all trying to fit into our boxes...MEMORIES.... ALL ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT.

[@pyroshayniac1090]

Theatre kids at my high school were terrible. I moved there as a junior, and they absolutely refused to let anyone new into the group. They had an increadibly high opinion of themselves, all hidden under the guise "I'm so quirky and different! Lol I love Hamilton!"

[@shahinaakthar2112]

Sending you hugs, that must've been a horrible experience! Kids can be so mean :(

[@provoactivee]

This was a beautiful rant about something so initially trivial, that almost engulfed you whole it seemed. Loved all 22 minutes of it !

[@thevoidcritter]

I've been planning a tabletop campaign this year and I literally stole the plot of Cats for a sidequest. So now my players are going to find a cult of people who choose one person a year from their cult to die and be reincarnated, etc.

[@noonenowhere877]

This might be an unpopular opinion on this channel but I liked the Cats 1998 VHS tape and the Rumpus Cat/Macavity/The Fiend Of The Fell scarred me way less than they should have. I cried for Gus and Grizabella but I was the kind of child who enjoyed tragic movies that made me cry so that wasn't really an issue. Cats 1998 and Fox and The Hound were two of my favourite movies specifically because they made me cry so much. Personally I think that the weird Final Fantasy boss-looking glowing cats paw in the 1998 version is way more fitting than a literal hot air balloon. Also I always pictured Jennyanydots as the sort of cat who didn't actually eat insects or mice and that that was the joke of saying she was active at night. "She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment" comes to mind. I don't really think eating the Cockroaches fits in with that. I could be wrong but the Musical choreography never game me the impression she was malicious towards them, she came off more like a scary mother figure than anything. The lyrics didn't give me the impression she was malicious either. Also Macavity with an actual motivation outside of "trololol" seems to be another eggregious misinterpretation of character. As does Grizabella as young and affiliated with Macavity. Also...Jason Derulo is not sexy enough to be in any Cats adaptation ever.

[@flawedsanity]

Your hair is so fitting to this video. It's like you grew out your hair just to philosophize over "Cats". I love it.

[@patavinity1262]

A 'fable' isn't necessarily about animals - that's not what it means. The word comes from 'fabula' in Latin, which just means 'story'. The most famous stories called fables (Aesop's) just happen to be about animals.

[@ebudae2000]

I'm just here for the hair, the beard and the voice.

[@bababo1396]

I FREAKING LOVE this video. Finally someone who is as invested in the Jellicle Religion as I am. One thing I wanted to point out is that while it seems like the one that is most deserving of the Jellicle Choice is the cat that suffers the most, let us not forget that Munkustrap, Deutoronomys right hand man (and possible bastard child)'s choice was Jennyanydots for her hard work - at least, that's what it seems on the surface. He himself describes how gumbie cats are lazy and lay around all day, while the other cats chime in to correct him by saying Jennyanydots is actually a very hard working cat. I had my suspicions during the stage show but watching the film, I sensed that Munkustrap was... Fond of Jennyanydots, be it an infatuation or sexual. Would it be too far to interpret that a high ranking member of a religion chooses someone based on sexual desire, and since you pointed it out, it wouldn't be a huge stretch to say that Munkustrap recommends cats he would want to be surrounded by in the heaviside layer once it's his turn. Somehow I think the other cats are oblivious to Munkustrap's intentions in recommending Jennyanydots, however, as in the film it's explicitly stated that it's the quality of the perfomance that could elevate your chances of being chosen. Rum Tum Tugger comments on how Jennyanydots perfomance is lacking, and she of course clarifies that it was just practice. This has me believing that Jennyanydots, and the other cats, believe Munkstrap prefers Jennyanydots for her perfomance (which wouldn't be a stretch since they dedicate time describing her whole cockroach and mice backup dancers), and thus some have deluded themselves into thinking that's what will grant them the heaviside layer. Older cats like Gus probably have seen through this facade, however, and just makes his case that hey, he's pretty fucking old, maybe he should die now. I also wanted to point out the weird implications in Mistoffolees's magic and it's inconsistency. From what I understood, it was the power of all the cats singing and channeling it through Mr Mistoffolees, and of course having it happen under the right circumstances (a jellicle moon, as they say) that gave him the ability to summon Deutoronomy. But again, if this were true, how tf did Macavity gain this power? Perhaps it's because he has his own fan base cheering him on, though idk if the power of one Taylor Swift kitty cat is that strong... Anyway I could talk about the Jellicle Religion for ages. I saw the film a few days ago but it feels like it's been inhabiting me for years. Thank you so much for making this video and addressing the hell scape (ha) that is this universe instead of brushing this off. This is the best CATS related video I've seen so far. May you have a jellicle year.

[@agroteraaaa]

7 am is too early to be watching this, it feels like a fever dream.

[@flawedsanity]

5AM here. I need to take my meds. Heh.

[@KarlMarxhaswifi]

Hipster level over 9000. We missed the content dude. No one does a deep dive as well as you do bud, hope to see more in 2020

[@raticoochiesmith9819]

Grisabellas involvement with Macavity was in fact canon with the musical, it was just never alluded to in a solid way.

[@Sirvaria]

No idea who this dude with the bomb hair is, and ive neither seen CATs the musical nor the movie but im glad im here

[@ssuiter2]

I always got the sense that the Cats musical was for cat lovers. People would watch the musical and say oh look that cat reminds me of my cat or look that cat reminds me of my friends cat. And that's it. That's where it got its charm. It's bizarre how people are trying to overanalyze something so simple and fun

[@alexanderchippel]

My highschool tired to put on a production and it was going well all things considered. But I guess one of the main cats shat himself on stage and they just decided to shut the whole school down.

This is genuinely the very first deeply entertaining thing I've watched this year.

[@seopark7467]

"So is this just the jungle? You think you're cool with someone and then they just eat you?"

[@MissXaverie]

100% with you all the way through the intro and then the sentence "Let's face it guys, CATS takes place in Hell" punched me so hard directly in the gut. I still can't breathe, send help.

[@waitwhat570]

SAME

[@Theyungcity23]

Rebirth and specifically the loss of memory is a common fantasy. You see it all the time to the point of ascending from worn out cliche to identifying structure of a pulp genre in anime. To start from the beginning without memories is appealing to many people.

[@traceyedits]

i love the 1998 film! it fits in this loophole where its not really a movie, just a recording of the theatre show.

[@MoDotS]

If you think this has confusing commentary on society, religion and other things you should watch guardians of Ga'hoole. It's about talking owls and a metaphore for the nazi empire.

[@WobblesandBean]

Yeah, that one was a real headfuck. I mean, kids can't pick up on the obvious allusions, but I saw it as an adult, and HOO BOY OWLS BE FUCKED UP

[@joejellyfish]

I loved that movie as a kid

[@johannesseyfried7933]

I liked the first three Books the best. :)

[@billvolk4236]

So Old Deuteronomy is sort of the Jellicle pope and has allegedly lived as many as 99 lives. So does that mean that whenever a young Jellicle rises through the ranks of the priesthood and wins enough favor among the other priests, that Jellicle is declared to be Old Deuteronomy reborn? And so is Munkustrap stuck against a glass ceiling by virtue of being alive at the same time as a confirmed Old Deuteronomy and therefore never eligible for consideration as a reincarnation thereof himself?

[@pedroxqui]

I think there's a mistake in trying to find logic mixing stuff from the show and the movie, because both seem to work differently... In the show you can assume that anyone CAN be the jellicle choice, the introductory songs are just for us the audience, but, in the movie it's said that the songs are a way to submit yourself to be chosen... Also, in the show, the "ascention" is clearly magical (a lightly staircase that comes from the heaven) when in the movie it's a literall hot air balloon (that might take you to a literal death)... Any way. The only real "problem" with your logic I'd say it's you getting locked on the assumption that the reborn cats don't remember their past lifes... when I'd say it's the opposite... they remember always reborn and remember, it's when you go to the heavysight layer (or however it's spelled) that you can choose how to rebirth and even if remember or not, you can get to chose the life you want to have and born into it (that's a small detail they just mention in a passing)

[@noonenowhere877]

Here's another interpretation: Only through ascension can a cat forget. They aren't competing to be reborn they are competing to be reborn without the shadows of their past tainting their new life.

[@qwerty_and_azerty]

I didn’t even know cats existed until I heard about the movie, and I certainly haven’t seen the movie. But am I going to watch this video essay with my full attention? Absolutely!

[@megan.best.]

I knew cats existed. I have two as pets.

[@gillian1242]

Meg The Square Peg but are they jellicle cats

[@megan.best.]

Gillian ; / No, but that’s probably a good thing. The one scares me enough as it is.

[@Vonn_Loren]

Your whole digression about fables being stories about animals falls apart the moment you remember such stories as "The Travelers and the Plane Tree".

[@loferx]

It honestly feels like this is the voice within my head, after years of me just saying " please just watch it and cry when Grizabella sings", free at last to analyse EVERYTHING

[@udryx]

Thank you for this delightfully jellicle descent into the Cats void. I was genuinely engaged and pulled in like I haven't been for a very long while. Your channel rocks.

[@OutstandingScreenplays]

I've got nothing against movie musicals, director Tom Hooper, or even anybody who's a part of making this film. But goodness me, Cats is just an absolute...

[@anumuthusamy8065]

First of all, gorgeous hair! Now on to the point, I love the musical, (the broadway show and the 1998 movie, not the 2019 movie, don’t know what to make if that yet), not because of the philosophical ideology, but because the songs are catchy and the dancing is amazing. I can’t imagine that there is a philosophy that actually makes sense of this hodgepodge series of songs and dance. You might as well try to find a Philosophy that makes sense for Alice in Wonderland or the nutcracker. I don’t think you can. And to try so hard to make sense of CATS philosophically is just doing this unique musical injustice.

[@mariezschommler2224]

5:35 that's actually Trafalgar Square, not Piccadilly Circus

[@TaylorJWilliams]

Oops

[@feverprole]

I appreciate that this video isn't just one of many in which people just repeat "oh Cats bad Cats so weird that's why bad oh man how bad" I actually really liked the original musical and the 1998 version, maybe that's why I didn't hate Cats 2019 at all when I got over the cgi. I mean in the 1998 version it feels like you stumble upon this weird meating of cats that always reminded me witches' coven or something. And the cats just kinda tolerate the fact that there is someone else there and barely explain anything to the viewer, so the viewer has to mostly just watch this ritual (or the Jellicle ball) and figure out on their own what's happening and what kind of relationship these cats have. I think I always really liked this element, it's very bald of a musical to just tell the story without outright feeding it to the viewers. The musical sure is unique.

[@kaydwessie296]

Did anyone else freak out because they finally just now figured out what the hold music Princess Carolyn uses in Bojack Horseman is?

[@WobblesandBean]

Most of us already knew.

[@kaydwessie296]

@@WobblesandBean Well I'm an idiot and not well-versed in musicals lol

[@lalas181]

Broke: A video about the Cats movie that's just one hour of "the cgi is scary" "haha FURRIES!" and "This has no plot [proceeds to then explain the entire plot]". Woke: The Philosophical and Moral Implications of Jellicle Culture and the Parable of Grizabella the Fallen One

[@gigi3843]

first of all, YES I THRIVE ON CATS THE MOVIE CONTENT THANK YOU secondly, my theory after seeing the movie was that in the cats-verse cats are actually immortal (this would also explain why deuteronomy and gus have lived for so long) the jellicle ball is their only chance at death and however happy anybody is in their life, they still feel depressed by the notion that they would have to live forever you can interpret cats as a study of a world in which the norm is immortality and therefore it is also normal to want to die in their immortality they might have had centuries to learn magic and they might have already borne witness to the end of human civilazation (or some less grave disaster) that caused every street, alleyway and the picadilly circus to be abandoned. My thoughts on this are ever evolving, i dont have the recourses to watch it in the cinema again, but i think about it at least twice a day

[@infinitemausoleum721]

Part of me wonders if "Heaviside layer" was chosen specifically because it's used for radio, and the story was something along the lines of "Cats compete to get radio famous" at the very first stages of writing. It'd have had to get way out of hand to get here though.

[@Theyungcity23]

16:22 well the set up is that they don't understand the difference between a magician and a wizard and they're expecting him to be able to basically summon Deutoronomy. And just from the sheer number of times that he tries and fails it's pretty clear that it didn't really work for him and Deutoronomy was on her anyway. But she gasses him up because he's too rough on himself.

[@Emmachantiri]

Speaking as something who actually liked the new Cats film (I know, shoot me) I thought this was very insightful and made me reconsider some of the lore and philosophy of Cats. I think that Cats has always been more about themes and the lore/plot is only there to carry things along. Cats have always been about hitting the emotional core of the viewer and asking more how they emotionally react to it. By using themes and imagery from the songs it allows for the viewer to attach their own feelings onto it. That's why when people try to find a solid plot, characters, arcs etc. they are left disappointed because it's not something that Cats is focused on doing. Honestly, this is something that really resonants with me and I totally understand if other people don't, guess you just have to be a certain type of person.

[@terrenceswiff]

I'd love to see a setting where wizarding was a serious roll of the dice as to whether what you wanted to happen did. Like magic is this completely chaotic force nobody quite understands or particularly wants to screw with

[@OutlawBardMitula]

I just scrolled down to write that your hair is beautiful! Fantastic! Lovely! And now I‘m disappointed that I‘m not he first. Sooo lush!

[@hyperion3145]

Maybe the real reasoning behind CATS are nightmares we made along the way Or that cats are just sacrificing each other to Azathoth

[@gingerspice231]

Dope vid thanks for making it

[@peanutbuttersquid6124]

Unrelated but just look at this! The hands ewwww this is literally a nightmare... 5:37

[@angierpg]

Peanut Butter Squid omg I just noticed noooooo 😭

[@alissonfranca9162]

Watch this movie while drunk with friends sounds like a good time?

[@PeachFlavoredKaiju]

No it's boring, watch the fanatic instead

[@CaptPolybius]

I (very high) went with my boyfriend (sober) and his coworker (drunk) and it was a fantastic time. To me at least.

[@freegadflyathome]

This is honestly my favorite video essay of Cat's on KZbin, Taylor! There's some good ones too. :-)

[@rebeccavon9321]

“taylor j williams becoming more and more stressed out with cats for 23 minutes straight”

[@hayleyhellbound9513]

You’re giving off heavy Daniel Faraday (Lost) vibes and I’m here for it.

[@patavinity1262]

Not a fan of 'Cats' (or any musical), but I think the original costumes look absolutely fine and so does the CGI version, which doesn't look any worse to me than the humanoid designs for, say, the Avatar or Star Wars aliens. I have no idea what all the fuss is about and I suspect a lot of other people who've jumped on the 'Cats' hate bandwagon don't either. It's really not that bad.

[@Hattori75]

This feels like a video of a broken man trying to justify his reasons for ever watching Cats

[@aeronshade]

When comes to why the other Cats are competing, well there is a decently popular interpretation that they are not competing. In the baseline plot of this interpretation, Munkustrap is hosting the Jellicle ball and essentially putting on a show with the other cats. (This is supported by the song the battle of the pekes and pollicles as the cats are themselves and acting in constumes) Viewing it this way means that not all of the cats are competing but are instead putting on a show. Edit: I would like to note this is only about the musical not the movie. Also what the hell is the Cats movie, I haven’t watched it, but just from the descriptions in this video I am deeply confused and concerned ( wHy wOuLD jEnNyAnYdOTs EaT tHE rOAchEs! ARE THE POLLICLES SHOWN AS ACTUAL DOGS?! AaaaAAaAa)

[@tarynestrada3760]

Your videos are always my favorite. This was dope. Thanks, man.

[@Verocapote]

The content of this video feels like a fever dream. I'm so confused

[@pipperoni8567]

I have no idea who you are, but your hair alone makes you a straight 10

[@purplecatpaws9636]

You mentioned nihilism, and you mentioned Eliot's poems as inspiration, and I would like to note that Eliot was a modernist and especially a nihilist, which could be where that perspective is coming from

[@anapaomv7620]

love the new look! Please keep recording ridiculously deep analysis of not very deep movies because I'm all about that

[@EmillyOrr]

I never saw the (thin) plot of CATS as cats in hell, or purgatory; I did, after some reflection on it, see it clearly as cats that had ALREADY died, and the Jellicle Ball was to decide who would get their next life. In that sense, the whole allusion to cults makes sense. But I will say I like the idea of cat purgatory, or at least, the ghosts of cats living in the in-between places, as seen in the Court of Cats in Seanan McGuire's October Daye novels--in those books, that court is comprised entirely of forgotten things--so, a stroll through it can lead one through alleys, through junkyards, through abandoned schools, ruins, decrepit ballrooms, cluttered rooftops. So that makes sense, too.

[@cierahowell8653]

I think heavyside layer is a special amount of lives above 9 lives. So each cat gets 9 and above that there is rebirth. My other theory was that the jellicles who are competing for the heavyside later they are on their 9th life. If that’s so though it’s heartbreaking Gus has to hopefully make it til next year.

[@chillingsnowflake]

Your videos will always be the most anticipated things in my subscription box

[@thabic2019]

Taylor going off about fables is the best thing to come out of Cats

[@christalcavanaugh]

“Oh that’s where Princess Carolyn’s hold song comes from!” Yeah I clearly know a lot about cats 😂

[@johnnam1380]

Thanks for taking on the impossible task on trying to understand Cats.

[@arnesahlen2704]

You're the first among *many* CATS reviewers to make the Norma Desmond link -- bang on when we think of it! 💥Bravo!💥 Your wise insight would do credit to a 60-year-old.

[@mariasolenardelli3745]

Less chaotic but strong BDG vibes. I like it