the power of intentional editing

The editing choices in Girl Rules are intentional and subtle. My favorite example is how the editing choices for Gorya’s memories added more depth than merely distinguishing between the past and present.

Let’s start with Gorya’s memories of Prim. All of these memories have either a static quality or tiny black blotches which resemble a dissolving photograph/ disintegrating film negative. Additionally, the memories are cropped into a square with a black boarder as opposed to the standard rectangular, landscape without black borders (the standard format for every other scene including memories).

The cropping resembles the polaroid photos Gorya keeps as tangible evidence of her memories with Prim (and also an old school, square TV screen, but more on that later).

In contrast, Gorya’s memories with Sasha are standard landscape without black borders or static, but these memories contain a hazy quality (not quite in focus the way Gorya isn’t truly focused on Sasha). Before diving deeper into why these editing choices are so impactful, let’s zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

Girl Rules explores toxic relationships: what toxic relationships look like, why people stay in them, why people willingly go back to them, and what it costs them (visible and invisible scars). Specifically it explores toxic relationships from the female perspective (mostly queer women).

Episode 2 focuses on the connection between the past and present during the lifespan of a toxic relationship. For example, this scene between Min and Praew overtly points out a common disconnect between the relationship advice we give our loved ones in a toxic relationship versus the actions we take when navigating our own toxic relationships.

Every character in Girl Rules is guilty of this seemingly hypocritical behavior, including Gorya. For instance, when Bambi confronts Gorya, Gorya tells Bambi the past teaches us not to make the same mistake twice. Ironically, Gorya doesn’t follow her own advice.

In the past, Prim showed an interest in Gorya because Gorya is “her type” but Prim was not ready for a relationship. Gorya assures Prim that she will wait until Prim is ready for a relationship. This unspoken promise motives Gorya to continue pursuing Prim into the present.

Despite the passage of time, both characters stick to their original stances which creates stagnation in the relationship. Instead of accepting Prim isn’t emotionally available, and may never be, Gorya desperately tries to move them forward by accepting any crumb Prim is willing to give her including a no strings attached hook up.

To be clear Prim' reluctance to form a new emotional attachment is valid from her point of view, but in this analysis I'm sticking with Gorya's point of view and how waiting for Prim to pick her creates a toxic situation for Gorya. It seems like Goya is either blind to reality or unwilling to confront it. Perhaps the reality is humans are ill equipped to objectively judge their own emotionally heightened relationships because the good memories eclipse the bad which distorts our perception of the relationship.

In Goyra’s case, she clings to the promise Prim made her when they first met because her happiness from the past overpowers her frustration in the present and any discomfort that this relationship may never happen. Clinging to the happiness of the past also explains why Min is heartbroken over her abusive ex and why Prim holds out hope for Bambi.

While our emotions blind us to our relationships, they do not cloud the judgement of others. Sasha (a semi-unbiased third party) observes the love triangle between Prim, Bambi, and Gorya and astutely concludes that Bambi and Prim will get back together because they are clearly not over each other.

While Sasha has an ulterior motive for setting up a glaring comparison between Prim (someone not actively pursuing Gorya) and herself (someone consistently pursuing Gorya), Sasha’s warning proves true when later that evening Gorya witnesses intimacy between Bambi and Prim. Gory flees the scene and pauses in front of several TV monitors with static.

And this is where the intentional editing choices come together.

Static represents a lack of forward momentum. Visually, there isn’t a progression from scene to scene like there is on a functioning TV monitor. This static is a visual dead end— the perfect backdrop for Gorya to realize she does not have a romantic future with Prim. Despite her earlier advice to Bambi, Gorya did not learn from her past encounters with Prim where Prim made it clear this relationship was not moving forward in the way Gorya wanted it to.

Just like Min and Prim, Gorya was stuck in the past, letting shared moments with Prim filled with hope and possibility warp her reality until Bambi (and Prim) force Gorya face the truth and subsequently break down into tears.

I have high hopes Girl Rules will continue to dive deeper into Gorya’s story and explore what happens when someone realizes they are in a toxic relationship. Will Gorya take her own advice and learn from the past to prevent future mistakes? Or will she step back into the toxic relationship and cling to hope for a happy future with Prim?