@@KS-ow6ub I was wondering whether even though we see him drop the stone, he didn't in fact add the boy to the larder. I got a real cannibalism vibe from the ending.
@@Gyuresssz yea it's more like one of those smile you make when you're asking your mom for more bucks after spending a whole 15 bucks at chuck e cheese
If you wish to know. Liam Neeson(the Impresario) got conned. The Chicken is just a chicken. It's a very simple trick that any carny would reveal to you if you were one of them. It's all in the rig, and you have a device, or latch, or pedal to cause each of the targets to move slightly. Specific targets. The chicken(or any animal you have trained) is trained to always peck at the moving target. It's not the bell, it's the entire rig and knowing how to utilize it and that the chicken will only tap the one that moves. So with just the chicken and the bell... the trick is incomplete and you cannot replicate it. So the Impresario has been conned and when he finds out the chicken can't really do math, he'll be ruined. Having thrown away half of his carrying cash and his only companion, for a chicken and a bell. The other showman however? Just needs a small amount of time to retrain a chicken or animal to pick the moving targets and he'll pick right up where he left off at. The point is that, despite how 'struggling' The Impresario and his companion The Artist seemed to be, the Impresario was keeping a lot of extra money that he could spend on himself. If they were broke, he wouldn't have had the money to buy the chicken, and he still had stacks left in his hand. So the reality was, whenever The Artist struggled, or barely got a meal, or a prostitute, it was because the Impresario didn't want him to. Not because they were low on money. He didn't have to throw his friend off the bridge, he only did it to rid himself of the responsibility. But he had the money and resources to survive the winter with him, and let his voice heal up and his condition improve. But he wanted to be the co-star, like the showman he'd seen before. And he'd thought he'd found a free ride "Meal Ticket" in the chicken, when he only bought half the trick. So the reality is, he threw away his meal ticket, for an ordinary chicken, and by the time he realizes he doesn't have all the tools necessary to replicate the trick... he'll be done for good. The money will eventually dissipate, and he won't have An Artist to fall back on anymore. That is how he will get his comeuppance. We just will never see it, it's only there for you to think about, if you understand that the Impresario got conned, big time. Deservedly so.
1-they were not fridens. 2- we don't know the imresario bought the trick too or not. he would need a stage so he should have been informed. they showed only the bell and the chicken but yet again the impresario would need a stage. he certainly didn't look that dumb. so your theory is weak. 3- if we talk about the trick itself i don't know where did you get the information but the numbers were not moving.
This story was a glimpse into the darkest, ugliest part of human nature. The impresario's spiel of finding the boy on the streets of London to garner pity (and additional coin) from the audience early in the segment immediately rang as false. Nevertheless, you want to believe the two are struggling together to eke out a living as they sit at their camp and the impresario counts out their meager earnings, but it doesn't take long to realize this duo is NOT a "team". I noticed the artist and the impresario never once spoke to each other; from the beginning of the story the boy's eyes reflect the knowing of his complete dependence on the impresario for everything from eating a meal to using the bathroom; the other man literally holds his life in his hands, and he knows when his usefulness to him has ended, he'll be abandoned at best or something like what actually happened at the end of the story at worst. Even so, it was a gut punch knowing what was about to transpire when they came to that bridge, let alone when the segment ended without some twist that brought justice to the impresario for his crime. But this was not the kind of story that hand-holds you and reassures you that things will get better or that justice will be served (at least in this world); it's the kind of ugly betrayal that plays out on a daily basis in real life whenever someone loses their "usefulness" to someone else, to one degree or another.
Which part was in London? Was that in the theater? On the version I saw, it started with the impressario advertising for their first show, but it was definitely America.
@@HerePepPep As he's collecting the money after the first performance you can hear the impresario telling the audience he found the boy on the streets of London. He does this in the background as the camera looks over the shoulder of the boy into the audience while he is delivering his "Our revels now are ended..." conclusion, so it may be easy to miss.
It's terrifying, because the guy has no limbs, so he can't fight Liam Neeson, can't swim, can't fight for his life... So he just looks at the situation like he's thinking: "Oh, so that's how it's gonna end? Finally!". He doesn't cry, he doesn't despair, he just conforms to his fate.
Notice the limbless guy only smiled 2 times: 1. When he received claps and ovation after his performance in the beggining 2. When he tried to catch the falling snowflakes. I think he smiled because he could taste the water without anyone helping him to put it into his mouth. He could do this on his own. Liam smiled only once. Only smile he did is in this scene when he is about to throw the limbless gentleman into the freezing river. The limbless guy’s smiles were honest and cheerful ones. Liam’s smile was a devilish and dumb. This movie is underrated.
This to me was the most powerful story I've seen in a long time... people will flock to the stupid, hollow, flashy entertainment over art with substance and feeling... it's an epidemic
That is one way to interpret it. There are undoubtedly many correct interpretations. Another could be ther relationship between the care giver and care reciever. The chicken required much less effort, and garnishes a far better reward. In that interpretation Neeson 's character would rather lose the dead weight and keep the chicken.
That's correct, it also shows the hollowness of the human heart and that a man only cares about himself and his profits ultimately and will toss all his friends and comrades in the river if they are no longer useful to him.
@@MrShadowofthewind good, one. But its perfectly okay to indulge in stupid flashy entertainment once in a while, but most people dive head first into, and don't consume anything different. I also like to read, I go to my local theater and I like live music. I'm probably not the most cultured person, but I think I do okay.
I think the boy was terrified of him. Did you notice how the boy looked when liam was drunk and singing how he hung that woman to death. This was the best one to me but very sad.
I feel that it was Neeson who crippled him in the first place, I got the implication when the prostitute asked if he had been with a woman before, after a pause Liam replies "before"
@@yseson_ From that, I got the impression that this young, charismatic actor had slept with Neeson's character's significant other and/or sister and the crippling was a result of Neeson's rage. That's where my mind went. The hung woman could've even been the result of Neeson's rage as well, the woman possibly being his own wife.
Also shows the reality of the entertainment world, people are more interested in watch dumb shit like the Kardashians (the chicken) than something intellectual.
No Country is a Cormac McCarthy novel dipped in the Coen Bros. It's literally the best movie made in decades. This is the same flavor, just a small bite.
So powerful and emotional to see this different side of Liam Neeson and Harry Melling. Not much words are needed rather their expressions says it all. Just the pondering, the thoughts and the fear from these 2 characters makes you easily connects with them. Meal Ticked definitely made an impact on me.
My stomach churns this entire part. The pathetic situation he's in, the helplessness to change his fate, the hopelessness of his prayers. God the end was so brutal and tragic. In the end his life was a meaningless passing.
I demand a part two where he survives just barely and has to use all of his willpower to stay alive. Eventually he gains the ability to use a gun with his mouth so that he can seek revenge and become a fabled limbless gunslinger.
@@slimjimmy149 I propose something different. He manages to stay afloat in the river, until at some point down river (shortly after the fall), someone spots him. He is rescued, and without words expresses his thanks. His rescuer is benevolent and driven by empathy rather than greed. The person begins to take care of him, traveling along, town to town. People start handing him money; "go get a drink", "buy yourself a woman." The person asks if he wants to try and make money this way. He nods, and the person begins thinking about how they would rope people in. Our character then begins his speeches. His rescuer hears him speak for the first time, sees him express emotion. Sees the passion. The person then decides to put on an act of their own, acting out the various characters. He makes it genuine, gives it visual aid. They gain a lot of money this way. His benevolent rescuer stays with him, through thick and thin. One day, they arrive in a small town, quaint and homey. They begin their act, and from seemingly nowhere, people show up. "I've heard of these guys. They're great," "the best act in the country!" The act is over, they have a hat full of money, and they move on. They turn the corner, into the main street, and there he is. Chicken man, with his chicken. The flock of people who showed up to the performance spot this man, and they scoff and walk on. "Cheap act," "he needs something with merit." Chicken man sees them, riding along, and his face drops to the depressed look he had all the time he and the boy were together. His hat has a couple coins in it, and his act is nearly over. Only a couple people remain. As the wagon passes by chicken man, the benevolent friend who rescued the boy looks back into the wagon. "Do you know that man?" For the first time, the boy smiles. "Ah, apologies. I forgot that you don't talk outside of performing." For the first time, the boy opens his mouth, preparing to talk. *alas, this is a Coen Brothers film. No such happy ending could exist without tom waits in it, which is why I propose that tom waits be the benevolent stranger, as well as the gold miner. Canon be damned; I want a good ending.*
"He carried his companion to the bridge and ????? what he had to perform and looked down briefly at the resultant splash. There was barest moments before the ripples emanating from the center of the splash were erased by the current, and the river ran again undisturbed." Yep. No doubt about how things played out off scene.
you know, at first i thought he just stopped by to drop that stone as some sort of luck for their next performance - hoping it was. it wasn't, and that kind of hopelessness just disturbed me to my core 10/10
I think the one thing that makes this all the more terrifying is the fact that the young man knew what was going to happen. You could see that he put two and two together. Then add the fact that there really wasn't anything he could do to stop it given his physical limitations.
Anyone else mostly see this particular story about the struggle a passionate, struggling artist may have with an equally pained but more insidiously-intentioned agent/producer/studio as newer/lesser forms entertainment emerge to steal the audience?
Omg. It just hit me that he was in Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the meal ticket chapter. I didn’t even recognize him in the movie till I saw this short. 🤯
When I was watching this, I thought that this was by far the "boring" segment. However, that ending really got me. It was actually a really great and emotional segment
This movie was unreal is a good way. It drew out a lot of emotion. This scene though, this scene was the hardest part of the movie to watch for me. I remember just breaking down when I realized what was happening.
This short film is a masterpiece. The most brilliant thing about this is that the Man, Liam Neeson's character, got scammed. There is a trick to the chicken's "calculations," and the conman didn't teach it to the Man. The conman can just buy another regular old chicken and keep at it without worrying about competition. He makes a living off of the gig itself, but the real money is in selling the regular chickens off to uncreative showmen. The irony is that he had an armless, legless master of Shakespearian theatre. Back then, average people could hardly read. They didn't know what the armless, legless man was talking about. They weren't Shakespeare's target audience. Get this guy in front of an educated crowd, a RICH crowd, and the Man could have tapped into a demographic who wouldn't even blink at a "mathemachicken." The Man traded the meal ticket of a lifetime for, ultimately, one last meal.
I didnt know what to make of buster scruggs and these short stories. After watching i couldnt help but feel like thats probably how it was to live back then. They seemed very realistic given the history of america prior to 1900
I just wanted to say that if anyone had any doubts on what happened to the man, in the book, right before it closes, you can read that the able bodied man did actually in fact drop the cripple into the icy water off the bridge. Just wanted to crush any hopes is all.
just imagining the young man's situation in the world, how and what he thought about the quality of his life too. This was the old west where they had no quality of health care , he was relying on the tall man's mercy to keep him alive. The silent looks and that he did not speak a word until he did his performances. Ater that he was left he was silent. The young man knew that he was a burden to keep, I think he smiled and thought the same thing about his life. He wanted this to happen as well, I think. What kind of life could he have in those times?
First Obi-Wan leaves a man with no limbs to burn alive in lava, and now Qui-Gon tosses a man with no limbs over a bridge. Man, those Jedi are ruthless...
This is my favourite story in the film.It is about human workers who have already lost their labor jobs to machines(that is why the man has no arms or legs) and are now losing their creative jobs(acting is an example) by A.I.(the chicken). The chicken is naturally stupid and can only do some calculations,just like an advanced computer.Liam Neeson is portraying the factory owners and the business men that only care about themselves(see the sex scene where he doesn't care to buy some love for the cripple man,even if he is the source if his income) while they pay and care about the workers just as long as they are productive(Liam feeds,applies make up,and carries the little man on his back only to keep him alive and good for work).
@@acoustichitsfan Yea, there's definitely some strong projection here. But the fear and loathing of mechanization is nothing new for those who don't understand economic principals such as sectoral shifts.
the entire thing about this story is that he wouldnt have made a bigger meal with the kid. the kid represents high art. the chicken represents the low shitty art that we as a modern society love. this was basically teh coen brothers saying "you guys are making artists kill high art and trade it for shitty art that they dont enjoy but is their only way to make money". its why hollywood is filled with cheap remakes of disney films shitty animation and crappy romance movies instead of the good old cinema we used to have. This is how i interpreted this. this really doesnt seem like anything about machines...of course to each his own interpretation. I just think considering the coen brothers and how they love their art and howmuch care they show(like the impressario at first) its more fitting as a narrative than a simple "machines bad steal peoples work" ελλαδαρα
Was expecting a resolution where it turns out that the man who sold the chicken is a fraud, and that he could not make any use of it the same way he exploited the poor performer. But then again, poetic justice isn't always meant to happen in every story. People can get away from the consequences of their actions whether in real life or in fiction.
This seems like an allegory for the fine arts. Captivating. Yet exploited until the cheap parlor trick (entertainment for fools, think reality tv) comes in and renders the arts antiquated. To eventually becoming dumped and left to die.
The justice is that the chicken is just a chicken, nothing special. There's some trick that makes it look like it's doing arithmetic, not any kind of training. The impresario payed all that money for the chicken, but did he also buy the secret of the trick? Not likely. He got scammed. He's going to try to put on a performance, it's going to fail, and he's going to realize he literally threw away his meal ticket.
I agree it's worse but it's not as nawing when you don't see the visceral picture of a mangled corpse so the reader is both more entertained and less disgusted
That’s what makes it so good. The scene just drew so many emotional feelings one could have as a human being. To be punched in the gut with complete hopelessness . To do this to an audience is truly artistic.
Same. Then my husband was telling me about what he read on the interpretations of each story and all I could think about was this story and cried my eyes out...again...
Yes that was so disturbing. Hands behind his back, a bit of a sheepish grin and purely evil intentions. I hate to imagine it and I'm glad they didn't show us the actual toss.
He's killing his own passion. The boy is just symbolic of it. Never really was an armless legless boy in my opinion. It's just symbolic of what he himself is having to carry around nurture and can no longer do in the face of changing cultural tides and life's very real hardships.
@@ConanObrien22 the chicken seen here was famous for making calculations. that line by the prospector seems to reference this chicken, which is an incredibly subtle reference by the Coen brothers
When it hits you what he intends to do...you kind of say to yourself, “No, that would be too awful,” but then you realize, “Oh no, this IS going there.” Incredible yet painful scene.
The boy was so innocent and sweet and when he was trying to catch snowflakes was so cute and the thought of him being dropped into cold waters to die is so sad
Melling: what a brilliant actor and so young. His recitals were beautiful and his face says everything. No words were needed in this last scene. I'd love to see him on stage.
Me too! He was also amazing in The Devil All the Time. But how old is he? It's hard for me to pin an age on him cause he looks both young and old to me at the same time
@@63Malda Thanks for the info. Wow, he's younger than I thought! And yes that movie is amazing and even though Harry Melling's character in it was only a minor one, he did an amazing job bringing the character to life and he gave a memorable performance
The sad look in the eyes of the limbless man as he finally realises his end coming soon is so heart wrenching. You can almost feel his betrayal, pain, anger and sorrow. Amazing performance!
Actually I like to think that the impresario actually freed the diabled orator from his struggle, although I think a bullet to the head might have been better. The chicken will meet the same fate as well. Just like the Buster Scruggs story ends for The Kid.
@@joerogaine3093 hey at least it wasn't Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome or medieval Europe. Back in Greece and Rome if you were a peasant you would be forced into prostitution against your own will being molested for your master's profit that was regardless if you were a man or woman if anyone wanted to fuck, the peasants had no say in the matter especially when incestuous parents were allowed to literally be let off the hook for doing so and especially if a famous person or politician wife/husband hated you in said scenario would torture you out of scorn. We all know medieval Europe and the horrific religious fanaticism that corrupt humans used God to justify their own sadistic fantasies. Finally Egypt Slavery ran rampant, people starved, and you could be murdered for any reason by anyone even if you were supposed to be protected your master could screw you over on any false accusation just to protect their social status and those are 3 equally disturbing times if not worse eras to live through.
They are quite mesmerising... Throughout the whole story, his renditions, you couldn't take your eyes off his, there's a real deep sadness there that goes beyond mere acting.
Most of the stories in Ballad of Buster Scruggs ended not like how we would thought. But this one, yeah, not only depressing but just...when you look into it deeper, its pretty disgusting.
This vignette impacted me the most profoundly. The shock and gut-wrenching poignancy takes a day or so to absorb. I literally had to look up Harry Melling to make sure he had a full body (never watched the HP series) to assuage my grief. The non-dialogue between characters was effective: owner and property. Melling’s eyes were painful to watch! This will become iconic in cinematic history. I’ve already watched the entire anthology 4 times.
His eyes....right. It's only after taking another look at this scene that I could see the sadness and pain in them. The actor here (Mr. Melling) did a fantastic job in this role! The entire film is brilliant and captivating. And the music during the Buster Scruggs segment was absolutely beautiful - particularly the song titled, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings". Just beautiful! Both its lyrics and the harmonies being sung. I really do hope that this film gets far more recognition in the future. It really was well done and original! And Hollywood is certainly not know for offering original content these days. I'm so goddamn sick and tired of them cranking out sequels to superhero movies....
The Coens make movies designed to physically bother you. If you're equipped for it, they also intellectually and spiritually bother you. Greatest directors of the last 30 years.
@@JimmySteller yeah i mean he just had to except it he couldnt do anything and thats the most heart breaking thing but i think im going to hell for laughing at it when i saw he was not in the wagon
The ending of this story ties in so succinctly with the message from the poem "Ozymandias". It's a poem that is a reflection of us, not just some ancient icon of unknown origin. Do the level sands of the world deplete us of our humanity or do we create in abundance, only to drown ourselves by our own vices?
You know, now that you mention it I think all of his speeches might have had a hidden meaning behind them and a bit of foreshadowing. He recites the biblical story of Cain who murdered his brother Able. In Shakespeare's Sonnet 30 he reflects on his sad life. In Sonnet 29 he bemoans his status as an outcast and a failure. He ends with a speech by Abraham Lincoln who was of course assassinated by an actor.
that poem's about a king who tried to make himself live forever with monuments but they got ruined. not a very strong parallel to a quadripalegic orphan getting killed by his caretaker
All of the stories in "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," even the comic first story, are musings on the randomness of death. Like all things in nature, death does not conform to human notions of "fairness." It's also noteworthy how the message about death we find in this film conforms to the outlook in "No Country for Old Men."
Death isnt random, for human beings at least, as most die in old age. When its in fact random, its news. There is no message, neither here nor in "No Country for Old Men", simply a fear of aging and death, which they think they'll excorsice by being cynical about it. They've grown to be, as they age it seems, consumed by it
The symbolism is obvious - the limbless chap is art and literature whilst the chicken is kitsch and schund. Generally, people tend to embrace reality tv and silly entertainment more.
Yep, you can see it right here on TH-cam. Channels which have engaging content that make you think and learn are dwarfed by silly little boys playing GTA.
I like to think that several days later he got trapped in a blizzard and had to eat the chicken.
Hah! ya maybe then he would regret what he had done and realized that even tho the boy had no legs and arms he would still have made a bigger meal
You should have been with the movie directors, man. the movie would have a better ending
@@KS-ow6ub not really, he is still better economically without the kid
@@karamanid Whos talking about economics? :)
@@KS-ow6ub I was wondering whether even though we see him drop the stone, he didn't in fact add the boy to the larder. I got a real cannibalism vibe from the ending.
Imagine memorizing thousands of lines of various poems, plays, and speeches.
Only to find out a chicken is more popular than you.
If that was me, I'd be happy to be thrown off the river.
GORT ROBOT dude, talk to somebody, I hope you’re doing ok
@@nathang7244 I'm ok, I'm just saying that if I was in his situation I would have been happy to have been thrown into the river.
@GreenTea That's America.
Some of us don't have to imagine😈
The devilish smile he wore as he approached the artist made it all the more disturbing.
He knew he was about to "solve" a major problem
I think it wasnt devilish more like emberassed in a sense
@@Gyuresssz perfection
I just noticed that after looking at this scene a second time....nice catch!
@@Gyuresssz yea it's more like one of those smile you make when you're asking your mom for more bucks after spending a whole 15 bucks at chuck e cheese
If you wish to know. Liam Neeson(the Impresario) got conned. The Chicken is just a chicken. It's a very simple trick that any carny would reveal to you if you were one of them. It's all in the rig, and you have a device, or latch, or pedal to cause each of the targets to move slightly. Specific targets. The chicken(or any animal you have trained) is trained to always peck at the moving target. It's not the bell, it's the entire rig and knowing how to utilize it and that the chicken will only tap the one that moves. So with just the chicken and the bell... the trick is incomplete and you cannot replicate it. So the Impresario has been conned and when he finds out the chicken can't really do math, he'll be ruined. Having thrown away half of his carrying cash and his only companion, for a chicken and a bell.
The other showman however? Just needs a small amount of time to retrain a chicken or animal to pick the moving targets and he'll pick right up where he left off at.
The point is that, despite how 'struggling' The Impresario and his companion The Artist seemed to be, the Impresario was keeping a lot of extra money that he could spend on himself. If they were broke, he wouldn't have had the money to buy the chicken, and he still had stacks left in his hand. So the reality was, whenever The Artist struggled, or barely got a meal, or a prostitute, it was because the Impresario didn't want him to. Not because they were low on money.
He didn't have to throw his friend off the bridge, he only did it to rid himself of the responsibility. But he had the money and resources to survive the winter with him, and let his voice heal up and his condition improve. But he wanted to be the co-star, like the showman he'd seen before. And he'd thought he'd found a free ride "Meal Ticket" in the chicken, when he only bought half the trick.
So the reality is, he threw away his meal ticket, for an ordinary chicken, and by the time he realizes he doesn't have all the tools necessary to replicate the trick... he'll be done for good. The money will eventually dissipate, and he won't have An Artist to fall back on anymore. That is how he will get his comeuppance. We just will never see it, it's only there for you to think about, if you understand that the Impresario got conned, big time. Deservedly so.
Thank you for your precise analysis. Have a good day Sir.
They weren't friends
This long winded comment is irrelevant to the intent of the story.
@@garthornspike3648 you mistake detailed for longwindedness. And you don't know the intent of the story.
1-they were not fridens. 2- we don't know the imresario bought the trick too or not. he would need a stage so he should have been informed. they showed only the bell and the chicken but yet again the impresario would need a stage. he certainly didn't look that dumb. so your theory is weak. 3- if we talk about the trick itself i don't know where did you get the information but the numbers were not moving.
Imagine not being able to fend for yourself, feed yourself, bathe yourself....and that was this dudes life
Count your blessings
This story was a glimpse into the darkest, ugliest part of human nature. The impresario's spiel of finding the boy on the streets of London to garner pity (and additional coin) from the audience early in the segment immediately rang as false. Nevertheless, you want to believe the two are struggling together to eke out a living as they sit at their camp and the impresario counts out their meager earnings, but it doesn't take long to realize this duo is NOT a "team".
I noticed the artist and the impresario never once spoke to each other; from the beginning of the story the boy's eyes reflect the knowing of his complete dependence on the impresario for everything from eating a meal to using the bathroom; the other man literally holds his life in his hands, and he knows when his usefulness to him has ended, he'll be abandoned at best or something like what actually happened at the end of the story at worst. Even so, it was a gut punch knowing what was about to transpire when they came to that bridge, let alone when the segment ended without some twist that brought justice to the impresario for his crime.
But this was not the kind of story that hand-holds you and reassures you that things will get better or that justice will be served (at least in this world); it's the kind of ugly betrayal that plays out on a daily basis in real life whenever someone loses their "usefulness" to someone else, to one degree or another.
Our revels now are ended....
Just wow, well said... shame i can only thumbs up this once.
Well played Aaron. Well played.
Which part was in London? Was that in the theater? On the version I saw, it started with the impressario advertising for their first show, but it was definitely America.
@@HerePepPep As he's collecting the money after the first performance you can hear the impresario telling the audience he found the boy on the streets of London. He does this in the background as the camera looks over the shoulder of the boy into the audience while he is delivering his "Our revels now are ended..." conclusion, so it may be easy to miss.
It's terrifying, because the guy has no limbs, so he can't fight Liam Neeson, can't swim, can't fight for his life... So he just looks at the situation like he's thinking: "Oh, so that's how it's gonna end? Finally!". He doesn't cry, he doesn't despair, he just conforms to his fate.
Very insightful comments.
I doubt that even a guy with limbs can fight Liam Neelson.
Notice the limbless guy only smiled 2 times:
1. When he received claps and ovation after his performance in the beggining
2. When he tried to catch the falling snowflakes. I think he smiled because he could taste the water without anyone helping him to put it into his mouth. He could do this on his own.
Liam smiled only once.
Only smile he did is in this scene when he is about to throw the limbless gentleman into the freezing river.
The limbless guy’s smiles were honest and cheerful ones. Liam’s smile was a devilish and dumb.
This movie is underrated.
So Liam did smile
This to me was the most powerful story I've seen in a long time... people will flock to the stupid, hollow, flashy entertainment over art with substance and feeling... it's an epidemic
That is one way to interpret it. There are undoubtedly many correct interpretations. Another could be ther relationship between the care giver and care reciever. The chicken required much less effort, and garnishes a far better reward. In that interpretation Neeson 's character would rather lose the dead weight and keep the chicken.
That's correct, it also shows the hollowness of the human heart and that a man only cares about himself and his profits ultimately and will toss all his friends and comrades in the river if they are no longer useful to him.
You mean stupid, hollow, flashy entertainment like futurama ?
@@MrShadowofthewind good, one. But its perfectly okay to indulge in stupid flashy entertainment once in a while, but most people dive head first into, and don't consume anything different. I also like to read, I go to my local theater and I like live music. I'm probably not the most cultured person, but I think I do okay.
@@nicholasmapes It was just a joke, i don't know you so i'm not judging.✌
This is literally the most heartbreaking scenes in the history of Netflix. I've watched it over and over and it's still hard to watch.
It was an awful scene. No real redeeming value. Just depressing.
it was easy to watch it’s just hard to imagine
one of the saddest movie scenes ever. This movie was a masterpiece
Going through life like that is hard. But he really hit rock bottom in this one.
Poor Bob
"Rock bottom". Damn, son 😂
Yeah, hard to carry around dead weight... I'll see myself out.
thats a oof
this an old comment but DAMN
I think the boy was terrified of him. Did you notice how the boy looked when liam was drunk and singing how he hung that woman to death. This was the best one to me but very sad.
I feel that it was Neeson who crippled him in the first place, I got the implication when the prostitute asked if he had been with a woman before, after a pause Liam replies "before"
That song is an old Irish folk song so it’s not personal to him
@@yseson_ From that, I got the impression that this young, charismatic actor had slept with Neeson's character's significant other and/or sister and the crippling was a result of Neeson's rage. That's where my mind went. The hung woman could've even been the result of Neeson's rage as well, the woman possibly being his own wife.
@@blennon5961 but you can tell the song was a trigger to a particular behavior
@@slimjimmy149 that sounds about right, I'll even add that not only was she Neeson's former lover but also his former meal ticket.
That's Hollywood ... king one day ... tossed in the river the next
Ozymandias, King Of Kings!
Also shows the reality of the entertainment world, people are more interested in watch dumb shit like the Kardashians (the chicken) than something intellectual.
+Umar you actually figured out the point of the story. Congratulations.
Umar Ali The chicken is smarter than any of the Kardashians lol
that's how corporations work too
You can tell how much influence “No Country For Old Men” has on this movie.
This film and “No Country For Old Men” share the set of directors: The Coen Brothers
No Country is a Cormac McCarthy novel dipped in the Coen Bros. It's literally the best movie made in decades. This is the same flavor, just a small bite.
01:44 the horror in his eyes when he realizes what is about to happen. i felt so bad for him.
So powerful and emotional to see this different side of Liam Neeson and Harry Melling. Not much words are needed rather their expressions says it all. Just the pondering, the thoughts and the fear from these 2 characters makes you easily connects with them. Meal Ticked definitely made an impact on me.
My stomach churns this entire part. The pathetic situation he's in, the helplessness to change his fate, the hopelessness of his prayers. God the end was so brutal and tragic. In the end his life was a meaningless passing.
I demand a part two where he survives just barely and has to use all of his willpower to stay alive. Eventually he gains the ability to use a gun with his mouth so that he can seek revenge and become a fabled limbless gunslinger.
Yes, but instead of gun mouth.
Make him come back as Phantom Limb ie)from venture bros.
AAAAAAAAnd that's why the Cohen brothers are the Cohen brothers and you are in the TH-cam comments....
@@slimjimmy149 I propose something different.
He manages to stay afloat in the river, until at some point down river (shortly after the fall), someone spots him. He is rescued, and without words expresses his thanks. His rescuer is benevolent and driven by empathy rather than greed. The person begins to take care of him, traveling along, town to town. People start handing him money; "go get a drink", "buy yourself a woman."
The person asks if he wants to try and make money this way. He nods, and the person begins thinking about how they would rope people in.
Our character then begins his speeches. His rescuer hears him speak for the first time, sees him express emotion. Sees the passion. The person then decides to put on an act of their own, acting out the various characters. He makes it genuine, gives it visual aid. They gain a lot of money this way. His benevolent rescuer stays with him, through thick and thin. One day, they arrive in a small town, quaint and homey. They begin their act, and from seemingly nowhere, people show up. "I've heard of these guys. They're great," "the best act in the country!"
The act is over, they have a hat full of money, and they move on. They turn the corner, into the main street, and there he is. Chicken man, with his chicken. The flock of people who showed up to the performance spot this man, and they scoff and walk on. "Cheap act," "he needs something with merit." Chicken man sees them, riding along, and his face drops to the depressed look he had all the time he and the boy were together. His hat has a couple coins in it, and his act is nearly over. Only a couple people remain.
As the wagon passes by chicken man, the benevolent friend who rescued the boy looks back into the wagon.
"Do you know that man?"
For the first time, the boy smiles.
"Ah, apologies. I forgot that you don't talk outside of performing."
For the first time, the boy opens his mouth, preparing to talk.
*alas, this is a Coen Brothers film. No such happy ending could exist without tom waits in it, which is why I propose that tom waits be the benevolent stranger, as well as the gold miner. Canon be damned; I want a good ending.*
MIND QUAD!
So... The Revenant, but without limbs.
The pang of hurt everyone feels when watching this segment, the story tellers really knew how to hit you where it hurts
Indeed, but not everyone will feel in pangs.
"He carried his companion to the bridge and ????? what he had to perform and looked down briefly at the resultant splash. There was barest moments before the ripples emanating from the center of the splash were erased by the current, and the river ran again undisturbed."
Yep. No doubt about how things played out off scene.
I remember watching this for the first time and literally groaning “Oh no” when he tested the water with the rock.
you know, at first i thought he just stopped by to drop that stone as some sort of luck for their next performance - hoping it was. it wasn't, and that kind of hopelessness just disturbed me to my core
10/10
-Liam Neeson is such a badass actor! What would you say is his most savage role?
-Well, err...
At first I thought he was going to kill him self
most subtle way of saying "im finna drop your ass in the river"
Julio or "You're not gonna get to eat that chicken"
@@doctorthirteen5727 yes? You called?
I think the one thing that makes this all the more terrifying is the fact that the young man knew what was going to happen. You could see that he put two and two together. Then add the fact that there really wasn't anything he could do to stop it given his physical limitations.
It depicts everyday Human life.
One using the other until they’ve felt the well has run dry.
I remember him begging him not to. It really goes to show you how powerful that actor's look was that I remembered him literally begging for his life.
His comments about the boys past love were chilling
Anyone else mostly see this particular story about the struggle a passionate, struggling artist may have with an equally pained but more insidiously-intentioned agent/producer/studio as newer/lesser forms entertainment emerge to steal the audience?
Omg. It just hit me that he was in Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the meal ticket chapter. I didn’t even recognize him in the movie till I saw this short. 🤯
When I was watching this, I thought that this was by far the "boring" segment. However, that ending really got me. It was actually a really great and emotional segment
This movie was unreal is a good way. It drew out a lot of emotion. This scene though, this scene was the hardest part of the movie to watch for me. I remember just breaking down when I realized what was happening.
This vignette had the most tragic ending by far
This story lingered in my memory for days. So sad.
Not a cell phone in sight. Just people living in the moment
All i see is a dude killing another dude
I cry at this 😭
*This was one of the most disturbing movie stories I have seen.*
This short film is a masterpiece.
The most brilliant thing about this is that the Man, Liam Neeson's character, got scammed.
There is a trick to the chicken's "calculations," and the conman didn't teach it to the Man. The conman can just buy another regular old chicken and keep at it without worrying about competition. He makes a living off of the gig itself, but the real money is in selling the regular chickens off to uncreative showmen.
The irony is that he had an armless, legless master of Shakespearian theatre. Back then, average people could hardly read. They didn't know what the armless, legless man was talking about. They weren't Shakespeare's target audience. Get this guy in front of an educated crowd, a RICH crowd, and the Man could have tapped into a demographic who wouldn't even blink at a "mathemachicken."
The Man traded the meal ticket of a lifetime for, ultimately, one last meal.
At the end his figurative 'wagon' is utterly empty....except for the mighty prize of a single, solitary chicken....caged.
I didnt know what to make of buster scruggs and these short stories. After watching i couldnt help but feel like thats probably how it was to live back then. They seemed very realistic given the history of america prior to 1900
Harry Potter's Dudley Dursley actor Harry Melling has become quite a good actor.
Didn't see that coming.....
hey...cinematic artwork...imagination...delivery...wow...thank...love...
Love this movie:💕 This scene was sad as hell.
I can't believe that's Dusley
He is unrecognizable
Hes ugly as fuck
Did you notice that the Poet “gulps” a little (1:45) when the guy walks back to the carriage... ? He knew his fate.
I just wanted to say that if anyone had any doubts on what happened to the man, in the book, right before it closes, you can read that the able bodied man did actually in fact drop the cripple into the icy water off the bridge.
Just wanted to crush any hopes is all.
No one can endure a dead weight for so long..he just being nice to end both man misery.
So why did he put up with the cripple in the first place? Some people are just good at making excuses...
He accepted his fate at the onset, thus was neither fearful, resistant or judgmental.
Final triste 😢
He is a shape shifter. He overpowered Liam Neeson, took his clothes tossed him in the river and continued his journey......
The chicken ate both of them.....
The darkest story I’ve ever watched on film.
just imagining the young man's situation in the world, how and what he thought about the quality of his life too. This was the old west where they had no quality of health care , he was relying on the tall man's mercy to keep him alive. The silent looks and that he did not speak a word until he did his performances. Ater that he was left he was silent. The young man knew that he was a burden to keep, I think he smiled and thought the same thing about his life. He wanted this to happen as well, I think. What kind of life could he have in those times?
You nailed it. That's why he didn't scream out or try to stop it. The man wanted to go, he had had enough too.
Fun Fact: The limbless boy is played by Harry Melling, who played Harry Potter's cousin Dudley and is the grandson of Doctor Who #2 Patrick Troughton.
This whole movie was one dark gut punch after another.
First Obi-Wan leaves a man with no limbs to burn alive in lava, and now Qui-Gon tosses a man with no limbs over a bridge. Man, those Jedi are ruthless...
the first time i watched this i like," run damnit,cant u see what he is thinking of doing to u "
This story is one that is bound to end the same as that of The Goose who lays Golden Eggs.
This is my favourite story in the film.It is about human workers who have already lost their labor jobs to machines(that is why the man has no arms or legs) and are now losing their creative jobs(acting is an example) by A.I.(the chicken). The chicken is naturally stupid and can only do some calculations,just like an advanced computer.Liam Neeson is portraying the factory owners and the business men that only care about themselves(see the sex scene where he doesn't care to buy some love for the cripple man,even if he is the source if his income) while they pay and care about the workers just as long as they are productive(Liam feeds,applies make up,and carries the little man on his back only to keep him alive and good for work).
Interesting reading of this segment of the film. I don't really see the material in the film to support such a luddite interpretation, however.
@@acoustichitsfan Yea, there's definitely some strong projection here. But the fear and loathing of mechanization is nothing new for those who don't understand economic principals such as sectoral shifts.
Well that's a new one. I like it.
the entire thing about this story is that he wouldnt have made a bigger meal with the kid. the kid represents high art. the chicken represents the low shitty art that we as a modern society love. this was basically teh coen brothers saying "you guys are making artists kill high art and trade it for shitty art that they dont enjoy but is their only way to make money". its why hollywood is filled with cheap remakes of disney films shitty animation and crappy romance movies instead of the good old cinema we used to have.
This is how i interpreted this. this really doesnt seem like anything about machines...of course to each his own interpretation. I just think considering the coen brothers and how they love their art and howmuch care they show(like the impressario at first) its more fitting as a narrative than a simple "machines bad steal peoples work"
ελλαδαρα
I think this segment was more a reflection of how the entertainment business has not really changed over the years. It's all about the money.
At least he isn't suffering anymore.
Damn I love this move I had to TH-cam this part as I’m watching it now for the first time.. I just needed to see the comments 🖤
A pretty tricky chicken to be able to eat that guy from that cage.
Was expecting a resolution where it turns out that the man who sold the chicken is a fraud, and that he could not make any use of it the same way he exploited the poor performer.
But then again, poetic justice isn't always meant to happen in every story. People can get away from the consequences of their actions whether in real life or in fiction.
This was very sad.
This is the scene we found out that the name of the limbless man was Bob
Harrison’s face at the end is heartbreaking
This seems like an allegory for the fine arts. Captivating. Yet exploited until the cheap parlor trick (entertainment for fools, think reality tv) comes in and renders the arts antiquated. To eventually becoming dumped and left to die.
I’m so glad that the two were able to amiably part ways and both become successful in their respective entrepreneurial enterprises.
Savageeeeeeee
Why did he throw that rock down there?
Marcus Hernandez to test if the fall would kill his friend, the answer was yes
@@MrSexy-hn9oz more like how deep is the water. No arms and legs, you sink like a stone
Bruh he floated him down a frozen river! He bob'd his last breath.
Liam has a certain set of skills, which include hurling defenceless, limbless, thespians, off bridges.
FOr some reason im glad u used the word thespian
😂
OMG I laughed so hard :D
Goddamn that was funny.
Yea he got read of the boy ,,,,and married the chicken,,,,,
The justice is that the chicken is just a chicken, nothing special. There's some trick that makes it look like it's doing arithmetic, not any kind of training. The impresario payed all that money for the chicken, but did he also buy the secret of the trick? Not likely. He got scammed. He's going to try to put on a performance, it's going to fail, and he's going to realize he literally threw away his meal ticket.
Your comment is by far the best. I like the way you think.
I like that they didn't show this, yet it's obvious how it's going to go!
He's going to run out of money and eventually be forced to eat the chicken.
Very well put.
this needs more upvote
Notice the limbless gentleman never once utters a word outside of his performances.
Yup
JD Salinger And he and the impresario never speak to each other, either.
he did speak when the hooker was in the room, didn´t he?
Tjommiboii No, the prostitute asks him if his friend wants some, and the impresario says “no” to her, but still, he doesn’t speak to the Professor.
wonder why.
This is how you do tragedy... imagining what happened is somehow worse than seeing it.
Actually, you can read what he did in the pages at the end.
You are the perfect example of that.
can i get 10 subs with no videos Ooh salty.
I agree it's worse but it's not as nawing when you don't see the visceral picture of a mangled corpse so the reader is both more entertained and less disgusted
And that smile right at the very end............
The whole movie was entertaining as hell and very well done, but this segment really got under my skin and stayed there for several days.
That’s what makes it so good. The scene just drew so many emotional feelings one could have as a human being. To be punched in the gut with complete hopelessness . To do this to an audience is truly artistic.
Same here. I am a tender human being believing in some humane treatment of others.
That happened with The Gal that Got Rattled for me
Same. Then my husband was telling me about what he read on the interpretations of each story and all I could think about was this story and cried my eyes out...again...
gal that got rattled did it for me. "she aint oughta did it!"
His smile as he walks back from the track is chilling. A veneer to cover up his intentions to murder a man he no longer has any use for.
..and the hands behind the back as if to conceal something.
@@freddykrueger6571 yes! I was about to point that out too
Yes that was so disturbing. Hands behind his back, a bit of a sheepish grin and purely evil intentions. I hate to imagine it and I'm glad they didn't show us the actual toss.
@@freddykrueger6571 It's better than ripping apart kids in their sleep.
He's killing his own passion. The boy is just symbolic of it. Never really was an armless legless boy in my opinion. It's just symbolic of what he himself is having to carry around nurture and can no longer do in the face of changing cultural tides and life's very real hardships.
"How high can a bird count anyways?" -Prospector
Wrong segment lol
@@ConanObrien22 the chicken seen here was famous for making calculations. that line by the prospector seems to reference this chicken, which is an incredibly subtle reference by the Coen brothers
@@jessemetsala6138 damn I just noticed that. This chicken can actually count. It's like one segment contradict to the next one
Max Leavitt
Kudos for the awesome observation.
@@jessemetsala6138 The prospector was talking about the eggs in the nest, but to the viewer it recalls the chicken. It's intertextuality.
When it hits you what he intends to do...you kind of say to yourself, “No, that would be too awful,” but then you realize, “Oh no, this IS going there.” Incredible yet painful scene.
At first I thought he was gonna kill himself, but what he did was much worse
I knew what was going to happen pretty much when he bought the chicken
@@Mapleboi404I thought when he saw the chicken, he was going to belittle the man to a freak show but I didn’t expect that
then you realize what movie you're watching and you're like...o shit
@@danielharries3240his partner is already a freakshow attraction that got upstaged getting them both killed in different ways.
He's got that face like "Did he really just test how far that drop was with a rock that weighs approximately as much as me?".
The weight is irrelevant for the time to drop.
its the depth he's thinking about.
yep
Yeet
That's a very specific face lol
The boy was so innocent and sweet and when he was trying to catch snowflakes was so cute and the thought of him being dropped into cold waters to die is so sad
Dottielover33 333
You can’t tell if he was an innocent and sweet guy from that story.
Yes, he was sweet, but in the end didn't have a leg to stand on.
Just think this is the fat kid from Harry Potter...
"Cool, clear, water..."
@@lowemasterpro LOVE that song!
This story stuck with me the most
me too peter
Same here
Shouldn't. Dropping stones is what u need sometimes. Not people... Keep calm, it's just to show things through a story.
@@whichlens435 You make no sense.
Made me kinda depressed lol
Melling: what a brilliant actor and so young. His recitals were beautiful and his face says everything. No words were needed in this last scene. I'd love to see him on stage.
Hes on Queens Gambit.
@@rossc7277 and Harry Potter's cousin...
Me too! He was also amazing in The Devil All the Time. But how old is he? It's hard for me to pin an age on him cause he looks both young and old to me at the same time
@@oncerand_directioner He's 32 now. I hadn't heard of "The Devil All the Time" but I'm going to watch it.
@@63Malda Thanks for the info. Wow, he's younger than I thought! And yes that movie is amazing and even though Harry Melling's character in it was only a minor one, he did an amazing job bringing the character to life and he gave a memorable performance
The sad look in the eyes of the limbless man as he finally realises his end coming soon is so heart wrenching. You can almost feel his betrayal, pain, anger and sorrow. Amazing performance!
He couldn’t see what he was doing it’s shows Liam’s pov and you can’t see in the back of the wagon
To think he played Dudley Dursley
Yes that broke my heart as well his poor little face😢
Killed, abondoned and then replaced by a chicken
Sad.
The circle of life
Yes the man's wagon was so full of beauty...and so completely empty in the final scene.
Your pfp and name make it so much better
Actually I like to think that the impresario actually freed the diabled orator from his struggle, although I think a bullet to the head might have been better. The chicken will meet the same fate as well. Just like the Buster Scruggs story ends for The Kid.
1:52 That little smile Liam does is so haunting. It’s a great moment that really juxtaposes what’s going on in the scene.
This short story really came as a powerful twist after the previous two stories. I was not ready for this.
This story was disgusting
@@joerogaine3093 hey at least it wasn't Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome or medieval Europe. Back in Greece and Rome if you were a peasant you would be forced into prostitution against your own will being molested for your master's profit that was regardless if you were a man or woman if anyone wanted to fuck, the peasants had no say in the matter especially when incestuous parents were allowed to literally be let off the hook for doing so and especially if a famous person or politician wife/husband hated you in said scenario would torture you out of scorn. We all know medieval Europe and the horrific religious fanaticism that corrupt humans used God to justify their own sadistic fantasies. Finally Egypt Slavery ran rampant, people starved, and you could be murdered for any reason by anyone even if you were supposed to be protected your master could screw you over on any false accusation just to protect their social status and those are 3 equally disturbing times if not worse eras to live through.
It did its job then.
Duddly's performance certainly makes me feel for the guy. His eyes play is something ...
They are quite mesmerising...
Throughout the whole story, his renditions, you couldn't take your eyes off his, there's a real deep sadness there that goes beyond mere acting.
Of course, he’s a pisces 💘
@@ghostofbex oh shit me toopp
@@4rott me thurdd
Face acting. My favorite sub-skill in acting. Some people are amazing actors but handle an emotional close-up like a wooden mannequin.
This was depressing.
Most of the stories in Ballad of Buster Scruggs ended not like how we would thought. But this one, yeah, not only depressing but just...when you look into it deeper, its pretty disgusting.
is that eileen,????
Most were depressing, except for the gold miner one.
Yeah, this was the worst story in the movie
It's not personal. It's just business.
If I were that chicken, I'd be worried.
The chicken is certainly smart enough.
The chicken is calculating how much time it can buy
This vignette impacted me the most profoundly. The shock and gut-wrenching poignancy takes a day or so to absorb. I literally had to look up Harry Melling to make sure he had a full body (never watched the HP series) to assuage my grief. The non-dialogue between characters was effective: owner and property. Melling’s eyes were painful to watch! This will become iconic in cinematic history. I’ve already watched the entire anthology 4 times.
"First time?" lol
Yh his eyes were painful to watch, theyre too fucking close together it fucks his whole face up
big words make brain hurty
His eyes....right. It's only after taking another look at this scene that I could see the sadness and pain in them. The actor here (Mr. Melling) did a fantastic job in this role! The entire film is brilliant and captivating. And the music during the Buster Scruggs segment was absolutely beautiful - particularly the song titled, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings". Just beautiful! Both its lyrics and the harmonies being sung. I really do hope that this film gets far more recognition in the future. It really was well done and original! And Hollywood is certainly not know for offering original content these days. I'm so goddamn sick and tired of them cranking out sequels to superhero movies....
@@novastormrage8231 then Buster Scruggs' comments in the saloon must have been a real pain. :)
Not sure I can forgive the Coen brothers for putting me through this. Amazing performances and haunting story.
Same
The Coens make movies designed to physically bother you. If you're equipped for it, they also intellectually and spiritually bother you.
Greatest directors of the last 30 years.
That was fucked up. Loved the story though.
They remind me of John Steinbeck novels
1:35 you can almost spot the micro-second he realized his fate. This one story got to me.
Yea
And he doesn’t even cry out or beg for mercy…
@@JimmySteller well to be fair jimmy what he gonna do
@@happygus1304 True. It’s just a diabolical moment regardless.
@@JimmySteller yeah i mean he just had to except it he couldnt do anything and thats the most heart breaking thing but i think im going to hell for laughing at it when i saw he was not in the wagon
The ending of this story ties in so succinctly with the message from the poem "Ozymandias". It's a poem that is a reflection of us, not just some ancient icon of unknown origin. Do the level sands of the world deplete us of our humanity or do we create in abundance, only to drown ourselves by our own vices?
You know, now that you mention it I think all of his speeches might have had a hidden meaning behind them and a bit of foreshadowing. He recites the biblical story of Cain who murdered his brother Able. In Shakespeare's Sonnet 30 he reflects on his sad life. In Sonnet 29 he bemoans his status as an outcast and a failure. He ends with a speech by Abraham Lincoln who was of course assassinated by an actor.
I like chicken
that poem's about a king who tried to make himself live forever with monuments but they got ruined. not a very strong parallel to a quadripalegic orphan getting killed by his caretaker
@@corposap **WOOOSH**
@@Fan_Made_Videos if you were joking that was pretty good
Sooooo yea I kinda have to throw you away now.... but we good tho right?
All of the stories in "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," even the comic first story, are musings on the randomness of death. Like all things in nature, death does not conform to human notions of "fairness." It's also noteworthy how the message about death we find in this film conforms to the outlook in "No Country for Old Men."
Death isnt random, for human beings at least, as most die in old age. When its in fact random, its news. There is no message, neither here nor in "No Country for Old Men", simply a fear of aging and death, which they think they'll excorsice by being cynical about it. They've grown to be, as they age it seems, consumed by it
agree
Just from his eyes, u see all kinds of emotions. What an actor
Read the left text at 2:24
"carried his companion to the bridge"
"what he had determined to perform"
"at the resultant splash"
so is that saying he killed him?
Dottielover33 333 no he took him to the bridge and served him butterscotch ice cream. What the hell do you think happened?
Funkentelechy Razzamatazz 😂😂😂😂
@@funkmonster No way! Butterscotch? Are you sure??
@@larkmacallan4257 nah chocolate
I like how that's the only time he ever smiles at him...when he's about to get rid of him...
I thought he put on a happy face to lure him in safety
@@DasKamethat’s how I read it also
The symbolism is obvious - the limbless chap is art and literature whilst the chicken is kitsch and schund. Generally, people tend to embrace reality tv and silly entertainment more.
Boom, well done sir, like it
Yup.
Whatever their feeble minds relate to.
I wouldn’t say obvious but definitely there
Yep, you can see it right here on TH-cam. Channels which have engaging content that make you think and learn are dwarfed by silly little boys playing GTA.