Page 116 - Metropolis Megazine No.120 International

WORKING TO NOT FEEL

«The Bear» is, above all, a series simply exposes it with the frank- that there can be more, but others,
about the illusion that pain can be ness of those who have no time to like Carmy, Richie, or Natalie, only
resolved through discipline. The pretend otherwise. The characters know how to live in chaos. And,
series revolves around the persis- persistently oscillate between ac- deep down, this is what “The Bear”
tent, almost violent attempt to tion and escape, repetition and portrays with rare precision: the
impose order on an inner world fil- failure. They work not to feel, im- coexistence between the desire for
led with noise, loss, and fragmen- posing routines so as not to break order and the acceptance that it
tation. Its greatest strength lies in down. And even when they try to may never come.
its refusal to offer easy solutions or change, the most they achieve is a
redemptive transformations: here, new kind of restraint, unable to at- In this sense, the restaurant is not
the attempt to control everything tain true liberation. so much a place of growth as a se-
does not lead to balance; it leads tting where survival is rehearsed.
to exhaustion. Tension is always Even so, there is room to form con- Routine acts as a shield, urgency as
present, even in the most routine nections. Although imperfect or an excuse. Carmy alters the menu
gestures, and the feeling of im- marked by absences and frustra- on a daily basis, not out of a desire
minent collapse never completely tions, affection exists. But it is not for creativity, but because he feels
disappears—it only slows down obvious or immediate; it appears compelled to do so, as if the act of
between one service and the next. gradually, during breaks, and in repetition signifies that nothing
The series, available on Disney+ each character's unwillingness to has truly changed. A perverse logic
Portugal, does not romanticise leave despite the intense pressure. takes hold: the more you try to im-
trauma or overly dramatise it: it Characters like Sydney still believe prove, the more obvious it becomes

116 METROPOLIS JULY 2025