Film Theory: Who’s REALLY in Control?! (DHMIS)

it’s very nice to watch matpat bring in a smaller creator instead of repeating their theory. big respect matpat

MASSIVE respect for not only watching Rem's videos, but opting to INVITE HIM TO COLLABORATE rather than just rehashing his own theories.

Rem got the highest honor : getting to say the end line with MatPat he seemed so excited completely valid, i would've died on the spot

My Theory: The items represent what each of the characters want in some way. And to take it 1 step further, Red Guy represents the future, duck is the present and yellow guy is the past (more below): Yellow Guy: Wants to understand what is going on and what had happened before. Also, tying in the above video, he's the dead son of Leslie and is what keeps her stuck in the past, he's a physical manifestation of that past. He's stuck trying to piece together what had happened to bring us here, and he needs the batteries to do this. Duck: He is in the present and always is content to just be present with the current status quo. He wants the Cheddar Dollops and to share them with his current community or family. He's happy to be stuck in this loop and doesn't want for things to change, he is here for the now. Red Guy: He most wants to break the cycle. He wants out, wants tomorrow. Even if that means he has to die. In the death episode he fetishized death the whole episode, because it represents an escape from their current nightmare. He is ready to escape, even if escape means dying.

Something I just realized is that in the death episode, red guy thinks he should be the one who’s dead instead of duck. And then in the family episode, duck is so sure that he should be able to open the chips. Maybe then being confident in what should be is another sign of how things should happen for the story to free them.

i love how matpat doesn’t colonize ideas and allows those who came up with these theories vocalize it for themselves

One thing that supports the loop theory is there are several periods where the characters regain some level of consciousness about the correct order of events, but once they've happened there's nothing they can do. Like the, now heavily memed, clip of Red saying "I'm more the kind of person who should be dead". He's recognizing that he was supposed to be selected to die, but he wasn't.

I think we get some insight into the intended lesson order in the end credits of episode 2. During the credits, Duck is singing a song where each line goes, "When you meet a ___, you must shake him by the hand." The blank is filled in with the following people: Businessman Family man Choo-choo man Friendly fellow Plug-in man These correspond with the briefcase, Lily and Todney, the train, Warren the Eagle, and Electracy. The casket may not be in the line up, since it's the credits for the episode featuring him. If we don't consider the casket, the rest of them are in order, except two: the train and Warren. Given this, it seems like the transport lesson should have come before the anti-bullying lesson. I think this is backed up by the presentation of these teachers as well. Warren has a rather immature attitude when it comes to friendships. There's also the fact that he said that his wings are taking longer to sprout, implying that he's not yet fully developed. The train, by comparison, is old, confused, sickly, and dies of exhaustion before the episode is over. I think this is evidence that their episode orders are flipped. Warren is too young at the time he shows up, because his episode was supposed to have happened later, when he would have been older. Contrarily, the train is too old at the time he shows up, because his episode was supposed to have happened earlier, when he would have been younger. I think this info aligns with this theory, and that the incorrect order is either something that the main three should have made happen, or is a result of a bad timeline due to their incorrect actions.

I love how Leslie isn’t a villain She’s just a woman in grief ANF trying to build her family back

I feel that Leslie (being a screenwriter) is writing for the DHMIS Show but after her accident that killed her son her writing has been drastically affected by it. She has an idea for the show but dealing with her grief makes it nearly impossible to write out a full story which is why she constantly has to "reset" the story and start new.

Can we acknowledge the other popular theory for the YouTube series for a sec? The theory that the series is about people refusing to grow up, then finally putting down their toys and giving in. It's interesting that not only did David not grow up, but when Yellow climbs the stairs, he's essentially doing just that, going from a big boy to a bigger boy qnd then continuing to the next stage. It's only when yellow reaches this stage, when he's grown up, that Lesley realises he's not her son. Because he's done the one thing her son couldn't.

It's weird how invested I can get in a series I've never watched and don't expect to ever watch.

Matpat has never missed a fandom

I love seeing smaller creators like Film Theory getting the recognition they deserve

Yeah the idea is basically that they're getting it wrong a lot of the time. (IE: Red was supposed to rescue Duck in the events of death or at least process his passing, but instead he forced Stain into being duck and probably got the real one killed. Duck was supposed to accept his group as a family of sorts, but instead he had the most toxic view of the 3 and fell into loathing. That's also why Duck got a coin in Episode 1, he successfully realized they were doing it wrong and broke out)

One correction courtesy of Inside a Mind: the picture on top of the stairs does not show Yellow Guy one scene earlier. It doesn’t show him in the picture until he is in the process of walking up the stairs. It may not be that he’s done it before, but that the pictures adapt to what is happening.

I love seeing all the new people matpat is inviting to his videos and his team, they’re so talented and definitely deserve a place at the theorist table

Editors deserve a lot of credit for these videos featuring guests. Using their unique style to adapt between Mat's cadence and Remy's cadence to deliver an excellent visual story is just so masterful.

Remgames deserves to be on the theory team in my opinion. His videos were one of the whole reasons the video turned out so well, and he got along very nicely and acted like he always belonged on the channel. I think he deserves to join.

Even the clothing that Lesley wears is like pieces of their adventures to one big puzzle