Posted on 2019-07-10 05:35:28
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Gorillaz' latest album, "The Now Now" (phase 5) had a lot of hypnosis imagery for some reason.

2D was constantly described as acting strange and different, as if in a trance- And one of their songs, "Tranz", has a very odd vibe to it, along with creepy, nightmare fuel type animation.

The interviews this phase had 2D acting almost like a different person; he was cocky and rude, and spoke sort of in riddles. The other band members talked about how weird he was acting, almost like he was behaving like Murdoc, the band's leader, who was currently in prison. 2D claimed himself as the new leader, and lots of theories were made about mind control and possession. I definitely recommend looking up these theories, and checking out phase 5 in general.

Hypnosis seemed to be an ongoing theme; all the visualisers for the new songs include some form of hypnotic swirl (you can watch all of them on Gorillaz' youtube) and 2D's behaviour in general seemed like he was under some kind of spell. Jamie Hewlett, the creator, posted a bunch of hypnosis refrences on his Instagram at the time, and some of the interviews with the band even talk about hypnosis and mind control.

Pretty interesting.

Posted on 2019-07-10 05:40:13
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(also because of all this, there was suddenly an abundance of Gorillaz fanart involving hypnosis- yay!)

Posted on 2019-07-10 05:43:45
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I thought the "acting weird" was due to being happy and having self-confidence. You know, due to Murdoc no longer being around to make his life a living Hell?

Posted on 2019-07-10 07:27:22
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Again, theories. I totally agree that 2D was more happy and confident because Murdoc wasn't around to abuse him.
But he still spoke strangely in interviews, like saying he could kill chickens by snapping his fingers, etc. He sort of seemed like he had a God complex or something lol. He wasn't JUST happy and confident; he was kind of an asshole. He was rude and dismissive to the others, and just didn't really seem like 2D, who's usually sweet and laid back, abused or not.

It could definitely just be a case of 2D trying to act more like Murdoc, or showing off how great he is without him. The whole point of The Now Now was 2D being conflicted and frustrated between being lonely and stressed, and carefree and independent. In Humility he's cheerful and having fun, but in Tranz he looks angry and miserable.
Anyway, none of it was confirmed. It's just interesting how much they referenced hypnosis. And like I said, even the other band members talked about how strange 2D was acting, it wasn't just the fans. Noodle even mentioned possession at one point.

In my opinion, I think the crew had a lot of ideas for a storyline with 2D, maybe mind control, maybe something else. They constantly referenced the fact that he seemed "off", and with all the visualisers and symbolism scattered around, I feel like they were planning something more than just "2D is happy because Murdoc is gone". But budget and time wise, they couldn't pull it off properly and just sort of gave up, and made Murdoc come back to do an ad for watches (Ace wasn't allowed to be in it due to copyright), basically stopping the storyline and presumably finishing the phase.

But who knows?

Posted on 2019-07-10 07:30:18
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Damn sorry for rambling lmao, it's just interesting I guess

Posted on 2019-07-10 11:00:29
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I always subscribed more to him being possesed since he was shown to have white eyes which usually indicates some type of possession in gorillaz. Especially since he's supposed to have a 8-ball fracture in both eyes so it is strange that his eyes are suddenly white.

Posted on 2019-07-10 13:53:17
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That'd be really cool, especially since Russel (who deals with ghost possession and has white eyes as well) trips 2D over in Humility, for seemingly no reason. It'd be a good way to show Russel sensing something and trying to get rid of it by tripping him (2D's eyes even turn back to black afterwards).
But I guess it wouldn't really make sense seeing as this isn't the first time 2D has had white eyes. They often went white when he was scared or excited. They were white a lot during Plastic Beach.
I guess we'll never know for sure.

Posted on 2019-07-10 15:49:44
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That would be the second time that has happened. Fans had to step in to make a video that finished the Plastic Beach arc.

Posted on 2019-07-10 21:22:03
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Eh