Film Theory: The Broken Mind of Salad Fingers (Salad Fingers 11 Glass Brother)

That’s why he likes rusty spoons, he can’t see his reflection, so he can’t see Glass Brother.

MatPat: deep theory about self-hate and abuse Saladfingers: flesh-boy

So this may be a little late but the “hip bone” in the drawer is actually a cervical bone. Which is one of the bones in the upper spine or where the neck would be. Which makes sense based off of the anatomical size and relative shape. I’m not sure where this would go by way of theories but I thought it interesting to clarify here.

Well Matt, you were wrong about having to wait six years! Episode 12 comes out today in half an hour

6:13 Ahh yes, i remember when i was born and my parents called me "thunderthighs"

“My little flesh-boy” is the highest compliment now

He's my take: Jeremy got a young woman (probably the flirtatious persona) pregnant between the time he enlisted and the point he left to fight (flying out to find France) Once he realised, likely from a letter he received, he took leave (the letter about not coming to the front) in the hope that he could do right by her and marry her, perhaps he really did care for her. But when he got there her father was waiting, the reason he was so sure of Jeremy's intentions was because he had proof of them. Not wanting his daughter to marry Jeremy he killed him instead, possibly to prevent them running away if he simply said no. Thus leaving the soon to be mother to parent alone, likely disowned herself for what she did. When Salad was born his mother may have needed a C-section (Yvonne being born from Salad's stomach and the horse scene suggest this) Salad was fine but his mother, who was alone (the concerned 'mother' reassuring her was likely a midwife) developed some complication, maybe infection. Knowing she was seriously ill and possibly going to die she decided to give away her baby to Aunty Bainbridge, a woman who had just lost her own son Kenneth. Bainbridge took Salad in but she was still grieving, constantly comparing salad to the son she lost. The brother he never knew but was lead to believe was so much more a man than he was. Bainbridge and Kenneth are where the glass family comes from. They are Salad's inner self hate but manifested as the two people who lead him to believe he was less. The reason glass brother looks like Salad is likely a mix of hating his reflection and the fact he never met Kenneth. The 'real boy' symbolism and the fact that the baby Salad gave away could mean one of two things: either Salad was born baby Yvonne (or even Marjory when you consider the hair cutting) and Bainbridge, after losing her son decided this child could be her new little boy then when Salad grew she criticised him for not looking and acting like one. Or it could just be symbolism for him being less masculine than what was expected. Either way it's possible Hubert Cumberdale wasn't Salad's birth name, the radio insisting he get rid of his hair collection seems to imply Bainbridge wanted to erase his 'old family' from his life completely so he can be her property because that may be how she veiws children- As property. Which would also explain her willingness to shut down any form of self-expression because she needs full control.

TWO THINGS: 1.) I can’t help but think that glass mother and possibly father are actually his grandparents… saying that his dad ran away and his mom may have died in child birth SO his grandparents (who hate him not only because of racism but because he “killed” their daughter) are forced to raise him 2.) I LOVE how this series addresses trauma at the end with the book. As my therapist has told me, my trauma is in a little shoebox in the closet. Sometimes I take it out, look at it, understand what happened and how it affected me, but at the end of the day I can’t put it away.

can we talk about how the animation improved soooooo much...

Salad Fingers got over depression and we Stan character development

i love the theme of internalization in this series. everything salad fingers says to the puppets seems to be directly inspired by what his family has said to him, glass brother is literally the voice in his head telling him he's not good enough, glass mother is the trauma and past of abuse that he can't let go of, and the entire storyline of a child abuse survivor having a child of their own which causes them to start dealing with and healing from their own trauma is very popular and an amazing way to explore a character's psychological complexity.

I also really like the idea that Salad could be ending generational trauma - as though he’s noticed himself pushing his upbringing onto Fleshboy (shown by him being taken into the mirror world) and instead choosing to become the parent he always wanted to have. It could also give a bit of clarification to the last line of “wait til your father gets home” because Salad was born without a father, but knows he doesn’t have to wait for it anymore, because he’s a father and isn’t going anywhere.

me age 98 when salad fingers episode 30 comes out Welp, see y’all in 6 years.

Salad Fingers is the kind of show MADE for theories.

People can say Salad Fingers is creepy all they want, but his face after he creates Hubert into a real boy is so cute, his big eyes and smile are so adorable

Thank you, seriously, thank you. I have a pretty bad life. I have family issues, friend issues, and overall a bunch of mental illnesses that make it really difficult to just live. I have a tendency to just give up. I make other people's lives bad because I hate my own, and I completely give up on using those bad experiences to learn and grow as a person. But this video was very eye-opening for me. When I first saw this a few years ago, I was much less mature and didn't think about it much. But when I watched it today, I realized that I don't have to let my bad experiences control me or my life. That I can go through bad things and still be my own person. I can't even begin to tell you how much this has changed my mindset, and for that, I will forever be grateful. Thank you, so much. -Noah

Imagine Salad Fingers Father. If his mother is already so mean, imagine the father. Because when glass mother said “wait till your father comes home” this was indicating the the father may be more mean.

salad fingers appears in my recommendations Me: Aw shit here we go again.

The ending of this was so touching...I was kind of scared of Salad at first but now I'm genuinely rooting for him and can't wait to see what the next installment is going to be like.

I love the symbolism of that final bit of glass. In the world of fiction writing we call a character's fatal flaw, the thing holding them back from achieving their goals, the "shard of glass" since no matter what they're doing how or hard they try until they stop and address whatever bad memory or mistaken belief is causing them to make the wrong choices they won't be happy. Salad Fingers finally confronting his abusive childhood and self-hatred and putting away the, now tiny and far more manageable, glass shard is a much more uplifting and hopeful ending than the original episode 10 ending.