What grabs our attention more than things we’re not supposed to do, see, know or become?
That is a point Alex Hirsch and his extraordinary team of artists and designers behind Gravity Falls explore in the latest expansion of the universe with the unprecedented new Book of Bill. A self described dark, twisted, zany and demented biography of the equally so villain of the series, Bill Cipher. Now, to explain the “plot”, if that’s even the applicable term, would be to take an absurd amount of time with an absurd explanation that would make me sound as absurd as, if not more so, the psychopath Bill himself. So instead, let’s focus on what the book attempts to do.
Essentially, the book is a “cursed” book that is an attempt for the titular Bill to make a deal with the reader, stealing the reader’s blood, free will and ultimately their own soul. Along the way, he distracts the reader with a half true and heavily edited history of himself and his philosophies. The sadistic triangle even issues several “challenges” and quandaries that tempts and attempts to “control”.readers along the way. Refuse to tear up a one dollar bill? You must be under Bill’s control! Continue reading despite the fact that doing so causes a character to die? You must be as sadistic as Bill himself! Have a frail, fragile human body? You obviously must be so angry about this! According to Bill, why should we care when the universe doesn’t? Nothing is real, anyway apparently, so why not just let the Triangle Tyrant take us on a joy ride?
However, there are frequent interludes from the main characters of the show, especially Stanford Pines, showing their side of the story about Bill. Eventually, what the book comes down to is not a debate on right versus wrong or good versus evil, but rather the attention we give each. The heroes stop trying to make us stop reading, but to focus on thinking outside the text. “You can’t kill an idea,” says Stanford, “but you can think of a better one.” We are so often told polarizing information in order for us to react or respond in a certain way before we can consider the information itself. Readers are often told that what they read is twisted, slanted or cursed before they even look at the cover. Words are either gospel truths or complete falsehoods with no exceptions made for either case. That is why we doomscroll or hardly read at all. We have a mad notion that every word we read is fixed in some way.
That could qnot be further from the truth. Even if it is, there is no reason to ignore a truth just because we don’t understand it or consider it as truth. There is as much to read into the good of the world as there is the evil. There are even things to be learned from what we consider evil in order to improve the good. For example, Bill’s main problem is that he trusts no one while convincing you to trust him. If we just take that at face value, we see a hypocrite. If we take the time to unpack the idea, we might be able to come to the conclusion that trusting the people we love and care about is not always a weakness, but the greatest strength and courage we have. Villains will always live because we live in a world where we support them and that will always be the case because we cannot and will not be able to escape the truth we find in them. Readers can deny the existence of the demons they can’t handle, or they can accept the demons, read what they say and think beyond.
Thinking critically is one of the greatest strengths humanity possesses. By using this logic, The Book of Bill becomes so much more than a scary book and becomes a crazy, creative look at what we lose when we simply agree with the eyes deep inside our heads.
**In case this description isn’t clear enough on how dark the book is, I would like to reiterate what it says right on the cover and recommend you don’t share this book with younger children, perhaps 9-10 year olds at the earliest. As disturbingly fun as this book may be, some of the stuff is genuinely off-putting and the illustrations certainly make it twice as bad. The full strength of Bill’s madness is not for the faint of heart, and is frankly a testament for diehard Gravity Falls fans who are growing up and therefore can possibly handle it a little bit better. At least read it with your kids if they’re uncomfortable or scared. It might sound counterintuitive to what I just said, but don’t traumatize someone either. There’s a difference between censorship and waiting for maturity.
Calm and Cultured 