Even the counterfeit designer clothing that Lucky hawks in "Prince of Broadway" metaphorically represents this: the contrived image of wealth and abundance that these characters are trying to WILL into reality.

Alexandra's vocal performance in the bar in "Tangerine". Mikey's belief in his imminent big comeback in "Red Rocket". Jane buying two tickets to Paris in "Starlet".

For many characters in Baker's films, the fantasy is an image in which they transcend the struggle of their lives, wherein poverty and social stigma have forced them to build visions of themselves beyond the demeaning and disrespectful gaze of society writ large.

But, as we see in the most recent episode of Pluribus, a radical do-no-harm philosophy can also come all the way back around to self destruction.

I haven't seen Better Call Saul yet, but if Breaking Bad is anything to go by, Gilligan is interested in flawed, self-aggrandizing characters that get lost in the sauce of their own egoism, to self-destructive results.

Which unfortunately might be the final word on humanity's inherent selfishness and solipsism.

The show forces us to empathize with Carol's grief and frustration, however irascible and prickly she might be. And for a Western audience primed on those values, the uncomfortable realization might be "no cost is too great".

Ultimately this show asks the salient question: what cost is too great to salvage our identities?

That she's a lesbian, who has had to grapple with attempts to rob her of her innate self and identity before, further complicates and enriches this portrayal.

She's a great character because she can be both of these things - a nuanced portrayal of an uncompromising woman in crisis, and a representation of sociocultural flaws - and more.

But we can also understand her as an incisive critique of the Western overemphasis on individualism and individual identity over all else - including what we might on our better days acknowledge as some of the human race's most cherished ideals - peace, equanimity, a livable planet.

Many of these posts are rooted in misogyny; Carol embodies plenty of traits misogynists hate to see in women: confidence, assertiveness, a willingness to discomfit and be disliked, to name a few.

Ballet is a perfect metaphor for the intensely female experience of making a titanic effort in service of the illusion of effortlessness.