Mario's cartridge: Tennis and the Feral Prodigy (pp. 174–175)
Here is how to tie a bow tie. Here is how to sit through small openings of your father’s first art films, surrounded by surly foreign cigarette smoke and conversations so pretentious you literally cannot believe them, you’re sure you have misheard them. Pretend you’re engaged by the jagged angles and multiple exposures without pretending you have the slightest idea what’s going on. Assume your brother’s expression.
Context
JOI's early après-garde career from the child's seat: the openings, the pretentious festival talk, and the house style itself ("jagged angles and multiple exposures") — filmography-as-family-obligation, in a litany otherwise about ankle wraps and vomit drills. "Assume your brother's expression" makes Mario the one who authentically loves the films.