Will character essay

[veronica_rich]

A couple of months ago, I volunteered to write an essay for idol_reflection, a community dedicated to individual characters of fandom (sort of the way ship_manifesto is to romantic relationships). It encompasses all sorts of fandoms, including POTC.

I thought it might take a lot of time and be too much like work, especially since I found out I had a new job in another state I had to move to, shortly after signing up, but I only missed the deadline by two hours - and technically, on the West Coast, I'm early *G*.

My character was Will Turner. I notice a few other major characters have been "claimed" for essays, and there's one already posted about Norrington by the_stowaway (if not other essays by now, too), but I encourage anyone with a favorite in POTC or any other fandom to check out the master list through the community's userinfo page, if you'd like to write something. You may be surprised - I was, to find that Will was still available when I surfed over via penknife's journal back in January. And there are LOTS of essays already posted I'm sure you'd enjoy reading besides mine.

Comments

[moonanddogstar.livejournal.com]

Nice essay V_R! I think you've done a good job of explaining the character and highlighting the way he has grown throughout the movies. I'm always perplexed by people who say that he's boring when he's had such a strong character arc. I was a little surprised by this sentence though:
It is largely agreed he changed the least in DMC of the major characters, though he did develop and grow.
Has this been discussed a lot? *clearly lives in a cave* :D
What examples are given as evidence for the other characters' greater growth? Do you agree with them?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

The general consensus I run into (and, frankly, agree with) in LJ discussions about the characters is that Will has deviated the least from his basic core character values. Yes, he's no longer automatically "ARGH! Pirate! Kill it!" as he was when he met Jack, but his main focus seems to always be on rescuing someone any way required of him. He also displays a sense of honor and responsibility that doesn't waver between both movies.

Now I'll tell you what I think. Jack went from a good man who had his moments of selfish-bastardness in CotBP, to a selfish bastard who does one good thing at the end of DMC. There were a couple of occasions in CotBP where he does something to help someone else, that either doesn't immediately dovetail with his own plans or that he could've ignored altogether in favor of immediately recapturing his ship. Elizabeth went from a good, loyal friend of Will's and a levelheaded woman in her own right in CotBP, to a scatterbrained mess in DMC who couldn't seem to think outside her clitoris and who she could put against it. And poor Norrington - don't even get me started on his changes. I'm not sure you can say these three characters grew a lot; they did change. Growth would seem to indicate something positive, and I didn't feel these three characters' changes were terribly positive. Maybe they'll END up being positive in AWE, I don't know.

I'm always perplexed by people who say that he's boring when he's had such a strong character arc

It's because Orlando is excessively pretty and young, and you can't have those things AND talent. It would implode the universe, apparently! *G*

[moonanddogstar.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I see! Yes, I agree, in terms of core values Will has stayed the same. I was looking at Will from a different angle - how much he learnt, the way he became a leader of men when fighting against the kraken etc. I didn't see the same kind of 'growth' in the other characters but as you say they did change! I'm not even going to talk about what they did to Elizabeth except to say that I liked CotBP!Elizabeth and her actions at the end of DMC seemed completely OOC to me.

I'm dreading AWE in some ways. I fear the writers will assassinate Will's character too. The screencaps are looking gorgeous though. Excessively pretty is right! :D