Brain movie cleaning

[veronica_rich]

(Ha! It'll be a short post!)

I actually was able to leave the APARTMENT today and like meet human beings and DO things. (Living in a small town and new place sucks monkey balls for meeting people who share your interests, especially when you're single, nearing 40, and not overly fond of everyone else's small children. I don't hate them; I think they're fine in measured doses, but as I've said many times before, I already put in my maternal time toward the younger sister, and that's quite enough for one lifetime.) I went to not one, but TWO movies, including AWE again because a co-worker and her daughter wanted to see it a second time before it leaves the local theater for good.

I had a thought about the arc of all three movies. It's been noted that Elizabeth seems to have the "kiss of death" - every man she kisses ends up dying. But someone else quite correctly pointed out recently that everyone who touches Will's sword seems to end up dead, as well. Not to mention, every ship Will sets foot upon ends up sinking at some point. I find myself wondering if it's NOT Elizabeth's fault at all - that perhaps Will transferred a "touch of death" by kissing her (since he is the first person she kisses in the movies) and she's been passing it on since. That maybe his "touch of destiny" has been infiltrating nearly every facet of his life since he was young (or even born?) and that touch is, in fact, Death itself? (Who knows, maybe this is the real reason Jack wasn't allowed to kiss Will in the final cut of the movie - because the filmmakers didn't need him dead again.) I'd be curious to know Elizabeth's track record before Will - surely he can't be the first man who kissed her romantically, at her age and social experience level. Even if the others were fairly chaste, they would qualify.

beldar, the_dark_snack, and I then went this evening to see "1408", which was very similar in many respects to "Secret Window," another Stephen King-adapted movie. It's a writer estranged from his wife, mostly over a dead child (there was the hint of a miscarriage or dead baby in "SW" prior to the affair and breakup), unable to write anything good any longer, seeking inspiration in cynicism and ending up in solitary circumstances, going crazy. Scary images, lots of navel-gazing masked as horror, but older!John Cusack manages to carry it off well.

Best line of the movie, spoken by the otherwise polite and well-mannered hotel manager played by Samuel L. "Cool" Jackson: "The room is fucking evil." I could watch Cusack and Jackson argue names out of the phone book for two hours, alone. And posh!Jackson with his suits and expensive little scotch tumbler is a joy.

Comments

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

surely he can't be the first man who kissed her romantically, at her age and social experience level. Even if the others were fairly chaste, they would qualify.

I don't know about that - Elizabeth in CoBP has always struck me as an eternal tomboy who has only recently "bloomed into womanhood" (::gags::). Aside from her non-interest in Norrington, I'm willing to bet she didn't have much interest in boys/men at all, at least the ones she was permitted to interact with socially (Will, obviously, is a different story - she must've fixated on him something fierce, but it's pretty clear they didn't kiss until CoBP).

Not that I would say no to a pre-movie kiss of death tale, mind ;) Or for a really morbid thought, perhaps she kissed her mother just before she died?
'

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Well, do keep in mind I'm sure there are plenty of times she's kissed Dad over the years. He did eventually die, but then again - he also handled the Sword o' Doom. Too, surely there are relatives she's had to kiss (hey! maybe that's why they left England! too many questions about the weird girl visiting just before relatives kicked off *G*).

she must've fixated on him something fierce

IF you're right about the tomboy thing, I could probably forgive Elizabeth for her behavior in DMC. However ... even in CotBP, she seems to know just a little too well how to (pretend to) cuddle up to get a guy to do what she wants. I'm betting she's had more than a week's experience at it, whaddayou think? ;-)

As far as fixating on Will, I would love to know what precisely caused this. Sure, there's the whole "pirate medallion" thing, but it's pretty clear she never follows up by questioning Will about his "pirate" experiences (else I'm pretty sure he would've figured out earlier what happened to his coin - he's a little thick, but he's not a stupid boy). And it's pretty obvious Will's behavior is not piratical up to the events of CotBP, or he wouldn't be stuck in a dead-end apprenticeship at age 20. So what precisely holds her interest for eight years? (I'd love to think it's his good looks, but he's just an average little boy, from what I could tell.)

[captsparrow4evr.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey, don't you remember your Disney relationship code? It's just like in "Beauty and the Beast" or "Lady and the Tramp"--love at first sight! I would even hazard the guess that she might have read a couple of pirate stories before she met Will but was absolutely obsessed with them after their first encounter, always putting Will into the main character. Probably part of the reason why she seemed so knowledgeable about Jack's reputation because she wanted Will to be a pirate just like him.

As for the coin thing, she was probably too embarrassed to admit to him that she'd taken it (even if she did fear for his safety, it was also a neat little souvenir from her little pirate-boy). If they only saw each other at church, say, she could easily have this huge fantasy built up about him while he was just living an ordinary life of hard work. On the Dauntless, she'd appeared to him like an angel so he would idolize her but obviously they had little contact socially--no matter what some fan-fic writers would have you believe.

As for Will's apprenticeship being dead-end, I would have to disagree. Most boys were bound into apprenticeship at 14 years (or a little younger) for seven years. Will would become a journeyman at 21 (part of the reason that I think he's a year or three older than Elizabeth) which would keep him in the smithy until (IIRC) 3 local masters certified him as a master. How soon that would have happened is hard to say.

All in all, though, I think the whole idea of the kiss of doom, the incredible ship-sinking boy, and the sword of "destiny" would make a great fic. Now for somebody to write it.:)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Probably part of the reason why she seemed so knowledgeable about Jack's reputation because she wanted Will to be a pirate just like him.

That's all very good, but what someone wants from a partner at age 20 ought to differ somewhat from what they wanted at 12, shouldn't it?

"little pirate boy" - I love this phrase.

The problem with Will's job is that I'm not sure Brown would give him his freedom and certification at the proper time. It means he'd lose his main bread and butter, and that'd have to be a problem (I wonder, in fact, what happens to Brown after CotBP, especially through DMC. I'd also like to know what happens if Brown hears about Will as CotFD later on, what his reaction would be).

[jaydk.livejournal.com]

As far as Elizabeth's interest in Will -- it's a pretty small town, and Will and Elizabeth must have encountered one another fairly frequently if they have an on-going "Call me Miss Swann" thing going. I think the pirate medallion might have created Elizabeth's initial interest in Will, and obviously he's grown up pretty well too, but I think she must know something of who he is as well -- even her maid observes that Will is a fine man.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I've love to read a story where someone describes and explains young Elizabeth's fascination with young Will through their teenage years ...

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying she didn't learn how to flirt, I'm just saying it came later in (what we now call) adolescence, as opposed to girls of her age and social standing whose lives revolved around the dance of suitors and, er, dances :)

I think the reason she presumably never brought up the pirate thing with Will is implied in CoBP - "I was afraid you were a pirate...that would have been awful." Elizabeth may have her romantic ideals about pirates, but she knows what happens to them under the law. She likely wouldn't want to prompt Will into revealing anything incriminating. Although I also fully believe that she would've dropped hints which Will didn't pick up as a child.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

*pictures young Elizabeth playing charades with poor, clueless young Will*

Will: Um ... two syllables ... eating ... eating something. All right - pie?

Elizabeth: *nodding vigorously*

Will: What kind?

Elizabeth: *shaking head vigorously, making next gesture*

Will: Oh - hmm. What? Walking? You're walking ... an animal? A dog? A cat? You're making a face - whiskers? A bunny rabbit? Squirrel? Are you making fun of me? You know I don't like squirrels!

Elizabeth: *facepalm*

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

::cracks up:: TOTALLY IN CHARACTER.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yes, Will's irrational fear/hatred of squirrels is well-known at least among my readers and in my head ...