My Favorite Part of "Parzival" (Or 'Why It Should Be Adapted By Hollywood')
I’m not sure if Hollywood has ever made a film or TV adaptation of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s “Parzival,” an epic written during the Middle Ages about Parsifal, one of the Knights of the Round Table. And based on what I’m about to say about it, plenty of people will probably say that Hollywood shouldn’t, because they’d botch it up. But I think that if Hollywood were to do it right, if they did try to be as faithful to the epic as possible, then it could be really awesome.
Because while the entire epic is great and interesting, the part that always fascinated me the most was when the hero, Parsifal, met his half-brother, Feirefiz. For a little background, their father, Gahmuret, was a European knight who married Belacane, the queen of the fictional Afro-Arabian land of Zazamanc while on one of his adventures. Unfortunately for his wife, Gahmuret ditched her while she was pregnant because he was one of those people who can never settle down. He traveled back to Europe and married Queen Herzeloyde and left her as well to go on another adventure. Happily, (at least for me), he was killed by a traitor on the way. So, the brothers were completely unaware of each other’s existence until they grew up.
Now, with just that set-up right there, plus the knowledge that this was written in the Middle Ages, what do you expect to happen? You have the hero that the epic is named after, who’s a stalwart European Christian knight, and then you have the biracial Muslim prince who (either because Eisenbach had no idea what mixed-race people looked like or Feirefiz is supposed to have vitiligo) is literally black and white, that is, his skin has black and white patches. Both of them grew up without a father due to his own irresponsibility, selfishness, and recklessness, and both of their mothers were wronged by him (in the case of Feirefiz’s mother, because Gahmuret abandoned her, and in the case of Parsifal’s mother, it’s because Gahmuret never told her that he was already married and thus made her an unknowing victim of bigamy). Eventually, Feirefiz, determined to avenge his mother and himself, traveled to Europe in order to confront his father. So, it’s inevitable that the two brothers will meet.
So, in terms of how their meeting will go, I’m going to list the following scenarios that I would’ve expected:
1. Ignorant of each other’s identity, Parsifal and Feirefiz battle. Parsifal kills Feirefiz and then finds out that Feirefiz is his brother.
2. Ignorant of each other’s identity, Parsifal and Feirefiz battle. At some point, they find out each other’s real identities. Parsifal is horrified and ashamed that his brother is a biracial Muslim heathen and immediately renounces all ties to him.
3. Ignorant of each other’s identity, Parsifal and Feirefiz battle. At some point, they find out each other’s real identities. When Feirefiz finds out that the object of his vengeance is safely dead, he decides to take his rage out on Parsifal and kill him instead, since Parsifal is the next closest thing to their father.
4. Ignorant of each other’s identity, Parsifal and Feirefiz battle. Parsifal defeats Feirefiz, and Feirefiz swears revenge on the heathen Christian dog who defeated him. It’s not until the end, after a long series of attempts by Feirefiz to obstruct Parsifal, that they find out that they’re related.
5. Ignorant of each other’s identity, Parsifal and Feirefiz battle. Feirefiz defeats Parsifal, and Parsifal spends the rest of the story training to become the best so that he can finally defeat Feirefiz, which he does.
But guess what? None of that happens.
Parsifal and Feirefiz do challenge each other to combat, yes. They fight and Parsifal almost defeats Feirefiz, but Feirefiz wins at the last minute when Parsifal's sword breaks. Exhausted, Parsifal acknowledges his opponent’s victory, but Feirefiz is gracious enough to end the duel and tell Parsifal that he would've won if his sword hadn't broken. Eventually, Parsifal reveals that he’s looking for his brother and that Gahmuret is dead. Feirefiz expresses dismay that he can no longer achieve his vengeance, but the two remove their helmets and reveal themselves.
And then the wonderful thing happens. The moment that completely subverts each and every expectation that was on my list.
Parsifal and Feirefiz immediately hug each other and tell each other how happy they are to have found each other.
No, I’m serious. There’s no “sins of the father” misunderstanding nonsense. There’s no stupid, contrived revenge plot where you’re screaming at the character, “Why are you blaming him for something your dad did, he had nothing to do with it!” There’s no disgust or disappointment or anger from either of them. Basically, the entire scene can be summed up like this:
Parsifal: OMG, you’re my brother!
Feirefiz: OMG, you’re my brother!
Parsifal: OMG, you are so awesome, I am totally going to address you by the polite form of “you” (vous)!
Feirefiz: Aww, you don’t have to do that. We’re equals, bro, you can totally call me by the informal form of “you” (tu)!
Parsifal: No, I’m going to address you by “vous” because you are so much cooler than me and it’s my country’s tradition to call your superiors “vous,” which you totally are!
Both: Forget the daddy issues! Let’s be BFFs for life!
In fact, I’m wondering if there is any way to rhyme ‘bros’ with any term for father, because that is basically what happens in this scene. “Bros before Papa Joes?” Or, since Gahmuret was never really a father to either of them, “bros before jack-holes?”
Seriously, I was reading this scene and all I can think of was how amazing it was. I mean, is this really what anybody would expect would happen? Wouldn’t anybody expect the two of them to become enemies because of their different religions, races, or the fact that their father was an unfaithful heel? But they don’t. After this moment, they become best friends and companions, and it’s adorable and amazing.
But wait, it gets better. Remember how one of my assumptions on that list would be that Feirefiz defeats Parsifal, but that, as a result, Parsifal would train really hard to eventually defeat him at the end?
Yeah, that never happens. Feirefiz and Parsifal never become rivals or enemies or even competitors. So, Parsifal never challenges him again. They never fight again. So that means that Eschenbach wrote a story in which the Muslim, biracial foreigner beat the noble white Christian knight…and that’s it. There’s no rematch. Feirefiz isn’t there as a powerful obstacle for Parsifal to eventually defeat and by which prove his superiority and mastery at the end (for example, the way that some people have theorized that the power of the Amazons was intended to make the triumph of their enemies, the Greeks, all the more glorious, etc.). He beats Parsifal and that’s it. Parsifal doesn’t whine about how that ugly, heathen Moor beat him. Neither of them cares.
So, Feirefiz rides back with Parsifal to King Arthur’s court where everybody is naturally surprised by the appearance of Feirefiz. But, again, instead of being ashamed or embarrassed, Parsifal happily introduces him to them as his brother. And the court welcomes him. In fact, despite Feirfeiz’s appearance, he becomes quite popular with the ladies at court (I guess they find looking like a magpie attractive?). And when Parsifal realizes that he needs to return to his quest, Feirefiz eagerly volunteers to go with him. Along the way, they stop at Parsifal’s house, where Parsifal introduces Feirefiz to his wife, Condwiramurs. Unfortunately, Parsifal’s kids scream and run away when they see Feirfeiz, but Feirefiz good-naturedly laughs it off.
It’s only when they reach the Holy Grail that things begin to get a little iffy. Parsifal, as a devout Christian, can see the Holy Grail. But Feirefiz, since he’s Muslim, cannot. The only way that he can reach the Holy Grail is if he converts to Christianity. He does so, not just to see the Holy Grail, but also because the Grail maiden (Repanse de Schoye, who will eventually become his wife) catches his eye. Now, I know that this may come across as discriminatory or anti-Muslim (in fact, it’s similar to the idea of Tash vs. Aslan in C.S. Lewis’s “The Last Battle”). But, to play devil’s advocate, let’s look at it through Eschenbach’s point of view or, perhaps, through the point of view of a devout Christian. Let’s say that this Christian has no problem with Muslims, has Muslim friends, believes that they are just as worthy of God’s grace and love as Christians are, and believes that they should be free to practice their faith in peace without fear of persecution.
No matter how well the person may think of Muslims, there comes a point where that person has to admit, “The reason that I’m a Christian and not a Muslim is because I think that my religion holds the truth of God’s plan and theirs doesn’t. They believe that their faith is the right one, but I believe that mine is.” Because if both Christianity and Islam are completely right about everything, then why is that person only a Christian instead of a Muslim and a Christian?
Unlike many of his peers, Eschenbach presents Feirefiz as a human being, instead of just a crude stereotype of a Muslim or Moor. He doesn’t argue that Feirefiz is fatally flawed as a person because he’s Muslim. But since Eschenbach is a Christian - and living in the Middle Ages, no less - it’s no surprise that he believes that Feirefiz’s religion is what’s holding him back. Or not holding him back, perhaps, but not providing the same kind of joy and transcendence that Christianity would.
And yes, I know how this attitude still may seem patronizing and self-righteous (“My religion is better than your religion! You’ll only be truly happy if you change your faith to match mine!”) and how the moral message would be better if Feirefiz was able to see the Holy Grail and marry Repanse while remaining a Muslim.
But here’s another point to consider. Suppose that this story was written by a devout Muslim during the Middle Ages. Suppose that the roles were reversed: that Feirefiz was the protagonist and that Parsifal was his long-lost elder Christian brother who, despite being Christian, was nonetheless treated sympathetically. Suppose that instead of the quest revolving around the search for the Holy Grail, it revolved around a pilgrimage to Mecca. Would it really be a surprise if, in that story, Parsifal - no matter how nobly he was portrayed - was unable to see the Dome of the Rock or another holy Muslim relic because he was Christian? And that the only way that he could share in the same experience as his brother would be if he converted to Islam? (Whether he also converted to Islam because he fell in love with a Muslim woman is anyone’s guess).
I wouldn’t be surprised. And, quite frankly, I wouldn’t see it as any more or less offensive than what happens in “Parsifal,” because it’s basically the same thing. So, yes, I can see why people might find the ending of “Parsifal” problematic because of the conversion, but I don’t think that it’s as bad as they may find it.
So, yes, Feirefiz converts to Christianity, Parsifal - having achieved spiritual victory by attaining the Grail - finally feels comfortable addressing Feirefiz by the informal “du” since he feels that he is now truly Feirefiz’s equal, and the epilogue (or what’s basically the epilogue) reveals that Feirefiz marries the Grail maiden and return to his lands in the East after celebrating Parsifal's coronation as the Grail King. Parsifal reunites with his wife and family and basically everybody lives happily ever after. Hooray!
So, if Hollywood ever did make a faithful adaptation of this story, it would contest a number of assumptions. First, it would contest the idea that every Christian in the Middle Ages thought that Muslims were lower than dirt. Correspondingly, it would contest the idea that everybody in a historical film should be as loathsome and racist as possible because of the oh-so magnificent claim, “That’s the way it was back then!” Second, if anybody were to protest that Parsifal and Feirefiz’s reaction to each other is too sappy and unrealistic and “PC,” just point them to the source material.
Third of all - and this may be an unpopular opinion, especially on Tumblr - the existence of Feirefiz does prove that medieval Europeans did come into contact with Muslims and non-Europeans, true. But it also proves that you don’t have to shoehorn black actors into a movie about Europe if there are already characters like that. Not as many as European roles, true, but is anybody really expecting there to be many roles for white actors in Chinese historical films? You don’t have to cast a black actor as Lancelot just to feature a black man in a movie or TV show set in medieval Europe or a fantasy world based on medieval Europe (and thus create the tiresome circle of hypocrisy, name-calling, and race-baiting that usually ensues as a result). Just make a movie (or petition Hollywood to make a movie) about Parsifal and Feirefiz! You could cast a black actor, a mixed-race actor, or - and this would be really great - an actor who actually has vitiligo. Nobody could accuse you of race-bending the character or pandering to SJWs, etc., because the character as originally written is biracial.
So, yes, I think that if Hollywood did it right, the tale of “Parsifal” (or even just the part about Parsifal and his brother) could make for a great movie.