Thoughts On Forging

[fae_boleyn]

OK, so, I've tackled Arthur's job as the point man (here:  fae-boleyn.livejournal.com/14015.html), now I want to turn my attention to Eames' job as a forger. I don't think I have as much to say about this one, mostly because I was also trying to counter what seems to be some accepted fanon that really annoys me in the Arthur/point man meta. This one

Comments

[fae_boleyn]

I think you're right, and good question about thief/forger. I hadn't thought of that.

I'm not an actor, I'm a journalism major who took an acting class, but that was one of the things I left the class with. You have to get into the character's head, but you also have to remember your lines, what side of the stage you enter in, etc.

He is the most comfortable, and forgery may well have something to do with that. Admittedly, his shift from the Blonde to himself in front of Saito was in the privacy of the elevator and the gun thing was after the projections had already gone haywire so any extra tension would have gone unnoticed.

[fae_boleyn]

I had a good professor. Also, I quite liked it. Not sure how good I was at it - I'm a writer at heart - but I enjoyed it. :)

This is true, though Ariadne was in public and conceivably some of what she did would have been visible. But still, fair point.

[darkhavens]

A forger probably has to know himself or herself better than most people ever do, simply because they need to be secure and anchored in their own identity to keep from losing it. I genuinely think there have been forgers who began to believe their own acts, and if someone didn't catch it, they probably lost their minds. This! Exactly this. I've been throwing thinky thoughts like this at my latest convert to Inception. The fics where the 'craft' is all about believing yourself to be the person you're forging - it sounds so damn risky and bound to end in disaster

[fae_boleyn]

I need people to throw thinky thoughts at! :( Hence my being on my second meta, though I think this is it because I have no theories on the other jobs.

I created a character who was originally meant to start out as a forger, but she almost lost herself in her roles. The set-up was edited out because it was melodramatic, but I used the concept in the Eames section of a backstory series I did; he was actually the one who realized where the people who were losing it were going wrong. I thought it was fitting, since we know he ends up being the best at what he does. But that's where this started.

We know Eames reads Browning's character as well as picking up his physical presence. He makes that much clear when he talks about Browning.

I am impressed by your transcribing. And yes, Eames being analytical is hot. So is Arthur finding the various plan holes, but that's a different meta. ;)

I confess to being unfamiliar with that comm.

[ashoakandthorn]

This caught my interest, and I just wanted to throw in my two cents.

I don't think I've even seen Eames hold onto a forge longer than he absolutely has to.

[fae_boleyn]

Which, though I had not considered that part, would seem to support my theory that forgery is risky in terms of trying not to lose yourself.

[sid_vicious_03]

As an actor I find it the best way to become someone else or your character. Is actually believing you are that person, because the one true trick in acting, is really 'If you want the crowd to believe it, then you have to believe it yourself

[fae_boleyn]

I freely admit to not being an actor myself, so no need to apologize for the rant. It probably depends on the person and their mindset. Also, I learned something from your comment; I have an academic mindset so this is always a good thing.

I do think a forger can never entirely become the forge for psychological reasons, but you make a very good point. I like the reflection bit, I had assumed that was a side effect of forging and not something deliberate, but it's a fascinating idea.

[sid_vicious_03]

Depends a lot on ones mindset. While it actually happens that an actor still believes he/she is the character even after the play/movie. What more is common is the exhaustion that comes with it after words. Because suppressing ones own personality is an extremely hard thing to do and while you might not notice it while you're acting. But as soon as everything is over, you are as dead tired as someone who ran a marathon for 3 days straight.

So yeah, definitely depends on the person and the mindset. Some can do it, some can't. Just like about everything else in the world.

And very glad I made at least one good point in the rant XD

[bennet_7]

This is really interesting. I know you're not an A/A fan so you may not have read someinstant's Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed which contains a really interesting scene between Eames and Ariadne where he describes two kind of forgeries: "composites" that he's created himself and "copies" - real people.

I've always wondered if Eames is always performing, even in reality, as he hides his intelligence at times. I really want to read fic where he's more comfortable being other people than himself because he doesn't really know what his personality is anymore.

I definitely think that there are other forgers out there but that Eames is primarily known or works as an extractor/thief because Arthur doesn't immediately associate forgery with Eames when Cobb announces he's going to Mombasa.

[fae_boleyn]

Good to know I'm not alone in my way of thinking. :)

I'd say to some extent Eames is definitely always "on", that it's very hard to see the real him. It's something that comes up in A/E fics; I haven't really tackled it yet but probably will at some point.

I hadn't thought of that, the idea that Eames may not be primarily a forger, but I have read and written him as switching between extraction and forgery easily. Forgery is not always a necessary component of a job; an extractor is.

[lezzerlee]

I actually tried to explore the idea of Eames' not being comfortable in his own skin in my fiction. But it was on a darker level. Mine was based in self loathing more than losing oneself.

But I do like the idea. Eames to me seems guarded in a way, like he has a front. He puts on a show of confidence. And I wonder if it's the real him. He also is so fidgety that I get the sense he's always uncomfortable. He's always looking around even during conversations. It's either he's observing everything all the time, or he doesn't want to hold focus because it could reveal something true about himself to his audience.