EEEEEEEEEEVIL + Day 11
I've been pondering fantastic!evil for awhile, and finally collected my meandering thoughts together in a ... um, essay may be putting it strongly, but at least a post. I mostly just ended up confusing myself, but here it is.
The One Ring and the Dark Side (aka, the Problem of Evil)
( evil thoughts... )
The One Ring and the Dark Side (aka, the Problem of Evil)
( evil thoughts... )
Comments 20
Re: Turin - I think the point of him being cursed is that same kinda guy could have pulled off every stunt Turin failed. He is larger than life heroic (self-possessed, annoying, etc. but who isn't?), but unlucky.
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I'm guessing that it invokes the literal demons of cultural tradition and the present demon of DRUGS -- so it does resonate. But the diminished culpability can make it a bit confusing.
I don't know about Túrin, really. I mean, I guess I see a lot of things that happen as the consequence of what he himself did or failed to do. The curse makes it all worse, but ... I don't know.
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And secondly, I love this meta, and agree with every word. I never thought before about comparing Sméagol with Anakin, but now I've got the urge to ;) And I've always thought that the true power of the One Ring is shown most completely in its destruction, which is why the Return of the King movie annoys me SO MUCH when Frodo gets back up and goes after the Ring. NO. NO. ACCIDENT ALONE can destroy the Ring. Not a petty squabble over its ownership.
So: if Luke strikes down an Evil Overlord who can shoot lightning from his fingertips, he's doomed to everlasting darkness or whatever. If Han Solo shoots some asshole in the face, he's ... Han Solo. Luke -- no matter how pure he seems -- is inherently vulnerable to this thing in ways that Han never will be, because he is Force-sensitive and Han is not.ALthough you could also posit a theory that Han's story is the ( ... )
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I love this meta, and agree with every word.
Awesome.
I never thought before about comparing Sméagol with Anakin, but now I've got the urge to ;)
That would be pretty much the coolest thing ever. In terms of character, I think Anakin has more in common with Boromir -- or, OT-wise, maybe even dark!Gandalf -- but in a structural sense, redeemed!Sméagol would be ... very similar. There's an essay from the 80s, I think, that argues that Anakin is the protagonist of the trilogy, and it was -- I mean, I hadn't thought of it that way, but it made so much sense.
NO. NO. ACCIDENT ALONE can destroy the Ring. Not a petty squabble over its ownership.
Exactly! *flails some more*
ALthough you could also posit a theory that Han's story is the same as Vader's, and his redemption happens in a garbage chute. Vader killing Palpatine = Han coming back at Yavin.You could, but -- honestly, I think it'd be stretching things. Han's arc in ANH is certainly a redemption plot of sorts, but I don't think there's any ( ... )
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Especially in terms of what you mentioned about Tolkien's belief that redeemed!Sméagol would have (attempted to) destroy the Ring - Vader, after all, is just as likely to have saved Luke in order to gain an apprentice and have an excuse for finally getting rid of the crazy old buzzard running the Empire.
NO. NO. ACCIDENT ALONE can destroy the Ring. Not a petty squabble over its ownership.
Exactly! *flails some more*
I swear every time I watch that movie I find more fail in it. I still enjoy the first two but Return of the King just keeps on Missing The Point.
Han's arc in ANH is certainly a redemption plot of sorts, but I don't think there's any indication that Han is in any way 'fallen' or that the murder of Greedo affects him at all. (It's not even clear that it's the wrong thing to do, given the circumstances.)That's a really good point. *nods* I guess the theory is mostly born out of my belief that Han - in his more sentimental moments - kind of thinks of ( ... )
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Um. Do you mean that this is just as likely to be his motivation (he never turned from the Dark Side at all!), or that it could have been his motivation/interpreted as his motivation if he hadn't given his life to do it? Or simply that turning from the Dark Side =/= saving Luke, since he easily could have done it without turning?
But yes, the parallels would be very close. Sméagol breaking free of the Ring's influence = Anakin breaking free of the Dark Side's grip on him; Sméagol consciously choosing to give his life to destroy the Ring = Anakin consciously deciding to give his life to destroy the Emperor. Even the motivations could arguably parallel -- loyalty (Sméagol would be saving Frodo, who he loves; same for Anakin) and principle (saving Middle-earth/the galaxy by destroying an embodiment of purest evil).
I swear every time I watch that movie I ( ... )
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