|
Post by Glorfindel on Jan 4, 2008 23:21:41 GMT -5
TOO MANY....AHARG! Heh heh. Joking. I will have to read this later. A very long day. I have to crash and maybe tomorrow I'll get through the novelette and post a response...maybe.
Peace be still,
G.
|
|
|
Post by Glorfindel on Jan 8, 2008 15:14:04 GMT -5
Okay, I got the point of the fire of Feanor and that he was sho'nuf a bad hat. I just want him "smarter" as you alluded to. But you know that there are different types of fire. Yes, there are some that burn high and bright while others are low and smoldering. I take the latter to describe Feanor. I have been around my share of know-it-alls and greater than thou types. Again, there is a variety in those as well. Some are loud mouth braggarts and some won't even speak to you because you are not worthy enough. I think that Feanor would not speak to his half-brother more that constantly beating them down with words. I would think that on occasion, he would strategically blast them with verbal skill and be done with them for a while.
Now, if you remember, when Melkor was at the door of Feanor, it was said that only after Melkor mentioned the silmarils did Feanor move beyond his tentativeness and blast him with the "Jail Crow" comment. So I cling to the fact that he would need a "trigger" to set him off and not just start shooting off at the mouth as a normal everyday thing.
|
|
|
Post by tamitha on Jan 8, 2008 15:36:08 GMT -5
Hmmm....... I repeat is there a director in the house?!
I'm not sure how to get beyond this impasse. hS and I see him as the loud-mouth braggart type, you see him as a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and then, only when provoked.
The only fair thing I can see is to continue to wait while we observe your version of the script and see where it leads. Surely we can find a way to meet in the middle.
|
|
|
Post by Glorfindel on Jan 8, 2008 16:24:57 GMT -5
I mean who follows a loud mouth? Honestly? After one or two thousand years of Feanor spouting off every chance he gets, the other noldor would be,"Girl, you know how he is Nerdanel; just be quiet and he'll run out of hot air". The thing I'm trying so hard to say is that a "fiery spirit" can be displayed in other ways and doesn't necessarily need to be only shown through verbal communication. My football coach was a "Feanor" back in school. He would give passionate, motivating speeches, but a lot of the time he was in his own thoughts creating plays and figuring out substitutions. He would sometimes get so mad that you could "feel" it through his eyes! He had a line about being aggressive. He would say "you need controlled rage". My take is that Feanor, like the furnace that he smithed in, had this controlled rage until the silmarils waned his vigilance and his fathers death cracked the furnace spilling out the fire to burn all that were around him. Oh well. I will be happy with a middle of the road approach though.
|
|
|
Post by tamitha on Jan 8, 2008 19:15:44 GMT -5
According to text "Nerdanel also was firm of will, but more patient than Feanor, desiring to understand minds rather than master them, and at first she restrained him when the fire of his heart grew too hot; but his later deeds grieved her, and they became estranged."
This screams abusive husband, that for awhile, in the beginning, he loved her enough to listen to her and she was able to do something with him, but as time went on he became worse and worse until she had no choice but to leave. Also the part about her being more patient and understanding, but Feanor wanted to master people. Very controlling, demanding, domineering and he was obviously violent. He didn't just wake up one day, in the heat of the moment and pull a sword on his brother. Violence usually escalates, it starts out verbal, progresses to emotional, becomes minor violent acts that eventually lead to extreme violence, possibly even murder. Feanor was constantly pushing the limits, trying to see how far he could go until eventually he did commit murder.
People do follow loud mouths, they followed Napoleon and Hitler.
The text says that at great feasts Feanor would wear the Silmarils blazing on his brow, while at all other times they were locked away. This also screams braggart.
It also says that Feanor began to speak openly words of rebellion against the Valar, crying aloud that he would depart from Valinor back to the world without, and would deliver the Noldor from thraldom, if they would follow him. This sounds like some 1960's Civil Rights mob outside of a school in Alabama fighting against desegregation. Feanor was instigating riots on a regular basis. The text says that "Few ever changed his course by counsel, none by force." It also says prior to that, speaking in regard to Finwe and Feanor after the death of Miriel "All his love he gave thereafter to his son....."
It sounds to me like Feanor was a spoiled brat whose Daddy gave him everything he ever wanted out of guilt and because he felt sorry for him for losing his mother. Feanor learned to throw temper fits and Daddy would give in to him. He made it a life long habit to throw temper fits to get what he wanted.
Also he most definitely was not full of hot air and Nerdanel, including everyone else well knew this. They all knew he would make good on his threats.
In fact, Melkor is the one who fits your description of Feanor. Melkor was full of rage and hate, but he was so smart, so subtle and so quiet about what he was doing, that in spite of him being the root cause, Feanor was so loud and so noisy that the Valar thought he was the root cause until at the Council Feanor pointed to Melkor as the reason for his outcries.
Melkor had controlled rage. He was very patient and willing to wait and slowly stoke the uncontrolled fire in others. He was in control so much that he could even pretend to like people he hated and do it so well that they really believed that he liked them and that is some trick to pull off. You really have to have you emotions under control so you don't slip up and let your real feelings show though. By the time he got ratted out it was far too late, he'd grown in strength and the damage was already done. A wolf in sheeps clothing, quietly plotting and planning, but could kill you with a look, and when the timing was perfect explode. I think your coach was a "Melkor."
|
|
|
Post by hiddenvalor on May 5, 2008 22:34:43 GMT -5
I just want to throw in a little of my two cents. Reading the phrase, "loud-mouthed braggart," makes me think of that proverbial annoying and obnoxious person--that does tend to talk very loudly-- that no body wants to be around, especially after reading tamitha's bit about Feanor throwing temper tantrums. I used to throw tantrums when I was a kid, but I hardly think a mature Noldo would jump up and down and scream like a toddler. Maybe he would throw out a long-winded and impassioned spiel like Lorelei and Rory would on Gilmore Girls.
I dunno...I kinda have the idea that the audience should at least like Feanor a little bit before it all goes to hades--making him utterly obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious would make me dislike him from the get-go instead of feeling sorry or at least confused about him by the end (no reference to either version of the script, just my thoughts in general).
So, he's got a bad temper. It could be that Nerdanel used to be able to help him control it so that he bottled-up his outbursts instead of voicing them, but as the film progresses, we could see his control steadily deteriorating, especially because of his family situation, until he completely loses it and decides to leave--the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.
Well, I tried to provide some kind of solution to this impasse, so take it as you will.
HiddenValor
|
|
|
Post by Glorfindel on May 9, 2008 9:43:41 GMT -5
It all boils down to this, who is the main character and or protagonist in first script? For me, it has to be Feanor and you have to like him or at least understand his warped outlook. He has to be a little Anakin Skywalker, Captain Jack Sparrow, and King Leonidas at the same time. At least that is my characterization of him.
|
|