I had an awesome amazing FFVII dream last night...one that would leave me covering my face and giggling in the corner, and before you pervs start thinking your pervy thoughts, I'm a fangirl and it doesn't take much for me to cover my face and giggle in the corner. It's not surprising really though. I spent a good portion of the night posting FFVII memes and looking through my Pinterest boards. In less than a month I've discovered that as much of a fangirl as I am, I am nowhere NEAR as crazy as some of the people on the interwebs. I also read a few pages of my book on the Qabalah, which is all about the Tree of Life and Holy Sephiroth, etc. Besides the simple fact of I think about FFVII ALL THE TIME. It's the inspiration for my life and writing, and as such, it's always in my head to some degree. After I woke up I starting compiling a mental list of all the things I learned from that game, and realized I'd have to write this down before it was forgotten. I am almost positive that there will be more; my thoughts just haven't become cohesive around all of them yet.
1. Don't screw with the planet - Years ago before really bad shit happened I used to care a LOT about the environment, animal rights, etc. Then I stopped, then I played FFVII and holy shit I cared again. It was a revival/awakening in my brain. This stuff REALLY matters so today I am an avid and outspoken activist. I (attempt to) lay the verbal smackdown on people who deny global warming and I have a general disdain cum hatred of humanity. Honestly, playing FFVII when you hate humanity is a terrible idea. You want everyone to fucking burn. The thought of it just increases my loathing. Humans fuckiing suck and if some kind of cataclysm wiped us all out, I can't really say we didn't deserve it. There is no goddamn excuse for our terrible behavior, no saving grace for why we can't get our heads out of our asses. The information is there, but no one wants to face it or listen to it because it forces us to change out of our comfort zone, do something we don't want to do, be transformed by the truth...but the consequences of inaction or too dire and too terrible to conceive. However, the MUST be not only be conceived, but expected and anticipated, because there is no amount of denial or blindness that will make the inevitable go away. If the earth just decided to say "Fuck all of you, I'm done," I would not blame it for one instant.
2. Look below the surface; take nothing at face value - Things are rarely what they seem and seldom what you expect them to be. The dark tragedy of the game is that nearly everyone is a victim of greed and corruption perpetuated by fucking humanity. I studied psychology and literature in college and grad school and have always had an eye for the abstract, but FFVII really showed me you have to look beyond the seeming because things are rarely as straightforward as they appear, and there are so many hidden levels and nuances that play a role in all happenstance. Nor should you ever trust what people say without knowing the reason why they're saying it and knowing the source of their knowledge. It taught me to (literally) be the devil's advocate, to try to find a reason behind the terrible things that people do, because I truly think that only by understand how and why an individual arrives at a particular place will you ever be able to possibly stop terrible things from happening. Again, turning a blind eye is not going to aid us, and all of those saying they don't care why people do evil just that they do evil are hiding themselves from the truth. It's easy to say that someone is evil; it is much harder to say why they are. The general consensus is that they just are, but I find that unacceptable. FFVII made me not just accept the Word of God, but rather revel in the Death of the Author , because once a work has been released to the public, it is fair game, and nothing the creator really says/does can dissuade or dismiss what is there, even if they don't see it themselves (Yes...I as a writer am also subject to this. Quite an annoyance, but that doesn't make it any less true).
3. You reap what you sow - You cannot expect something good to come out of horror, corruption, and abuse. I have read stories that subvert this trope (Sword of Truth for example), but I find this to be generally miraculous and even so the character usually fights against some inner demon of darkness that was sown at their birth.
4. Mommy issues will really fuck you up - Again not something that I didn't already know, but holy wow microcosm/macrocosm since the creator of FFVII lost his mother in the midst of the game's production, and uh, that certain trickled down into the story. Nothing is conceived in a vacuum. I took a class called New Historicism that insisted upon this fact. In it we looked at works along side what era the author was writing in in addition to what their station in life/state of mind was at the time. It matters...it most certainly matters, and while the author may be dead at the stories entrance into the public discourse his or her environment at the inception and creation never ceases to resonate. All of the mommy issues. ALL OF THEM. But to be serious...this verified and validated that you can take something absolutely terrible and use it to make something influential, something amazing, something that will endure. A story that people are still talking about, still arguing about, still writing about, still fame warring about and still being inspired by after more than a decade and a half. In this world where websites and memes endure nearly as long as the life of a mayfly, that span of time is likened to eternity. Pain not only makes us all kin, but I have found no better inspiration or driving force for any making. The most beautiful songs are always the saddest and the most brooding part of Gothic culture rests on the notion that sad things can be beautiful. People who don't understand this always want the happy ending even when the sad or the bittersweet would be a far better fit.
Showing posts with label Essays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essays. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, December 28, 2012
Les Miserables - One act of kindness can change the entire world
Les Miserables...
Let me just start out by saying that I love redemption stories. Love, love LOVE them. My novel The Serpent's Tale is a redemption story. My short The Threads of Sorrow is a redemption story. The first fanfiction I wrote (aptly named) Forgiveness and Redemption is a redemption story. I LOVE REDEMPTION STORIES.
Les Miserables is the ultimate redemption story. The original novel was written by Victor Hugo in the 1860s. The story was adapted for the musical theatre and the musical was (finally) made into a movie in 2012. Les Mis is the story of Jean Valjean who is played phenomenally by Hugh Jackman. He is a man condemned to 19 years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister and child.
Valjean is called forth by Jarvert, a guard at the prison and granted parole. Javert, played by Russell Crowe, is Valjean's nemesis throughout the story. He is a man unmoved by feeling or sentiment. He lives his entire life for the law. The law is absolute and cannot be mocked. One is either law-abiding or a criminal. There is no in between. Once a person is a criminal they are always a criminal, and will never and can never be anything else.
Valjean initially believes he is free, but because he is a convict, his passport proclaims this throughout the land and he is treated as less than a dog the instant so-called freedom is achieved. He is unable to find work or even place to sleep without being driven off due to the condemning piece of paper he's required by law to show throughout the land. He finally finds himself sleeping in a doorway when he is invited in by the Bishop of Digne who in a nice twist of meta irony is played by Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean from the the musical. The bishop offers him food, fire, and friendship, treating him as a fellow human being and not a piece of dirt, but in the midst of the night Valjean awakens, robs the bishop of his silver and flees. He is caught and returned to the old man's house where he awaits the judgment that will condemn him to hard labor for the rest of his life, but it never falls. The bishop not only corroborates Valjean's story that the silver was gifted him, but also insists that he "left the best behind," and adds a set of silver candlesticks to the pot. He tells him that he has "bought his soul for God." It is this seemingly small act of kindness that changes Jean Valjean's life. He is a man torn between what he has known and what he could be. The past that haunts him and the future unknown. He realizes the path he was taken will only lead him back to prison and so he rips up his passport thereby breaking his parole, but this act ironically is what allows him to become an honest man.
Eight years or so pass and the story moves to Montfermeil where Jean Valjean has taken on the persona of Monsieur Madeleine, the mayor of the town. He owns a factory, which employs hundreds of workers, and because of his philanthropy and selflessness, the entire town has prospered. A young woman named Fantine, played amazingly by Anne Hathaway, works in the factory. Fantine is very beautiful, a fact which is not unnoticed by the lustful eyes of the foreman whom she has no interest in. Unfortunately for her, one of the other women gets a hold of a letter Fantine was writing to an innkeeper outside of town concerning her illegitimate daughter Cosette. A scuffle breaks out as Monsieur Madeleine enters, but before he can intervene he sees Javert who does not recognize who he really is, waiting to speak with whom he believes is merely the mayor of Montfermeil.
The instant Valjean sees Javert his attention can be nowhere else and he directs the foreman to handle the issue with patience and fairness. Meanwhile the foreman goaded by both his need for revenge on and the harping women in the factory calling for her dismissal does just that. Fantine now out of work and desperate for money to support her daughter resorts to selling her beautiful hair, then selling her teeth, and finally selling herself as she descends into prostitution.
I have to pause this recap for a moment to talk about Anne Hathaway singing "I Dreamed a Dream." It was right after she had finished with one of her customers and she's sitting in the dark with her shorn hair rendering this heartbreaking song of hope shattered. I cried openly and without any shame in the middle of the theatre for the utterly raw emotion of this scene.
Fantine, who is becoming sicker and sicker as the days pass, is accosted by a "gentleman" walking through the park. She refuses to give him service, which angers him enough to throw snow on her bare skin. When she retaliates by scratching him on the cheek, Javert arrives on the scene just in time to hear the man claim she attacked him unprovoked, and because he is what he is and she is a whore, Javert takes the man's word for it and prepares to arrest her despite the piteous pleas for mercy that her daughter will die if she goes to jail. Jean Valjean intervenes at the last moment seeing the truth of the situation and recognizing her. Fantine, near delirium, spits in his face and tells him that he was there when she was dismissed and did nothing to stop it. With guilt he realizes that two innocents are suffering because of his inaction. He vows to make it right and carries Fantine away to the hospital while Javert can only angrily watch. Valjean vows to get her daughter from the innkeeper so that they can be together when Fantine is well.
That next day Valjean saves a man trapped beneath a runaway cart by lifting it off of him. Javert observes this remembering the only other person he'd ever seen do such a thing was Jean Valjean who is incredibly strong. Witnessing the mayor perform such a feat makes him wonder, and angry about the incident with Fantine, he denounces him to a higher authority proclaiming that he is Jean Valjean, but then in a later scene apologizes for the action as the "real" escaped convict was found. Javert then insists that the mayor exact punishment on him for his actions, but Valjean refuses saying the inspector was only doing his job as he saw fit.
Jean Valjean is again a man torn. He knows the poor wretch they found is only unfortunate enough to look like him, and even though he, too, is a convict, it is unspeakably wrong that he should be condemned to Valjean's fate. But the life so made as mayor of the town must also be considered. He is the "master of hundred of workers," and the idea of abandoning them to what they had before his arrival is almost equally terrible. Almost. The mayor travels to the courthouse where he declares himself the true Jean Valjean, exonerating the condemned man before leaving as quickly as he came to return to Fantine. He promises her he will be as a father to her daughter right before she succumbs to her illness and Javert arrives to bring him to his fate. Valjean tries to plead with him by saying that he is the only one who can save the poor woman's daughter, but it falls on deaf ears. The two men fight, and Valjean being the stronger manages to overpower Javert and escape.
At the inn, Cosette is being mistreated by Thenardier and his wife who are played by Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen respectively. Though both of them are nothing but rascals, they do provide the much needed comic relief for the drama despite this, nor could better actors have been cast. Madame Thenardier forces Cosette to go fetch water from the well in the wood even though night has fallen, and though the little girl is terrified, she has no choice. While there, she comes upon Jean Valjean and is initially afraid of him until he reassures her he will do her no harm. Carrying her water bucket back to the inn Valjean pays the the supposed "debt" the Thenardiers say were owed for taking care of Cosette and takes the little girl away. He finds himself experiencing the pure love for and from a child for the first time in his life, but the wonder of this is interrupted by the sight of Javert at a checkpoint seeking him out. Valjean hides himself and Cosette on the top of a wall, which surrounds a convent. In there he finds the very man whose life he saved beneath the cart working as a gardener, and the past act pays for the forward gratitude when Valjean pleads for help for both him and the child.
Several more years pass and Javert is still looking for Valjean who lives in Paris with the now lovely, grown up Cosette. The is much dissidence in the city where the ranks of the poor are growing, while the rich grow fatter and fatter. The Thenardiers, too, live in the capital where the man runs a street gang. He attempts to rob Valjean believing himself owed more than what he gave for Cosette. Javert sees the trouble, but fails to recognize Valjean before he escapes. In that incident, also, Cosette sees a young man named Marius, and they both instantly feel an attraction. Marius is part of a group of students who see the growing issue between poverty and decadence and wish to do something about it, but Marius distracted by the girl he has seen asks his friend Eponine to find her for him. Eponine is the once pampered daughter of the Thenardiers, forced now to live on the street with undying and unrequited love for Marius. Because of this she finds Cosette's residence for him where they finally meet and fall in love.
The students led by Enjolras decide they need to do something about the plight of the impoverished. The only public figurehead who cares about such issue is General Lemarque who is dying. When he finally succumbs Enjolras decides that this is the sign they need to rally the people of Paris to revolt against the status quo. They decide to build a barricade, and Marius decides to be on the very front line once he finds out Cosette is leaving. Unnerved by a recent attack by Thenardier's gang along with Marius's interest in Cosette Jean Valjean decides to abscond for England where he will be safe from Javert forever. When he intercepts a note for Cosette from the boy, he decides to go down to the barricade. Meanwhile, Javert has been playing spy and feeding the rebels false information until he is called about by Gavroche, a street urchin who hangs around them. They tie him up in a bar behind the barricade declaring "the people will decide your fate." When Jean Valjean arrives they suspect him, too, but he soon proves his worth and is rewarded by being allowed to execute Javert. But once out of sight he unties the spy and lets him go. Javert goads him to do what he's been wanting his entire life, but Valjean refuses even when Javert insists he will never stop hunting him.
The barricade falls to the national troops and everyone dies except for Marius who though shot is saved by Jean Valjean who takes him through the sewers. At the exit Valjean meets Javert who holds him at gunpoint. Valjean begs him to let him take Marius to a doctor as "he has done no wrong." He realized at the barricade that the boy was yet another innocent and that he had no right to keep Cosette from finding a love he could not. For the first time in his life Javert falters and lets Valjean go, then he climbs to the top of a bridge overlooking the Seine river utterly unable to reconcile the fact that he was spared by a convict. He has no sense of mercy or forgiveness only the law, and the law is absolute. There is no grey with Javert: only black and white. You are good or you are evil. You are law abiding or you are a criminal, and criminals follow their own code. Valjean was meant to kill him just as Javert was meant to hunt people like him, but his conviction is wavering. In the movie Javert is the only character whose appearance really doesn't change, which mirrors his conviction. It is steadfast and obstinate, and he cannot bear the thought that his entire life what he believed was wrong. He throws himself into the Seine knowing it is either "Valjean or Javert," and the choice has already been made.
Marius recovers and he and Cosette marry, but Jean Valjean unable to bear the thought of her finding out the truth tells Marius and then leaves knowing Cosette is safe and provided for by him. The Thenardiers crash the wedding and Marius realizes the man has the ring he pulled from his finger while he was being carried through the sewers. He finds out that it was Valjean who saved his life and he is heartbroken by how thoughtlessly he treated him. Valjean had returned to the convent of Cosette's youth waiting alone to die when they arrive to be with him. He gives Cosette the story of his past and how he promised her mother she would live under his protection, and then dies, being led to heaven by Fantine in the most heartbreaking scene imaginable. Just remembering it brings tears to my eyes. The finale of the movie shows all those who died standing in the light of a new day singing "Do You Hear the People Sing," which was the rallying cry of the revolution.
Even though Les Miserables is probably one of the saddest stories I have ever heard, its overall message is about hope. The belief that things can become better...that the struggle is not in vain despite the destitution and despite the despair. The one act of kindness that rippled across the years, because one man had faith in another deemed unworthy of such a gift. Jean Valjean is the atoner character. He spends his entire life paying for that one crime, even though he committed the act for another. It was prison that truly turned him into a criminal, a social commentary that is difficult to ignore. And after being released, he was treated as worse than filth, which would have only led him back to a life of crime, but the bishop's faith restored his humanity and made it so that he could become an upstanding citizen and improve the lives of others by such a virtue.
Les Mis really doesn't have a human villain. Yes, Javert is Jean Valjean's nemesis, but he is not evil. He is merely a man who is as dogmatically devoted to the law as the bishop was to his faith. Even as Valjean admits, he does his duty and cannot really be faulted for it. He never wavers; he never falters not until the very end, and once that happens, he knows he can no longer exist in the world. Even prior to his suicide when he looks at the bodies of the dead students where Gavroche the street urchin is laid out as well, you see even his heart of stone quavering as he places the pin from his lapel on the child's chest. As convicted and unwavering as he is, even that is too much. It is part of the downward spiral that began when Valjean let him go, continued when he did the same, and ends with his demise.
See this movie. See it now. Hugh Jackman was the perfect choice for Jean Valjean, and Anne Hathaway's performance as Fantine is nothing short of brilliant. I have heard "I Dreamed a Dream" rendered many times, but I have never seen it done with such raw emotion and pain. She sang it as the song was meant to be sung. The desolate anthem of a woman who has lost everything except the love of her daughter that allows her to sacrifice her body and pride to make sure she will live. The only complaint I have is Russell Crowe's singing voice. Javert (like most villain characters) has always been a baritone, whereas Crowe is a tenor. I felt there was a lack of power there. Roger Allam as Javert from the ten year anniversary cast has a very powerful and intimidating voice as is expected from such a character so I was a little disappointed, but not enough to lessen the greatness of this piece. If there aren't at least two awards earned, the message of injustice presented in the film will have achieved meta status and ring even more true.
PS. The movie has one funny/creepy moment. When Jean Valjean meets up with Cosette in the woods, he asks her where she lives and for just a second it just had this total creeper vibe. They fixed it VERY quickly, but I had to suppress a snicker, and I heard a few from the theater at large.
Four stars. Why are you still sitting there? Go see it!
Let me just start out by saying that I love redemption stories. Love, love LOVE them. My novel The Serpent's Tale is a redemption story. My short The Threads of Sorrow is a redemption story. The first fanfiction I wrote (aptly named) Forgiveness and Redemption is a redemption story. I LOVE REDEMPTION STORIES.
Les Miserables is the ultimate redemption story. The original novel was written by Victor Hugo in the 1860s. The story was adapted for the musical theatre and the musical was (finally) made into a movie in 2012. Les Mis is the story of Jean Valjean who is played phenomenally by Hugh Jackman. He is a man condemned to 19 years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister and child.
Valjean is called forth by Jarvert, a guard at the prison and granted parole. Javert, played by Russell Crowe, is Valjean's nemesis throughout the story. He is a man unmoved by feeling or sentiment. He lives his entire life for the law. The law is absolute and cannot be mocked. One is either law-abiding or a criminal. There is no in between. Once a person is a criminal they are always a criminal, and will never and can never be anything else.
Valjean initially believes he is free, but because he is a convict, his passport proclaims this throughout the land and he is treated as less than a dog the instant so-called freedom is achieved. He is unable to find work or even place to sleep without being driven off due to the condemning piece of paper he's required by law to show throughout the land. He finally finds himself sleeping in a doorway when he is invited in by the Bishop of Digne who in a nice twist of meta irony is played by Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean from the the musical. The bishop offers him food, fire, and friendship, treating him as a fellow human being and not a piece of dirt, but in the midst of the night Valjean awakens, robs the bishop of his silver and flees. He is caught and returned to the old man's house where he awaits the judgment that will condemn him to hard labor for the rest of his life, but it never falls. The bishop not only corroborates Valjean's story that the silver was gifted him, but also insists that he "left the best behind," and adds a set of silver candlesticks to the pot. He tells him that he has "bought his soul for God." It is this seemingly small act of kindness that changes Jean Valjean's life. He is a man torn between what he has known and what he could be. The past that haunts him and the future unknown. He realizes the path he was taken will only lead him back to prison and so he rips up his passport thereby breaking his parole, but this act ironically is what allows him to become an honest man.
Eight years or so pass and the story moves to Montfermeil where Jean Valjean has taken on the persona of Monsieur Madeleine, the mayor of the town. He owns a factory, which employs hundreds of workers, and because of his philanthropy and selflessness, the entire town has prospered. A young woman named Fantine, played amazingly by Anne Hathaway, works in the factory. Fantine is very beautiful, a fact which is not unnoticed by the lustful eyes of the foreman whom she has no interest in. Unfortunately for her, one of the other women gets a hold of a letter Fantine was writing to an innkeeper outside of town concerning her illegitimate daughter Cosette. A scuffle breaks out as Monsieur Madeleine enters, but before he can intervene he sees Javert who does not recognize who he really is, waiting to speak with whom he believes is merely the mayor of Montfermeil.
The instant Valjean sees Javert his attention can be nowhere else and he directs the foreman to handle the issue with patience and fairness. Meanwhile the foreman goaded by both his need for revenge on and the harping women in the factory calling for her dismissal does just that. Fantine now out of work and desperate for money to support her daughter resorts to selling her beautiful hair, then selling her teeth, and finally selling herself as she descends into prostitution.
I have to pause this recap for a moment to talk about Anne Hathaway singing "I Dreamed a Dream." It was right after she had finished with one of her customers and she's sitting in the dark with her shorn hair rendering this heartbreaking song of hope shattered. I cried openly and without any shame in the middle of the theatre for the utterly raw emotion of this scene.
Fantine, who is becoming sicker and sicker as the days pass, is accosted by a "gentleman" walking through the park. She refuses to give him service, which angers him enough to throw snow on her bare skin. When she retaliates by scratching him on the cheek, Javert arrives on the scene just in time to hear the man claim she attacked him unprovoked, and because he is what he is and she is a whore, Javert takes the man's word for it and prepares to arrest her despite the piteous pleas for mercy that her daughter will die if she goes to jail. Jean Valjean intervenes at the last moment seeing the truth of the situation and recognizing her. Fantine, near delirium, spits in his face and tells him that he was there when she was dismissed and did nothing to stop it. With guilt he realizes that two innocents are suffering because of his inaction. He vows to make it right and carries Fantine away to the hospital while Javert can only angrily watch. Valjean vows to get her daughter from the innkeeper so that they can be together when Fantine is well.
That next day Valjean saves a man trapped beneath a runaway cart by lifting it off of him. Javert observes this remembering the only other person he'd ever seen do such a thing was Jean Valjean who is incredibly strong. Witnessing the mayor perform such a feat makes him wonder, and angry about the incident with Fantine, he denounces him to a higher authority proclaiming that he is Jean Valjean, but then in a later scene apologizes for the action as the "real" escaped convict was found. Javert then insists that the mayor exact punishment on him for his actions, but Valjean refuses saying the inspector was only doing his job as he saw fit.
Jean Valjean is again a man torn. He knows the poor wretch they found is only unfortunate enough to look like him, and even though he, too, is a convict, it is unspeakably wrong that he should be condemned to Valjean's fate. But the life so made as mayor of the town must also be considered. He is the "master of hundred of workers," and the idea of abandoning them to what they had before his arrival is almost equally terrible. Almost. The mayor travels to the courthouse where he declares himself the true Jean Valjean, exonerating the condemned man before leaving as quickly as he came to return to Fantine. He promises her he will be as a father to her daughter right before she succumbs to her illness and Javert arrives to bring him to his fate. Valjean tries to plead with him by saying that he is the only one who can save the poor woman's daughter, but it falls on deaf ears. The two men fight, and Valjean being the stronger manages to overpower Javert and escape.
At the inn, Cosette is being mistreated by Thenardier and his wife who are played by Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen respectively. Though both of them are nothing but rascals, they do provide the much needed comic relief for the drama despite this, nor could better actors have been cast. Madame Thenardier forces Cosette to go fetch water from the well in the wood even though night has fallen, and though the little girl is terrified, she has no choice. While there, she comes upon Jean Valjean and is initially afraid of him until he reassures her he will do her no harm. Carrying her water bucket back to the inn Valjean pays the the supposed "debt" the Thenardiers say were owed for taking care of Cosette and takes the little girl away. He finds himself experiencing the pure love for and from a child for the first time in his life, but the wonder of this is interrupted by the sight of Javert at a checkpoint seeking him out. Valjean hides himself and Cosette on the top of a wall, which surrounds a convent. In there he finds the very man whose life he saved beneath the cart working as a gardener, and the past act pays for the forward gratitude when Valjean pleads for help for both him and the child.
Several more years pass and Javert is still looking for Valjean who lives in Paris with the now lovely, grown up Cosette. The is much dissidence in the city where the ranks of the poor are growing, while the rich grow fatter and fatter. The Thenardiers, too, live in the capital where the man runs a street gang. He attempts to rob Valjean believing himself owed more than what he gave for Cosette. Javert sees the trouble, but fails to recognize Valjean before he escapes. In that incident, also, Cosette sees a young man named Marius, and they both instantly feel an attraction. Marius is part of a group of students who see the growing issue between poverty and decadence and wish to do something about it, but Marius distracted by the girl he has seen asks his friend Eponine to find her for him. Eponine is the once pampered daughter of the Thenardiers, forced now to live on the street with undying and unrequited love for Marius. Because of this she finds Cosette's residence for him where they finally meet and fall in love.
The students led by Enjolras decide they need to do something about the plight of the impoverished. The only public figurehead who cares about such issue is General Lemarque who is dying. When he finally succumbs Enjolras decides that this is the sign they need to rally the people of Paris to revolt against the status quo. They decide to build a barricade, and Marius decides to be on the very front line once he finds out Cosette is leaving. Unnerved by a recent attack by Thenardier's gang along with Marius's interest in Cosette Jean Valjean decides to abscond for England where he will be safe from Javert forever. When he intercepts a note for Cosette from the boy, he decides to go down to the barricade. Meanwhile, Javert has been playing spy and feeding the rebels false information until he is called about by Gavroche, a street urchin who hangs around them. They tie him up in a bar behind the barricade declaring "the people will decide your fate." When Jean Valjean arrives they suspect him, too, but he soon proves his worth and is rewarded by being allowed to execute Javert. But once out of sight he unties the spy and lets him go. Javert goads him to do what he's been wanting his entire life, but Valjean refuses even when Javert insists he will never stop hunting him.
The barricade falls to the national troops and everyone dies except for Marius who though shot is saved by Jean Valjean who takes him through the sewers. At the exit Valjean meets Javert who holds him at gunpoint. Valjean begs him to let him take Marius to a doctor as "he has done no wrong." He realized at the barricade that the boy was yet another innocent and that he had no right to keep Cosette from finding a love he could not. For the first time in his life Javert falters and lets Valjean go, then he climbs to the top of a bridge overlooking the Seine river utterly unable to reconcile the fact that he was spared by a convict. He has no sense of mercy or forgiveness only the law, and the law is absolute. There is no grey with Javert: only black and white. You are good or you are evil. You are law abiding or you are a criminal, and criminals follow their own code. Valjean was meant to kill him just as Javert was meant to hunt people like him, but his conviction is wavering. In the movie Javert is the only character whose appearance really doesn't change, which mirrors his conviction. It is steadfast and obstinate, and he cannot bear the thought that his entire life what he believed was wrong. He throws himself into the Seine knowing it is either "Valjean or Javert," and the choice has already been made.
Marius recovers and he and Cosette marry, but Jean Valjean unable to bear the thought of her finding out the truth tells Marius and then leaves knowing Cosette is safe and provided for by him. The Thenardiers crash the wedding and Marius realizes the man has the ring he pulled from his finger while he was being carried through the sewers. He finds out that it was Valjean who saved his life and he is heartbroken by how thoughtlessly he treated him. Valjean had returned to the convent of Cosette's youth waiting alone to die when they arrive to be with him. He gives Cosette the story of his past and how he promised her mother she would live under his protection, and then dies, being led to heaven by Fantine in the most heartbreaking scene imaginable. Just remembering it brings tears to my eyes. The finale of the movie shows all those who died standing in the light of a new day singing "Do You Hear the People Sing," which was the rallying cry of the revolution.
Even though Les Miserables is probably one of the saddest stories I have ever heard, its overall message is about hope. The belief that things can become better...that the struggle is not in vain despite the destitution and despite the despair. The one act of kindness that rippled across the years, because one man had faith in another deemed unworthy of such a gift. Jean Valjean is the atoner character. He spends his entire life paying for that one crime, even though he committed the act for another. It was prison that truly turned him into a criminal, a social commentary that is difficult to ignore. And after being released, he was treated as worse than filth, which would have only led him back to a life of crime, but the bishop's faith restored his humanity and made it so that he could become an upstanding citizen and improve the lives of others by such a virtue.
Les Mis really doesn't have a human villain. Yes, Javert is Jean Valjean's nemesis, but he is not evil. He is merely a man who is as dogmatically devoted to the law as the bishop was to his faith. Even as Valjean admits, he does his duty and cannot really be faulted for it. He never wavers; he never falters not until the very end, and once that happens, he knows he can no longer exist in the world. Even prior to his suicide when he looks at the bodies of the dead students where Gavroche the street urchin is laid out as well, you see even his heart of stone quavering as he places the pin from his lapel on the child's chest. As convicted and unwavering as he is, even that is too much. It is part of the downward spiral that began when Valjean let him go, continued when he did the same, and ends with his demise.
See this movie. See it now. Hugh Jackman was the perfect choice for Jean Valjean, and Anne Hathaway's performance as Fantine is nothing short of brilliant. I have heard "I Dreamed a Dream" rendered many times, but I have never seen it done with such raw emotion and pain. She sang it as the song was meant to be sung. The desolate anthem of a woman who has lost everything except the love of her daughter that allows her to sacrifice her body and pride to make sure she will live. The only complaint I have is Russell Crowe's singing voice. Javert (like most villain characters) has always been a baritone, whereas Crowe is a tenor. I felt there was a lack of power there. Roger Allam as Javert from the ten year anniversary cast has a very powerful and intimidating voice as is expected from such a character so I was a little disappointed, but not enough to lessen the greatness of this piece. If there aren't at least two awards earned, the message of injustice presented in the film will have achieved meta status and ring even more true.
PS. The movie has one funny/creepy moment. When Jean Valjean meets up with Cosette in the woods, he asks her where she lives and for just a second it just had this total creeper vibe. They fixed it VERY quickly, but I had to suppress a snicker, and I heard a few from the theater at large.
Four stars. Why are you still sitting there? Go see it!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Final Fantasy VII Revelations
I like to start at the source...where and how I arrived at my conclusion. I'm sure some of you might find that boring and tedious, but I have always loved to read the author's note and find out whence such whimsy comes. For this I was watching Dexter season 6, which is all about Revelations and the end of the world, but instead of waiting for God to set the apocalypse in motion, the murderer(s) decipher the Bible's final chapter and comes to the conclusion that by staging tableaux inspired by Revelations he/they can bring about the end of this world and the birth of another. Like one of my previous posts (False Prophecy), this of course does not come to pass, but the season did inspire me to finally pick a Bible and read the final book. As I absorbed the apocalyptic imagery, I came to the realization that FFVII is not only a religious allegory, a fact which needs no insistence, but a metaphor for Revelations itself...
Forgive me for making such a general statement. A more accurate assertion would be to say that FFVII is a metaphor for the seven seals. I'm not going to summarize the plot of the game. Not here; not now. I'll save that for later and more involved delvings. If the title of this entry piqued your interest, than forgive me again my assumption that you already have such knowledge. I will move along with my murmurings and present the evidence in the signs.
The first Four Seals spoken of in Revelations 6:1-8 indicate the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a common motif regardless of your creed: the bowman on the white horse named for conquest, the rider of the red associated with war, the horseman of famine on his black steed, and finally Death on the pale horse, the only horseman to be named.
In Final Fantasy VII there are four weapons, which are unleashed when Cloud gives Sephiroth the Black Materia. They are named for precious gems of the earth, but the parallel of their names to the riders should hopefully come clear. Ruby (red) and Diamond (white) are simple. Emerald is obviously green and the color of Death's horse from the Greek translation was green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid. Based on the way the word was used in Greek medical literature, scholars surmised it referred to the color of a corpse, and in many modern renditions, the horse is distinctly green as "pale" is a description of a color and not really a color itself. As for Sapphire I pondered that for a while as such gems are normally considered blue, then I noticed the very same gem on my finger was black, and there really aren't any distinctively black precious stones. The horsemen are unleashed to wreak havoc on earth and be the first signs of more terrible things to come. The weapons are guardians of the planet set forth when there is dire need, but they fulfill the same tasks of the horsemen in regards to havoc showing a glimmer of what horrors may come.
Revelations 6:9-11 presents the 5th Seal: "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls who had been slain because of the word of God, and the testimony they had maintained." The fifth seals speaks of the martyrs...those who shed life's blood for what they believed in. Aeris was killed on the altar in the City of the Ancients praying for Holy to save the world. The martyrs cry out for justice and that there blood be not spilled in vain.
At the opening of the 6th Seal in Revelations 6:12-14 various disastrous events occur, but the one that stands out for my comparison is "the stars in the sky fell to earth." Meteor...which is a portend of the 7th Seal in Revelations 8:1-6 God's final judgement. The end of FFVII has Holy finally summoned come to contend with the Meteor from the sky, but this is not to save humanity but rather the planet, which we've been ravaging long before falling stars. Initially before the numerous sequels and reincarnations there was an ambiguous element to the end of VII in that it was unknown whether or not humans had survived Holy's cleansing. Were we judged worthy enough for yet another chance? In the Biblical account only a particular amount were saved, but is there truly anyone in this world so innocent as to be spared? But even if the slate were wiped cleaned who is to say the same situation will not again rise? Life or nothingness, hope or despair, cynicism/belief. It all comes back to this polarity, and the Seven Seals and Final Fantasy VII have more connection than just a number.
Forgive me for making such a general statement. A more accurate assertion would be to say that FFVII is a metaphor for the seven seals. I'm not going to summarize the plot of the game. Not here; not now. I'll save that for later and more involved delvings. If the title of this entry piqued your interest, than forgive me again my assumption that you already have such knowledge. I will move along with my murmurings and present the evidence in the signs.
The first Four Seals spoken of in Revelations 6:1-8 indicate the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a common motif regardless of your creed: the bowman on the white horse named for conquest, the rider of the red associated with war, the horseman of famine on his black steed, and finally Death on the pale horse, the only horseman to be named.
In Final Fantasy VII there are four weapons, which are unleashed when Cloud gives Sephiroth the Black Materia. They are named for precious gems of the earth, but the parallel of their names to the riders should hopefully come clear. Ruby (red) and Diamond (white) are simple. Emerald is obviously green and the color of Death's horse from the Greek translation was green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid. Based on the way the word was used in Greek medical literature, scholars surmised it referred to the color of a corpse, and in many modern renditions, the horse is distinctly green as "pale" is a description of a color and not really a color itself. As for Sapphire I pondered that for a while as such gems are normally considered blue, then I noticed the very same gem on my finger was black, and there really aren't any distinctively black precious stones. The horsemen are unleashed to wreak havoc on earth and be the first signs of more terrible things to come. The weapons are guardians of the planet set forth when there is dire need, but they fulfill the same tasks of the horsemen in regards to havoc showing a glimmer of what horrors may come.
Revelations 6:9-11 presents the 5th Seal: "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls who had been slain because of the word of God, and the testimony they had maintained." The fifth seals speaks of the martyrs...those who shed life's blood for what they believed in. Aeris was killed on the altar in the City of the Ancients praying for Holy to save the world. The martyrs cry out for justice and that there blood be not spilled in vain.
At the opening of the 6th Seal in Revelations 6:12-14 various disastrous events occur, but the one that stands out for my comparison is "the stars in the sky fell to earth." Meteor...which is a portend of the 7th Seal in Revelations 8:1-6 God's final judgement. The end of FFVII has Holy finally summoned come to contend with the Meteor from the sky, but this is not to save humanity but rather the planet, which we've been ravaging long before falling stars. Initially before the numerous sequels and reincarnations there was an ambiguous element to the end of VII in that it was unknown whether or not humans had survived Holy's cleansing. Were we judged worthy enough for yet another chance? In the Biblical account only a particular amount were saved, but is there truly anyone in this world so innocent as to be spared? But even if the slate were wiped cleaned who is to say the same situation will not again rise? Life or nothingness, hope or despair, cynicism/belief. It all comes back to this polarity, and the Seven Seals and Final Fantasy VII have more connection than just a number.
False Prophecy
Many years ago man named William Miller read the Book of
Revelations, made some calculations, and prophesized that the world was
going to end. People gathered to him, believed his prophecy, and
followed his end time words, but he was wrong like all apocalyptic
soothsayers fore and hence. Not to be discouraged, Miller merely
proclaimed that he had made a mistake in his calculations, reexamined
his figures, and reconfigured his prophecy for a later time. Even more
people stood behind him, even more followers believed his words as
though being mistaken the first time lent more weight to them. Yet of
course things did not go as he foretold as the world still stands, but
ironically so did his followers. Even though Miller was utterly wrong
on two separate occasions, he had amassed a congregation of people
willing to live off his every word. Eventually, they became known as
the 7th Day Adventists, a religion/denomination based on a false
prophecy.
You probably think my fascination with this stems from the "7" and the "Advent" in the title, but you would not be entirely correct. Yes, it is true those things opened the door to my interest, but what was found there took the door off its hinges. How could people be so stupid as to build a belief system off of a false prophecy? Their founder...the father of their belief was wrong on not one, but two separate occasions, and yet they chose belief over cynicism...hope over despair.
I am finding that it is not the result of the situation but rather the interpretation of the situation itself that is most valuable. The journey over destination philosophy per se. I have been reading both negative and positive reviews of things that I honestly think are brilliant, and have come to the conclusion that no two people can ever experience the same thing. What one thinks is prestigious another will see as presumptuous.
"It's too smart for it's own good." (Cabin in the Woods)
"It's so overrated." (Final Fantasy VII)
"He does nothing new with the fantasy genre." (A Song of Ice and Fire)
"It does nothing but lead up to the main character transfixing women on and with his magic sword." (Sword of Truth)
I believe the reader claims a bit of authorship within interpretation. The author himself not only dies once his work is presented to the eyes of the public discourse, but he also relinquishes a portion of claim to this phenomenon. But to balance the reader turned author must also suffer a little death for in speaking of signs and sigils, themes and theory, he becomes a subject to the same criticism the author must endure for in meta-critique he must defend his point of view.
What one finds fascinating another finds nauseating. What I see as revelation another sees as farce. Flame wars have burned websites done for far less subjectivity. But what I take from this brings me to realize and accept the subjectivity of critique. Where one says my words rewrite language into a genius lexicon of my own making, while another states I need to retake Grammar 101. A story is just an object presented for interpretation and the author is just a prophet, false or true in metaphor of the meaning so found.
You probably think my fascination with this stems from the "7" and the "Advent" in the title, but you would not be entirely correct. Yes, it is true those things opened the door to my interest, but what was found there took the door off its hinges. How could people be so stupid as to build a belief system off of a false prophecy? Their founder...the father of their belief was wrong on not one, but two separate occasions, and yet they chose belief over cynicism...hope over despair.
I am finding that it is not the result of the situation but rather the interpretation of the situation itself that is most valuable. The journey over destination philosophy per se. I have been reading both negative and positive reviews of things that I honestly think are brilliant, and have come to the conclusion that no two people can ever experience the same thing. What one thinks is prestigious another will see as presumptuous.
"It's too smart for it's own good." (Cabin in the Woods)
"It's so overrated." (Final Fantasy VII)
"He does nothing new with the fantasy genre." (A Song of Ice and Fire)
"It does nothing but lead up to the main character transfixing women on and with his magic sword." (Sword of Truth)
I believe the reader claims a bit of authorship within interpretation. The author himself not only dies once his work is presented to the eyes of the public discourse, but he also relinquishes a portion of claim to this phenomenon. But to balance the reader turned author must also suffer a little death for in speaking of signs and sigils, themes and theory, he becomes a subject to the same criticism the author must endure for in meta-critique he must defend his point of view.
What one finds fascinating another finds nauseating. What I see as revelation another sees as farce. Flame wars have burned websites done for far less subjectivity. But what I take from this brings me to realize and accept the subjectivity of critique. Where one says my words rewrite language into a genius lexicon of my own making, while another states I need to retake Grammar 101. A story is just an object presented for interpretation and the author is just a prophet, false or true in metaphor of the meaning so found.
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