#negotiations awkwardslide

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (1/25)

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (2/25)

The narrative dynamics of a movie are not necessarily the same as the dynamics of the book upon which the movie is based---especially when so many changes are made from the book. 

A movie-maker’s duty is to the movie, to organically developing the movie (which is why I like to refer to such text-derivatives as secondary-original stories: the burdens of storytelling are the same, regardless). Don’t expect the audience to just gloss over a scene because ‘it was in the book’---especially when so many changes are made from the book.

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (3/25)

I really don’t know why PeteFranPhilippa went for grandiose-but-generic grand-standing when there’s plenty of tension to be found within the actual circumstances that they created.

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (4/25)

My interpretation of book!Bard comes from The Hobbit. For starters, Bard name-drops his lineage at the drop of a hat. Second, in chapter 14, “Fire and Water,” Laketowners clamor for 

“’King Bard! King Bard!’ they shouted; but the Master ground his chattering teeth.

‘Girion was lord of Dale, not king of Esgaroth,’ he said. ‘In the Lake-town we have always elected masters from among the old and wise, and have not endured the rule of mere fighting men. Let “King Bard” go back to his own kingdom---Dale is now freed by his valor, and nothing hinders his return. . . .’ 

[Then a bit more of rabble-rousing, hushed by Bard, and] 

. . . even as [Bard] was speaking, the thought came into his heart of the fabled treasure of the Mountain lying without guard or owner, and he fell suddenly silent. He thought of the Master’s words, and of Dale rebuilt, and filled with golden bells, if he could but find the men.

At length he spoke again: ‘This is no time for angry words, Master, or for considering weighty plans of change. There is work to do. I serve you still---though after a while I may think again of your words and go North with any that will follow me.’

As for his attitude toward Thorin I get it from the way Bard parleys with Thorin---“proudly and grimly,” in Bilbo’s humble opinion---his mistrust when Bilbo delivers the Arkenstone, and the fact that he’d objected to Thorin’s quest from the beginning.

But they decided to change Bard’s personality, for some reason. For the record, book!Thorin has a better case in this scene.

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Akwardslide (5/25)

Concerning the Law of Conservation of Morality, which does not exist, despite the insistence of bad writers everywhere:

If 100 units of Morality exist, and Bard has 70, then Thorin can only have a maximum of 30 Moralities as long as he shares a scene with Bard. 

Except the movie insists that Thorin has 60 Moralities. In the Laketown debate in The Desolation of Smaug, this conundrum was resolved by the presence of the Master and Alfrid, who both have negative Morality, thus creating room for Bard’s 70 and Thorin’s 60.

This scene in The Battle of the Five Armies, however, has no such saving grace. However, Thorin is only allowed to lose Moralities when he shares a scene with Gandalf or Bilbo. Otherwise, his Morality value stays the same, causing problems when Bard shows up because Bard has Constant Morality (coincidentally, Thranduil does most of the talking in scenes he and Bard have with Gandalf).

Therefore, the scene can’t go anywhere: it seizes up, atrophies: instead of honoring the situation and characters, all time is spent juggling equations statements to the audience to ensure that Morality is conserved.

I’ve seen some critics reference this idea when discussing other TV shows/ movies/ books, but they tend to use the term “Zero-Sum” to describe such characterization.

Either way, the storyteller spends all their energy telling the audience which character is “right”---which character the audience should agree with---and never bother letting the characters just express themselves.

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (6/25)

In the book, Bard did, in fact, want some of the treasure---all of it, if it was just sitting there. Thranduil, too, wanted Smaug’s hoard, but only if it was abandoned; Thranduil was not willing to fight over it. Thranduil seems to have made a commitment to help the human refugees (and my headcanon is that Bard wanted Thranduil and his army to stick around, because the Erebor situation was likely to get dicey, and because he needs Thorin to take him seriously, which means he needs a show of strength/might/ability-to-follow-through). 

That’s the book (and my headcanon based on the book).

The movie, however, changed everybody’s personality, then acted like those persons would make the same decisions and take the same actions, despite having completely different motives.

Not wanting to address that discrepancy, they, of course, had to hand-wave the entire scene.

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (7/25)

[dionetaofavalon]

Negotiations Awkwardslide (8/25)