Remember Love

Question and answers, musings and thoughts...

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Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Zara »

Kari wrote:...which makes his lack of a sex life with Catherine even more sad...
*Zara murmurs, Perhaps it depends on how one defines sex life...*

Anyway, a thousand welcomes, Kari. :D You bring up great, great questions.

~ Zara
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Re: Remember Love

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*
Welcome, Kari!
I was sorting out the photos of Cleveland that Je posted on BatBland and I noticed the pic of yourself in front of your car packed with the con stuff! Thank you for what you are doing for the Minnesota convention!

About Remember Love.

First, I confess I never understood what the heck the title means. Help?

Second, I’m copying here – sorry if you have already read elsewhere – what I usually write about this episode. I say “usually” because I think I have written it half a dozen times in these ten years, in several boards. And normally, it happens that the reply is – “hey, it makes sense! Maybe you are right”. Which is promptly forgotten and a few months after we are back to wondering about the broken window. :lol:

It was only when I joined the discussion with other fans that I discovered that this episode was problematic. I had watched it all alone here in Italy and I never had a doubt that the "real" episode only begins when C wakes V up with a kiss, and until then we only see Vincent’s dream. Everything we have seen before makes sense at that point, multiple whining and "out of character" stuff included, which are hard to gulp otherwise.

As a dream, it is a beautiful, telling journey into V's psyche, in that delicate moment of their love story (first episode filmed after AHL), when he has to learn how to balance his responsibilities, to his tunnel family and to his woman. We have a glimpse of what V thinks deep inside himself, without letting it out, fighting against it. By the way, have you noticed that the "dream" theme returns several times, in V/Father and in V/C dialogues?

The whining people are not the only out of character scenes. C insists a lot, even too much, until the magic words "it would mean so much for me" cancel every opposition from him. She does not speak of something beautiful for him to enjoy, which would be the right thing to say, considering the longing he has just expressed: she talks of sharing something beautiful for her so that *she* could enjoy it better. Selfish, from her... but if it's V's dream, he's focused on her, always.

On the contrary, in the scene "it was just an impossible dream", she too quickly just accepts his decision and apologizes, cries a little, V says that silly thing "one day... " and she withdraws herself and her project in the kingdom of dreams: "until them, we can keep on dreaming". And V's self loathing begins: the rage is against himself, not against the others, as it should be.

V has a real, heated argument with Father, and I can't remember anything of the like before or since. Father is harsh, selfish, whining, coward, pompous, as if in that scene his worst characteristics are concentrated and exaggerated. Vincent retorts everything until that wonderful question: «Tell me, Father: are we forever bond to a poem, for a sunset?». F's reply is just «you-must-not-do-it!». And V just turns and leaves to disobey him {and those angry lines delivered with fangs... Poor RP: how many times do you think he tried before being able to say "fulfill her slightest wish" in a comprehensible way?... }

The tunnel folks don't have a thought for V's wish. As if they are just a burden of selfish people, incapable to pay attention to him and his needs. Is it really so, or a symbolic perception of how suffocating his previous role (the protector, the heart of the tunnels) may become now for him, whom Catherine calls to be more?

Just a fleeting thought about the "dreamy" part of the dream, from the apparition of the angel: if the dream tells what he thinks of himself, we can stop moaning over V's weak self esteem... V is portrayed as extremely important for A LOT of people. And it makes fully sense, if it's the deepest, less controlled part of himself that appears. He cannot be unaware of his value. He is modest, not stupid.

There are a lot of other interesting hints all over the episode. Did you notice that it's only in this nightmare that V is found "in the garbage", behind St Vincent's hospital, while all the other times it's mentioned in the other episodes, they just found him "near" the hospital? It’s his fear to having been rejected that is speaking there.

In general, I think that the meaning of this dream is that at this point of their story, V has to face the fact that Catherine is becoming a concrete possibility for him. Now, he has to consider his identity and his belonging: is he the Tunnels protector and symbol/heart... prisoner?, or is he allowed to hope to be (also?) C's man? Being the Tunnel's Vincent is a heavy but reassuring burden, and the leap of faith to be C's Vincent is frightening.

Why did Catherine kill him, in the end? A plot device? Not only, I think: it's the reply to his soul searching: there is no life for him, if C is not the other part of his soul. BUT also the tunnel dwellers in Paracelsus version killed him, as if there were no life for him beyond the tunnels in the version he knows. So?

So, Catherine, the true Catherine, kisses him awake, and the dream remains just a dream, which points out the choices he has to make, but he has to make them awake. And the two of them. With love.

Oh, of course I love this episode also because it's kind of a rehearsal for the Big Nightmare, except that in this case they could film the awakening. :mrgreen:

Ciao,
S
Maclurv
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

I think Sobi beat me to it! Welcome Kari!
Kari said: Now, as for the comments here about Jamie and Pascal and Mouse and Father acting strangely:
I agree they are acting differently. But why?
I found Sobi's idea (that the whole thing was a dream, from the opening until right at the end when Vincent wakes up) very intriguing, and it is certainly making more sense to me the more I think about it. Those characters seemed very off to me, and I can't believe the writers are that bad (yes, Zara, they did use the "It's a Wonderful Life" technique, but still giving them the benefit of the doubt!). Assuming it's all a dream gives more license to bend the characters.

And now Zara is asking us to imagine that all of the dream characters are aspects of Vincent talking to himself, is another intriguing exercise!

So jump in! The more the merrier!

Pat
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

So quit bragging already, Sobi, that you have been enjoying Beauty and the Beast at deeper levels for longer than the rest of us! We are swimming along as fast as we can! (Said with jest and the warmest regards! Thanks for going back and finding what you wrote before! :D )
Sobi said: Did you notice that it's only in this nightmare that V is found "in the garbage", behind St Vincent's hospital, while all the other times it's mentioned in the other episodes, they just found him "near" the hospital? It’s his fear to having been rejected that is speaking there.
I did not notice this. I swear, whether I've watched an episode 5 times or 50 times, I still find out something new that I missed!

Regardless of the loving home in which you end up, when you are a personage like Vincent, it has to wound, a little at least, to have been discarded (most gently) versus thrown away in the garbage. Expected to die, and to be better off that way than alive. So I can see your point that in referring most directly to the garbage in this episode, there is the fear of rejection lurking there.
Sobi said: I confess I never understood what the heck the title means. Help?
The tritest answer is that it is in the dialogue and sounds important: Remember Love!

However, upon further thought and musing, I can add that, as I have said before, to me the underlying principle over-riding this show is that Love is Everything. Easy to say, even easy to agree with, but more difficult to practice in all the myriad ways. So perhaps it is a reminder for Vincent to remember Love is the core; that everyone has the right to want love and give love, even Vincent; that with love and through love, we want the best for those we love as they wish for the best for themselves.
Sobi said: Why did Catherine kill him, in the end? A plot device? Not only, I think: it's the reply to his soul searching: there is no life for him, if C is not the other part of his soul. BUT also the tunnel dwellers in Paracelsus version killed him, as if there were no life for him beyond the tunnels in the version he knows. So?

So, Catherine, the true Catherine, kisses him awake, and the dream remains just a dream, which points out the choices he has to make, but he has to make them awake. And the two of them. With love.
So, we have another aspect to the Balance that is Vincent: balancing his life with Catherine with his life with the tunnels. I agree, it is a balance to strike with the two of them, and with love! Nicely said!

Pat
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

:oops: So I guess I need to go back and read what the heck I wrote!
Zara quoted me: - came from: "VINCENT-FATHER - Wanting something for yourself? You must put yourself last. Humility always, eh?"
Ah, yes. I meant this to convey from Vincent's perspective that perhaps Father was a bit heavy handed in the moral lessons department, and to have put this in the extreme to show that Vincent has wants, and may wish to put himself above others to have those wants when it may be possible without depriving others.
The dream derives its tension from the genuine uncertainty involved.
Granted, but uncertainty is not the same thing as not being safe. Again, the cost framework speaks to me of a final assessment, which cannot be made without other info. But deem it costly if you must! :D
I had not thought of structuring the scene summary this way. But I'm also not thinking in terms of internal/external forces. If it's a dream, it's all internal.
Looking over your framework and your statements, Force-field Analysis popped into my head. The whole thing can occur internally, but even a dream can see outside threats more clearly, sometimes, or suggest interplay with an outside element where none exists, bringing to mind the larger question, why?. But, it is your construct, and I shouldn't tinker. (putting tools away)

I can see where you come from for those motivations. Thank you for thinking of this challenge. May I ask you to do your framework on the rest of the show? Your way is much shorter than mine! :lol:

Pat
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Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Zara »

Pat wrote:Granted, but uncertainty is not the same thing as not being safe.
For people who are not considered full human beings by upperworld society, uncertainty Above poses a terribly grave danger.
Pat wrote: May I ask you to do your framework on the rest of the show?
You can ask... ;) Just remember, in this episode I'm being challenged as much as you, because I'm working with someone else's interpretation for the sake of learning a new angle of the story. Myself, I maintain a private interpretation that I'm saving for a fanfiction tale, someday...

I'll see what I can do about parsing "Remember Love" into my little roadmap.

~ Zara
Maclurv
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

Myself, I maintain a private interpretation that I'm saving for a fanfiction tale, someday...
I expect to hear all about it at the con, where I will remain tight-lipped about what I hear! :lol:

It's not easy to take another's perspective, but it can be enlightening! Looking forward to what you come up with in your musing!

Pat
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

Zara said: Scene 2: Vincent wants to grow in a new direction, and at a new (swift) pace
I like this motivation! I can see how the interaction with Father presents this aspect. Quite well, actually!

Pat
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Zara »

Pat wrote:Your way is much shorter than mine! :lol:
For the record, I don't think my way is shorter. It's just...highly condensed. ;)

Here I list the whole summary, up to Vincent's entrance into the deeper dream. Old material is presented in italics. Format remains the same.

My Flash-Summary Outline of "Remember Love"

(Exploring the interpretation which holds that the entire episode is a dream up to the moment when Vincent wakes in the final scene...)

Vincent = an integrated identity pursuing love, beauty, freedom, wisdom, and personal growth during a dreamtime journey

Landmarks:
  • Every character he meets along the way provides an essential truth about Vincent's identity
  • Every setting he enters activates a new challenge of identity for Vincent to explore
  • Every choice Vincent makes has a price and a consequence
  • Vincent's actions, reactions, and decisions during the journey reveal his priorities and motivations

Scene 1 - Chamber of the Falls:

Catherine = Vincent's wonder and curiosity about the larger world beyond the City of New York

Action = Vincent's curiosity gradually overrides his caution

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to satisfy his curiosity at the expense of his security

Motivation = Vincent trusts his strengths to preserve his self during risk-taking, and hopes for the reward of new opportunities for love and pleasure




Scene 2 - Father's Chamber:

Father = Vincent's sense of connection and interdependence with his Tunnels community,[/i] including his sense of responsibility as a leader

Catherine (in absentia) = Vincent's power to risk his present well-being in the hope of gaining future well-being

Action = Vincent's stabilizing desire to belong to the underworld community he loves conflicts with his risky desire to belong to the upperworld woman he loves

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to nurture his relationship with the woman he loves at the expense of his relationship with the community he loves

Motivation = Vincent wants to grow in a new direction, and at a new (swift) pace




Scene 3 - Vincent's Chamber:

Pascal = Reasoned voice of Vincent's caution

Mouse = Frightened voice of Vincent's caution

Jamie = Cultural voice of Vincent's caution (cultural in the sense of ingrained Tunnels principles and lifestyle)

[Three Friends Together = Reactive inhibitions initiating a self-preservation mode in the face of potential change]

Catherine (in absentia) = Vincent's desire for self-expansion in new contexts

Action = Vincent reasons with his fear and his native culture, then solicits a rational evaluation of his choices from his conscience

Costly Choice = Vincent slows down to carefully weigh the detriments and benefits of change, at the expense of his previously swift and impulsive pace of growth

Motivation = Vincent recognizes the wise and protective nature of his conscience, and is accustomed to listening to it



Scene 4 - Montage of Vincent's Chamber, The Whispering Gallery, The Chamber of the Falls, and The Central Park Tunnel Entrance:

Vincent Alone = The introspective power of an introverted personality

Action = Vincent engages in active, focused contemplation

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to invest his time and energy in asking private questions of himself at the expense of making preparations for potential change

Motivation = Vincent trusts both his intuition and his capacity for critical thinking during his decision-making process



Scene 5 - Central Park Entrance Gate:

Catherine = Vincent's resurgent hopeful urge to leap into unknown conditions in pursuit of happiness

Action = Vincent explains his refusal to risk his present well-being for the uncertain prospect of future well-being

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to postpone growth in this direction at the expense of disappointing his hopes for immediate happiness

Motivation = Vincent values his secure freedom to choose between the risks of self-growth and the risks of self-maintenance



Scene 6 - Interior Tunnels:

Vincent Alone = The isolated pressures of an introverted personality

Action = Vincent makes a pained retreat into his inner sanctum

Costly Choice = Vincent relinquishes his dream of quick expansion at the expense of experiencing a natural depression which accompanies the process of accepting a personal loss

Motivation = Vincent wants to feel safe in a restful setting after his time of turmoil



Scene 7 - Vincent's Chamber:

Vincent's Voice = Vincent's deepest regrets

Catherine's Voice = Vincent's disappointed hopes

Father's Voice = Vincent's dire fears of annhilation

Action = Vincent suffers the exhausting emotional backlash after his dream of risky change is utterly extinguished

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to resist his dark thoughts and feelings at the expense of damaging/deranging his inmost haven of light

Motivation = One of Vincent's chief priorities is to fend off despair whenever it encroaches upon his peace of mind; here he finds that his anger is insufficient to ward off the effects of grief and a fear of self-betrayal, so the core of Vincentself provides a rescue by riddling him deeper into his psyche, in order to refocus Vincent's energy into a different outlet for personal growth....



~ Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

I was following along nicely, and then I got lost a little.
Action = Vincent suffers the exhausting emotional backlash after his dream of risky change is utterly extinguished

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to resist his dark thoughts and feelings at the expense of damaging/deranging his inmost haven of light

Motivation = One of Vincent's chief priorities is to fend off despair whenever it encroaches upon his peace of mind; here he finds that his anger is insufficient to ward off the effects of grief and a fear of self-betrayal, so the core of Vincentself provides a rescue by riddling him deeper into his psyche, in order to refocus Vincent's energy into a different outlet for personal growth....
Could you explain more about the choice? I understand resisting dark thoughts/feelings. What I am not clear how you see things is in the 'inmost haven of light.'

Some other questions to understand your perspective:
What leads you to conclude that a chief priority of Vincent's is to fend off despair?
As I read this, the thought popped into my head that perhaps Vincent sees this dream as a warning, and while you indicated in the earlier scenes he was wanting to move the relationship at a faster pace (were that it happened!), the dream calls him to again hesitate and slow down the relationship after Catherine has made the commitment to him (this being the episode after AHL). Is the relationship turning too real for him to handle at this time?

Pat
Last edited by Maclurv on Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Zara »

Pat wrote:Could you explain more about the choice? I understand resisting dark thoughts/feelings. What I am not clear how you see things is in the 'inmost haven of light.'
Vincent's chamber is his sanctuary, his safe place, and his personal venue for hospitality among his people. As an inmost haven of light, this space is where he rests and recharges when he needs to. Where he is best equipped to offer restoration, peace, and courage to others in need. The battle he wages against darkness (represented by the destruction and disarray of his furnishings) disrupts the serenity of his sanctuary.
Pat wrote:What leads you to conclude that a chief priority of Vincent's is to fend off despair?
Encroaching despair. I see this in the majority of episodes when Vincent faces terrible dangers. Vincent clings to hope and to life with ferocious tenacity. "No Way Down," "An Impossible Silence," and "Shades of Gray" especially come to mind. In these episodes and others, Vincent wields his optimism with beautiful emotional dexterity.
Pat wrote:As I read this, the thought popped into my head that perhaps Vincent sees this dream as a warning, and while you indicated in the earlier scenes he was wanting to move the relationship at a faster pace (were that it happened!), the dream calls him to again hesitate and slow down the relationship after Catherine has made the commitment to him. Is the relationship turning too real for him to handle at this time?
An interesting question, but I'm sorry I miscommunicated my point. I see that I did not build in enough connections into the outline of Scene 2...
Pat wrote:...you indicated in the earlier scenes he was wanting to move the relationship at a faster pace (were that it happened!), the dream calls him to again hesitate and slow down the relationship after Catherine has made the commitment to him.
No. I tried to indicate that Vincent's psyche feels ready for a new growth spurt in the direction of adventure and novelty. My outline does not address Vincent's real-world relationship with Catherine. The psyche-pieces talking to Vincent bring up the issues of curiosity, fun, joy, and personal growth in Vincent's capacity to risk his present well-being in the hope of gaining future well-being. Remember, Dream-Catherine isn't Catherine, just as Dream-Father isn't Father. I took a shortcut in writing about "the community he loves" and "the woman he loves," assuming that these phrases could stand in for what "Catherine =" and "Father =". I'll try to fix that in my next chunk of roadmap.

In other words, I disagree that in "Remember Love" Vincent is wanting to change his relationship with Catherine in terms of "pace." But then, I have also long disagreed with the whole notion of "pacing" and romantic "goals" or "milestones" in this story.

~ Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

No. I tried to indicate that Vincent's psyche feels ready for a new growth spurt in the direction of adventure and novelty.
Okay, maybe it's our differences at play here, but I did read the growth spurt to include the relationship itself. And I think it plays well in the analysis you've written so far.
The psyche-pieces talking to Vincent bring up the issues of curiosity, fun, joy, and personal growth in Vincent's capacity to risk his present well-being in the hope of gaining future well-being.
While I don't disagree with this, and I know we are considering the other characters who appear as pieces of Vincent speaking to himself, I am not sure why you are discounting the relationship which is so core for Vincent and the show. For something he never expected to have in his life, and little experience in, isn't the relationship something about which issues of curiosity, fun, joy, and personal growth apply? And does not th relationship represent risk and gain to his future well-being?

Pat
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Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Zara »

I do not mean to discount the relationship between Vincent and Catherine. I'm hoping to indirectly illustrate its complexity through the rich internalization Vincent has made of the woman he loves. Alas, I fear I am failing.

Please understand, there are three Catherines in this dream. My floundering outline is trying to establish the idea that Dream-Catherine-A is not the center of Vincent's faith, hope, and love; Dream-Catherine-A is only one outer boundary of his emergent frontier. It is no accident that in the upcoming scene wherein Vincent's dream deepens into the most powerful form of personal growth...the highest, brightest, most central aspect of Vincent's soul appears in the guise of Catherine at her most beautiful and angelic. I cannot imbue Dream-Catherine-A with the authority to define either Vincent's identity or the nature of his waking-world relationship with Catherine Chandler because Dream-Catherine-A does not have the last word in these matters. That is supposed to be the purpose and action of Dream-Catherine-B, the Angel.

You are welcome to take my outline and apply it to the overall Vincent-Catherine relationship if you wish to. If it is a help, I am glad! I wonder, though, if you do this, do you also apply it to the "real-world" Vincent-Father, Vincent-Mouse, Vincent-Pascal, Vincent-Jamie, and Vincent-Paracelsus relationships? That is not how I am designing this interpretive framework because I am attempting to explore Vincent's internal self-conceptualizations. But know that I do post all this in the hope that you (and any others wandering through) might potentially find this stuff useful in some way. So do as you will. Adapt what you want. Dream something lovely.

Struggling to articulate my own dreamings,

Zara
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Maclurv »

I fear I am failing
Perhaps we are both not communicating well. I know so far this week has not been a good one, so I am not likely in my best form. And perhaps I am anticipating the next segment too much. (Remember my relationship with patience?) I would also point out that I was asking questions around one scene description, mostly, so your outline is not so floundering in my book. :D

Hmm. Actual relationships. It might be fun to noodle with your approach for Vincent and Paracelsus, and perhaps Vincent and Father. The others are not as interesting to me in the real sense. Must give this some further thought.

Please continue on! I await the next installment.

Pat
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Re: Remember Love

Post by Zara »

New scene summaries + changes to prior scenes (old material italicized)...

My Flash-Summary Outline of "Remember Love"

(Exploring the interpretation which holds that the entire episode is a dream up to the moment when Vincent wakes in the final scene...)

Vincent = an integrated identity pursuing love, beauty, freedom, wisdom, and personal growth during a dreamtime journey


Landmarks:
  • Every character he meets along the way provides an essential truth about Vincent's identity
  • Every setting he enters activates a new challenge of identity for Vincent to explore
  • Every choice Vincent makes has a price and a consequence
  • Vincent's actions, reactions, and decisions during the journey reveal his priorities and motivations
  • Dreamtime riddles illustrate lessons that Vincent learns about himself

Scene 1 - Chamber of the Falls:

Catherine-A = Vincent's wonder and curiosity about the larger world beyond the City of New York

Action = Vincent's curiosity gradually overrides his caution

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to satisfy his curiosity at the expense of his security

Motivation = Vincent trusts his strengths to preserve his self during risk-taking, and hopes for the reward of new opportunities for love and pleasure




Scene 2 - Father's Chamber:


Father-A = Vincent's sense of connection and interdependence with his Tunnels community, including his sense of responsibility as a leader

Catherine-A (in absentia) = Vincent's power to risk his present well-being in the hope of gaining future well-being

Action = Vincent's stabilizing desire to belong to the underworld community he loves conflicts with his risky desire to
increase his participation with the upperworld wonders he loves

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to nurture his power to risk changing his present state of being at the expense of his sense of connection and interdependence with the community that fosters his identity

Motivation = Vincent wants to grow in a new direction, and at a new (swift) pace



Scene 3 - Vincent's Chamber:


Pascal-A = Reasoned voice of Vincent's caution

Mouse-A = Frightened voice of Vincent's caution

Jamie-A = Cultural voice of Vincent's caution (cultural in the sense of ingrained Tunnels principles and lifestyle)

[Three Friends Together = Reactive inhibitions initiating a self-preservation mode in the face of potential change]


Catherine-A (in absentia) = Vincent's desire for self-expansion in new contexts

Action = Vincent reasons with his fear and his native culture, then solicits a rational evaluation of his choices from his conscience

Costly Choice = Vincent slows down to carefully weigh the detriments and benefits of change, at the expense of his previously swift and impulsive pace of growth

Motivation = Vincent recognizes the wise and protective nature of his conscience, and is accustomed to listening to it



Scene 4 - Montage of Vincent's Chamber, The Whispering Gallery, The Chamber of the Falls, and The Central Park Tunnel Entrance:

Vincent Alone = The introspective power of an introverted personality

Action = Vincent engages in active, focused contemplation

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to invest his time and energy in asking private questions of himself at the expense of making preparations for potential change

Motivation = Vincent trusts both his intuition and his capacity for critical thinking during his decision-making process



Scene 5 - Central Park Entrance Gate:


Catherine-A = Vincent's resurgent hopeful urge to leap into unknown conditions in pursuit of happiness

Action = Vincent explains his refusal to risk his present well-being for the uncertain prospect of future well-being

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to postpone growth in this direction at the expense of disappointing his hopes for immediate happiness

Motivation = Vincent values his secure freedom to choose between the risks of self-growth and the risks of self-maintenance



Scene 6 - Interior Tunnels:

Vincent Alone = The isolated pressures of an introverted personality

Action = Vincent makes a pained retreat into his inner sanctum

Costly Choice = Vincent relinquishes his dream of quick expansion at the expense of experiencing a natural depression which accompanies the process of accepting a personal loss

Motivation = Vincent wants to feel safe in a restful setting after his time of turmoil



Scene 7 - Vincent's Chamber:

Vincent's Voice = Vincent's deepest regrets


Catherine-A's Voice = Vincent's disappointed hopes

Father-A's Voice = Vincent's dire fears of annhilation

[Three Voices Together = Vincent's most critical self-doubts]

Action = Vincent suffers the exhausting emotional backlash after his dream of risky change is utterly extinguished

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to resist his dark thoughts and feelings at the expense of damaging/deranging his inmost haven of light

Motivation = One of Vincent's chief priorities is to fend off despair whenever it encroaches upon his peace of mind;
he exercises his tenacious optimism with beautiful emotional dexterity in order to bolster hope and pursue life. Here Vincent finds that his anger is insufficient to ward off the effects of grief and a fear of self-betrayal, so the core of Vincentself provides a rescue by riddling him deeper into his psyche, in order to refocus Vincent's energy into a different outlet for personal growth....



Scene 8 - Dreamtime Riddle in Vincent's Chamber:

Angel/Catherine-B = The highest, brightest, most central aspect of Vincent's soul, his voice of inner wisdom

Action = The Angel poses her riddle and promises to answer Vincent's questions about himself; she asks him, "Who are you without your safe haven?"

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to trust the self-examination offered by his inner wisdom at the expense of feeling the keen pain of losing any illusions he may hold about himself

Motivation = Above all, Vincent wants to understand and accept what is true about himself

Lesson Learned = Vincent is fully capable of orienting himself according to his prevailing values while engaging in meaningful self-examination



Scene 9 - Dreamtime Riddle in Labyrinthine Tunnels:

Angel/Catherine-B = Vincent's guiding priority of love

Pascal-B = Unreasonable voice of Vincent's aggressive paranoia

Jamie-B = Tempting voice of Vincent's unbridled curiosity

Action = In entering an exploration of his shadow-side, Vincent fails to engage in rational dialogue with either his paranoia or his curiosity, enduring the violent onslaught of paranoia and following curiosity into the next riddle

Costly Choice = Vincent decides to hearken to what paranoia and curiosity may have to offer at the expense of receiving minor injury to his present identity

Motivation = Out of self-respecting love, Vincent suspends judgment as to whether these two voices of his shadow-side represent positive or negative qualities, so he can learn more about how they operate in his mind

Lesson Learned = Paranoia and curiosity are not trustworthy impulses



~ Zara
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