The funny thing is that Vincent knows that. He knows they see his strength and humanity...Pat wrote:I can also see how both Father and Catherine are trying to let him know that they see more in him than violence, that they see Vincent's ability to control that aspect with his intellect and heart, and that these are greater than his 'Other' side.
...And I am wondering if they do not address Vincent's fears because they are having trouble addressing their own fears. Facing fear is definitely a theme of Catherine's character evolution, and she meets with mixed success along her journey. Where Vincent is concerned, Father is better at addressing fear than Catherine by simple virtue of having had years' more practice at it...and Vincent tends to entrust Father with his struggles more than he does Catherine...until after "The Rest is Silence" cave. Maybe, in a way, in the end, Catherine's less-practiced take on dealing with fundamental differences in one she loves ultimately helps her to bridge the gap between herself and Vincent that Father, however much more he comprehends about the situation, cannot himself close. She reaches a point where her ignorance no longer matters to her, where she sets her questions aside and decides to competely trust her heart and obey the deepest imperatives of love.Pat wrote:What they don't address, or acknowledge, is his fears and his struggles with this part of himself.
He definitely shares that responsibility...heck, he claims every last shred of his own responsibility, always...and never blames Catherine for his troubles. I'm certain, though, that he believes it is often *easier* and less painful to deal with his problems by himself. Catherine's relentless cheerleading and investigative approach become both hurtful and distracting on many occasions. There are times when Vincent just does not have the energy to work through Catherine's issues on top of his own.Pat wrote:Does Vincent not share in this issue, though? He says many times to Catherine, to leave him when he is 'like this' or in a darker mood. Perhaps his aloneness helps him to think that he needs to deal with his problems by himself.
We may have reached the point where "the Other" needs a bit of definition in how we are using the term. My approach to the Other Vincent shifts as I learn and ponder more and more about this character, but I currently think of the Other as the part of himself that Vincent does not yet know how to love, an expression of Vincent's need for mercy from other people. It is the least refined, least civilized, most primal, even most animal part of who he is. An embodiment of helplessness in a larger human-dominated world that has no interest in helping him. I do not like associating the Other exclusively with Vincent's violence, because Vincent seems to maintain a healthy respect overall toward his own rationale for violence...and his own sense of balance with respect to violence. It is when the violence spins out of Vincent's ironclad, rational control that his fear and shame and doubt overwhelm him. It is when external mercy is most distant and cruelty most present that the Other side of Vincent's nature is roused from his internal shadows to take defensive action. Thus, the personified Other is a defensive mechanism, and he is a very frightened, very hungry, very angry creature. This makes him aggressive. But I don't think Vincent's full capacity for aggression is compartmentalized into a Beastly-Other box inside himself. He's a more integrated Beast than that. As Sobi put it, Koslow's vision provides us with the magic balance from the beginning of the story. Martinesque storytelling later directly showed us the Other in light of gross imbalance. But Vincent as we came to love and know him was not insane at the outset. The Other was simply the most vulnerable part of who he is as Beast in our fairy tale.Pat wrote:Both Father and Catherine have direct experience with his Other.
Aaaand now I'm back to my mythology.
I will say that I very much liked the episodes when Vincent and Catherine are acting together in complementary ways to rescue other characters. "A Children's Story" introduced this tactic (one of many reasons why I feel that episode really sets the tone as the second episode of the series and I'm sad it was not aired so). "Song of Orpheus" and "A Gentle Rain" were perhaps the most beautiful examples in the series of Beast and Beauty teaming up as rescuers of the lost. TPTB never grasped the power and potential of their tale. I think the series very much needed action, especially because of all the violent evil-doers and criminals the heroes oppose. But focusing that action away from plots that weaken, dismiss, and/or usurp Beauty's strength would have vastly and immediately improved the storytelling.Pat wrote:If it wouldn't have been to rescue Catherine, they would have turned Vincent into a crime fighter. They wanted action. I'm happier with the former than the latter.
Things for storymakers of the present and future to keep in mind, yes?
Zara wrote: I could make a list of character-instigated evasions and lost opportunities, if you like, throughout Seasons One and Two...
Okey-doke. Working on it.Pat wrote:By all means, share your list! It helps us see where you notice these things. (and saves us the trouble! )
~ Zara