ooc: november writing prompts
Contains spoilery clips from the selected films.
[oo3] Sunday: Character Bibliography: five films
I. Elizabethtown
Cameron Crowe movies are usually about a character reaching a life-affirming epiphany about themselves. Jerry Maguire was about a not-so-nice guy finding his scruples ... Elizabethtown is about a guy coping with the loss of his job and professional humiliation, coupled with the death of his father, and by the way, things didn't work out with the girl he was dating, either. Just as he's contemplating suicide because of his failure, he's asked by his family to go take care of his father's final arrangements. Along the way, he embarks on an emotional journey about life and love and all that. This has been inspiring to me for Ianto because ... he's the workaholic type of guy who's been so consumed by work and success that he's ignored a lot of the more important things in life. His epiphany (even if a little too late in comparison to the main character in this movie) is definitely inspired by Drew's. Would he watch it? I can't really see it happening ... Ianto doesn't really have time for movies, and at first glance this one probably looks way too much like a chick flick.
Click to viewII. Stranger than Fiction
This one's a little left-field, but Will Ferrell's portrayal of Harold Crick definitely inspired me. Mostly because Harold Crick is another workaholic guy who's going methodically through life - until it finally gets turned upside-down by something terribly traumatizing. But in the end, he decides to do the Right Thing, even at the expense of his own happiness (or even his own continued existence), and that was simply awesome. I think if he were to sit down and actually watch this movie, Ianto would like it a lot.
III. Love Actually
British rom-com! There's a part of me that says I shouldn't include this on here, but the other part says ... whatever. Because it really does influence my portrayal of Ianto in a lot of his relationships, as the movie itself covers the scope of so many different sorts of love. Love after betrayal, newfound love, puppy love, unrequited love, professional love ... and I really want to write him letting loose and dancing around the London hub in his sock feet? I can actually associate him more with Colin Firth's character - realizing what he wants out of life but too afraid to go get it. Until a point.
IV. The Good Shepherd
And I take a sudden turn to the dramatic. You'd really have to see the movie to understand how this affects my portrayal of Ianto ... but in general, Matt Damon's character, as an early CIA agent, is a really cold and manipulative bastard. He starts out normally enough, then makes his descent into the life, so to speak. In fact, he definitely puts Ianto to shame in terms of manipulation - but he's an inspiration nonetheless! If he had time to watch it, Ianto might like it all right.
V. Casino Royale
No, no, no. I don't associate Ianto with James Bond at all. I think he's probably a fan of the Bond films (favorite: Sean Connery), but MI6/Bond is a huge influence on all my RP because it was the first thing I ever did ... and MI6 is a big model for the shiny, enigmatic Torchwood lifestyle for me. Plus, I think James Bond attended the Jack Harkness School of Driving.