Douglas Hall - The Thirteenth Floor

[lonelywalker]

TITLE: Unplugged
AUTHOR: lonelywalker
AUTHOR SITE: World On A Wire: 13th Floor Resources // Lonelywalker's Fanfiction
CHARACTER: Douglas Hall
FANDOM: The Thirteenth Floor
SPOILERS: The entire film The Thirteenth Floor, and the book Simulacron-3 by Daniel Galouye, on which the film is based.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters and I'm not making any money.

Comments

[daddysmutantkid]

Despite Doug’s knowledge that the project means the world to Whitney, that Whitney is an emotional wreck following Fuller’s death, and that Whitney was shocked by the idea that Doug might close down the project, Doug apparently never suspects that Whitney would take the initiative and download into the program himself. Yes, Whitney hates confrontation, and tells Doug that going into the program alone is stupid - but we repeatedly see how much emotion and work Whitney has invested in the project. Doug, however, takes no steps to look after or check in on his friend, even at such a traumatic time. Although Whitney saved Doug’s life in the program, Doug doesn’t even think of saving Whitney.

Come on. Supposed you were a guy, who of the following blondes were you more likely to run after

[lonelywalker]

If Jane had not been there Doug might have had a real strong motivation to look after Whitney, and the story would have taken a totally different direction.

Sure. But my point remains: Doug does not act as a friend should to Whitney, and in fact directly/indirectly leads to Whitney getting killed. His love/affection for/interest in Jane supercedes his concern for his friend. Is this understandable? Yes, in the context of (a) male hormones, and (b) the context of the "deja vu" he experiences. Is it the right thing to do? No. And it underlines how divisive Jane is in splitting up the three men at the core of the film (four if we count her ill-fated husband).

I have to say it would have been very interesting to see Whitney's reaction to Jane, had he ever met her.

[daddysmutantkid]

Sure. But my point remains: Doug does not act as a friend should to WhitneyWell, things like this are easier to be solved in fics, but … How do you actually act as a perfect friend? The list of commandment sounds very easy in theory. Practically it might be very difficult to deal with Whitney the way "a friend" would. Maybe Doug behaves towards Whitney reservedly because is he doesn't get much among people and therefore doesn't know how to treat him. Maybe he treats him with reduced temperature for good reason, seeing how easily Whitney jumps on other people's emotions. If he (theoretically) had started crying together with Whitney, it would have gotten Whitney even deeper into crying than he already is, and into a total loss of control. Maybe talking softly and reasonably might be the most advisable thing to do

[lonelywalker]

The key thing is that Doug is physically and verbally violent towards Whitney, and threatens to essentially destroy Whitney's entire life and career by shutting down the program.

Yes, of course there are mitigating factors - Doug himself has just almost been killed by Ashton. However, we see him acting very calmly and rationally after that.

The question is whether Doug could have anticipated that Whitney would do anything rash. And for that we really would need a look at their past behaviour. Maybe Whitney normally reacts by just doing whatever Doug wants (as he does by allowing Doug to jack in, in the first place). However, I would expect that a friend would call him and check that he's ok - maybe apologise and promise to sort things out in the morning. This seems to be what Doug intends to do when he does finally go to speak to "Whitney".

I suspect, really, that the evidence shows that these two guys are friends, just not particularly close friends

[velocityvincent]

taking your last point,Did being unplugged from the program make him free? I don't see that he would be,he's just gone from being controlled by David to being controlled by Jane,who can be pretty ruthless herself.

Apart from that,you made some interesting points that I will think about,no doubt.Maybe I'll change my mind about him a bit,but I doubt I'll ever like Doug as a character.

[lonelywalker]

I think Doug is more of an interesting character than a likable one - interesting in the sense of figuring out what went "wrong", and what the filmmakers might have intended.

Anyway, I'm inclined to treat him a little better in my fic than the more sinister interpretation of Jane's actions might suggest.