Personality Analysis Thingies
Both are under cuts because of spoilers! The first was written for an application; the second was written for an Imaginarium community discussion post.
The main facet of Tony’s personality is that he’s a manipulator. When it all comes down to it, he, himself, comes first, before anyone else. It’s him against the world. He uses his good looks and charm to get by in the world, to get people to do what he wants them to, to get people to believe what he wants them to. If he didn’t have this skill, and if he wasn’t so adept at using this skill, I feel safe saying that he wouldn’t be alive by the point we first see him in the movie.
Now that we’ve talked about that a bit, I think it’s time that we look at his other main motive besides self-preservation- money. Tony started out rich, and, with his getting involved with the Russian mob and selling the organs of third world children, he obviously intended to stay rich. There’s a clear lack of morality involved with this kind of behaviour.
All of that being said, it’s important to notice the change he went through in the movie concerning Valentina. Me and my friend discussed it a bit, and here were my thoughts on it:
“I don't think he ever really 'reformed', he just got distracted. His primary love/motivation seems to be money and fame/renown. I think that when he joined up with them, that primary motive was temporarily shoved aside because he didn't have access to it in such large amounts- it was around him ALL THE TIME when he was Mr. Charity Face. I definitely think he genuinely had feelings for Valentina. But his original motive got shoved back into the spotlight once he saw the success ladders in the Imaginarium, and the money/renown once again became his primary motive, and by the time we see the Colin Farrell Tony, he's spiraled back into what he originally was”
The way I see it is that he’ll always strive for fame and fortune no matter what, and that he’ll always place himself before others. I just think the lengths he goes to, and how strong those impulses are, depends on his situation. When he was with the Imaginarium, he was still drawing in some kind of much smaller ‘fame’ and ‘fortune’- being on a stage, conning people that way, and making money from that. He was also able to satisfy his need of being liked by others- Valentina. I think, because those large amounts of money and fame weren’t there to tempt him, he was able to set aside his need to fulfill himself to some extent, and make room for Valentina and his feelings for her. However, even in his relationship with Valentina he’s selfish- being in love with her and having her love him is fulfilling his need for acceptance. Regardless of his feelings for her, though, if it came to a choice between money and her, or between his life and her life, his needs and wants would come out on top in the end.
In some weird way, he’s both a self-saving and a slightly self-destructive character, if that makes sense.
----------
I think I know why I like Tony so much, now. I'm a complete sucker for tragic characters, tragic backstories, etc, especially when that character is a villain. I never really thought of it this way, but I was listening to the soundtrack today, and I got to thinking about it, and I actually really think Tony is a very tragic character, in a way. He's absolutely selfish, money-, fame-, and power-hungry, and what he did was beyond terrible. But then when he joined the Imaginarium and met Valentina, he seemed to change- or to be willing to, in a way. I'm not saying he was whoosh, all better, but I think he really did love Valentina, and that he was changing, or at least letting go of (… or, well, running from) his past. He didn't really revert back to his old self until he went into the Imaginarium that second time, when he once again became distracted by his old goals, and Valentina was pushed to second place.
I think that, right there, is the tragedy of it. He loved Valentina, but his past and his inherent selfishness were just too much to overcome; not only that, his past was bound to catch up to him eventually (as it did in the form of the Russian mob finding him again). It's that whole 'doomed reformity, doomed relationship' thing that's so tragic. We get a glimpse of what he could be if he wasn't so selfish, but we know that glimpse is going to be inevitably snatched away. We hope it's not, but we know it will be. I think it speaks volumes that the path of Tony's salvation (Parnassus's path in Tony's final trip into the Imaginarium) led to a noose- he was, ultimately, completely irredeemable. See? Tragic!
The main facet of Tony’s personality is that he’s a manipulator. When it all comes down to it, he, himself, comes first, before anyone else. It’s him against the world. He uses his good looks and charm to get by in the world, to get people to do what he wants them to, to get people to believe what he wants them to. If he didn’t have this skill, and if he wasn’t so adept at using this skill, I feel safe saying that he wouldn’t be alive by the point we first see him in the movie.
Now that we’ve talked about that a bit, I think it’s time that we look at his other main motive besides self-preservation- money. Tony started out rich, and, with his getting involved with the Russian mob and selling the organs of third world children, he obviously intended to stay rich. There’s a clear lack of morality involved with this kind of behaviour.
All of that being said, it’s important to notice the change he went through in the movie concerning Valentina. Me and my friend discussed it a bit, and here were my thoughts on it:
“I don't think he ever really 'reformed', he just got distracted. His primary love/motivation seems to be money and fame/renown. I think that when he joined up with them, that primary motive was temporarily shoved aside because he didn't have access to it in such large amounts- it was around him ALL THE TIME when he was Mr. Charity Face. I definitely think he genuinely had feelings for Valentina. But his original motive got shoved back into the spotlight once he saw the success ladders in the Imaginarium, and the money/renown once again became his primary motive, and by the time we see the Colin Farrell Tony, he's spiraled back into what he originally was”
The way I see it is that he’ll always strive for fame and fortune no matter what, and that he’ll always place himself before others. I just think the lengths he goes to, and how strong those impulses are, depends on his situation. When he was with the Imaginarium, he was still drawing in some kind of much smaller ‘fame’ and ‘fortune’- being on a stage, conning people that way, and making money from that. He was also able to satisfy his need of being liked by others- Valentina. I think, because those large amounts of money and fame weren’t there to tempt him, he was able to set aside his need to fulfill himself to some extent, and make room for Valentina and his feelings for her. However, even in his relationship with Valentina he’s selfish- being in love with her and having her love him is fulfilling his need for acceptance. Regardless of his feelings for her, though, if it came to a choice between money and her, or between his life and her life, his needs and wants would come out on top in the end.
In some weird way, he’s both a self-saving and a slightly self-destructive character, if that makes sense.
----------
I think I know why I like Tony so much, now. I'm a complete sucker for tragic characters, tragic backstories, etc, especially when that character is a villain. I never really thought of it this way, but I was listening to the soundtrack today, and I got to thinking about it, and I actually really think Tony is a very tragic character, in a way. He's absolutely selfish, money-, fame-, and power-hungry, and what he did was beyond terrible. But then when he joined the Imaginarium and met Valentina, he seemed to change- or to be willing to, in a way. I'm not saying he was whoosh, all better, but I think he really did love Valentina, and that he was changing, or at least letting go of (… or, well, running from) his past. He didn't really revert back to his old self until he went into the Imaginarium that second time, when he once again became distracted by his old goals, and Valentina was pushed to second place.
I think that, right there, is the tragedy of it. He loved Valentina, but his past and his inherent selfishness were just too much to overcome; not only that, his past was bound to catch up to him eventually (as it did in the form of the Russian mob finding him again). It's that whole 'doomed reformity, doomed relationship' thing that's so tragic. We get a glimpse of what he could be if he wasn't so selfish, but we know that glimpse is going to be inevitably snatched away. We hope it's not, but we know it will be. I think it speaks volumes that the path of Tony's salvation (Parnassus's path in Tony's final trip into the Imaginarium) led to a noose- he was, ultimately, completely irredeemable. See? Tragic!