Category: Characters

Boromir- Plight to Failure, or A Tale of Redemption

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Boromir, the son of Denethor II and the Steward of Gondor, faced a profound crisis of identity and purpose. As the last hope for his people, he was deeply troubled by Gondor’s impending doom and his father’s failure to lead. The weight of responsibility to save his homeland and its people crushed him, leading to a sense of desperation and despair.

Why Boromir Failed

Boromir’s failure stemmed from his inability to reconcile his duty to protect the Ring Bearer with his own desires and motivations. He became obsessed with the idea that the One Ring held the key to saving Gondor, and his sense of duty to his people clouded his judgment. This led him to attempt to take the Ring by force, betraying his vow to protect Frodo and ultimately resulting in his own downfall.

Key Factors Contributing to Boromir’s Failure

  1. Vainglory: Boromir’s desire for recognition and admiration from his people, as well as his own sense of self-importance, drove him to prioritize his own ambitions over his duties as a member of the Fellowship.
  2. Desperation: The dire circumstances facing Gondor and his father’s perceived weakness as Steward led Boromir to feel overwhelmed and desperate, causing him to grasp at any solution, including the Ring.
  3. Lack of Faith: Boromir’s reliance on human efforts and his own strength, rather than trusting in the greater plan of the Valar, led him to underestimate the power of the Ring and the true nature of his quest.
  4. Inadequate Guidance: Boromir’s upbringing and education, while noble and well-intentioned, may not have provided him with the wisdom and spiritual guidance necessary to navigate the complexities of his situation.

Redemption

Despite his failure, Boromir’s bravery and repentance in his final moments earned him a measure of redemption. His sacrifice and loyalty to his companions, even in the face of his own flaws and mistakes, serve as a testament to the enduring power of noble character and the possibility of redemption in the face of failure.

“One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust; the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly.”

Boromir to Elrond’s council. A testament to the wisdom of Boromir’s education.

[Frodo wanders in the woods. Boromir comes up behind him, gathering wood]

Boromir : None of us should wander alone, you least of all. Frodo? I know you suffer, I see it day by day. Are you sure you do not suffer needlessly? There are other ways, Frodo, other paths we might take.

Frodo : I know what you would say, and it would seem like wisdom, but for the warning in my heart.

Boromir : Warning? Against what? We are all afraid, Frodo. But to let that fear drive us to destroy what hope we have… don’t you see? That is madness!

Frodo : There is no other way.

Boromir : I ask only for the strength to defend my people!

[approaches Frodo]

Boromir : If you would but lend me the Ring…

Frodo : [backs away] No!

Boromir : Why do you recoil? I am no thief.

Frodo : You are not yourself.

Boromir : What chance do you think you have? They will find you. They will take the Ring. And you will beg for death before the end!

Aragorn- A Terrible, Dark Lord

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Q: “Why did Legolas and Gimli elude to the fact that Aragorn may have become a terrible lord had he gotten the ring in the Return of the King? Because isn’t he still just a mortal man?”

A: Being immortal or mortal is a detail of little value in itself to decide the power of individuals. Aragorn was more powerful than most Elves; that doesn’t mean much.”

Of course, being immortal or indefinitely long-lived is essential to achieving experience and memory, and if wise of enough wisdom, But in terms of power, not much, for the Tolkien universe follows a reverse scaling; everything is more powerful in the past.

In Aragorn’s case, he was not just a physically powerful Man; he also had great strength of will (and possibly of character as well).

The weakness of the one Ring, besides the possibility of its destruction (but that would have the same effect on Sauron), was that if someone was heroic and powerful enough, that person could challenge Sauron. Of course, challenging the Dark Lord doesn’t necessarily mean fighting the Dark Lord personally using the ring, which even the High Elves could not do. Gandalf could, but the outcome would still be uncertain.

However, the Ring conferred power over minds — the chief reason for its making. If someone used the Ring for this purpose, and Aragorn was strong enough in body and mind to do so, he could I) Build arms and engines of war and possibly II) Control Sauron’s servants and works and use them to usurp his place or even throw him down.

This would be the strategy of the High Elves, the same one Sauron adopted himself.

In any case, Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and subservient generals and armies and engines of war until they could challenge Sauron and destroy him by force.

Using the ring for this purpose required more than power; it also needed charisma and oratory skills, the art of influencing people, and the Ring empowered any natural skill to the point where it became magic.

Aragorn was already a commanding figure, so Legolas and Gimli figured he would be a terrible Dark Lord. He was able to command the Army of the Dead without the One Ring, with the power of his figure and the help of the Oath.

In the uplands of Lamedon, they overtook our horses and swept around us. They would have passed us by if Aragorn had not forbidden them. ‘At his command, they fell back. “Even the shades of Men are obedient to his will,” I thought. “They may serve his needs yet!”

That was great willpower, and with the Ring, Aragorn would be an immensely more persuasive and terrifying commanding figure. And if mortality is an issue no more, as the Ring technically guarantees “immortality” in addition to increasing Aragorn’s powers so that he would have become a kind of wraith-lord — exceedingly scary and possibly more terrifying then the Witch King of Angmar, see Frodo near Sammath Naur as a small example than Aragorn would have become.

“Strange indeed,” said Legolas. “In that hour, I looked on Aragorn and thought how great and terrible a Lord he might have become in the strength of his will had he taken the Ring to himself. Not for naught does Mordor fear him. But nobler is his spirit than the understanding of Sauron, for is he not of the children of Lúthien? Never shall that line fail, though the years may lengthen beyond count.”

Tears in rain

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I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) — Blade Runner

Ruter didn’t like the original version of the monologue that director Ridley Scott wrote

I’ve known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I’ve been Offworld and back… frontiers! I’ve stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching stars fight on the shoulder of Orion… I’ve felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I’ve seen it, felt it…!

Early David Peoples Draft

I’ve seen things… seen things you little people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium… I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments… they’ll be gone.

Ridley Scott’s final draft before Hauer’s changes

Mad Dog Killer

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Why did Private Pyle kill himself in Full Metal Jacket?

In what’s probably the most misunderstood in the film, Pvt. Pyle kills himself and Gunnery Sergeant because he’s a slow, dimwitted, and unstable man who has fully internalized all of his training and indoctrination.

He has taken Hartman’s demands that he become a killer with a hard heart and a pure killer instinct and acts on them. The first time we meet Pyle, it’s evident that he is slow and dimwitted. Rather than seeing him as trainable, Hartman immediately switches to violence to force him into obedience and compliance.

Unlike the other Marine recruits in his platoon, he’s too slow to know better and too simple to deal with the indoctrination. Pvt. Leonard Lawrence, a/k/a Gomer Pyle, or Private Pyle, is profoundly disturbed and of subnormal intelligence even when he arrives. He believes everything he is told, absolutely literally, including the Marine Rifle Creed (see below), unfortunately. Pyle is then massively traumatized by everything that has happened to him, becomes severely depressed, and eventually becomes dangerously suicidal. Pyle’s instability leads him to murder his superior and kill himself.

By the way, the subtext of the novel ‘Short-Timers’ and the film ‘Full Metal Jacket,’ based on that novel, is the genuine “Project 100,000.” This was a 1960s policy in which those with developmental disabilities, subnormal intelligence, severe personality disorders, etc., who would have previously been deemed unfit to serve, were drafted into service.

(Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the architect of Project 100,000. This project was a massive failure. The men who went through it had great difficulty following even the most straightforward orders, got themselves and their fellow sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines killed, and ended up living worse lives after the military than they had before – and despite veterans sometimes suffering effects from combat, the overwhelming majority live far better lives as a result of their time in the military.

Pyle is a classic case of a Project 100,000 recruit. He has an IQ south of 80; for context, an IQ of 80 is borderline deficient/low average. In the day, he would have been labeled ‘retarded’; today, we might have labeled him as having Asperger’s. He’s clearly on the spectrum and has a touch of the ’tism. Given his situation and the timeframe in which the story takes place, this has also made him very unstable. Pyle finds his match in a violent and sadistic Senior Drill Instructor (SDI), Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.

Hartman is incapable of training Pyle and never really tries that hard. He beats, mocks, and abuses Pyle relentlessly—these continued attempts to torment Pyle into compliance drives Pyle into a deeply suggestible state.

Hartman is beating a puppy, not realizing that beaten puppies grow up to be vicious dogs.

It should go without saying, but getting smacked around is not training. And taking this kind of abuse is not suitable for anyone, let alone someone like Pyle. No wonder then that he turns into a mad dog killer. Pyle, in the face of this unrelenting abuse and quite literally believing everything he is being told by his peers and by Hartman, becomes increasingly dangerous.

While this harsh training might be perfectly acceptable for regular Marines expected to face combat in relatively short order, one needs to understand that regular Marines have normal intellects. Some are even above average. This bar of average or above-average IQ is basically a necessity. Dumb Marines wouldn’t last long in combat, and the Marine Corps is exceptional about weeding out people of low intelligence and serious mental issues, no matter what sailors, soldiers, and even some Marines might say.

However, during Project 100,000, the Marines were stuck with men like Pyle, and this harsh training ratchets Pyle and other low-IQ soldiers up and makes them increasingly unstable. He begins to show genuine signs of severe mental instability, including talking to his rifle.

Unfortunately, these warning signs are also ignored because training during Vietnam wasn’t just harsh; it was also rushed. They needed men on the line fast, so corners were cut, and problem cases were ignored.
The USMC’s low standards during Prohect 100,000 is how Hartman gets away with all the violence against his men. Neither before nor after Vietnam was this tolerated – in fact, it’s a crime for a DI to assault his men. But it was put up with during Vietnam because, again, even the worst DI was better than no DI when you’re rushing civilians into combat.

Finally, Hartman decides using the memory of a Presidential assassin and a mass murderer is an excellent way to motivate men at the shooting range.

This would never have been an acceptable teaching method. Ever.

R. Lee Ermey, himself a Marine SDI in the mid-1960s, described Hartman as “a complete psycho” for many reasons. He hated the character and admitted he was made physically ill by delivering this dialogue about the assassination of JFK and the mass murder committed by Charles Whitman as good things done by former Marines.

No Marine Drill Instructor, even at the height of Vietnam, would have ever done so.

Filming this scene made R Lee Ermey want to vomit. I’m not joking. He insisted simply delivering these lines made him physically ill. After Hartman essentially condones a criminal conspiracy within his ranks to assault Pyle (blanket parties, though they do happen, are HIGHLY illegal; see Code Red and A Few Good Men for another example), Pyle finally changes his behavior and begins to comply, but by then, the total damage has been done, Pyle has already totally committed to his path of murder and suicide.

Ultimately, Pyle murders Hartman and kills himself.

“THIS IS MY RIFLE.
THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT BUT THIS ONE’S MINE.
MY RIFLE IS MY BEST FRIEND.
IT IS MY LIFE.
I MUST MASTER IT AS I MUST MASTER MY LIFE.
WITHOUT ME, MY RIFLE IS USELESS.
WITHOUT MY RIFLE, I AM USELESS.
I MUST FIRE MY RIFLE TRUE.
I MUST SHOOT STRAIGHTER THAN MY ENEMY WHO IS TRYING TO KILL ME.
I MUST SHOOT HIM BEFORE HE SHOOTS ME.
I WILL!
BEFORE GOD, I SWEAR THIS CREED.
MY RIFLE AND MYSELF ARE DEFENDERS OF MY COUNTRY.
WE ARE THE MASTERS OF OUR ENEMY.
WE ARE THE SURVIVORS OF MY LIFE.
SO BE IT, UNTIL THERE IS NO ENEMY, BUT PEACE.
AMEN!”

— USMC Rifleman’s Creed, Maj. Gen. William H Rupertus. 1907–1910 (National Guard), 1913–1945 (USMC 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division).

It’s all in Tommy’s head.

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What is the most expansive fictional universe ever created?

The Tommy Westphall Universe. A long time ago, in a fabled era known as the ’80s, there was a TV show called St. Elsewhere. It was about a run-down teaching hospital named St. Eligius in Boston and the doctors who worked there. Dr. Donald Westphall was the director of medicine, a widower who raised his two children by himself. One of those children was his autistic son Tommy. Tommy only appeared in fifteen episodes of the series. St. Elsewhere ran for six seasons and won eleven Emmys, but all anyone cares about today is its final episode. In the final scene of the final episode, Tommy Westphall holds a snow globe that reveals the building of St. Eligius inside it. And his father, who is not a doctor, comes in and says the following:

I don’t understand this autism thing, Pop. Here’s my son; I talk to him; I don’t even know if he can hear me. He sits in his world all day long, staring at that toy. What’s he thinking about?

The entire six seasons of St. Elsewhere were, in fact, a child’s daydream while looking at a snow globe.

Here’s where things get a little complicated. The character Dr. Roxanne Turner from St. Elsewhere appeared in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, where authorities accused her of murder. But if Dr. Turner was just a creation of Tommy, how could she possibly be on Homicide? Unless Homicide was also Tommy’s daydream. There is an episode of St. Elsewhere where the doctors of St. Eligius decide to go out for a few drinks at a local Boston bar. That bar is Cheers, the titular bar from the sitcom Cheers. So, Cheers, and Frasier are again products of Tommy’s imagination.

Detective John Munch was a character played by Richard Belzer, who starred in Homicide: Life on the Street, which we know never existed. After the cancellation of Homicide, the character was moved to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Detective Munch also appears in The Wire, The X-Files, and Arrested Development. So, Tommy Westphall had to create all those shows.

Cheers spun off Frasier, who crossed over with Caroline in the City, with Friends, who shared a character with Mad About You, who crossed over with Seinfeld. In a few centuries, the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will be Star Trek, but its distant past (sorry, spoilers) is the reboot of Battlestar Galactica. Doctor Who is canonically taking place in the same universe as I Love Lucy, Hannah Montana, Grey’s Anatomy, and All My Children.

All of it is the creation of one child, which probably explains the continuity errors. For example, no one acknowledges the zombie outbreak in Georgia in The Walking Dead, which is happening at the exact same time as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Arrow.

If you map everything out, there are at least 419 shows that are in the same continuity with each other and canonically the creation of Tommy Westphall.

The first person to propose the Tommy Westphall Universe was legendary writer Dwayne McDuffie in a blog post criticizing comic book continuity. It was about just how silly it was to try to fit vast and mutually incoherent works all into the same rigid continuity. But he was kind of onto something with that whole Tommy Westphall stuff. They did all crossover with each other.

By the way, the Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy has Tobias Fünke on his ship, which means Tommy Westphall is responsible for the MCU.