amorpheous plot-bunny: Lord of War
Mar. 12th, 2012 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marbleglove
I saw Lord of War this weekend and thought it was interesting. It was somewhere between a violent summer blockbuster type movie and a docudrama and wound up being a bit of a watered down version of both, but I think if it had been a really good movie it would have also been a lot more upsetting, so I'm just as happy with it as is.
I think the whole thing can be summed up with a quote from one of the characters: "Wow, you're good. You almost convinced me."
See the whole thing is told from the point of view of this international arms dealer Yuri Orlov, who goes around helping to support wars and war atrocities and shrugging off the consequences as a matter of if-I-don't-do-it-someone-else-will. It's a facetious argument that I am perfectly willing to argue against at length, but I can see how a Orlov might use it to rationalize at least some of his actions. Anyway, I'd like to focus on another character, Jack Valentine.
Jack Valentine is a good dedicated Interpol agent who, get this, obeys the laws that he supports.
When was the last time you saw that in a movie?
I like vigilanti movies as much as anyone, but I really like it when people have principals and following those principals, even when it's difficult. There's no point of having principals if you only follow them when they're easy.
I really want to read a fic that shows more of Valentine and shows him as the sort of person who can bring pressure to bear on all kinds of people, corrupt/disillusioned bureaucrats and out-right criminals both, by sheer strength of principal. He's the sort of person who acts like a force of nature: you can prepare for him and avoid him and escape him, but you sure can't pay him off or convince him to show mercy rather than justice.
He's just this awesome character and we only see him through Orlov's too cynical eyes.
I'm playing around with a variety of plot ideas, but I haven't really found one that I like. But I'm thinking that if I end up writing this, it will probably have to be a sequel to Neutral Good, which would be incredibly hard to write because it would be two sides in direct conflict with each other, where I like and support both of them. Of course, I could always introduce a third side to be the bad guy against whom my favorites unite, but it just gets tricky. Anyway, I am rambling...
If someone else wants to make the attempt (please, please, puppy-dog-eyes!), they are more than welcome to do so.
But if you know of a story that already fulfills my need for this, then please let me know so that I can go and read it ASAP.
I think the whole thing can be summed up with a quote from one of the characters: "Wow, you're good. You almost convinced me."
See the whole thing is told from the point of view of this international arms dealer Yuri Orlov, who goes around helping to support wars and war atrocities and shrugging off the consequences as a matter of if-I-don't-do-it-someone-else-will. It's a facetious argument that I am perfectly willing to argue against at length, but I can see how a Orlov might use it to rationalize at least some of his actions. Anyway, I'd like to focus on another character, Jack Valentine.
Jack Valentine is a good dedicated Interpol agent who, get this, obeys the laws that he supports.
When was the last time you saw that in a movie?
I like vigilanti movies as much as anyone, but I really like it when people have principals and following those principals, even when it's difficult. There's no point of having principals if you only follow them when they're easy.
I really want to read a fic that shows more of Valentine and shows him as the sort of person who can bring pressure to bear on all kinds of people, corrupt/disillusioned bureaucrats and out-right criminals both, by sheer strength of principal. He's the sort of person who acts like a force of nature: you can prepare for him and avoid him and escape him, but you sure can't pay him off or convince him to show mercy rather than justice.
He's just this awesome character and we only see him through Orlov's too cynical eyes.
I'm playing around with a variety of plot ideas, but I haven't really found one that I like. But I'm thinking that if I end up writing this, it will probably have to be a sequel to Neutral Good, which would be incredibly hard to write because it would be two sides in direct conflict with each other, where I like and support both of them. Of course, I could always introduce a third side to be the bad guy against whom my favorites unite, but it just gets tricky. Anyway, I am rambling...
If someone else wants to make the attempt (please, please, puppy-dog-eyes!), they are more than welcome to do so.
But if you know of a story that already fulfills my need for this, then please let me know so that I can go and read it ASAP.
