Ahahaha, oh obsession.

[osaraba]

So I did indeed get my Inception blu-ray/dvd combo thing in the mail on Monday but oddly enough have been content enough not to watch it. Even the extras! I've been more interested in reading than bothering to put on the DVD. (Though if the extras are only on the BR version then I'll have to wait til my PS3 is fixed before I can watch them anyway.)

But then last night Judy was sewing in the living room and wanted to put it on and I was content enough to stay in my room and read but then I heard one of Arthur's lines and it was like reeling in a fucking fish, I just couldn't help myself and somehow ended up in the living room, watching. About 1/3 of the way through I tried to leave but ended up coming back and watching (and trying to leave) for another 30 minutes.

It was so funny watching it for the first time in a few months (the last time was the last weekend in August, while I was sewing my bridesmaid dress the day before Maryann's wedding, hahaha) -- my reactions at certain scenes (squeeing quietly into the throw pillow; thanking the universe for Christopher Nolan and his canon!genderswap) were cause for Judy to look at me as if I were insane (even though she started reading Inception fic too, because I *flailed* at her about gyzym's domestic!verse saga). Which, really, she knows by now that I am, but she forgets sometimes that I can act insane as well.

...as for watching the movie itself-- ARTHUR IS SUCH A GOON. I mean, an intelligent goon who knows how to research? But a goon nonetheless (mostly because of the way he talks; his accent is actually kind of thuggish). It's always been quite clear to me exactly how much Eames contributes to the actual Inception Plan (that is, all of it), but I dunno, it never quite registered that Arthur has very little to do with all the in-dream dreamshare stuff. He acts in the dream exactly as he acts "IRL" (going with the interpretation that it isn't all a dream because in that case it becomes a lot harder to analyze the characters I'm interested in as, you know, real people).

That realization kind of makes me sad. That he's not more involved in the dream aspects. But I guess I think it's pretty cool that he's -- like a concierge? -- a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy? Someone who knows how to acquire things in the real world. ...I guess I can follow how the metamorphosis of Arthur's characterisation from movie to fanon happens. ^^;

I also remembered how BAMF Cobb is -- fanon!Cobb (or at least in the Arthur/Eames camp) tends to make him out to be a slightly-incompetent asshole with a good dose of hilariously crazy on the side. And not that that interpretation doesn't make me LOL for real, but oh yeah, he's evading tails, shooting back, and all that stuff too! Aww Cobb, I do like you... I just don't care about you much outside of the movie.

I think this was actually the first time I was able to ignore the main story and Cobb's personal issues and get over my strong-yet-mixed reaction to Ariadne and actually really focus on Arthur and Eames's roles. HOW WEIRD IS THAT? DOES THIS MEAN I'LL BE EVEN MORE OBSESSED? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

ALSO I AM SAD THAT THERE IS NOT MORE ARTHUR-EAMES INTERACTION. THEY ARE SO FUCKING SNARKY, I LOVE IT!


/incoherent thoughts

*goes back to immersing myself in fic*

Comments

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

I only watched up to part of the second dream level yesterday, but that was my first rewatch in months, as well, and the first time that I noticed *how* fanon Arthur's characterization is so often.

I think part of that is that fanon tends to mold one part of a very popular slash pairing into someone with emotional issues making them more accessible for "fixing" or whatever. Arthur got that role in this fandom.

In the movie, though, he comes across as a pretty normal guy, is stolen kiss from Ariadne very much similar to how fanon characterizes Eames (this is weird).

I think the dvd release is already fueling a fandom renaissance. I think maybe characterization will now skew, too, and there will be "camps" so to speak of people really into this or that characterization. PREDICTION!

[osaraba]

YESYESYES! I think, in a lot of ways, fanon has switched Arthur's and Eames's personalities? -- and this is kind of weird, but -- it seems to be based on their physical attributes?

I remember when fandom first exploded I'd read a fic and then remind myself exactly how this characterisation didn't fit the canon. But it takes a lot of effort to keep that up, and I really enjoy the stories otherwise, so what does it matter?

So I'm half irritated at the DVD release for messing up my groove, but if you're right and it fuels a fandom renaissance, well. I'm totally ready for that! I would not mind reading more about goon!Arthur (or normal-guy!Arthur, who has actually been my favorite since the beginning), LOLZ!

[thedreamerworld.livejournal.com]

don't worry, I don't typically forget the levels of insanity that is my roommate.

[osaraba]

HAHAH OH GOOD. \o/

in which i giggle like a school girl irl

[firefox1490.livejournal.com]

heheheehheheehe

I need to get my copy!! I went out today AND STILL DIDNT BUY IT!!! I don't know whats wrong with me.

Re: in which i giggle like a school girl irl

[osaraba]

haha BUY IT =D I've heard that both amazon and bestbuy had a coupon/promotion for it, but it might've expired by now...

[greenpixidust.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this as well lately. The role that Arthur fills in this movie is best described using a term from a fave show of mine, "Hustle". Arthur is the Fixer. Everyone else comes up with the grand schemes and plans, but Arthur is the one to makes shit happen. He's the planner in the logical, real world, where Eames and Cobb and Ariadne are the planners in the more imaginative "think outside the box" kind of way. Not that Arthur lacks imagination (as the elevator kick proves) just that he is more apt to think in real world, physical, logical terms, not emotional, more ephemeral ones.

One thing that I've noticed upon watching this movie (over and over and over again) is that everyone has a definitive job that they fill in the real world. As in, if there were no such thing as dream sharing, they are already doing something they would do. Ariadne and Cobb are architects, Eames is a grifter (con man), and Yusuf is a chemist. But Arthur doesn't have definition without the dream world.

I think that's why so much of Arthur's characterization is fanon. After all, really all we're given on Arthur is that he's known Cobb a long time, has been friends with him since a good time before Mal's death, he's the one in charge of researching the marks, and knows Eames before the movie, but doesn't get along well with him. We know that Cobb turned to extraction after Mal died, but we don't know how Arthur got roped into it (loyalty to a friend? his idea in the first place? already was a thief type?) and outside of being "a stick in the mud" we aren't even really given much personality.

We writers really have to extrapolate and try to build in personality traits and thought patterns that fill in the holes that are left. We're drawn in by the little pieces that JGL's acting gives us ("the kiss" was -not- part of the shooting script), and by the general smooth, dapper look that Arthur gives, but it's mostly just that he's hot and we want to write stories with him in it. :P

[osaraba]

Hmm, never thought of it that way -- Arthur as a Fixer (as opposed to a Planner?). Yeah, I definitely see that. He reacts; his imagination is best utilized in innovation under pressure. Hahah, and still this is all exactly opposite to the careful, obsessive, restrained/constrained researcher/planner of fanon!Arthur.

...and then, I recall that he asked so snidely for specificity... so maybe he's not a Planner, but still a Preparer...?

But yes, what makes Arthur (and all the characters, really) so fascinating and so versatile is the very fact that they aren't minutely defined in the film.

Which is also, of course, why there are so many interpretations and why so many of them can be argued so plausibly. =D

I don't think my personal headcanon for movie!Arthur has completely taken shape just yet. I'm really leaning toward this mafia/goon-type Arthur. Though that's really not my favorite fandom!Arthur. Sigh.

=D

And BTW, I LOVE YOUR ICON! LOLZ!!!

[greenpixidust.livejournal.com]

I got the icon from ollywol. There's some awesome icons there.

I do see Arthur as a tough guy, yes. Not necessarily a goon, but tough and a fighter. But I also see him as a person that needs to be in control, needs to know what to expect. That's why his totem is a loaded die. It's because he always needs to know the outcome.