A sociopath? That really is a cop-out -- they might as well have
announced that he was being mentally controlled by aliens from the
Planet Zog!
One thing about writing fan-fiction is that -- as stage adaptations of
novels famously do -- it shows up any inconsistencies in the source
material :-( And not merely chronological ones of the Leroux
variety...
I think my basic problem with Hans-as-schemer is that I can only
interpret his behaviour, as presented, in the light of an attempt by
the writers to deceive the audience rather than the other
characters. (He never once breaks character. Ever. Not even when he's
alone -- not even when it would be to his public advantage.)
And it's such a waste of what could, given a few shades of grey, have
been an extremely interesting character. I can believe in a Hans who
admits "I badly wanted a throne of my own, so when you seemed to
really like me I thought I'd risk jumping in and asking you to marry
me in a hurry before you could get second thoughts": it's the idea
that he was supposedly carrying out a Plan of Insane Evil all along
rather than just muddling through that doesn't add up for me.
I can believe in a Hans who asks Anna to marry him for the 'wrong'
motives, then sees his initial ambition to gain a place at the court
of Arendelle -- still a massive step up for a landless youngest son
with no prospects at home -- suddenly transmuted into a chance at real
power when the sentiment turns against the Queen and Anna, unprompted,
offers him the chance to take over the reins. I can believe in a Hans
who discovers that, after all those years of being squashed out of the
limelight by older and more experienced siblings, he actually has a
talent for leadership -- who tells everyone and even himself that he
is doing all this for Anna, and shows Elsa mercy when there is
obviously no prospect of her regaining the throne (or any sign that
she wants to do so). And who ends up as de facto heir with everyone
looking to him for orders, mentally preparing to Lead the Country for
them As Anna Would Have Wanted in the anticipation that a few sad
bones will turn up at some point (after all, she was a nice enough
girl even if she was most importantly a princess)... and, being human,
is genuinely happy to see her alive for the first few minutes.
Before the implications sink in of a situation that has potentially
dropped everything he'd ever dreamed of into his lap without his
asking for it, and the temptation to do nothing and simply let things
ride becomes too great, as he confesses to a frantic Anna. It's not
that he planned for things to turn out this way -- just that the
opportunity is too much for a weak man to resist.
It would make for a fascinatingly conflicted character (though again I
think you'd need a bit of foreshadowing earlier on to hint that his
motives aren't quite as selfless as they seem), and certainly a gift
for fanfic writers :-p
Or if you wanted to make him a "proper" bad 'un who was evil through
and through from the start, you could so easily put in little bits of
behaviour that were initially unexplained in context: a scornful look
behind Anna's back, attentions to other women at the party,
over-the-top anger at Elsa's refusal of the engagement, some random
callous behaviour to unimportant townsfolk, a laughed-off hint by a
family retainer that 'things weren't right' in his childhood, an
inclination to temporize (characterised as natural hesitation) before
being pushed into heroism, an attempt to recruit men loyal to him and
not to the throne, a suggestion that he may be misusing his power as
Regent for personal gain -- as I've suggested, a lot more hostility to
Elsa behind Anna's back, or even simply passivity in the face of
threats to Anna's sister -- it really, really wouldn't be that
difficult to make the audience think 'oh, that was clever' at your big
reveal instead of 'that was cheating' :-(
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 08:35 pm (UTC)A sociopath? That really is a cop-out -- they might as well have announced that he was being mentally controlled by aliens from the Planet Zog!
One thing about writing fan-fiction is that -- as stage adaptations of novels famously do -- it shows up any inconsistencies in the source material :-( And not merely chronological ones of the Leroux variety...
I think my basic problem with Hans-as-schemer is that I can only interpret his behaviour, as presented, in the light of an attempt by the writers to deceive the audience rather than the other characters. (He never once breaks character. Ever. Not even when he's alone -- not even when it would be to his public advantage.)
And it's such a waste of what could, given a few shades of grey, have been an extremely interesting character. I can believe in a Hans who admits "I badly wanted a throne of my own, so when you seemed to really like me I thought I'd risk jumping in and asking you to marry me in a hurry before you could get second thoughts": it's the idea that he was supposedly carrying out a Plan of Insane Evil all along rather than just muddling through that doesn't add up for me.
I can believe in a Hans who asks Anna to marry him for the 'wrong' motives, then sees his initial ambition to gain a place at the court of Arendelle -- still a massive step up for a landless youngest son with no prospects at home -- suddenly transmuted into a chance at real power when the sentiment turns against the Queen and Anna, unprompted, offers him the chance to take over the reins. I can believe in a Hans who discovers that, after all those years of being squashed out of the limelight by older and more experienced siblings, he actually has a talent for leadership -- who tells everyone and even himself that he is doing all this for Anna, and shows Elsa mercy when there is obviously no prospect of her regaining the throne (or any sign that she wants to do so). And who ends up as de facto heir with everyone looking to him for orders, mentally preparing to Lead the Country for them As Anna Would Have Wanted in the anticipation that a few sad bones will turn up at some point (after all, she was a nice enough girl even if she was most importantly a princess)... and, being human, is genuinely happy to see her alive for the first few minutes.
Before the implications sink in of a situation that has potentially dropped everything he'd ever dreamed of into his lap without his asking for it, and the temptation to do nothing and simply let things ride becomes too great, as he confesses to a frantic Anna. It's not that he planned for things to turn out this way -- just that the opportunity is too much for a weak man to resist. It would make for a fascinatingly conflicted character (though again I think you'd need a bit of foreshadowing earlier on to hint that his motives aren't quite as selfless as they seem), and certainly a gift for fanfic writers :-p
Or if you wanted to make him a "proper" bad 'un who was evil through and through from the start, you could so easily put in little bits of behaviour that were initially unexplained in context: a scornful look behind Anna's back, attentions to other women at the party, over-the-top anger at Elsa's refusal of the engagement, some random callous behaviour to unimportant townsfolk, a laughed-off hint by a family retainer that 'things weren't right' in his childhood, an inclination to temporize (characterised as natural hesitation) before being pushed into heroism, an attempt to recruit men loyal to him and not to the throne, a suggestion that he may be misusing his power as Regent for personal gain -- as I've suggested, a lot more hostility to Elsa behind Anna's back, or even simply passivity in the face of threats to Anna's sister -- it really, really wouldn't be that difficult to make the audience think 'oh, that was clever' at your big reveal instead of 'that was cheating' :-(