Evil Overlord monologues (which are invariably a bad idea, by any
objective standard: "before I leave you to die unsupervised I shall
first tell you my plans") are nakedly obvious plot devices to
convey information to the audience :-p
In this case I think something of the sort is probably essential,
since I can't see any other way to reveal 'what I was really thinking
when I did X'; however, ascribing it to sadism is problematic in my
point of view, since we've seen zero indication that Hans takes
pleasure in other people's discomfort or embarrassment, let alone
their despair. Indeed, the contrary has been suggested: his
unprompted behaviour towards the townsfolk and then his attempt to
'talk Elsa down' -- which can be ascribed to ulterior motives, but
which don't serve as coded suggestions that he might be a secret
sadist. He isn't enjoying the pinned soldier's terror; he isn't
gloating over Elsa's tortured descent into evil. Obviously he couldn't
afford to do either in a public situation, but it's the same old
problem of total lack of interest in foreshadowing :-(
I definitely like the idea that Hans was afraid that a kiss might
work after all; enough completely outlandish things have happened to
him in one day to throw anyone's rational certainties out, after all.
And Elsa's magic isn't exactly welcoming in form (there's a reason why
the original Snow Queen is an antagonist: in the North, cold kills):
jagged ice spears cast across the throne room in a fit of rage
followed by a curse of eternal winter upon the kingdom are scarcely
likely to win many hearts...
(I wonder if Anna retains a subconscious memory of her sister's magic
as a beautiful plaything which makes her much more positive about it?)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2015-09-02 10:39 pm (UTC)Evil Overlord monologues (which are invariably a bad idea, by any objective standard: "before I leave you to die unsupervised I shall first tell you my plans") are nakedly obvious plot devices to convey information to the audience :-p
In this case I think something of the sort is probably essential, since I can't see any other way to reveal 'what I was really thinking when I did X'; however, ascribing it to sadism is problematic in my point of view, since we've seen zero indication that Hans takes pleasure in other people's discomfort or embarrassment, let alone their despair. Indeed, the contrary has been suggested: his unprompted behaviour towards the townsfolk and then his attempt to 'talk Elsa down' -- which can be ascribed to ulterior motives, but which don't serve as coded suggestions that he might be a secret sadist. He isn't enjoying the pinned soldier's terror; he isn't gloating over Elsa's tortured descent into evil. Obviously he couldn't afford to do either in a public situation, but it's the same old problem of total lack of interest in foreshadowing :-(
I definitely like the idea that Hans was afraid that a kiss might work after all; enough completely outlandish things have happened to him in one day to throw anyone's rational certainties out, after all. And Elsa's magic isn't exactly welcoming in form (there's a reason why the original Snow Queen is an antagonist: in the North, cold kills): jagged ice spears cast across the throne room in a fit of rage followed by a curse of eternal winter upon the kingdom are scarcely likely to win many hearts...
(I wonder if Anna retains a subconscious memory of her sister's magic as a beautiful plaything which makes her much more positive about it?)