You ever have recurring epiphanies? Moments were a lightbulb goes off in your head and you think to yourself, "By George, I've just figured it all out! I finally understand something very interesting about myself! The puzzle pieces are all assembled!" And then, satisfied with your revelation, you smugly tuck this knowledge aside? Only to forget about it until the next time the epiphany comes along?
I've just had one of those moments, only this time, I'm sat in front of a weblog, primed and ready to record it. Let's go!
The epiphany was, "I realize that one of my favorite plot elements is when somebody is not in control of their own body." The epiphany came because I decided to listen to XTC, the themesong to the anime Witchblade, and it made me think of how the main character in Witchblade was taken over by the titular artifact against her will. I enjoy Witchblade. And not just for the big-breasted heroine or the wholesome family values presented by one of the subplots of the series; no, one of -- if not the -- main reasons I tune in to Witchblade is because I want to find out if the Witchblade will end up destroying its host or if she will find a way to get it off of her arm or if she will find a way to have her cake (keep the Witchblade) and eat it too (remain in control of her own body and not die).
The epiphany then sprang as I realized, "There are a lot of stories I enjoy that employ this concept!" For example ...
- I really love Yu-Gi-Oh. And specifically, I'm really, really (obsessedly) fascinated with Yami Yugi and Yami Bakura, with the whole "they put their spirits into these artifacts and now they've taken over two little boys' bodies without their consent." In Yami Yugi's case, he may have taken over Yugi's body but he's not a bad guy and doesn't do anything wrong with it. Which is cool. In Yami Bakura's case, on the other hand, he goes so far as to break his host's arm in half in order to fool Yugi & Co. -- pretty wicked!
- As a kid, I was really freaked out by this one television science fiction program where black stones fell from the sky and the stones actually contained alien virii/spores/something that injected themselves (via the "stones") into people who picked up the little black stones; and these people not only became possessed by the aliens, but (up the Scare Factor!) turned into aliens themselves. There was some subplot about how the two main characters were lovers but one turned into an alien and, by the time the humans found a cure, her mutation was already too forgone, so she was lost to us. Scared the shit out of me. But fascinated me, too. Left a big impression on me, obviously, since I still remember it even today.
- One of my favorite stories in ... well ... *nudge nudge* is when somebody is hypnotized or under the influence of (as can only exist inside the minds of perverse and imaginative Japanese doujinshi authors) drugs that make the body act one way while the mind, trapped inside like that of an ALS patient, can do nothing but sit and watch. Obviously, if such a drug were to be developed, I think the use of it in the real world would be diabolical and villainous; but within the world of fantasy, I have to say ... I find it pretty damn smexy. (Sorry! Moving right along ...)
- In countless movies, television programs, and novels, I always enjoy it when somebody suddenly enters a trance-like state and, all of a sudden, a voice and dialogue that isn't theirs comes from their lips. (Like Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter series; or like various Persocoms in Chobits whenever Chii goes into her "supernova" form; etc. etc., there are so many examples of this in literature and film!)
- There are moments where this "something else inside me is taking control" concept happens in Xenosaga -- and it's no coincidence that two of my four favorite characters from the franchise (MOMO and KOS-MOS) are the two who it happens to.
I had a lot of other examples, but -- as is the nature of epiphanies -- the others have all flitted out of my brain during the time I've been writing down those first and most impressionable few which came to mind. Why do I post this blog update? Well, three reasons:
(1) to invite open discussion on anything I've presented
(2) as an authorial memo for myself, so I don't forget -- this is one of the many core elements I hope to incorporate in that "Homeric epic" I've been trying to develop since Spring 2004
(3) as an authorial memo for friends who are currently writing their own works, so they can consider whether (a) they would like to include this highly-popular plot device in their stories or (b) they would like to make sure they don't use it, as (frankly) it does seem to be a horribly cliché concept. Though you can't have a cliché without having a super-popular idea -- the two are mutually inclusive as time approaches infinity, one might say. ;)
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3 comments:
After reading your examples, I immediately thought of Ghostbusters. "There is no Dana, only Zule!"
Have you seen A Beautiful Mind? It's been on tv recently and I keep catching it. It's really a remarkable story about dealing with schizophrenia. It's not quite the same idea as possession, but I imagine it would elicit similar interest.
Yeah, I've seen it. I don't think of it being in the same vein, though, as what we're discussing here.
Dana-Zool is another great example of what I'm discussing here, great job! :) Again, really creepy with nothing really erotic about it. (I attribute that to Sigourney Weaver's really long teeth that look like they could bite off Venkman's hand during the bedroom almost-sex-but-no-sex scene.) And I of course love Ghostbusters (although in this case, I think Dana's possession ranks pretty low on my list of reasons to fawn over the film. The film's just so rich with great stuff!).
YGO Episode 84's 2nd half
If anybody's interested in the YGO example (since I know you don't all like children's television shows about children's card games, but what I wrote may have whet your appetite a little ;)), I found the end of Episode 84 which (conveniently for you) begins in the first 20 seconds with an exploration of what happens when Yami Bakura relinquishes his host's broken body back to the fragile boy inside.
If you skip ahead to around 4:40 or so, you then get to see basically what I explained above: how Yami Bakura is the opposite of Yami Yugi on a good-bad scale, yet they do the exact same thing (possessing little boys without their consent). One of the silly plot holes in YGO is that Yami Yugi, despite being "friends" with his host, has not once asked him, "So ... do you, like, mind if I keep taking over your body whenever I feel like it?" And even if he were to, I'm sure the boy would just as plot-hole-ily reply, "Sure! No problem! :)" Oh well. :)
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