The compass
Whats this whole deal about the compass?? I think you guys are over analysing things. I think the compass really has no more importance than what it shows,.. Really guys stop over analysing these things. Producers/directors don't have to have hidden meanings for all these minute things!!!
Well,.. thats all I have to say.
You have a point, diddly. A lot of over-analysis is going on, but the compass is important to the story because it is the whole reason Jack reunites with Will and the whole reason our heroic trio find the chest at all. It may play a big part in AWE too, but we don't know.
People want to come up with explanations other than the fact that the compass simply points to what you want the most. In my opinion, which is very simple and not analytical, when Liz holds it it points to Jack and when Jack holds it it points to Liz.
It is actually the thing the ENITRE story pivots around. I dunno if it will be a big thing in movie 3 however.
Its probaby the main reason Liz did what she did at the end.
Its whats got Jack vexed with Elizabeth.(vise versa)
Its the only reason why Will goes looking for him.
We have to remember that it doesnt show the holder what they want most in a village or in a small town..it shows the person what they want most in the ENITRE WORLD
Thats gotta be a scary thought for someone who thinks they should be in love with another man...a man the compass is NOT pointing to in the movie at all...Its only pointing to the means to save that man which IMO shows us a great deal about how Elizabeth actually feels when it comes to William.
Its really interesting because the compass apperas to be doing the same thing for Liz as its doing for Jack..but its a slower process.
I'm wondering if Will is going to have it in movie 3..Its gonna be his time to realise what he wants most in the world..Lizzie or dadda?
Its one of those narritive devices that demonstarte whats really going on inside the characters minds. I think the compass was a clever way to show the battle going on in the minds of Jack and Elizabeth and why its pointing to a certain place and then to another place.. It may be Will's turn now to have that little battle with what the compass is showing him.
I personally think the compass was too powerful for Elizabeth to handle in movie 2. She's not even met the mentor /supernatural helper of the story (tia) which means she's feeling like a fish out of water and she's not even had the helpful shove when it comes to accepting and understanding the adventure(Jack)..she's basically feeling exposed and unprepared in the special world(Jack) and she's been given something that is too powerful for her to understand and handle properly at the moment. Its way too early on for her character...its telling her "you want Jack!" and whats worse 1. JACK is with her 2. She knows she wants him in a sexual way and now a mental way and it scares the crap out of her.
Knowledge like that is a VERY dangerous thing for a character to have before they even meet the mentor/supernatural aid. It was way to early for her. And so thats a main reason why she does what she does at the end IMO
I get what you guys are saying,.. and I'm going to use a metaphor,.. I was Reading a book and I knew what was going to happen next(it was obvious) but Then I thought, "what happens if the author KNEW the readers were going for the LOGICAL answer,.. so he OBVIOUSLY will make it more deeper in meaning" All in all I spent the whole night thinking the story over and over. Then I found out what I thought REALLY was going to happen,.. I read till the end of the book and it ends up the LESS analysing I did to the story the close my guess became.
Although I did find out a lot about the character and the villa,.. And I do give you kudos on the "finding things you normally over look" thing,.. But I really think you guys exceed the meaning of over analysing.
A perfect example, diddly, of what you're talking about is Emma, by Jane Austen. You almost have to read it twice because the first time, most everything is at first seen from Emma's point of view, which is nearly always wrong. Then you find things out later, and you can go back and look at clues that, seeing them a second time, seem painfully obvious.
It kind of works the same way with POTC. There doesn't have to be a lot of analysis the first time, but a second time, you can see little clues that point you in the right direction. True, not every clue mentioned here may be an actual clue the writers devised (like the whole heart shape behind Jack for example), but there are little hidden things that you can look for.
Ooh, I wish I could remember the thread, but someone showed stills from a scene where Jack is in the foreground and in the background, you can see the outline of a heart. It's basically made up of the edge of the deck and what looks like rope and hooks. Little things like that aren't clues if you ask me, and I don't think the dog really represents Jack, but there are little clues that make a lot of sense.
Once again, I disagree.
The heart is the most important aspect in the movie. It's what everyone wants, it's what influences everyone's lives in one way or another in the film.
The compass begins the journey for everyone, and it's what ends the journey.
So yes, the compass is central to the plot, but it isn't the plot itself. As much as I enjoy all the discussion about J/E vs. W/E, I just don't see that TnT spent the entire movie putting in teeny tiny clues to point to J/E.
I'm a writer myself (unpublished, but working at that. I'm almost done with my first manuscript!!) and I like to put in symbols and allude to future happenings, but I don't spend my time beating people over the head with 'hidden messages', which is basically what most people here think TnT have done.
I'll grant you that a J/E ending is somewhat possible, but I don't think it is at all likely, because everything points at Will and Elizabeth as loving each other. To me, at least. What is symbolic to J/E shippers is often interperated by me as to have a completely different meaning.
Such as the scene at the end of the movie where Elizabeth is crying. A lot of people think that Elizabeth is crying because she lost her love in Jack...but I'm more than certain that she is crying because she betrayed Will's love, she betrayed Jack's trust, and she murdered a man.
There is not enough evidence (the kiss looked more like desperation than passion to me) to support the idea that Elizabeth's one and only desire is to be with Jack. I certainly don't think she was so in love with him that she killed him to get him out of her life...Elizabeth is a much stronger woman than that, and it would only make her character weak to say such a thing. I also don't think that she is retrieving him to get something back in her life that she feels she's lost forever...
Rather, Elizabeth is going to find Jack to right the wrong she committed against him...basically, Elizabeth is going to look for redemption. I wonder if that won't be the major theme of the next film....hmmmmmm.....
Speaking of over analyzing things, here I go
I was watching COTBP, the last two night and that opening scene....
You know Lovely how you always say that Liz has to look at for Will, she is more of his protector than his lover...like she goes in search for Jack cuz she doesn't have enough faith in Will...I like that, it makes sense...and who does she trust ...JACK...she says it a few times in DMC although in the Peas in a Pod scene she says "you're a smart man, Jack, but I don't entirely trust you."...but she does....
how about Norrie saying "you don't actually believe him" and then she looks at Jack and says "how do we find it"...totally ignoring ol' norrie....
If you watch Norrie in this scene "you smell funny"....you can see how amazed he is at LIz's reactions to Jack....
anyways, as I was saying....on the opening scene (sorry this is confusing and jumping around)....they pull young Will out of the water, and Gov. Swann tells Elizabeth " Elizabeth, I want you to accompany
the boy. He's in your charge now.
You'll watch over him?
So...Liz watches over Will...that's her lot in life...but is this the same as love..the kind of love that consumes you.....I believe Liz loves Will...but I think the love that is beginning to develop for Jack is the kind of love people only dream about...that only very few are lucky enough to find...
oh yea, and then Liz tells Will "I'm watching over you Will"....
she takes that medallion because (1) she thinks Will's a pirate and she doesn't want Norrington to find out and (2) she is intriqued by the gold medallion because it is a Pirate thingy and she is obsessed with all things "pirate"....(3)her taking the medallion is the first sign what Liz is really all about....
Willofthewisp. hundreds of critics and the audience alike really don't understand why they added in the cannibal island scene..they felt it was about 10 - 15 minutes of unneeded screen time.
I disagree. Because they clearly wanted to bring the dog back in to the story..WHY? if its not really an important character why on earth waste a whole scene to show you the dog and what he's doing. It didn't have to be there at all.
Firstly you have to look at the theme when it comes to Jack. He is a man torn between 2 things. His old way of life, material possessions and image or Elizabeth and making her an obligation.
You actually see the dog go through the same things we see happen to Jack later on. And he actually lets go of the keys just like Jack decided to be brave and go back to the pearl
Jack's theme in the movie matches the dog's pretty much to a tee.
Also all you need to look at is Ted and Terry's rules of script writing "never kill the dog" the dog in a story is a rogue..he's Jack. we see that it mirrors Jack in the story. We think Jack is dead..just like we thought the dog was dead...until later(after Jack dies) we see the dog sitting alive and well on a throne (Jack will come back a king) and for some "strange" reason he now has a juicy big fat bone in his mouth. It is very significant change in the dogs personality That dog was so set in his ways during movie 1 that he wouldn't budge for anyone..he wouldn't let his guard slip...we later find out that he can be tempted by the bone when its one person on his own asking him to do the right thing and drop the keys.
We later see in movie 2 that one person is getting to Jack on a deep level..in order for the dog to get the bone in movie 1 he had to drop his keys to help someone..and then he will get a reward for doing the good deed which is what the dog really wants most: a bone...
In movie 2. Jack dropped his old way of life in order to save the woman he cared for and as a reward he's now "got Elizabeth"..which is what he really wants the most...She's what Jack wants the most(compass)..and so we see the dog sitting happy with a bone in his mouth which is basically a change of way the dog lives. Jack has just died and is gonna be reborn..and this only ever happens when a character is about to go through a HUGE phsycological shift in personality..and the fact the dog copied what Jack does later on in the movie and we find out that he TOO has had a huge shift in personality all ties up with the dog resembling Jack. The dog suggests Jack's change is Elizabeth and it is because of Elizabeth..he's going to come back and he's going to be ready for her.