Possibly solved the mystery of the compass

1. There is no triangle, unless you are referring to the thing Elizabeth wanted most at one point being the chest, and at another point being Jack.

2. At no time did Jack was wibbling about Elizabeth, or vice-versa.

3. If you think Jack using Will as leverage to serve his own interests, or Will taking action against Jack to save a loved one, is a perversion of their relationship in the first movie, then that's what you think.

4. Jack was never enamored of his ship; he was and is enamored of what his ship represents: freedom. And, of course, as it turned out the very thing he wanted so much he was willing to make a deal with the devil to get, has come to represent either a hundred years of servitude (and eventual loss of identity) or death.

http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/moviesarc07/index.cgi?read=85939

OK, I'm going to use this quote from Ted to further my interpretation that it in no way matters WHAT-SO-EVER where the compass was pointing.

Back to the idea that the compass "tricks" you. No, what she's saying is that the power of suggestion/self-fulfilling prophesy is more at work. The best example of this is when Liz whips out the compass on the Pearl and closes it quickly because she thinks it's pointing to Jack.

We know from the commentary the compass is pointing to the chest the whole time it's in Elizabeth's possession. However, that's not what she interprets. She already wants Jack. Therefore when she sees the compass point to him, she concludes it's pointing to him because she wants him, not because he just may be in the way of what the compass is really pointing at.

She already knows where the chest is and they are on the way to Isla del Cruces. So that has been discarded at that moment because she wanted Will safe. But now, she wanted Jack.

I'm not good at this.

ok i dont know if u have already talked about this but wen they are on the island, how is it that jack can get the compass to work but he couldnt before

Originally posted by willofthewisp
Back to the idea that the compass "tricks" you. No, what she's saying is that the power of suggestion/self-fulfilling prophesy is more at work. The best example of this is when Liz whips out the compass on the Pearl and closes it quickly because she thinks it's pointing to Jack.

We know from the commentary the compass is pointing to the chest the whole time it's in Elizabeth's possession. However, that's not what she interprets. She already wants Jack. Therefore when she sees the compass point to him, she concludes it's pointing to him because she wants him, not because he just may be in the way of what the compass is really pointing at.

YES! That's exactly what I'm saying willo! Only you said it ten times more eloquently than I ever could. Self-fullfilling prophecy! So, essentially what Ted is saying in the quote I mentioned was that Jack and Elizabeth's feelings have never waivered from each other. If the compass pointed at the chest the whole time, which is a material object, then it never pointed to Will. There was never a triangle.

I'm really stupid at this.

The compass was pointing to the chest the whole time because she only wanted Will saved.

So in the island scene The compass was pointing to the chest, but she thought it was to Jack. When she sat down and put aside the compass, it pointed to the chest.

so lizzie was still in control of the compass not jack?

Originally posted by lady_captinjack
ok i dont know if u have already talked about this but wen they are on the island, how is it that jack can get the compass to work but he couldnt before

Because Jack knows how the compass really works in that he knows that it can only point to material objects. Hence, the way he changes Elizabeth's thinking when he first introduces the compass to her.

He changes Elizabeth's thinking from: finding the chest to save Will to
saving Will by finding the Chest of Davy Jones. Notice that he's altered her thinking from something that is a non-material object: saving Will, to finding a material object: The chest of Davy Jones.

Remember the writers have also said that "what you want most" can change from moment to moment", which also implies material objects versus something intangiable, like saving Will for instance.

So on the island, the only material object that is present that they all desire is the chest of Davy Jones, which means that the compass will point only to that object if that is the only material object present. Hence, why it worked for Jack on the island. Also, it may not have been working, but he can infer that if the compass isn't spinning and pointing in a solid direction that Elizabeth is sitting on the material object chest because he knows how the compass really works.

Also, the whole thing about Jack's compass at the beginning of the film. Remember the writers have said that it was torn between two things, Port Royale, and finding the chest of Davy Jones. Land can become a material object. 🙂 It doesn't matter so much what he wants as WHY he wants it, savvy?

So all that matters again, is not where the compass is pointing, but where the people who own the compass think it's pointing.

oooo

ok, boo I am confused.

Pointing to Port Royal, a material object where Liz lives. It's official, I lost it lol 😄.

Ha, bottom line, the compass doesn't matter. All that matters is interpretation of said compass.

With the whole Port Royale thing. Land is a material object, people desire to acquire as much as it as they can because land is the equivalent of power at the time. So, since Jack knows that his compass only points to material objects, it was pointing toward Port Royale. But, like I said, it's not the what the compass was pointing to, so much as WHY it was pointing there.

"Why is the rum always gone?"

Exactly! 😉

I couldn't have said it any better. Hehehe, I think this is a good sign.

So there never was a love triangle.

Nope. 🙂 Also, this is the last part of the quote that I found most interesting because it applies to other costume spoilers on other threads.

From Ted:

"Why, it's almost as if Jack claimed the thing he wanted most in the world at the eventual cost of his own freedom. Hm ... I wonder if that idea might be relevant to some other part of the movie? Reflected, refracted and explored throughout the movie, even? Demonstrated in action and dialogue, or even overtly referenced at points?"

If he's already willing to limit his freedom in one way, what's to prevent him from limiting his freedom in others, say a marr--i-age. It's just a hunch, but in the interpretation of the compass, I don't think we're wrong.

That is very interesting. Now I'm starting to understand how the compass works.

How will it work in AWE?

ok first the dam compass points to the thing u want most.

then it points to ur deepest desires.

then it points to Material Objects only.

and now its forget where the compass is pointing, it doesnt even matter, what matters is why?

which brings us back into a circle and starts us at....it points to what u want most and etc....

how long must we go on about this dreaded compass. I mean didnt Jack explain it himself in DMC...IT POINTS TO THING U WANT MOST!!! it's not left open for interpretation...cause when Liz opens the compass and it points to Jack it's suppose to let us know that she has feelings for him....they are pretty much telling us what to think! Jack said it's what u want most...thats is what they want us to think!! That she wants him most!

Jack said that to trick Elizabeth into finding the chest. I understand now. It does only point to material things. Jack's compass was wanting to go to Port Royal and not wanting in wanting to go there. It was between pointing Port Royal or the chest.

Originally posted by Minie Mina
That is very interesting. Now I'm starting to understand how the compass works.

How will it work in AWE?

Does it matter? All that matters at this point is what the two of them were thinking.