Magic With Integrity

How has your week been going? Mine was great!

One of the things I did was go give platelets, and when I do that, I watch a movie, and when I watch a movie while my blood cycles through a centrifuge, I tend to have deep thoughts. For example, I'm pretty sure I understand Big Fish now after watching it in the Red Cross office.

This time was no exception. But first, a word.

Did you know that Disney is planning a live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame movie???

DID YOU?

I'm pretty excited about that! I think it could be really good, since there's such a deviation between the Disney animated movie and the book by Victor Hugo (who really enjoyed killing off major characters) that the filmmakers have a lot of material to work with. Which means it's easier to get a movie that is different enough to justify its existence without feeling forced, fake, or stupid.

I found out because one of the phlebotomists commented on Josh Gad's role in the Hunchback movie when he showed up in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, which I chose over Venom because I do not do jump scares when needles are in my arms.

It's been a while since I saw Beauty and the Beast, at least the live-action one. I'd forgotten how beautiful it is, visually, and how much fun the "Gaston" scene is. I also forgot how annoyed I am at how diminished Belle's agency is in the film, and the enchantress scene at the end really bugged me, until I realized it was a moment of 1) diminished female protagonist power/agency and 2) an unfaithful magic system.

I really dislike that change in the live-action movie. A lot. Because magic doesn't work like that. At least, not in the terms set in the movie. If you haven't seen the movie yet, spoilers ahead. In the live-action version, Belle doesn't say "I love you" before the last petal falls. The curse takes full hold, and then she says it. Upon which the enchantress just undoes time and breaks the spell on her own.

No. No. Not happening. This is bad.

Why? Because it undermines the terms set by the curse. The Beast had until the last petal fell to break the spell. It happened, and the spell wasn't broken. Ergo, the magic terms had not been fulfilled, unlike in the animated version, in which they are just in the nick of time.

If the enchantress sets terms, why doesn't she live by them? Coming in to "close enough" the finale takes away all the urgency of the deadline and all the importance of the Beast and Belle managing the seemingly impossible task of falling in love. Why even bother setting up the stakes of the curse if it doesn't matter anyway?

I know that's putting it hard, but that's how it feels. All because the movie broke its own magic rules, therefore having a dishonest system. A magic system should have integrity and follow its own internal code.

Magic systems are hard. I'll admit that. You have to think of all the terms and implications of the magic used, and there are often holes discovered later (hence all the times J.K. Rowling needs to speak out after the fact on why the horcrux in Harry wasn't destroyed when the basilisk bit him, for example).

Fairy tales are often soft magic systems: magic just happens, and the rules aren't always explained, except for, of course, you have to fulfill the terms of the spell to break it. No cheating allowed! Hard magic systems, like those of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books, have stricter rules and laws. But again, they have to follow their own rules.

It's essential worldbuilding. Physics has laws, and so it makes sense that magic would, too. Or else everything is possible and the magic can be used to get people out of any scrape, which makes for a boring or annoying story. Hard rules or soft ones, it doesn't matter: break the rules and you're cheating. Yes, maybe there are rules that haven't been discovered yet, or loopholes. But they should be the exception, and probably a plot point, when they happen.

Anyway, long rant short, don't cheat your own magic system to be clever or get out of a tight spot in writing.

So I haven't forgotten my YouTube channel. I'll be posting new content on it soon. Lately, I lost my voice, had two holidays, and got yet another cough, so speaking on camera hasn't been ideal. But my schedule is better for it now, so soon. Stay tuned.