Frank's Gift

[Raven Wolf]

I think the gift was neither; it just WAS.

The things Frank & Lara saw could be interpreted as being good or bad, but it was no curse. The curse came from the inability to do something about everything they saw or felt.

Exactly.

And, ethsnafu...I just finished watching "Midnight" yet again.

Both Frank and Lara see their "ability" as curses. "It's my gift, it's my curse" (Pilot) "I feel like nothing can stand in my way. But I would have given anything....ANYTHING...Not to have this in my life." (Midnight)

Whether this be a "gift" of a spiritual origin, like the gift of being able to play the piano, or whether this be simply an aptitude that each of them has honed in on and trained themselves for....the idea of it being a "Curse" is simply a matter of perception.

This is what I want to explore with the movie I'll be writing. If you look....Really LOOK at Frank's encounters with "angles" (though he did not think he "saw" like that, and only Lara did)...you'll see that each of them are saying things that reflect what he is already consciously or even unconsciously afraid of, or suspecting. None of them gives him information that's just earth shattering.... Whether it be that the world will end on a certain date (it didn't) or that his father was likely to die soon, and it was Christmas, so you might want to make amends, or even asking him the same question he already had about whether it was good or bad that he killed the Polaroid stalker who took Catherine.....all these things could have easily come from his own subconscious!

As for Lara, she had always felt alone and confused by the feelings she had, and the foretelling of death and destruction (as someone who has the SAME curse, I can say I relate!).....and all her angle ever does is pop up to scare the hell out of her, and then vanish when she needs him, kinda like her family. (geeeze...that part sounds familiar, too!)

[4th Horseman]

Exactly.

And, ethsnafu...I just finished watching "Midnight" yet again.

Both Frank and Lara see their "ability" as curses. "It's my gift, it's my curse" (Pilot) "I feel like nothing can stand in my way. But I would have given anything....ANYTHING...Not to have this in my life." (Midnight)

Whether this be a "gift" of a spiritual origin, like the gift of being able to play the piano, or whether this be simply an aptitude that each of them has honed in on and trained themselves for....the idea of it being a "Curse" is simply a matter of perception.

This is what I want to explore with the movie I'll be writing. If you look....Really LOOK at Frank's encounters with "angles" (though he did not think he "saw" like that, and only Lara did)...you'll see that each of them are saying things that reflect what he is already consciously or even unconsciously afraid of, or suspecting. None of them gives him information that's just earth shattering.... Whether it be that the world will end on a certain date (it didn't) or that his father was likely to die soon, and it was Christmas, so you might want to make amends, or even asking him the same question he already had about whether it was good or bad that he killed the Polaroid stalker who took Catherine.....all these things could have easily come from his own subconscious!

As for Lara, she had always felt alone and confused by the feelings she had, and the foretelling of death and destruction (as someone who has the SAME curse, I can say I relate!).....and all her angle ever does is pop up to scare the hell out of her, and then vanish when she needs him, kinda like her family. (geeeze...that part sounds familiar, too!)

Well, to adjust my previous post, i advise everyone to go back and rewatch the ending of "Seven and One"....what i take away from his perception is that, if you have to call his "gift" either demonic or divine, it seems to lean more towards the divine...just my take..

4th Horseman

[Guest Sheree Dawn]

Well, to adjust my previous post, i advise everyone to go back and rewatch the ending of "Seven and One"....what i take away from his perception is that, if you have to call his "gift" either demonic or divine, it seems to lean more towards the divine...just my take..

4th Horseman

I think so too, 4th; if it had been more of a demonic thing, you would have seen Frank gravitating MORE TOWARD the group--instead of away from it as is seen in season 3.

I still wanted Frank to go back to the Group. Though their actions were not of the highest caliber, I always felt the motive behind them was a good one. But that's just my perception.

[ethsnafu]

Yeah I'll put my eggs in 4th and Sheree's basket on this...

If I 'had' to opt for a celestial or demonic origin for his facility then I plump for divine.

I have to say this is not what I 'believe' merely what I choose given the options. The 'Gift' is neither benign nor malign, it simply 'is'. An old adage is often served up in the white magic/black magic debate which is fitting here. A knife can either butter bread or be used to murder, the intent is what makes it positive or negative and I believe it is the same for preternormal abilities.

The interesting angle to Frank's abilities as much as Lara's is the mutable relationship they have with them. Both, on occasions, malign their abilities and the lives they lead as a result yet there are also poignant scenes where both show a real thirst to develop and augment them.

It seems neither Frank nor Lara where wholly sure if their gifts were curses or blessings at all.

Smiles,

Eth