[spoilers] Lucas and his tattoos

[binkie]

(12-12-2010 07:44 PM)Byatil Wrote:  

(12-12-2010 07:41 PM)BravoNine Wrote:  An interesting point that you make there Binkie about Lucas putting a hand over his mouth whenever he is distressed. That's something I have not considered, and now it makes me curious as to if RA had intended for this action to have the same meaning as you interpreted, or it was simply just a part of acting.

Mm, I was thinking the same thing, because now that I think about it, RA did do a lot of mouth-covering. It's an extremely interesting point, and to be honest I wouldn't put it past RA to have considered a few of his characters deep-rooted personality traits. I seem to remember reading somewhere that he spent a lot of time writing out diary-entry style pieces for his character in order to better understand how prison would have affected Lucas? If that was the case, then I'd say there is a possibility that a lot of the acting intended to signify certain aspects of Lucas' character. Or else we're all looking too far into it

I’m not sure if this discussion belongs here, or if it should migrate to the Lucas thread.

I'd like to think this is more than a case of looking too far into something - or of over-analysing a particular acting tic. I agree with you, Byatil, that an actor who seems to invest so much in the collation of character detail is unlikely to bring his own habits to bear on the performance of that character (sorry, BravoNine, if this is not what you meant).

If we consider the occasions on which the habit is most apparent, we can, I think, make a clear identification of a relational pattern of cognitive connections and the external manifestation of those connections. I’m not suggesting that the habit relates specifically to a conscious effort on Lucas’ part not to speak, or that it relates always to an internalised prohibition on speaking. Rather, it is a learned and practiced behavioural device arising from a need to withstand emotional collapse. It is a distraction technique. I think the habit is a behavioural equivalent of the name-rank-and-serial-number device by which captured combatants resist interrogation.

The habit is one which, more often than not, is employed in situations in which Lucas needs to regain some kind of control over his circumstances, whether this is emotionally or operationally. For example, the closest he comes to asking for help is in 8.4 when he tells Harry that he has lost control of the situation with Oleg: “I don’t know what to do.” Equally, when, in 7.8, he begins to process the implications of what Connie has told him (whether or not it is the truth) he defaults to this behaviour because it distracts him from those implications and means he can respond to Ros when she asks him if he is alright.