Rape

[Torrent]

I just read an interview with Bryan Singer about Superman Returns and I was reminded of this thread.

"Imax has this amazing technology: They took our teaser and turned it into 3-D Imax. I was pretty blown away. There’s this mailbox shot of the Kent farm, and they had the mailbox, the fields, the cloud, the sky – everything had its own separate plane. Very impressive. Based on that demonstration, I thought it would be fun to do this. The idea is that when Clark takes off his glasses in the movie and becomes Superman, the audience puts on their 3-D glasses and watches the scene in 3-D Imax. Hopefully it will be more fun than disruptive."

www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/singer.html

I don't think it's possible to do the Covenant Movie that way but it's an interesting solution for a similar problem (although it's not really a problem in Superman, just an added bonus).

[justbcos]

One of the details that I didn't see addressed in this thread yet, and one that I feel would have to be changed in a movie version, is the fact that Lena is only 15 years old (if memory serves me correctly). The rape is abominable on its own; that it is the rape of a child makes it even worse. I agree that the rape would have to remain as a part of the movie; it is too defining of Covenant's character throughout not to be included. However, Lena would have to at least be 18 or 19.

As far as the scene itself, I would lean toward what Torrent had mentioned earlier --

Maybe they could have a flashback to the moment when Joan leaves him, or they could show how other women reacted to him when he was "the leper". You could see them laughing at him, see Joan's reaction, her disgust. And all these things could kind of blend together like a montage in the moment of the rape, explaining why Lena's innocence and trust enraged him or felt like mockery. The rape itself shouldn't be shown I think, but when Covenant starts feeling serious guilt they could use short flashbacks again, maybe just her face and what she looked like afterwards. (That's why I think it should be a really good actress not just some playmate).

For the "movie-going public," I would veer away from the anger into confusion, though. Much of the lead-up in the book focused on Covenant's obsessing over Joan and the divorce. Played out on screen, this obsessing could be played out as rising anger, but it could be a trigger for reminiscing about the good times (perhaps right after he screams at Lena, "Are you trying to drive me crazy?").

We could have some flashbacks in the real world of Joan, and then he can look at Lena and see a young Joan in the Land at the river - the Joan he married. I'm sure that they had a typical, cute courtship, and that could be what is playing out in Covenant's mind. With Lena being so starry-eyed toward him, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for her to seem receptive to an amorous (read romantic, not sexual) advance from Covenant. This could be as simple as sitting down and putting an arm around her. That would play into his delusion, allowing it to progress in his mind.

As he plays things out in his head with Joan, however, Lena begins to protest. He's too far wrapped into the fantasy, though, to notice the discrepancy. What he sees from his perspective may be him engaging in some rough - but acceptable - foreplay with Joan; what we see is him - quite unacceptably - assaulting Lena. I see the camera flashing between the Covenant/Joan scene and the Covenant/Lena scene with just a focus on the women's faces: Joan's pleasure; Lena's agony. When it's over, we'd have to see Lena sobbing; Covenant should reveal a hint of shame before he passes out. The whole scene shouldn't last much more than a minute.

To make the movie work while still holding true enough to the book, the rape scene has to be there. It's deplorable, and I also have had three friends refuse to read the books beyond that point; however, it defines Covenant's character for all that follows. Will it work for the public who aren't fans of the books? Possibly not. I think it can be done, however, such that the audience will feel repulsed and disgusted by Covenant, as they should, but not incite them to leave the theater.

Anyhow, after reading scattered bits on the web about a possible movie, I started to ponder the feasibility of having this critical scene in it. Glad to see that there was a thread on it where people could share their thoughts.

I am very cautiously excited about the prospect of a Covenant movie series, and I hope that the folks on board CAN do it right. Right now, though, I am just chomping at the bit for the second book in the Last Chronicles! Ah!!!

[wayfriend]

Hmmm... in essence, you are proposing that Covenant believes he is making love to Joan, while he is actually raping Lena. Correct?

Don't you think that sort of lets Covenant off the hook guilt-wise? Isn't it critical that the rape is, in fact, utterly despicable?

I hope you reply in less than two years...

[justbcos]

Ah ha! Not just within two years, within two days!

In essence, yes, Covenant would believe this -- at least until he wakes up and realizes what he truly has done. And, yes, it would let him off the hook a little bit, but not completely - confused or not, it's still a rape. However, since we're talking about a movie version that would play to a mass audience, I don't think it can play on screen as despicably as in the book.

We've got to remember that for us, this is a passion; for a studio, it's money. Sadly for the rabid fans, a Covenant completely unfiltered may just be too darn revolting for a mainstream movie. First, I don't think that it would make it past the pitch phase. Second, if it did make it past the pitch, a test audience would likely pan on the movie because they hated the protagonist, unless it was made up of die-hard Chronicles fans. Third, the standard critics would likely give a "spoiler" in reviews, and that could turn audiences away.

Even confused, the act is despicable enough to generate a significant amount of disgust and revulsion toward Covenant, but I just don't feel that the audience could be won over if it is as savage as in the book. In making a movie, there would have to be some sacrifices. The utterly reprehensible motivation of the rape would have to be one of them, I believe.

[paradox]

I still must maintain my position that should they make a covenant movie, lena should be portrayed by Anna Nicole Smith

[Fuzzy_Logic]

Fropm the moment he gets hit by the car, everything is disjointed.

weird special effects during the summoning. The greeting he receives before he meets Lena is bizarre enough anyway. The watch is surrounded by oddly colored flowers. As he's alone, and when he meets Lena, everything up to rape, the movie is "skipping" -- it keps cutting to a few minutes in the future for no good reason. He is shown stumbling about, afflicted wiht vertigo. parts of Lena's lines are cut off.

the rape is a continuing of the montage, just a few images. None of them are explicit, but thanks to lighting, actor's faces, and the rest, they are all horrifying. Fade to black. Then resume with the land more "real" and lena bloodied.

It could work.

[Farm Ur-Ted]

Fropm the moment he gets hit by the car, everything is disjointed.

weird special effects during the summoning. The greeting he receives before he meets Lena is bizarre enough anyway. The watch is surrounded by oddly colored flowers. As he's alone, and when he meets Lena, everything up to rape, the movie is "skipping" -- it keps cutting to a few minutes in the future for no good reason. He is shown stumbling about, afflicted wiht vertigo. parts of Lena's lines are cut off.

the rape is a continuing of the montage, just a few images. None of them are explicit, but thanks to lighting, actor's faces, and the rest, they are all horrifying. Fade to black. Then resume with the land more "real" and lena bloodied.

It could work.

That's pretty well thought out, and would probably work well. But for some reason, I'm getting visions of Zardoz and Sean Connery stumbling around in a wedding dress....

[wayfriend]

As he's alone, and when he meets Lena, everything up to rape, the movie is "skipping" -- it keps cutting to a few minutes in the future for no good reason. He is shown stumbling about, afflicted wiht vertigo. parts of Lena's lines are cut off.

This is a very ingenious solution to the problem of trying to make the Land seem "unreal". But I think it might go a step TOO far, in that it also makes Covenant seem to be insane, mentally unstable, not in command of his senses - like he was knocked silly by the police car. This is too far because then it gets him off the hook if he is bonkers. And it may imply that the Land is doing something physiological to him - again, letting him off the hook guiltwise.

The Land seems unreal, NOT because it doesn't look real, but because it is impossible.

What if we tweaked this idea just a bit. What if we start these disjointed scenes slowly at first, and building to he point where the Stonedowners are listening to Atairan. Then it could be interpreted as Covenant's rage causing a temporary insanity, and not some psychic substance in the flowers.

[wayfriend]

I'm surprised by this answer in the GI. "The ring problem" was actually far more of a problem than "the rape problem".

Jon Bernstein: Hi Stephen,
Too bad about the option expiring for a LFB movie, however I can't see it ever being made. The big issue to me would be Covenant's rape of Lena. I can't see a studio putting up money for a big budget fantasy film in which the hero is a rapist and taking the rape out would wreck the story. Did the people who originally optioned it ever discuss that with you?

Also is Mirror of her Dreams optioned? Of all your stuff those are the only two books that I can see being made into film.

Cheers
Jon

• According to the producers who once held an option on "Covenant," the big stumbling block was not the rape of Lena: it was the ring. Any film or tv production based on "Covenant" would automatically be dismissed as a LOTR rip-off.
  
  So far, no one has ever expressed an interest in obtaining an option on "Mordant's Need."
  
  (03/06/2007)