“Well. Hmmhmmhmm. Because, if the gunner had shot the pod that C-3P0 and R2 were in, they wouldn’t have got to Tatooine, they wouldn’t have met Luke, Luke wouldn’t have met Ben, they wouldn’t have met Han and Chewie, they wouldn’t have rescued Princess Leia. None of it would have happened.”
Yes…This man is a genius
That of course was Tims (from the brilliant TV series Spaced) rather simple yet utterly genius matching of chaos theory and Star Wars, obviously a popular pairing. Films are clearly driven by their main characters, but it’s interesting to see those small actions made by apparently unimportant characters make all the difference. It’s about time these unnamed, mute and unknown cast members are given their due.
Unknown woman that shoots Joe Chill in Batman Begins- The murderer of Bruce Wayne’s parents is on his way to court, he is testifying against the most infamous crime boss of Gotham to shake off some jail time. A younger Bruce however has plans of his own, planning to avenge his parents, he brandishes a pistol with a bullet waiting for Joe. However an assassin sent by Falcone beats him to it. A woman whom has around 3 seconds screen time, says three words and is never again mentioned in the trilogy is responsible for Wayne’s transformation into the Dark Knight. If Wayne would have shot Joe, he would have gone to jail, that means no Batman, no Joker and heaven forbid no Dark Knight Rises, Thanks lady.
Italian fisherman from Bourne Identity- Jason Bourne is adrift somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, with two gunshot wounds and only a life jacket keeping him from drowning, we can assume a few more hours would have finished the super assassin off. However due to the efforts of an unnamed fisherman that spots him, Bourne is saved and we are given one of the best action trilogy’s ever made. The guy was even wearing glasses, what if he hadn’t been wearing them. If there was a list for inanimate objects that play vital roles, his superb spectacles would be up there, along with the flashing bulb on Bourne’s life jacket. Here is to specs, flashing lights and Italian fishermen, a winning combination every time.
Fate…Has a Face
Jack black in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy- No burrito, No hitting the Biker off his chopper, no kicking Baxter off a bridge, Ron would have made it to work on time, Veronica wouldn’t have been given her shot as an anchorwoman, therefore we would have never been able to spell redemption R.O.N.
If only I could salute all those apparently meaningless film characters out there, unknown and unappreciated by the viewing audience. A final thank you must go to the following, Woman with white rabbit tattoo, the Barracuda from finding Nemo, the Doctor that assures Ed Norton “you can’t die from insomnia” and finally the scientist that obviously lost their job for losing a genetically engineered super spider in Spiderman, Good job people.
leeshausoftherisingsun 
You’ve named so many, I’m going to have to ponder those unsung heroes of plot development.
Gongrats on FP!
You know, if Emma Swan from “Once Upon A Time” had actually left Storybrooke, we wouldn’t have had a kick-ass first season.
These metaphysical questions are scary things to consider, and in the end authors don’t like to contemplate them as they mean the author might lose his job from making uninteresting stories.
Always loved that scene in Spaced – very interesting topic for an article. One of the many ways that film reflects real life – who knows what tiny actions might completely change the course of our life.
Reblogged this on Manipuri Film and commented:
I thought some of our readers may find this short piece by Lee Smith of LEESHAUSOFTHERISINGSUN interesting.
Pingback: Chaos Theory and Film… | Manipuri Film
Pingback: Chaos Theory and Film… | Manipuri Film
Like your blog. Will keep reading. Do check my blog too on http://narenmusicnotes.wordpress.com
I love that bit in Spaced. And Tim’s realisation that he has some Jaffa cakes in his …pocket. 🙂 Great post. Any day that starts with spaced has to be good.
D
“I got some fuckin Jaffa cakes in my coat pocket” genius! glad you enjoyed
I think my mind may have been blown… you just don’t think about these things do you?
Haha glad you liked, and god bless all those unsung heroes
Bourne Identity is my personal favorite!
Thank you for reading, and thanks to the Italian fisherman that gave you the Bourne trilogy
Thankyou all for reading, very appreciative,
The king who chopped the ring off Sauron’s finger in zee first place maybe? Nice post anyway, Pegg is a legend!
Haha thats a decent one, I was going to say the skeleton of the dead dwarf that falls down the well, that attracts the goblins and the Balrog… if you follow on from what happens then it sets off a long trail of events that lead to the ring being destroyed because of one little dead dwarf, haha thank you for reading though, all hail Simon Pegg
This is great, it’s very true. The series of little things that mean something is so essential with out the little things the big picture would be impossible. http://www.fireicemagazine.com
I love thinking of all those small characters in films, could spend all day picking the “best” smallest character, glad you enjoyed, thankyou for reading
If you ever want to write about it for our magazine email fireicemagazine@yahoo.com We’d love to hear from you.
I would love to, I’m just about to email you 🙂
thank you
I LOVE Spaced. Truly one of the most brilliant shows to play on television (or on hulu, in my case.)
Great post,and congrats on FP!
Thank you so much, i love spaced to, what does FP mean.
Freshly pressed! 🙂 You’re on the WordPress homepage!
Oh wow, that’s brilliant, thank you for letting me know, haha happy days
http://vitriol.gportal.hu – There is a great portal about films!
In the last movie I saw, the Butler did it !!!
On this occasion, we can blame it all on the Gunner (for not shooting the pod).
I like the reverse psychology of that thought.
I’ll try and do a cartoon on that and put it with the others on my blog.
Spaced is one of the best shows of our generation and I am thrilled to see you using Tim as an example. Cheers to you!
I really like that kinda logic. Just like multiverse theory (it is nice to imagine that there is a world where for instance you are Batman). But I am also intrigued about what kinda story would have it been if Bourne would have found himself on shore alone on an deserted island. I´d say it wouldn´t have been the Borne we know but I´d say it wouldn´t have been Cast to shore Tom Hanks type of thing, something different ( ‘but lets leave it to imagination to decide)
Reblogged this on ANAMORPHIC and commented:
An interesting article from Leeshausoftherisingsun on chaos theory in relation to narrative film. Cause and effect is probably a better term for it, as narrative is usually quite tightly controlled, still giving the impression of chaos and the butterfly effect, but not actually recreating the phenomenon. In any case, the alternate narrative threads imaginable without the actions of the minor characters mentioned in this post are mind blowing.
660236 411106Hey man, .This was an excellent page for such a hard subject to talk about. I look forward to reading many more great posts like these. Thanks 545225