Post by boxman on Sept 3, 2007 11:12:34 GMT -5
toddsmitts said:
That frog (like the money) is cursed!LOL! I guess he is!!
-Notice no one ever spends a cent of the money? I think the second anyone did that it would stop representing hopes and possibilities.
Yes, I did notice the money wasn't spent! I think that's the reason why my mind went wandering and made the analogy with the Frog. Because similar to the money in the bag, the frog was kept in a box. I thought you were very clever in keeping the money intact because otherwise, I think the story would've become a simple (and all too common) "Money is the Root of all Evil" sort of tale. The bag took on a life and power of its own by keeping the money (evil... or "hopes and possibilities") contained. For me, the bag then symbolized something, but I couldn't figure out what. This helped to keep the suspense through the story.
I also thought of likening the bag to the Green Sphere from the movie "Heavy Metal", or to Pandora's box. Both objects represent containment of a powerful force. Obviously, I like it when writers make allusions, so I thought by keeping the money in the bag, you may have been alluding to many other stories. In this way, to me the intact bag opened up "Windfall" to many more possible storylines and endings than had the money been spent.
-...When I casually imagined a scenario in which Rachel did it, I almost immediately realized that worked so much better. It was more logical and dealy nicely with the question of what does Rachel do with her life now that Alma's died.
Hmmm... I never thought of that. Instead, I was a little more shocked at the end that Rachael's altruism very likely stemmed from her feelings of guilt at her role in Johnny's death. Her character then turned into a murky (and more sophisticated) shade of gray, rather than simple good-or-evil. I like such stories that show how ordinary people can get caught in extreme circumstances... especially negative ones.... heh heh heh.... I sometimes imagine that the majority of television viewers are suburban couch potatoes, so a story that jars their happy suburban routine is always good. Rachel's story made me think of the numerous unsolved fatal hit-and-run accidents that occur around my city. Somewhere out there is a murderer, and he or she is likely someone who never thought they could kill someone. They're out there, living life as a free man or woman, yet they're carrying all this guilt through their daily existence. Hopefully, it prompts the reader/viewer to question what they would do in such circumstances and to examine their own values and morals. For Freedom, are they willing to silently carry Guilt on their backs for years and years?? Hard question to answer for most I think because almost everyone are unable to imagine what years and years of quiet guilt can do to them.
-Carl was a late addition to the story when I realized Johnny's fortune should bring him a "fair-weather friend", who gets close to him when he learns about the money but splits at the first sign of trouble. I was also debating whether to end with him at the funeral, having reformed to some degree or end with him sulking in jail, totally unrepentant. I eventually settled on something in the middle: he's still in jail but he did genuinely like Johnny and the book he was reading showing he was changing for the better.
Interesting... because he's in jail and repentant for a crime less than murder, whereas what thoughts were running through Rachel's mind while she was free?? Putting Carl in and writing him that way set up a very nice contrast of two different people, personalities, and circumstances--sort of like a Yin/Yang kind of balance in the story.
-I wish I'd shown more reason why Lilly empathized with Rachel so much. I suppose she could have related Rachel taking care of Alma to the fact that Lilly probably had to take care of her mother much of her life. Probably even more so after her mother relapsed and she had to take her in, though that hadn't yet happened when this story takes place.
People always feel that More Lilly is a Good Thing.
As for Phil Collins' "Another Day In Paradise", I set the story in 1989 just so I could use that song, so that should tell you how well I thought the music and lyrics fit.
"Another Day in Paradise" was an excellent choice!! Think of the irony of a woman begging for money (in the song), versus a woman who has a million dollars stashed away that she won't touch or spend!! I'm surprised they haven't used that song on Cold Case yet!!!
