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The following is somewhat copied from a email I sent to Crystal, as I think I said the beginning part perfectly there and don't need to retype it. I have, however, added many things, as I've learned and thought more since sending the email.
I finally broke down and weeded out Wesley Lau's scenes in The Alamo. Originally I planned to watch the whole movie, but after learning that Wesley's character is not so nice and that he buys the farm early on, I wasn't sure my interest would hold after his departure, since I rarely have time to watch movies so long (over three hours). But scene-weeding is time-consuming too, and I hadn't found a good time to try until today.
He plays Emil Sande, a merchant storing weapons for the Mexican side of the conflict. His interest seems to mainly be mercenary rather than an actual belief in the cause; he plans to align himself with the victors, whoever they are. And he tries to convince a woman that she should marry him. He also has some lackeys of his attack Davy Crockett when they meet on the street, after already hitting it off poorly earlier. All in all, not a very nice fellow.
But still, gah, I felt sorry for him when I finally located the scene of him being killed during a fight when Davy Crockett and company come to take his secret stock of weapons. (The scene was deleted from the general release; I couldn't find it on my tape, recorded years ago from TV by my brother. I located it online, among edited and deleted scenes.) Anyway, I mean, gee, people are coming to take his stuff. What's he going to do but fight back? I felt really really sorry for him when he was killed by Jim Bowie's knife.
I'm unsure if Emil is even a real historical person. If he was fictitious, I honestly have a mind to have him survive. (I think he's fictitious.) When asked if he's dead, Davy says, "Sort of." He didn't actually check; just assumed it from the knifing.
(Likely a good assumption. If Emil survived, it was probably just barely.)
... And I honestly feel terrible for feeling sorry for Emil. I don't know if it's only because he's played by Wesley (and I know that's a large part of it) or if it's also because I feel like he didn't deserve death, no matter who played him. I think it's both. He's a bad egg, but there's worse than him by far. And if I tried writing some piece where he survives, I'd probably have him have a change of heart. (Because that's so fun to write!)
There's also a deleted scene where Davy Crockett admits to the girl that Emil is dead (by Davy's hand). She says his death is nothing to cry over, and yet she's going to cry anyway, she supposes because so much has happened to her in so short a time. The girl is sent away before the battle and survives the movie, to my knowledge, so she would probably play a part in any ficlet I'd come up with. I wonder if she'd feel guilty that her telling Davy about the stock of weapons is what led to the fight and the knifing?
Maybe she comes back, finds out about everyone's death at the Alamo, and is feeling so overwhelmed and heartbroken (she had started a relationship with Davy before he sent her away for her safety), and then somehow learns that Emil is alive. Possibly, it would be an epic, sweeping fic, Emil would indeed gradually become a better person, and the girl actually would come to love him and they would finally marry and be happy together.
It could work! There's the beautiful Gunsmoke episode Gunfighter, R.I.P., where the cold-hearted mercenary and assassin (a far worse person than Emil) has a complete change of heart and lifestyle as he begins to care about the girl nursing him back to health!
It's an awesome idea. But whyyyy does it exist? Why am I doing this again, unable to let a dead bad guy be? I just got through doing this with Richard's Wild Wild West character (and saying he was always a good guy, by giving him an evil double and having the double be the dead one)! Why can't I just accept Emil is dead and move on with it?
(Because that's no fun at all! **headdesk.**)
No one would even care about the story but me! Everyone probably hates Emil. And here I am, announcing on YouTube that hey, I feel sorry for the guy, getting killed when he's trying to defend the stock of weapons that are his. Always with the unpopular opinions. I will forever be a nonconformist.
(Then again, Davy himself feels bad he had to kill Emil, even though they didn't get along at all. Davy is awesome like that.)
But in any case, seriously, Wesley Lau interacting with The Duke, John Wayne? That is epic and it excites me. They had some pretty extensive interaction. I wonder if they ever said what it was like to work with each other?
As a closing, here's a picture I found of Wesley, John Wayne, and the girl: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:Alamo-FlintlockPistol-3.jpg Emil is very displeased at having his gun taken from him. And that is a wide, wide brimmed hat.
I finally broke down and weeded out Wesley Lau's scenes in The Alamo. Originally I planned to watch the whole movie, but after learning that Wesley's character is not so nice and that he buys the farm early on, I wasn't sure my interest would hold after his departure, since I rarely have time to watch movies so long (over three hours). But scene-weeding is time-consuming too, and I hadn't found a good time to try until today.
He plays Emil Sande, a merchant storing weapons for the Mexican side of the conflict. His interest seems to mainly be mercenary rather than an actual belief in the cause; he plans to align himself with the victors, whoever they are. And he tries to convince a woman that she should marry him. He also has some lackeys of his attack Davy Crockett when they meet on the street, after already hitting it off poorly earlier. All in all, not a very nice fellow.
But still, gah, I felt sorry for him when I finally located the scene of him being killed during a fight when Davy Crockett and company come to take his secret stock of weapons. (The scene was deleted from the general release; I couldn't find it on my tape, recorded years ago from TV by my brother. I located it online, among edited and deleted scenes.) Anyway, I mean, gee, people are coming to take his stuff. What's he going to do but fight back? I felt really really sorry for him when he was killed by Jim Bowie's knife.
I'm unsure if Emil is even a real historical person. If he was fictitious, I honestly have a mind to have him survive. (I think he's fictitious.) When asked if he's dead, Davy says, "Sort of." He didn't actually check; just assumed it from the knifing.
(Likely a good assumption. If Emil survived, it was probably just barely.)
... And I honestly feel terrible for feeling sorry for Emil. I don't know if it's only because he's played by Wesley (and I know that's a large part of it) or if it's also because I feel like he didn't deserve death, no matter who played him. I think it's both. He's a bad egg, but there's worse than him by far. And if I tried writing some piece where he survives, I'd probably have him have a change of heart. (Because that's so fun to write!)
There's also a deleted scene where Davy Crockett admits to the girl that Emil is dead (by Davy's hand). She says his death is nothing to cry over, and yet she's going to cry anyway, she supposes because so much has happened to her in so short a time. The girl is sent away before the battle and survives the movie, to my knowledge, so she would probably play a part in any ficlet I'd come up with. I wonder if she'd feel guilty that her telling Davy about the stock of weapons is what led to the fight and the knifing?
Maybe she comes back, finds out about everyone's death at the Alamo, and is feeling so overwhelmed and heartbroken (she had started a relationship with Davy before he sent her away for her safety), and then somehow learns that Emil is alive. Possibly, it would be an epic, sweeping fic, Emil would indeed gradually become a better person, and the girl actually would come to love him and they would finally marry and be happy together.
It could work! There's the beautiful Gunsmoke episode Gunfighter, R.I.P., where the cold-hearted mercenary and assassin (a far worse person than Emil) has a complete change of heart and lifestyle as he begins to care about the girl nursing him back to health!
It's an awesome idea. But whyyyy does it exist? Why am I doing this again, unable to let a dead bad guy be? I just got through doing this with Richard's Wild Wild West character (and saying he was always a good guy, by giving him an evil double and having the double be the dead one)! Why can't I just accept Emil is dead and move on with it?
(Because that's no fun at all! **headdesk.**)
No one would even care about the story but me! Everyone probably hates Emil. And here I am, announcing on YouTube that hey, I feel sorry for the guy, getting killed when he's trying to defend the stock of weapons that are his. Always with the unpopular opinions. I will forever be a nonconformist.
(Then again, Davy himself feels bad he had to kill Emil, even though they didn't get along at all. Davy is awesome like that.)
But in any case, seriously, Wesley Lau interacting with The Duke, John Wayne? That is epic and it excites me. They had some pretty extensive interaction. I wonder if they ever said what it was like to work with each other?
As a closing, here's a picture I found of Wesley, John Wayne, and the girl: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:Alamo-FlintlockPistol-3.jpg Emil is very displeased at having his gun taken from him. And that is a wide, wide brimmed hat.
