Thursday, February 5, 2009

HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH

Skipping Zidane like the coward I am, we are brought to our whistling hero, Tidus [Final Fantasy X]

Tidus doesn't have much opportunity to go off by himself and sing a solo, due largely to the fact that he depends on the others in his group because he is so confused about what's going on all the time (I suppose I would be too if I fell into an alternate reality).  However, I think in my weary sleepiness I have come up with an idea.

Tidus' theme in my opinion contradicts his original character.  His original character is lively, outgoing, and somewhat juvenile.  Yet, his character theme is mature, somber, and sorrowful.  Why the transition?  Where does this transition happen?  My personal answer is that it begins in the Macalania Woods.

After destroying that weird Jello monster (or Spherimorph, for the purists in the room), Tidus receives the first "Jecht Sphere," which is our first glimpse of Jecht in a state of maturity and acceptance of his state.  Obviously, this is the first we see of Jecht that isn't recollected by the biased mind of the spurned Tidus, and Tidus' own journey mirrors that of Jecht's, going from carefree to mature on the way to defeat Sin.

This side of his father is far different than the drunken chauvenist that Tidus knew as a child, so it must be kind of a wake-up call for him.  Anyway, I see Tidus watching the sphere, and then asking to be left alone, making a couple off-hand remarks about how he still "hates his old man."  The group leaves, leaving Tidus in those sparkly woods alone with the sphere of his father.  He begins to sing about his confusion, his stress, his anger, and all of his other various emotions directed at an absent father, having been dropped from his "normal" world and into an alternate reality where he knows no one and his entire life apparently happened a millenium ago.  Naturally, when I talk about it this way, the first song that comes to mind is this:





I feel like linking all these videos instead of thinking of any lyrics or melodies for myself is kind of a cop-out... but they explain the audial aesthetic far better than I could by myself.

Basically, Tidus' soliloquoy is a cathartic outburst in which he finally comes to terms with the fact that he doesn't know what's going on, but he's on a mission, and that's about all he has to cling to for now.  He finally matures in almost exact fashion, while probably unintentionally, as his father.  What this also does that helps for the flow of the piece is that it's a little additional character development, and this added boost of maturity would likely give him the inner drive to confront Yuna and have their whole "Suteki Da Ne" underwater romance thing going on.

But I still hate Hedy Burgess's performance.

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