Ms Wooster wrote:
Something Windfola said on the Blake thread got me thinking about the way the actors portray their characters. Then I thought about how they see their characters- and to what degree it's reflected in the audience's view. I watched Forever Avon fairly recently again- and was struck how much Paul enjoys the "baddie" side of Avon. I've noticed that he tends to emphasize it when he speaks of Avon- it was evident in his autobiography. It's always quite cheeky and playful, but still. Yet, Chris Boucher says somewhere on the The Making Of videos that Avon's actions were open for interpretation to the viewing public- if you wanted to see a nasty piece of work, you did; if you wanted to see a noble, soft side of him, you did.

So it made me wonder about whether an actor projects something subconsciously in their performance.

windfola wrote:
Oh just one thing I should mention. There is absolutely No evidence that Avon suffered from psychosis. I do not say he wasn't mentally disordered, but psychotic no. That is not just my opinion - it is based on sound clinical criteria.

Windfola wrote:
urggh - I have somewhere an almost finished essay on B7 and mental illness, which I really should complete if I am going to answer your question in any detail.
One can't make a true diagnosis without asking a series of very specific questions, which is of course not possible with B7 characters. So you have to go one the behaviour that is available on screen.
If Diane or the mods would be willing to post it as an article I'll get on and try to finish it. it's far too long to put up as a post.

president solvite wrote:


Of course, I would love to read such an article, would be more than happy to upload it

Windfola wrote:
urggh - I have somewhere an almost finished essay on B7 and mental illness, which I really should complete if I am going to answer your question in any detail.
One can't make a true diagnosis without asking a series of very specific questions, which is of course not possible with B7 characters. So you have to go one the behaviour that is available on screen.
If Diane or the mods would be willing to post it as an article I'll get on and try to finish it. it's far too long to put up as a post.

Windfola wrote:

There is only one character in B7 who displays the hallmarks of psychosis and that is your namesake, Lurena. And as we know she was not ill but duped. The interesting thing is how frightened she became, particularly when she thought she might actually be mad (evident from her conversations with Avon). That, for obvious reasons, is very common with psychosis.

president solvite wrote:


Of course, I would love to read such an article, would be more than happy to upload it

Lurena wrote:




Proof:

trevor travis wrote:
I've just worked out why Avon is in such a bad mood throughout S4. It's because poor teddy doesn't survive the explosion of the Liberator.

No wonder Avon is so vengeful towards Servalan in S4 - he feels she caused teddy's death. And had Blake realised that Avon had lost teddy, maybe he'd have approached Avon differently when they meet in the final episode.

It all makes sense now.

His basic appearance of fragility plays a role. But so does the actual evidence of the eyes: despite his insistence that he ought to be in charge, Avon really takes any opportunity to follow, right up until the moment when he finally collapses into the captain’s chair. When someone else shows even the slightest inclination to lead, Avon insults him ritually and then retreats to his corner, where he tinkers quietly with machines. He also invents new defenses for the ship. And meets intelligent rocks. And pursues personal vendettas. And solves murders. And plays board games, though he’s not alone in that; the crew of the Liberator spend a lot of time playing board games. Sometimes Avon seems to be the only crew member who does anything. Look at a first- or second-season battle sequence sometime. Dude is always running around. He works at least two stations.

He becomes a brute, and a massively unsubtle brute. I’m not saying he’s a better brute because he has an excuse. On the contrary, he’s much worse; because he was not born a brute — because he was born a rather sensitive and retiring man, and learned brutality by imitation, out of desperation, at an early age — he becomes unstable and dangerous, and ****s it up for everybody. He’s too tone-deaf to brute right.

In this way, he’s as odd a duck as Blake the rebel engineer: Avon the killer/programmer, a poseur among badasses, who becomes the biggest badass of all through sheer force of recognition that badassery is the only game in town, and promptly implodes, helpless, desperate. Cue cheery fourth-season end-credits theme.

Angry Angel wrote:
That sounds a very interesting review!