Big Trouble in Little China

Blueberries · Tiger Joined: 03 Mar 2009 Posts: 119

I'd love to hear some opinions. My first instict, it's DWAP (though I'm not sure I understand this genre), but it comes from John Carpenter, a director who specializes on MITHs. And could it be a GF?

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crazrick · Liger Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 655

kinda Fool Triumphant too, fish-out-of-water story...

Jack Burton is the All-American bad-ass trucker; he's seen it all, done it all, been there, done that got all the t-shirts. Nothing phases him.

but all that changes one dark and stormy night in Chinatown.

not really MITH, even with the supernatural evils, I don't recall a sin that brings the evil into the story

GF? Jack and the gang aren't really questing for anything; Jack has already seen it all, done it all and got all the t-shirts, right? He just wants to get Gracie, and to do that he might have to help her save her friend, isn't that what starts it all? she's hot, her friend is missing, Jack wants to bang her, she thinks he's a pig, but he still wants to bang her, so he helps her out... it's not really Jack's quest to bang Gracie tho, is it?

Jack's not really bright, he's a jerk, but seems harmless enough, except to himself, maybe... I'd say he's a Fool. and the 'world'/underworld of Little Chinatown comes up against him as he tries to bed Gracie Law, forcing Jack to transmutate into the Hero, and become some sort of mythic legend in that community in the end.

so, ya Fool Triumphant

I'll have to watch it again...

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Blueberries · Tiger Joined: 03 Mar 2009 Posts: 119

I think you're absolutely correct, this is a FT tale through and through, thanks for the sharp analysis!

I also did a bit of research, and my findings confirm your reasoning in quite an astounding way. Check out a part from a fan's online review of the film:

"... Said loser/trucker inadvertently is placed as the savior of all the world. This hero/loser concept is played to the hilt with Kurt Russell giving his character, Jack Burton, the right amount of cocky attitude mixed with a "deer in the headlights" feeling of being in over your head... The beauty of the character is his borderline ineptitude, which makes for some of the best laughs in the movie."

And here's a comment from Russell himself on his character:

"... never played a hero who has so many faults. Jack is and isn’t the hero. He falls on his ass as much as he comes through. This guy is a real blowhard. He’s a lot of hot air, very self-assured, a screw-up”.

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Dirk Riptide · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:35 am Post subject:

There may be a blurred line between the two story types here, but I think you were right in the first place with DWAP. It's about an "ordinary man" against "extraordinary circumstances". Kurt is your average shmo, minding his own bee's dust...and so on and so forth.

I don't really see the story focussing on the fact that he's the village idiot who needs to prove something by fighting the establishment. With Legally Blonde for example, the story is very clearly showing her being overlooked and not being seen as a threat. The fool is judged as a fool, and the FT film is primarily about the fool showing that they ain't as dumb as you think they think they are.

Big Trouble isn't really about Kurt being misjudged as a fool. He just is a fool, but a likeable one.

I'd go with DWAP.

crazrick · Liger Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 655

I would also agree with DWAP, until the aspect of the Legend of Jack Burton is introduced. If the story ended simply with Jack and Gracie driving off into the dark night (or Jack driving off alone after bedding Gracie as had been his motivation thru the whole story) that would end the DWAP story.

Once they have the old Chinaman telling the story of the Legend of Jack Burton, that makes it something else; he's no longer just a Dude, he has become something else... you say he is just a Fool, but a likeable one, ok... and when a likeable fool wins out in the end, and becomes legend, the story becomes Fool Triumphant.

The story starts with blowhard Jack cracking wise over the CB about the trials and troubles and things that go bump on one dark and stormy night, as if he's some prophetic pontificator, but he's just a wise-guy trucker. The crime and supernatural corruption of Chinatown set things rolling, when Jack's truck is stolen out from under him; this becomes the 'establishment' the Fool is up against-- the established rules of Jack's reality vs everything he encounters in Chinatown: he simply wants his truck back, he wants to bang Gracie, but to do both, he has to take down The Man, the wise wizard Lo-Pan and his 3 Storms.

There are plenty of places throughout the story where Jack Burton's foolish ineptitude is plainly pointed out, his status as hero called into question, even he himself realizes how deep over his head he is! So, he is the fool, albeit, a likeable one; and he does triumph in the end, and become legend to the people of Chinatown.

even in the end, with Jack back behind the wheel of his truck, yaking on the CB about his troubles, when we think maybe he IS just that Dude again, when the final image shows that demon critter hanging on and hiding out in Jack's trailer, we know Jack has become something more than just a Dude. He is legend, he is a...

Fool Triumphant

Razz

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gc_bevan · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject:

I'll cast one more vote for FT.

Jack enters the story with the over-the-top swagger of a hero - not an average dude - but is anything but a hero. He repeatedly needs others to explain things rather than sorting them out himself, and is always outclassed and frequently incapacitates himself during fights. He is at his foolish best when doing something the bad guys don't expect from their otherwise capable foes.

His one true gift is good reflexes. He demonstrates this early on when catching the bottle that doesn't slice, and near the end by catching a thrown knife (his own, which missed the target) and slaying the big bad.

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Dirk Riptide · Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:55 am Post subject:

Yeah, all of the points in favor of FT are entirely valid. I think that many story types (MITH especially) can have more than one similarity with a DWAP.

I can't remember who said it, but one screenwriter wrote that there is only one story type - David and Goliath. He's wrong of course, there are ten - we know that now! Smile

But you can kind of see where he's coming from. David and Goliath is a DWAP. An innocent hero against impossible odds. We can see that while a story may fit into GF, FT or MITH, it will also share similarities with a DWAP.

Thanks for the posts Smile

Mouse · Kitten Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 1

Hi, as my very first post on these forums I'm going to post in a thread about one of my favorite movies. Very Happy

BTiLC is not FT, it is most certainly Dude With a Problem. The film is explicitly clear: Jack Burton just wants his friggin' truck back. He doesn't especially care about the Chinatown establishment one way or the other.

The genius is that Jack Burton goes through hell and back just to get his stupid truck, and it's Wang, the goofy asian sidekick stereotype, who is the heroic character of the film. This role reversal is epitomized when Jack Burton is knocked unconscious just before the climactic battle. It has hints of FT in that regard, but the plot itself is perfect DWAP.

Ralph Dobbins · Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:34 pm Post subject:

A mouse around all these cats. You are a brave soul. Smile

Which begs the question; Who will save the mouse?
Seriously, welcome to the forum.

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Blueberries · Tiger Joined: 03 Mar 2009 Posts: 119

Hi Mouse, welcome to the forum. It seems to me now that BTILC is a Fantasy Superhero. Jack's special "power" is his overconfidence and staggering lack of any sense of danger. We admire that, we want to be like him; to strut through life convinced we're the best thing since sliced bread, completely confident in ourselves with no insecurities whatsoever, and don't give a damn about anyone and anything. His "curse" is that he's ignorant. He's not too bright, he's unrealistic, and is completely unaware of the dangers arround him and of his own limitations. Lo Pan, of course, is the Nemesis, this ancient, seemingly omniscient wizard, and does a good job of reminding the hero of his "curse" when he says to him: "Shut up, Mr Burton. You're not in this world to "get" it."

DWAPs are survival stories. The Break Into Two thrusts the the heroes in a life or death situation that involves the hero or his family. If your story is about someone who loses his truck and needs to get it back, that's certainly a serious problem, but DWAP it ain't. Unless of course the hero's inappreciative wife is trapped inside the truck with a swedish terrorist, and there a bomb that will explode if the truck goes below 50 mph.

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