MovieChat Forums > Magic (1978) Discussion > Was there really a soul in Fats?

Was there really a soul in Fats?

posted 16 years ago by psych_student
14 replies | jump to latest

I recently watched the movie again after a couple of decades and was not disappointed. It always seems that when I remember a film from my child years and remember how scary it was I watch it and am usually embarassed that I found it scary as a child the ones I remember like that was, Prom Night, Race with the Devil, and others that wasnt really that scary as I got older. With Magic though it scared me in a different way. Here is the question though, I always was under the impression that the Fats was not really alive that it was a product Corky's fevered mind. However, if you watch the movie really close you can see Fats eyes move when Corky is across the room talking to him. This happens a couple of times in the movie. So if Fats is in fact a product of a psychotic mind, why does Fats eyes move when Corky is nowhere near him? Just a thought, watch it and see.

[–] CrimsonKingLives 16 years ago

On the DVD it's mentioned that it was simply a mistake, that it was a brief malfunction, but they decided not to retake the sequence. The makers also said they were afraid of people not getting the ending, and assuming Fats was alive with a soul and all.

And I did notice it, but yeah, it's cleared up on the extras on the DVD.

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[–] psych_student 16 years ago

Cool I havent watched the DVD I have it recorded on my DVR. That makes sense though I watched it and there was a couple of times that the eyes moved and Corky was across the room. Its right though it made me think that fats was really alive and that would take away from the movie alot and make it more like the other living doll movies. When I was a kid of course I assumed that it was alive and made it so damn scary for me. Then I read the book and watched the movie again and it was scary in a whole different way. This man going crazy and manifesting his "rational" side to Fats is so much more scary than Fats being alive. I guess I am going to have to get the DVD and listen to the commentary.

[–] thecalhouns 16 years ago

it's left ambiguous which is one thing that's neat about the film

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[–] I_donthavefb_lol 16 years ago

It is left ambiguous, I suppose, but the title is essentially ironic, because most of the tension the audience experiences derives from anticipation of magic, of Fats coming alive and vindicating Corky in the process. I think Attenborough was asking us to reflect on our own tendencies to shift the blame to others rather than confront the madness within.

[–] lathe-of-heaven 11 years ago

I tend to agree more with this...

... and it DOES make it more interesting.

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[–] moosefeathers 10 years ago

if the dummy malfunctioned in real life...why couldn't it have malfunctioned in the movie.

the story is plainly about Corky having schizophrenia. nothing more.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] jwpeel-1 16 years ago

REGARDLESS of what the explanation they gave is, I always read it as the eyes moved in those moments to show you that it WAS real in the troubled mind of the Anthony Hopkins character. (Iyt must be early. I can't remember the character's name now.) Whether it was a mistake or not, it adds another creepy element to the story. But the film, I think, is a misfire and probably "reads" better (in the book) than it plays. My one favorite scene is when Hopkins and Burgess Meredith play that final scene together. When Hopkins can't keep the character out of his hands and talk for hinself for a short time, and then, suddenly, grabs Fats and talks a mile a minute with the vent figure (the professional name for such a thing, by the way.)

And I never got the phobia thing so many people have about dummies.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] The_Man_in_the_Planet 16 years ago

It's been years since I read the novel, but I think I recall that after Corky bombed at the nightclub, he attempted suicide, and the Fats entity saved him, or helped him save himself---or maybe that's when the split happened, although I don't think I read it that way at the time. I think it's open to different readings.

Next time you see me, it won't be me

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] MyLast_Duchess 15 years ago

MY friend and I watched that several times and copped it to a mistake, albeit a creepy one!

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] jarjarstinks2 15 years ago

Dennis Alwood talks about it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65hMwIzznoE

[–] paindriven 15 years ago

OK well some people say that this has been explained away in the DVD extras etc. but this was how I interpreted it:

As Corky descended more and more into madness, it would appear that Fats could talk without Corky i.e. Corky was just imagining it. He was a great performer but for me, he was just imagining Fats' voice towards the end of the film. So when Fats eyes moved, this was also just kind of 'imagined' and just represented Corky's madness and blur with reality. It had a great effect in the film anyway.