Ford's Perfect Balance
I was thinking about Ford's interactions and there seems to be a system:
1) Determine person's goal.
2) Stifle it.
3) Overwhelm them by antagonizing their personal flaw.
Bernard needed to address Ford's "mistake" in the update. Ford reassured him that mistakes are progress... Then later belittled Bernard for his loneliness and need to associate with the bots.
Sizemore wanted to coronate himself for a storyline that let guests truly discover themselves. Ford cut him down straight at his most vulnerable ego. "Well isn't there anything you like about it??" "What size are those boots?"
Theresa's weakness was sentimentality, which he latched on to, and then horrified her by destroying her childhood amusement while assuring her his narrative "won't be a retrospective. I'm not the sentimental type."
With MiB, it's much more subtle, but very cool-- once he latches on to the fact that MiB is in a hurry, "The urgency doesn't quite fit the character. It betrays a certain anxiety." Ed Harris has almost all of rest of the lines. Then Ford perks up Teddy with a Walter Scott quote knowing that MiB is in a hurry, but not sure which direction to go.
It is only Dolores that he can't figure out. Which I really love.
If I were to fan-fic their past-- it would be that Arnold and Ford are the Bicameral Mind of the same person... They Created and fell in love with Dolores, but when money ran out, Ford "killed" Arnold and wiped Dolores' brain in order to turn the research into an amusement park... for profit.
This discussion has been closed.