MovieChat Forums > Storm of the Century (1999) Discussion > The Ending ( Spoliers )

The Ending ( Spoliers )

posted 13 years ago by russellp20012001
12 replies | jump to latest

I know this has been discussed many times but I want to get into some key elements.

The ending is plain and simple. The people made the wrong choice. Linoge stated the key line at the end. If I remember correctly I think it was " Perhaps it was you who tricked yourselves " Forgive me if I mis-quoted it.

Linoge is built on tricks, lies, deception etc....... He basically tricked everyone into thinking that they made the right choice.

Would the townspeople have been able to defeat him if they said no???? A very simple answer " Yes ". Now you have to look at the point of view of that answer. Sort of like Obi-Wan telling Luke that you need to look at things from a certain point of view.

Linoge wanted a child. The rules stated that he could not take a child. the child needed to be given to him. So just by saying no, he lost. He lost because he did not get what he wanted. You just won. Would there be consequences??? Perhaps! It is possible that he would kill everyone. Well the people would still win. Whatever Linoge is, he came straight from Hell. These people if they didn't already believe would now know that if this demon came from Hell then there has to be a Heaven. By saying yes and having this innocent child become damned for thousands of years is not going to have a positive effect on your soul.

Now this is just my own opinion. I think that Linoge would not have been powerful enough to destroy everyone. Clues during the movie showed that he was able to manipulate some people and not others. Linoge stated that he was getting older and most likely weaker. This is where the lies and deception come into play. What is a better way for someone to be able to destroy an entire town. Well, make the people believe that he could destroy and entire town. Just because you believe it, doesn't make it true. Perhaps what could have made Linoge older and weaker was just to believe that we wasn't as powerful as he stated.

So, you add everything up.....Linoge had to follow rules. Linoge was getting older, weaker, and he was not immortal. This tells me that a town that had strong faith, stood together, and truly believed.........could have defeated Linoge!!!

[–] antiglobe 13 years ago

definitely, but they didn't so Linoge chose his target well :)

[–] TheFatDruidofNacyl 13 years ago

If this movie uses the concept of souls, heaven and hell then I agree that standing up to him would of been the right choice. If there was more to it than good vs evil then I don't think it would be as easy of a choice. There is a chance some of them could have survived but how many more would have died? Would any of the kids have survived? I think it was more of a your damned if you do and your damned if you don't situation.

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[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 12 years ago

I don't think he was trying to get souls. He wanted someone to carry on his/it's work. He couldn't force them, as seen by the Billy Soames incident, they could've easily defeated him if they did what Mike said but they didn't. They gave in and later regretted what they did.

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[–] Vashramana 12 years ago

I don't see how any sane/rational/logical person would even consider not agreeing to Linoge's terms.

I am so smart, the only thing I can't comprehend is how stupid everyone else is

[–] ajjones-198-340523 12 years ago

I would not agree. I'd have taken the other side of the deal.

[–] Vashramana 12 years ago

That is why I am a member of Mensa and you are a brainless moron.

I am so smart, the only thing I can't comprehend is how stupid everyone else is

[–] ajjones-198-340523 12 years ago

Demons try to get humans to make choices that end them in hell. That was his work.

[–] NoahBody 12 years ago

There is a chance some of them could have survived but how many more would have died?

This isn't a damned if you do or don't at all.

How would we react if someone proposed harvesting organs from a few people, say the weak or damaged (retarded) in order to give better people more healthy or longer lives? After all, doing so would save lives. Still it's an appalling thought. That is essentially what those on the island did.

[–] king_of_bob 12 years ago

Not really a fair analogy. Since if they didn't give up one of the things, Linoge would have killed the children and compelled everyone else to walk off a dock and into the ocean.

The proper analogy would be harvesting the organs of the weak to prevent everyone else in the world from dying. They really had very little choice in the matter. Lets face it, when we're dealing with a life or death situation, the vast majority of people will choose life rather than sacrificing themselves.

Prof. Farnsworth: Oh. A lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!

[–] !!!deleted!!! (4524359) 12 years ago

I guess when it comes down to it you have to ask yourself what's more important. The life of one child and "winning" or the life of the rest of the town. In my opinion they chose correctly. I don't think winning is worth anything when you're dead.

"Now this is just my own opinion. I think that Linoge would not have been powerful enough to destroy everyone."

Yes that is your opinion. One I do not share and even if you were right I'm still of the opinion that they chose correctly. They couldn't know this. Risking EVERYONES life on a guess like that would be irresponsible to say the least.

As for for Linoge coming straight from hell, that is just an opinion as well. There are worse cruelties commited by God in the bible than what is seen in this movie. For all we know he might have come straight from heaven. Just read the book of Job and you'll see that the biblical god is a cruel one and has no problem asking good people to sacrifice their own family.

Maybe neither hell nor heaven exists and Linoge is just some kind of animal other than human, one we're ignorant about.

[–] DraxAnivar 12 years ago

Since we're all going die sometime anyway, I would choose to die with honor sooner rather than living longer with guilt. This town was selected because they only had two noble souls among them.