A Helper for the Man

I aim to demonstrate how men rely on the love of their life to help them in their trials, and how this reliance is always mutual. In the search for three couples who exemplify three entirely separate and iconic relationships between men and women, I have failed. I can’t say I have chosen the best examples, and it might even be sustainably argued that one of my couples doesn’t even count, since we never see them together as a couple on screen. Notwithstanding, I have chosen those who were uppermost in my mind, and have enjoyed the searching out of the secrets of their relationships very much. The first couple, Will and Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean, whom I thought would be the easiest of the three, was by far the most difficult. If I hadn’t felt like it was a challenge to find the answers, I would have given up.

I think what made this couple so difficult overall is that I had, and still have, trouble placing Will’s predominant character flaw. He has many flaws, of which I am aware: impetuosity, naivete, self-righteousness, and insecurity, and many others, but which is his predominant flaw, and which does Elizabeth blatantly help him with? I finally settled on the following: Will’s greatest character flaw is his propensity to make deals with foul company in order to achieve his noble ends, but these deals often lead to his finding himself in mortal danger. I believe this is not only a problem, but the driving one behind the films. And I find that Elizabeth helps him out of these predicaments by being resourceful herself, so that she often saves him from unfortunate circumstances. I could have made, I believe, a believable argument that she inspires him to rise above and beyond his natural capacities, but I think this is too generally true of any male/female relationship, so I went with the more externally apparent option. Finally, this balances well, since the way in which Elizabeth needs Will is because she often finds herself in need of saving, and Will is willing to think outside the box in order to save her. This makes them intellectual and dare-devil equals, and satisfies a dual need, on both their parts, to live a life greater than any mundane existence.

My second couple was my easiest one, and the one that inspired me to write this paper at 12:38 at night. Jack and Sam from Stargate SG-1 may not be a couple, per se, but I have chosen to include them on account of their natural counterbalance. Jack’s greatest character flaw is his anger, along with his stance of being too hard-nosed toward fulfilling his military duties. He needs Sam at the beginning of their missions because she finds him funny, which allows his humor to be more prevalent than his anger while in tense situations. As their team and relationship mature, she becomes even more invaluable to him, and his liking for her develops beyond a crush, to a true and grounded desire for her greatest good. At the beginning, she respects the military and chain of command more than Daniel, and thus proves herself to be more of an ally to Jack; but as their relationship develops, she learns to challenge him on important moral and actionable decisions, at appropriate times, so that his anger and black-ops training do not lead him into making inappropriate decisions. He learns to lean on her judgement, and she is eventually the only one who can reach him when he is being difficult. Sam also needs Jack, but for different reasons: her greatest trials always lie in achieving long-lasting, emotionally secure relationships, which we see in her relationships with her father and brother. Jack, through his patience and refusal to pressure her, keeps giving her permission to go and live the best life she can, with the assurance that he will always be there for her, no matter what. This eventually gives her freedom to meet Pete, and toy with the idea of a committed relationship with another man. However, this relationship she eventually renounces, because she chooses to stop running away from her fears, and commit to the man she truly loves, Jack. Thus, through his support, she conquers her greatest trial.

Han and Leia are my last couple, and I found them easier than I anticipated, and even gleaned insights in the writing of this, which I had not anticipated. Han’s greatest flaw is thinking he can be just fine on his own, and it is through his relationships with Luke and Leia that he recognizes the need to fight for something greater than himself. While he has great affection for Luke, it’s his conversation with Leia in the cockpit of the Falcon that puts an earworm into him, niggling that he cares for nothing but himself. This truism irks him, until he decides to embrace the fight of his two new friends. Thus, Han needs Leia because she gives him something to fight for and believe in, other than his own safety. Leia also needs him, because once he commits to the rebel cause, he fights for it with the same ferocity as she does. For the first time in her life, she doesn’t have to lead someone to fight! And he not only fights just as hard as she, but he also fights to protect her, which is a new phenomenon in her life, and one she probably did not know she was missing until she met him. This spurs her to fight for him, even though saving him from Jabba does not align with her mission of defeating the empire, and frees him to be able to help her overthrow the Empire, and establish a New Republic.

Thus, we see that Will and Elizabeth mutually sustain one another in their hunger for adventure, as well as their intellectual abilities to face unusual and dangerous situations. Jack and Sam emotionally support one another, even when not in a relationship, and as their friendship matures, so does their reliance on one another’s support. Han and Leia fight side by side, calling each other above and beyond their intense centers of focus, and into a world of hope. Thus, each of these men, Will, Jack, and Han, rely on the love of their life to sustain them emotionally and physically in their trials, call them morally above their everyday lives, and face life side by side with a helper of equal intelligence and passion for life.