"No women, No kids" Leon : The Professional
- amordidoiwrite
- Aug 8, 2017
- 4 min read
Luc Besson's Leon : The Professional (1994) is a classic 90's crime/action film with a soft side, a romantic twist between the accomplished assassin, Leon (Jean Reno) and 12 year old apprentice/lost puppy, Mathilda (Nathalie Portman). There is great debate around the nature of their relationship. Some might say it borders pedophilia and others might view it as purely innocent and wholesome. But whether you love the film or hate it, there is no denying the popularity it has gained with the rise of social media taking a liking to its overall moody tone and grunge costuming. As well as the hype gained in social platforms such as tumblr and instagram, the fandom of the film has also produced an intricate world of fanfictions (a part of the online world that I have personally never delved into). In this blog post I will be be exploring three pieces of fan fiction from this fandom.
read on to see what I find.....
All set several years after the last scene of Leon: The Professional, these fanfics suggest that the fandom's collective 'in a perfect world ' scenario is one where Mathilda has matured into the type of woman whom Leon would be able to reciprocate her love for without touching on any of pedophilic themes that were present in the film. These fan fictions focus mainly of the theme of Leon and Mathilda's ever lasting and unbreakable love. I picked up on this theme as in all three fan fictions, no additional main characters are introduced and even when the author has chosen not to give Leon an alternate ending and leave him dead (as in 'Glimpses of a cleaner' and 'Just like you taught me'), Mathilda does not move on but instead continues to pine for Leon. In fact in all three fan fictions I have read, all center around a very reflective and nostalgic Mathilda, struggling to find closure from her life with Leon. In the fanfic 'The Prodige' when Manolo, a character in the film who works for Leon's boss, tries court Mathilda, she flatly refuses, reserving herself for Leon even when she has been shown a chance at new love. In the fanfic 'Just like you taught me' again Mathilda, at 25 has not let go of Leon's memory. The author expresses the theme of their eternal love through the use of flashbacks to scenes/ memories in the original film, showing that although time has passed, Mathilda has not let go of their love. In 'Glimpses of a cleaner' Again the author uses flashbacks to illustrate this theme, jumping between the perspectives of Mathilda's internal thoughts and a third, narrative person, retelling memories from the film; highlighting key moments of their relationship.
In 'The Protege' I was interested in the way that the author incorporated a few minor characters like Leon's nurses Amelia and Deli, and a new head of the DEA , Jimmy. The author also included a new hospital setting and expanded on the setting of "Tony's, giving references to Mathilda working as a waitress in the restaurant in service hours unlike in the film where it only showed the restaurant when it was closed . This gave the relationship of Leon and Mathilda a refreshing new beginning and i found that the theme of their everlasting love was enhanced by the way the author distanced his narrative from the film's original setting.
In 'Glimpses of a cleaner', instead of imagining a new plot or carrying on from the end of the film, author Merfilly instead, expands of the internal thoughts of Leon and Mathilda, linking them directly to actual scenes from the film. I personally enjoyed that this writing style preserved the beauty of the original film and merely enhanced the characters themselves.
'The Protoge' again is focused on expanding Mathilda's internal thoughts, now as an older woman. This kind of personal internal monologue again brings a sort of closure to Leon and Mathilda's feelings for each other (be it romantic or platonic, a true connection none the less) which were not fully realised in the film.
Rather than creating an alternate ending to the film I want to create an extension of the final scene where Mathilda returns back to the prep school and we see a few girls sitting on the porch (assumed students). I want to keep the same essence of Mathilda as a reflective and wildly in love girl as present in all the fanfictions i have read, however I would like to try and include a new setting and minor characters by expanding on her life at the prep school, the friends that she makes and the lessons learnt from Leon that she could bestow on her classmates. In all the fan fictions I read, the authors pay respect to Leon's death in the movie by making Mathilda imitate Leon in every way possible; carrying on his 'cleaning' business and continuing the same routine Leon had established. They create the theme of an omnipresent Leon that inspires (and haunts) Mathilda. I want to incorporate this theme also in my original fan fiction. I think it is important, out of respect for the director of the original film and the fandom, to keep Leon's presence central to the story and also continue with the theme of Mathilda and Leon's everlasting love. Additional themes that I want to explore in my fan fiction are a search for justic and sisterhood with the girls she encounters at the prep school who were briefly shown at the very end of the film. I want to create a community for Mathilda to belong to because I feel that in the film as well as in the fan fictions I have researched, she is consumed by Leon and his death therefore, I think introducing a new sense of belonging for her will bring closure to Leon's tragic end.
-anna
Comments