Well, at least I didn't have crazy dreams again.

[brinshannara]

I'm sort of awake. I am seriously considering going back to bed in just a couple minutes.

But after reading through my friends list, something yahtzee63 said about the Alias finale sparked something in my sickly, tired brain.

So assume that Vaughn isn't pulling Sydney's leg when he says all that stuff just before the crash. Assume that he's telling the truth when he says "For starters, my name isn't Michael Vaughn."

Part of the reason this is so disturbing, aside from the dishonesty factor, is that identities and our perceptions thereof are really focused on names. Allow me to get sociologically geeky for a minute here. (I love identity theory stuff.)

Identity: The distinctive characteristics of a person's character or the character of a group. Both individual and group identity are largely provided by social markers. Thus one of the most important markers of an individual's identity is his or her name. The name is an important part of the person's individuality. Naming is also important for group identity. (Anthony Giddens, Sociology. London: Polity Press, 1997:582)

Once Vaughn reveals that his name is not Michael Vaughn, and yet we do not know his actual name, part of the disconcerting feelings we have at this point have to do with the fact that his identity marker, his social marker, that we've relied on for years, is now gone, invalid. For us, this is shocking as hell. Vaughn has always been the one character we've all been able to trust, love him or hate him, we always knew that he did everything for Sydney, on Sydney's behalf, to help Sydney. Dude, he spoke to Irina Derevko to get Sydney out of that Russian government building in S2, while still believing that she killed his father. (I still don't know if Bill Vaughn is dead or alive, but at any rate, that's what Vaughn believed then, and that's the point -- he spoke to who he believed to be his father's murderer, for Sydney.)

More disturbingly than our being flabbergasted by the lack of an ability to categorize this person we've thought of as Michael Vaughn, however, is how this will affect Sydney. Assuming they both survive, assuming no one has amnesia, or any other plot points that would ruin what I'm about to say... She never calls him Michael. She's going to marry the man and never, ever calls him Michael.

I think it was in S2, they were in bed together and she says "Vaughn?" and he's like "How come you never call me Michael?" and ... I don't remember what she says, but then she says, again, "Vaughn?".

Okay, it was cute, I thought, at the time. It's like her pet name for him. He calls her Syd, she calls him Vaughn. They could easily call each other "honeybunch" or "bunny rabbit" or "sweet potato" or something equally nauseating. (Although I will admit to calling a former lover "bunny rabbit" on a regular basis. But I can get away with it, I'm not a double agent for the CIA!)

Thinking about it in view of this finale, though, I see it going in a couple of different directions.

Why did he say "My name is not Michael Vaughn"? Is any of it his name? What if he's going to tell us that he's still who he's always been, but his name is only slightly different? Is it possible that Michael is actually his first name? Michael's a very common name, after all. Or is Vaughn his last name? I think this is less likely, in the (fairly unlikely case) that I've hit upon something in thinking that his name isn't altogether false.

In removing "Vaughn" from his name, like if his name was Michael Smith, for instance, that would be so much more of a betrayal to Sydney. "Vaughn", to Sydney, is the man that she loves, is her "guardian angel", is "the one person" she can trust... All those things, those good qualities, are intrinsic to the name Vaughn, not Michael. So even though a lot of people identify with their first names more than their last or their full names, Sydney has placed all this importance on Vaughn's last name, which is very, very interesting. What began as a partnership between "Agent Vaughn" and Sydney Bristow blossomed into something more and she never changed her marker from Vaughn to Michael. Why on earth not? Perhaps, in the beginning, it was her trying to remain professional, and then, once they became intimate, she realized that "Vaughn" was just how she identified him.

But I think that if they're serious about Vaughn not being his name, that even if his first name is still Michael, that would be so much more devastating to Sydney. And I think that, perhaps, that's the point of this. Every season, there are challenges for her. S1/S2, it was SD-6, Danny's murder, and dealing with her mother. S3, the Covenant and the two missing years and Lauren. S4, Irina's death and Sloane as her sister's father. S5, the one person she's relied on is suddenly not who she thought he was.

It should be fascinating.

I have more to say about identity and names in Alias (Laura Bristow/Irina Derevko, anyone?), but that'll have to wait 'till later.

Thoughts, anyone?

Comments

[llnaughty.livejournal.com]

but if he's not a "vaughn" then was bill vaughn his father? he's not lying about being upset that irina killed his father. so if he is not a vaughn, then neither's his dad. it seems very similar to if irina would say "my name is not laura bristow." so was bill a mole?