December 04, 2009

Speculating about what Jacob said

As noted in Jacob's Quileute Words = Easter Egg, Jacob whispered something to Bella in the New Moon movie. Naturally, TwiHards are going crazy debating what Jacob said and whether it should be revealed.

Jacob’s line in Quileute

By JulieAndJasperFor all of you wondering about the translation of Jacob’s line of New Moon dialogue spoken in Quileute, here’s something to make you wonder even more. ;) It was just posted on The Quileute Nation of LaPush, WA Fabebook page:

Dear Fans: Thank you for all the calls and emails regarding the scene in the movie where Jacob whispers to Bella in Quileute. Please know, we would love to translate the phrase for you, but out of respect for Jacob’s feelings for Bella we are unable to at this time.
Okay, say it with me now. Awwwwww. <3 I love this response.
The fans' responses include:30yearoldtwifan

OMG its a fictional character. What is the issue with telling what it meant, it's in the movie! Ridiculous answer IMO.

Lissa

That is so dumb. I assume he says “I love you,” but who knows....

AmyO

I don’t have a problem with their answer at all. I think that we all know the basic idea of what he said to her without a translation. It’s not like we don’t know how Jacob feels about Bella.

JulieAndJasper

There are only a handful of people who still speak Quileute and Taylor won’t reveal what was said in interviews either--I think it’s sweet. :)

greeneyedlady

I’m sure this was their intention--to make us go nuts trying to find out what he said!!!!!!

Rebekah

There’s an MTV interview where someone asks Taylor if he says “I love you” and he says that’s close, but he wants fans to figure it out first. So a bunch of people are saying he said “Stay with me forever.” But, idk.

ac42

This is a MOVIE, with fictional characters. They aren’t real! There is no privacy! The whole POINT is that you know the characters and feel what they are feeling and actually, you know, understand what the characters are saying to each other. It’s rather ridiculous to ‘respect the privacy’ of a fictional character. Seriously. (Unless of course, it means nothing, and they were just making it something cool that sounded like a Native American language, or they butchered it and it means something ridiculous, so they don’t want to say.) Really, I just think that’s ridiculous. When you are telling a story it doesn’t make sense to make something like that ‘secret’ from the viewers.

sonja maria

I love that Jacob Black spoke Quileute in this film. Now the language will truly never die. It will always be preserved on the film.

vivian

Well page 410 in the New Moon book which is this scene in the book has “I’ll miss you” Jacob whispered.

Lydia

Fanpop posted this:
“Que Quowle” (k-we k-WOW-le)
which means:
“Stay with me forever”
Comment:  If Jacob did say "Stay with me forever," it might not be the best choice of words. Bella could rightly respond, "You mean stay with you for 70 years until we both die? When I can be a vampire and live forever with Edward? Uh, thanks but no thanks."

I'm with "ac42" and "greeneyedlady" on this one. I could see respecting the privacy of the Quileute tribe, but the privacy of fictional characters? No.

Consider a comparable situation. Imagine the first staging of Hamlet at the Old Globe Theater. When the actor comes to Hamlet's famous soliloquy, he whispers the first line so the audience can't hear it.

After the play, people come up to Shakespeare and demand to know what Hamlet said. "I would love to translate the phrase for you," responds the playwright, "but out of respect for Hamlet's personal, private anguish, I am unable to at this time."

So protecting Hamlet's "feelings" about "To be or not to be, that is the question" is more important than assuaging the audience's feelings about missing a key moment? Absurd.

This is a clever marketing ploy designed to keep people talking about New Moon. As with other "Easter eggs" in DVDs and video games, it's meant to be figured out. Don't worry...the filmmakers or the Quileutes will spill the beans eventually.

For more on the subject, see Native Aspects of New Moon and Quileute Werewolves in Twilight.

Below:  "Don't tell anyone what I'm whispering, Kristen. It'll drive the fans crazy!"

3 comments:

dmarks said...

One of them said: "I love that Jacob Black spoke Quileute in this film. Now the language will truly never die. It will always be preserved on the film."

Forget all the other efforts to preserve indiginous languages. They've finally hit on an effective and permanent way to preserve them forever.

Rob said...

This could be a start. For more on the subject, see Language Preservation Using Twilight.

dmarks said...

Better yet, there's a forthcoming, sure to be big selling DVD/Blu Ray of "New Moon" of course.... .

They could add a featurette on the actual Quileutes. This is not so far fetched, really, considering what you often find on DVDs that had extensive extras.