And I think part of it is the fact that he’s the protagonist, the guy we’re supposed to latch onto and relate to, and yet he’s the authority who’s always explaining everything. Most movies have it where it’s a supporting character who plays that role, explaining necessary exposition to the protagonist we’re relating to. One good example is to try to imagine the original Star Wars with Obi Wan Kenobi as the protagonist, rather than Luke (or Han). It’d have been a disaster.

But a better example, because the roles changed accordingly, were the Lord of the Rings films. Gandalf was never the main protagonist when he was in his “I’m going to reveal some important information” moments. Said protagonist was usually a hobbit, but occasionally Aragorn or another member of the Fellowship. Sometimes Aragorn played the role of protagonist, and sometimes he was the expository guy, but he never played the two roles simultaneously. I think by doing this, they avoided the whole sense that the movie was talking down to us, and that’s the killer response that I usually see from Agar films. You’re supposed to empathize with the protagonist, but by casting him as an authority, that throws up a wall between him and you.

As for the movie itself, just to comment on one stupid thing: there’s an idiot plot here, and that’s when they decided that the entire expedition (once they lost all the Sherpas in an avalanche or something) needed to go into the hole and save the guy who undoubtedly plummeted to his death. It’s just ludicrous that they didn’t have someone still topside. And I can’t help but be amused beyond all reason at the plan of Nestor Pavia climbing back up that rope several hundred feet to get out of there, under his own power, with no one helping him, because they were all down at the bottom of the hole for no worthwhile reason whatsoever. It just violates every basic safety rule when you’re out on a trek like this.

Anyway, I’ve heard that Cynthia Patrick had to die in the end because the studio warned the producers off the unintentional miscegenation between Sumerian-but-totally-white Patrick character and John Agar. They wouldn’t let a white guy get together with a woman who’s supposed to be ethnically Iranian. What do you think?