Mulefa - pointless or important?

[Kyrillion]

I for one could have done wihut Mary Malone's adventures in Mulefa-land because although they were interesting in themselves (and I would have found the story interesting as a separate SF short story) they didn't seem to belong in HDM.

For two books, and most of the third, we've had a plot-driven story. A plot crafted to take in the philisophical/theological message PP intends, but a bouncy action-packed plot nonetheless. I think one of the worst failings in structure is to betray readers' expectations - eg, to set up a plot-driven stroya dn then have it turn into a slow-moving love stroy where nothing much happens towards the end. I think that's wat PP did and I think had a good ediitor binned the intellectually-interesting-but-dull mulefa bits the story would have been better for it.

Thoughts?

[jessia]

i agree there's not much they do for the plot. they're very much a tool to tell us directly and matter-of-factly what they know about dust/sraf, but they don't much feed into the storyline. they give dr. malone something to do while she waits. the world gives father gomez something to do while he waits. and maybe they provide a sort of sanctuary-type world for will and lyra to hit puberty in. but that doesn't have much to do with the actually mulefa... it's just an empty world without much bother. after all, it's balthamos that does away with the assassin, not the mulefa; it's mary malone who climbs a tree and watches the dust float away; etc.

but they were interesting creatures and i do hope they're included in the TBOD.

[Luca]

To be honest, I thought the story hit a lull when the Mulefa were introduced - it all seemed very bizarre. Strange, biologically-unique creatures that Mary learns to communicate with over x amount of time before 'figuring it all out'. The stage version cut them out, and I thought it all the better for it for pacing reasons. Would like to see them in the film-version though, an interesting challenge methinks.

[jessia]

how did the stage version deal with their removal?

[maija]

TAS is better with Mulefa. It was fun to read about them and all. It'll be very interesting to see how mulefa's worked out in the movie. If they even are in it..

[Jez]

I liked the Mulefa. They were interesting to read about. Having said that, I agree that they don't contribute a great deal to the plot.

[Slizer]

I always loved those wheely-effelants.

[Aletheia Dolorosa]

How did they cut them out of the play? Where were Lyra and Will when they were 'tempted' by Mary? What world was it, and where had Mary been. I agree that the passages with the Mulefa are a bit slow, and I can see how for a play they aren't really that dramatic, but the narrative arc of the story requires them...

[Jaya]

Mary was not in the play at all

[Aletheia Dolorosa]

what??????????

[Somewhat]

For me the Mulefa are fascinating, but they would have an adverse effect on the movie. Maybe a seperate world is needed, yes, but it doesn't have to be inhabited by Mulefa. I found it fascinating in the books how they evolved to their particular surroundings, but it would detract from the movie too much. In the books they're great.

[TidyKiwi]

I found the mulefa pretty boring really. Especially when you're in the middle of something exciting happening with Will and Lyra or someone else and the book suddenly cuts to Mary + weird creatures with nothing really happening. I always found it much harder to get into the Mulefa parts.

[Angel to follow]

There was a nice contrast though between what was happening with Will and Lyra and then the serene life that Mary was leading with the Mulefa.
I think you should take that into consideration.

[lordroke]

I can understand why some find the subplot involving Mary Malone and the mulefa in The Amber Spyglass, meaningless; it seems to affect the story so little that you wonder why Philip Pullman inserted it. One must evaluate this subplot from a distance to properly realize why it was contrived, though.

The main reason, I believe, for which the mulefa and everything else were present, was that they clarified more than anything else the nature of dust. This may sound like a weak argument, but let's dwell on it: Mary's interaction and life with mulefa enriched the novel in this strange way that we didn't comprehend. Somehow, the book gained some enrichment through it. I'm convinced that her time spent with the mulefa defined dust, sraf further, demonstrating to audiences its importance, its beauty, and its power. Simply the fact that Mary Malone alone could communicate with another species, was in some way a rich experience in itself. It may not seem important to some readers, but I think what Mary Malone did -- as Satan did in tempting Adam and Eve -- was present dust as it is. She showed the beauty of cooperation, peace, and harmony with other conscious beings. She showed the need for consciousness, for knowledge, for wisdom. She showed basically the main message of the entire series, and were her presence to have been removed in The Amber Spyglass, it is likely that the message of the series would not have been as nearly as effective in its deliverance. Mary Malone was the temptress -- she introduced us to dust just like Satan. This basic fact is what we must recall in assessing the value of the mulefa subplot in The Amber Spyglass. That subplot, to condense this paragraph, defined the whole theme of the trilogy.

[tipani]

When I first read the book, I found the Mary Malone and mulefa chapters most intriguing and exciting. As if I was there with Malone, examining the weird civilization. Time seemed to come at standstill in the mulefa world.

But when I read the book again, those same chapters went by the same speed as the chapters, somehow making them feel shorter than the first time. I couldn't feel the same excitement of discovering something new again

[aklebury]

I was fascinated by the Mulefa in the book but can understand why the stage version would cut for pacing reasons.

I can't decide whether I think the movie should cut them as well. As much as I would love to see them, I can't imagine they would be done very well and would probably slow the movie down... also the fact that they 'speak' their own language, despite working fine in a novel which has time to explain this fact, probably wouldn't translate well to a movie.

[Huginn]

I don't think sqeaking would be any different from people chattering in a different language. Subtitles would do when the audience needs to understand. And you might not even need them, if you have the audience learn at the same pace Mary does.

I think that if the mulefa's problems get connected to the rest of the story earlier on, they'll still be viable as part of the plot. Movie audiences just don't have the patience to see how it relates. It needs to be eastablished, or at least hinted at, very early, so people will realize it's relevant.

[Reedie_Belacqua]

I like mulefa x3
it was interesting to read about them, and
well, maybe they are not thaaat needed, but
something that i found interesting was
that in their history, there were two mulefa that found that oil (i'm sorry i don't know the name in english, but in the spanish versions says oil ò_ó xD)
and so, they used that oil and then they could see the dust.

That remind me Adam and Eva ._.
but in the mulefa's world ^-^

[Diolmhain]

The mulefea are definately some of the most important people in the book.

Not only did they give us a good few solid chapters but i also liked the way PP put in another race of sentinent beings as it would have been stupid not too..

[Mockingbird]

I think one of the worst failings in structure is to betray readers' expectations - eg, to set up a plot-driven stroya dn then have it turn into a slow-moving love stroy where nothing much happens towards the end.

I think that was his intention. In the book, in structural terms, the mulefa serve to increase the suspense for the action in other parts of the plot and also to provide a respite for the readers to gather their thoughts after the rapid sequences of events in the other parts. Pullman always knew he needed Lyra and Will to fall in love, which can't happen amidst the fast-paced-adrenaline driven parts of the story, it wouldn't have been convincing. The mulefa world provides a quiet, serene setting for the falling action of the story, a place for them to fall in love and learn to separate. Its also a good place to address all the unresolved issues in the trilogy and provide the reasoning behind this whole war so its not just gratuitous action. It was very well-crafted, I think.

Unfortunately, I don't think this will work in cinema. It would be too jarring to take a viewer in and out of action, the transitions alone would be too hard to conceive. I think the mulefa will probably be dropped, along with Mary Malone.