@flintsredhair I love your Admiral Hennessey portrayals so much. I read most of your fices in like 2 days (I swear I’ll comment!! just have a few more episodes to go!) and was so glad I’m not alone loving him.
I don’t know about the fandom, but I guess most people hate him? And I get it, truly, what he did was terrible, a personal betrayal over Alfred’s ‘simple’ evilness.
But I think he faced a terrible choice, and he choose the one that did definitely discrace James – though not in public – and ruined his life, but ensured his staying alive. He could have tried to deny the charges – but chances that if there was any possibility of the Hamiltions and James not disapperaing quietly, Alfred would have gone public, which of course would have ended up with James hanged. So he choose the middle solution – great chance of James getting out of it alive, but with severing all ties to his former life in London. This is why Hennessey didn’t even warn him – if James had a moment to compose himself after the shock, if he felt like he got Hennessey on his side, he might have tried to resist somehow, and the Admiral just coudn’t dare to risk it. Yes, he got that decision out of his hand, but woudn’t a parent do anything to ensure his child’s survival?
Because to Hennessey, James was truly like a son, he pratcically raised him since he was, what, 9? He clearly loved him unconditionally, even though he knew James was different in a way. After the bar fight scene, when he remarks that there’s something darked and wilder in James’s nature, he doesn’t use a condeming tone – he accepts it as a part of James, something that can’t possibly be changed. He’s not happy about it, fears what it could drive James to do, but he talks to him with compession, love. It’s a warning, but not the threathening kind, it’s a paternal advice, pointing gently out a flaw, to warn James to watch out about it, to make his life easier. Easier by melting into the crowd, to hide this.
It can either be read as a methaphor for Hennessey knowing about James’s sexuality and accepting it, or not. But it’s clear that whether he knew about it or not, he did not condem him for being different before. It’s a 50-50 chance really, because on one hand, Hennessey knew him practically all his life, it’s possible that he relised it – and honestly, it’s not like there wasn’t any gay shit going on in the navy all the time, so it wasn’t a foregin concept. A lot of men together all the time? Come on. But on the other hand, James took interest in women too – it’s possible that he supressed his interest in men totally, maybe his first male lover was Thomas. I personally think that Hennessey probably didn’t know about it, but we’ll never know for sure, and I don’t think we have to.
It’s clear that Hennessey woudn’t have betrayed him and threw him out just for that. It’s possible that personally he did find homosexuality distasteful – different era, different morals, hell, hanging people publicly was OK!!! – but I don’t think he liked James non-existing impulse control either. It also wasn’t conventional, “normal”. But he dealt with it and accepted it. Loved James unconditionally. And that’s the important part. But honestly, it’s not like homosexuality is a new invention, and Hennessey struck me like a modern man, who has better things to do than care about who fucks whom in their free time. Especially if that one is his son, and exposing him means he’d end up on the gallows.
This story has clear victims – Miranda, Thomas and James, two forced into exile ans one driven to suicide. But I think there’s one more, Admiral Hennessey, a father forced to choose between tha happiness and the life of his child.
All in all, I think there was at least one more person who felt dark satisfaction over hearing about Alfted Hamilton’s death.
ALL OF THIS SO MUCH OF THIS! This is such a beautiful summary of what I’ve been saying about Hennessey for months. I’d like to add one more thing, and then I’m going to shut up because this is perfect.
Hennessey knew James was not straight and you’ll never convince me otherwise and here’s why. When James slips and says Thomas’ name, Hennessey gives him a look. That look says a lot. It says, “really, son?” It says, “oh shit.” It’s amused and pleased and concerned and disapproving all at the same time, and it tells me that Hennessey knew what was going on between James and Thomas and he was warning him that it was dangerous, because if anything went down he couldn’t protect James. He hears the element of fondness in James’ voice, and when James says that Hennessey might like Thomas – when he starts expounding on his virtues, Hennessey excuses himself, because he needs a moment to process, to think – maybe even to have a bit of a panic somewhere no one can hear him. He comes back to find James beating the shit out of someone – and issues him a warning that, as you noted, could very well function as a metaphor for something he could not say out loud in public under any circumstances.
FIN, and thank you so, so much for the rec!
Holy shit, I rewatched the secene – and you’re absolutely right, in retrospect, Henessey’s obiosuly like ‘Holy fucking shit, James, son, I can’t believe you asdfghsaff”. Wow. The funny thing is, that it was such a suprise, the affair, that I haven’t noticed these signs efore – it’s pretty good filmmaking! I even remember that I didn’t fully understand Hennessey’s reaction about the assigment, since later he didn’t seem to care about it very much, and it was before the affair acually started,but yeah, now it’s clear that it’s about something else entirely.
It’s really such an excellent moment, because as you said – this is before the affair with Thomas starts, and Hennessey knows where it’s headed, because he’s obviously seen what James is like when he’s head over heels for someone. It says a lot about the relationship they have with each other as family, really – James doesn’t even say anything, maybe has no intention of acting on his feelings, but he’s still very obviously completely gone on Thomas and, more than that, he wants Hennessey’s approval of Thomas. He’s trying, in a very roundabout non-obvious repressed-by-necessity way to tell the only parental figure he has that he’s in love and sound him out, and in a way he gets that approval or at least Hennessey’s vote of confidence in his judgment because you’ll notice that he doesn’t get pulled off the assignment, and it only adds to the disappointment and the horror later because he thought Hennessey understood and at least marginally approved.
Meg's Mumbles 