unforum

[abcetc]

Why no mention of TO?

[Geneaux486]

I think it's partially number 2. No one seems to want to mention it directly, can't say I would want to if I was in their situation either.

[Zarggg]

Jay probably assumes that his viewers are quite aware that the Operator is a major factor in all these situations. Right now, he's focusing on finding people and retracing the steps taken during the filming process.

[Serum]

I brought this up awhile back, that despite the fact that they're being stalked by a tall guy in a business suit with no face-- they never mention that they're being stalked by a tall guy in a business suit with no face. I think over the course of the series, they've addressed the Operator (albeit indirectly) a total of three times, tops.

[Lithp]

A combination of the 3 & possibly a fourth factor:

There just is no information on The Operator, no one has heard of this thing before Marble Hornets happened.

[Animal]

I think its because no one knows what it is, it's just "that thing that follows alex around"l

[matixzun]

There is not a lot to say about TO, except "This tall man has caused trouble again, and i don't know how to stop/avoid him" so he probably focus on things where he can have a real effect, for example, he can try to uncover what happened in the shooting of Marble Hornets, he can try to catch Hoodie or escape from Alex, but he has no idea about what to do about TO and probably accept it.

[Lithp]

There is, in fact, a ton to say about The Operator. At the very least, Jay should have justification for why he's never done an internet search regarding a tall faceless man in a business suit.

[Toadbert]

I tend to think they believe mentioning it can lead it to them.

[DaturaStramonium]

[DJay32]

My personal belief, and you can roll your eyes at me if you want, is that the Operator is a metaphor for "the elephant in the room." Some very unfortunate information, usually an event in the past a character isn't proud of, that has a tendency to follow characters around even when they want it covered up. A lot of the story can work pretending the Operator doesn't actually exist even in the narrative.

Take Alex, for instance. Alex just wants the Marble Hornets incident to be over, that was a time he doesn't want to think about anymore. Because he did bad things. Most likely killed Brian and probably Seth too, who knows who else. He wanted to burn the tapes to hide what he'd done, and he wanted to shoot Jay for sharing the tapes online because.. well, the past is out in the open now!

And look at Tim. Tim's not proud of his mental illness, it has caused him to do some bizarre things (namely, run around in a mask). Tim is also someone who just wants to forget the Marble Hornets incident, because Alex is out of his life for all he knows and so that's a traumatic time he doesn't want to think about. So I think it makes a lot of sense that Tim would punch Jay in the face for, in Tim's words, "pointing a camera at everything, bringing up old memories like it couldn't possibly have any effect on anyone else."

Back to the Operator. The Operator, in this great big metaphor, is the dirty past. When Alex is reminded of the dirty past (reminded of the Operator), he relapses. At other times, he's paranoid, constantly looking around, looking for any signs of that past catching up to him. Other characters have similar experiences with it because it's the same dirty past to them, but they don't get it as bad because Alex is the one who it centers around.

This is why no one directly brings it up: Because to acknowledge the Operator would be to accept that things happened that no one is proud of. People have a tendency to run from the past, not to talk about it.

So this makes Jay represent closure. Jay was sorta involved with the Marble Hornets incident, but just enough to have his foot in the door, not enough to be too traumatized to act. He doesn't care how nasty the secrets are that he digs up, he just wants closure. And Alex can't handle that, because Alex has too many skeletons in his closet. Tim had a lot of trouble handling it, but ultimately he came around because he just wants it all to stop too.

And totheark's someone else who wants closure but can't directly bring it because they're too far gone. So they want Jay to lead them.

NOW, I should also mention that I have speculations that there's something else Alex isn't proud of, maybe a traumatic event from his childhood or the very early shootings of Marble Hornets, and that's why the Operator appears in the first place. And if my speculations are correct, this event will probably be revealed around the end of the series. It would be the answers everyone's been looking for, the reason it all started, the thing Alex has been running from and trying to bury this whole time. Maybe even the ark, I dunno. Or the ark might be a more abstract thing, totheark wants Jay (closure) to lead him to the ark (life without worrying about the past).

...I'm rambling now. But yes, that's basically why I think they don't talk about the Operator-- it's a thematic thing.
Or maybe I just look too deeply into it.

[DaturaStramonium]

That's a pretty coherent theory and a very uniquely artistic way of looking at things, and even though I doubt it's what the team intended I still love the idea. Even Jessica can be a part of it, her talking about memories as a child and all (though the theme of memories and lack thereof is an intentional motif which is probably unrelated).

I'm not sure how Hoody/TTA could fit into it, as it seems that he only wants revenge on Alex and possibly stop TO. Perhaps, unlike natural closure, he represents a person actively and recklessly destroying their past without care for repercussions.

[abcetc]

I'm not rolling my eyes, actually, as I've had similar ideas in the past. But I just want to be fully clear on what you're suggesting: are you saying that the Operator does not exist within the MH universe and is just a figment of the characters' imaginations? Cause otherwise it wouldn't be caught on film. Or are you saying that it does exist in the MH universe but serves a thematic purpose for us, the audience? I think the latter idea isn't very controversial: certainly the Operator invokes or represents the feeling that many of us have had of being haunted by an event or experience that was terrifying or bizarre, regardless of whether the filmmakers--or Vic, for that matter--consciously intended this or not. If the answer to the first question is yes, however, then logically, I feel Jay ought to be acknowledging the Operator more--because as far as we know, he doesn't have a strange history of mental illness or hurting people.

[Lithp]

Sounds plausible. And they've even done a decent job of handwaving into the narrative why they don't talk about it. Decent, not great. Like I said, it's not that damn hard to Google "faceless man in a suit."

[Geneaux486]

I definetely agree with you about the Operator being a sort of "elephant in the room", and I think your argument that he is, at large, a metaphor for the concept that trickles down into all of the characters pasts is pretty cool. Even if that wasn't Troy's intent, it works really well.