Ahh, gotta love Vincent’s choices in roles. He really does play disturbed characters well. Now, I know that Major Hathaway isn’t disturbed in the way that some of Vincent’s other characters are. He doesn’t have the “I-saw-what-man-was-not-meant-to-see” craziness of Jerry Ashton, the “I’m-uncomfortable-in-my-own-skin” neurosis of Dr. Malcolm, the “this-is-going-to-hurt” sadism of Professor Moriarty, or the “guess-what-I’m-eating-for-breakfast” psychosis of Pooh-Bear, but the boy is touched nonetheless. Given the fact that humanity is at war with a genocidal alien race, Hathaway’s callousness towards others is not uncalled-for, but it is definitely extreme. Even his own superior, the Secretary of Defense, seems to think that he is a sociopath. Perhaps, though, what is the most disturbing about Hathaway is that his “what-collateral-damage?” attitude actually softens at points in the movie, allowing the viewer to see a glimpse of humanity in a man who tortures and kills people in his quest to stop alien spies.
Example #1: When Spencer Olham is holding one of Hathaway’s soldiers at gunpoint, Hathaway has no trouble shooting his own man in a effort to kill Olham. But later, when one of Hathaway’s lieutenants opens fire on hospital staff while trying to hit Olham, Hathaway storms over and takes the soldier’s gun.
Example #2: When pressed, Major Hathaway admits that he has a wife. I don’t know about you, but I was really thrown for a loop when I heard that. I had figured the man was incapable to being married to anything but his job. Too bad the film never shows her.
****Here there be SPOILERS! Please do not read this part if you haven’t seen the movie; it will ruin the end for you (I speak from sad experience)****
Examples #3 and #4: After mercilessly hunting Spencer Olham for the entire film with no goal in mind other than to kill him, in the last scenes when Hathaway comes down the hill to the Centaurian ship, he admits that he was wrong. He doesn’t apologize outright for torturing and trying to vivisect Olham on an unproven claim, but then again, this is Major Hathaway. Then, after he and his soldiers shoot and kill the replicant posing as Olham’s wife, Hathaway actually lets Olham grieve and hold the body. In fact, when the other soldiers try to take the body away and Olham resists, Hathaway calls off his men. (Of course, things dramatically change in the next few seconds after that, but I’m starting to get used to the high mortality rate among VDO’s characters . . .)
****Ok, spoilers over.****
Considering Hathaway’s record (he killed 10 innocent people before finding the first replicant spy), those little glimpses of human behavior make him look like a kitten.
Okay, maybe a rabid kitten.
