Was Governor Luke's Father?….and what does it mean?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Skulls
rickysol82 — 17 years ago(May 20, 2008 11:11 AM)
I just recently watched this movie with my girlfriend after she enticed me to see the sequels first. I saw Skulls 3, 2 and then the first in that order. After seeing the first skulls movie and the comment my gf made about the end and the possibilities it gave about the spiritual and mystical dynamics between Father and Son that i found was an intriguing underlining throughout the whole movie, besides the obvious relationship between mandrake and his father which was very commonly told in most movies. I was convinced that this Skulls was the best one out of the 3..nowto the subject.
My gf said to me at the end when Luke was walking away from the Senator and had whispered "Well done son, well done". My gf told me at that moment that He(the governor) was his Luke's Father.now i was quick to challenge her theory because i mean why? Just because he called him son? The Hint of pride you sensed in his voice when he muttered "well done"maybe? But i went back to certain parts of the movie and discovered there was another time he had called him son with Lucas actually in-front of him, when they were talking in the diner earlier in the movie. Now, why wasn't it such a big deal then? I'm more convinced after seeing all the parts where Lucas and the Senator were together, that He saw himself in Lucas and in a lot of ways took him under his wing. Now, im sure alot of you guys when confronted or meet older respected men in some formal occasion, you notice they call you son sometimes. Not meaning litteraly, that they're your father but whatever it is your talking about he is trying to give you "fatherly" advice or guidence regarding a situationthats why they usually end with calling you son cause they feel after giving you such knowledge they're compelled to call you son.
However, i will play devils advocate in admitting the ramifications that would present itself ifLets hypothetically say He were infact his Father. Reason i say that is considering everything the Senator told Luke about what had happened, what was going to happen, and what could happen at the end before Luke walked away. If infact he was his father, he was i guess in some ways testing Lukes faith in saying after what he'd done for him, if he would deny him the consequences it could bring to his life. He challenged Luke and instilled a moment of fear in him to test his character. I ask myself would he actually go through with it and jeopardize his own son's life? If you give it some thought, the senator was in some ways playing God, i mean throughout the whole movie you could never quite tell who's side he was on. Anyway, i'll leave it up to you all to elaborate on this in anyway you want, cause i think its interesting dynamicthat compels us to further evaluate the nature of the mystical relationship between Father and Son. Though in the end, it can't be proven one way or the other if he was his father, such evidence or any hint wasnt presented in the documentaries,featurettes and interviews of the director and cast of the movie in the dvd release.so we'll never know.
Life is Pain, anyone who says differently is selling something. -
rickysol82 — 17 years ago(May 20, 2008 11:18 AM)
Back to supporting my own theory,(that he wasnt his father) the reason why i think he muttered "well done son" was because he had realized Luke wasnt rattled or flustered after being told his future could possibly suffer. He remained confident in his decision and stood by it, and the governor respected that and in some ways was proud of him as a head strong Man he knew he would become. That's why i believe he was compelled and got caught in the moment and whispered to himself "well done son, well done".
Life is Pain, anyone who says differently is selling something. -
savanna-2 — 17 years ago(March 20, 2009 10:44 PM)
This thread made me watch this film with a renewed interest in the relationship between Luke and the senator. The senator goes out of his way from the moment of Lucas' induction to make sure Luke knows he can count on him, "call him anytime." Another thing that occurred to me is the physical resemblance/body build between Joshua Jackson & William Petersen. Why choose two actors so similar if we're not supposed to pick up on the possibility of a father/son relationship?
Does Luke ever mention a father in the film? His speech to Caleb only references his mother and her death. Why no mention of a father? Not just the fact that the senator calls him "son" in the film, especially the last bit where Lucas has already walked away and the senator says "Well done son, well done."
Even the mention of a deleted scene with Luke's mother being alive persuaded me. Is it possible that the judge could have used the tape to blackmail the senator re: an illegitimate son and why she "died" all those years ago? Also, the senator mentions to Lucas that he came from similar origins/background as Lucas as a reason for offering his help. Plus, as was mentioned on another thread why
IS
a nobody like Lucas tapped for the society? The senator being his biological father makes the film much more logical and explains the motives and feelings of the main "father" characters, especially the rather unexplainable "rivalry" the judge feels between his son and a "nobody" picked for The Skulls. i.e. Why not just continue paying and covering up for his (in his opinion) screw up of a son.
Oscar's In Memorium - Better Version: -
baller_12 — 17 years ago(October 18, 2008 02:47 PM)
The simplest way for me to prove that he wasn't his father is by a deleted scene. In the scene Judge Mandrake reveals that Lukes mother isn't dead and he has video of her. So wouldn't you think that Judge Mandrake would have known that the govenor was his father.
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WhiteWingeDove — 17 years ago(February 05, 2009 11:59 AM)
That's interestingI never saw the deleted scene.
I don't think that Levritt was Luke's father because if he was, the other Skulls would have known about it. They were all spying on each other, and using their secrets for blackmail (hence Mandrake knowing about Levritt's affair with the younger girl). I think if the father/son thing was true, it would have come up in the movie, either by Mandrake using that against Levritt, or at least telling him that he knew about it. -
BookLover92 — 17 years ago(February 15, 2009 03:42 PM)
First of all: I think he was his father. Just because Judge Mandrake had a video of his mother doesn't mean he knew about the father and even if he did that doesn't mean he would have said it in the movie. I think they had him say "well done son, well done" just so some people will think he means "son". And most of you guys are forgeting just because the stulls spy on each other it doesn't mean they know "everything". And in the start of the movie they say Luke's "father is unknown" they really say that word for word. And also theres the part where he tells Luke "We have similer backgrounds you and I," in which case a similer background would have been Luke's mother.
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JCallies — 16 years ago(April 05, 2009 04:58 PM)
I don't think the senate is Luke's father.
I have no explanation why the skulls picked a no one like Luke, but I'm sure it wasn't because of a possible relationship between the both of them.
Sure it would explain why the senate helped Luke and Chloe but I thing the fact that they've got the same background doesn't mean the same background like the mother, but more the fact that their both coming from normal families without lots of money.
I can't really explain why I think their not father and son, but I'm sure thei aren't.
Even I never watched the second and third Movie of it (i started the second but didn't like it after the first 10 Minutes) I am sure their was any logical thing behind it, the most of us just doesn't understand. -
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fiatlux-1 — 13 years ago(September 09, 2012 12:54 PM)
it wasnt designed to be read into that much. The senator is just a senator. The way in which he uses the term "son" is simply a term of endearment, nothing else.
Exactly! There's nothing to suggest the Senator is anything but a fellow Skull to Luke.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush." -
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whomever23 — 15 years ago(January 15, 2011 03:11 AM)
Yeah, I agree with that. There's nothing strange or unusual about a southern gentleman referring to a younger man as "son." Also, I think people are missing the point about why the Senator takes Luke under his wing. He does it because he's using Luke. He needs help in taking over the Skulls, and he sees Luke as someone he can use to get it. Sure, he may also feel some affection for the guy, but that doesn't mean they're related.
As I see it, there are only two interesting questions:- Why does Luke get picked in the first place?
It might just be because Luke was great at crew. Remember, they mention that every other secret society tried to recruit him also. In real life, I don't think it's unheard of for major athletes to get recruited to secret societies. There's also the fact that Luke was applying to law school, and they might have seen real potential in him in that area. - Why does the Senator say "Well done, son" at the end?
I don't know the answer to this. It's what I was looking for online in the first place. Probably the movie makers just wanted to show that the character had some redeeming qualities, in that he was proud of the guy who'd served as his tool for taking over the society.
- Why does Luke get picked in the first place?
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that_heiress — 15 years ago(February 25, 2011 03:50 AM)
I definitely agree that the Senator was using him. He evens admits it. In his mind, he was doing it to better the organization or to steer it in a more admirable direction. I think he said, "Well done" at the end becauase Luke did exactly what he would have done had he had the strength to. At the beginning of the movie the Senator said that he and Luke shared similiar backgrounds which leads to me believe that either 1) he grew up poor, like Luke or 2) have similiar moral standards. I think he knew all a long that Luke would see the organization for what it was.
"They're swinging on trees. They're wankinnn!" -
jarn2004 — 14 years ago(May 29, 2011 05:47 PM)
Well, they obviously left it open for debate.. but he really could have been. And heres why.
We know from Mandrake that the Senator had tons of affairs. The only one he was blackmailing him for was the underage one.. so its possible he has tons of kids out there.
The second thing to support this is the video the senator had of lucas' mother in the deleted scene apparently Lucas' mother was not all that rich. How could she just afford to slip away into a new "happy"life? The skullzthats how. Why did they have video of her anyways? Why would they be watching and helping her? Because she father'd the illegitemate child of the senator. As someone else said why would a nobody get picked for the skullz and not only the skullz, but wanted by every organization cause he won some rowing competitions?