Whispering Smith (1948) vs. Poldark (2015-19) // The 'Triangle of Regret' Trope

Howdy, partners!

There’s this popular trope in stories--I’m sure you've heard of it--called ‘The Love Triangle’. There can be any combination of genders but for example let's talk about it when a woman is being pursued by two different men (This post is not a throw down--I don't know if this is a real phrase but we're going with it--of that trope. That’s for another day...which may be an appreciation post…). A lesser known trope is the sequel to 'The Love Triangle'. I don’t know if it has a name, but let’s call it the ‘Triangle of Regret’, keeping with the math themes, you know.

Using our example, 'Love Triangle' stories end when the woman chooses one of the men. The sequel is usually when we never saw the decision process, but the woman chose one of the men and is now unhappily married and that comes to the surface when the other dude comes back to town.

(The Great Gatsby is famous, y’all. That is a little bit different, but you get the point?)

Long story short, I DETEST this trope. It lacks honor and justice and dignity. It portrays women to be unable to read their own hearts. It breaks promises and puts suspicion between friends. It’s all around a gnarly thing.

Which is why we’re going to talk about it today.

As an aspiring writer, I’m always trying to figure out what makes stories lovable for me and what doesn’t. Therefore we’re doing a deep dive into some pros and cons of this trope through some examples. Because all tropes are subjective and even if I dislike it majorly, I can usually find a version that works for me.

Besides the aforementioned Fitzgerald novel, what comes to mind when I think of this trope are two very different stories. They employ the same trope but the notable difference is GENRE. Technically both are period dramas, but one is a British saga and the other is a western. We're looking at Whispering Smith (1948) vs. Poldark (2015-19). 

(A disclaimer is that I’ve only seen each story once. So pardon any errors in the plot or whatnot. It could be that I’m majorly misinterpreting this, but I don’t claim it to be accurate, only my interpretation.)

(Because I figure these stories generally draw different crowds (please correct me if I'm not the only one to have seen both), this will be mainly spoiler-free. I will talk about the progress each character makes but without the context so you don't know what happens. Not the plot but the development of the characters)

Whispering Smith (1948) vs. Poldark (2015-19):

Whispering Smith is about suspicious happenings on a railroad so a marshall/detective comes to determine the causes and soon begins to think that one of his old best friends is involved. Poldark (the part that I want to talk about) is about a man returning from the losing side of the war and trying to fix his home that's in shambles while fighting against injustices and his past feelings.

Doesn't seem that similar, right? The biggest differences are when it comes to the plot, but those dwindle away when it comes to the characters and their relationships with each other. 

Luke Smith vs. Ross Poldark:

Similarities: Titular character. Have been away for a while and return at the beginning of the story. Doesn’t ‘get "the girl"’.

That's where the similarities end.

I should state (and I probably will more than once) I do NOT like Ross. Sometimes he's tolerable but never likable to me. I do not like his decisions--and he makes a whole lot of bad ones. It's good to have flawed characters so we can see them grow, I support that 100%. But growth? Ross hasn't heard of that. Just when you think he's finally learned his lesson, the end of season 2 is a DISASTER. But we're not going to talk about that.

(But MC, why did you watch ALL 5 seasons if you didn't like the main character? One of my friends told me the whole story of seasons 1-4 so I had things I really wanted to see with certain characters. Namely: Verity, Dwight, Francis, Caroline, Drake, Sam, Morwenna, Geoffrey Charles, and Cecily. Please, if anyone loves Ross, I would love to hear all the reasons why! I'm not trying to slam a favorite character. I'm just making notes about what works for me and what doesn't.)

Luke, on the other hand, is precious. You can tell he's been through a lot and you respect his gentleness all the more for that. He has an air of hardship about him but doesn't complain or let that alter his decisions.

Murray Sinclair vs. Francis Poldark:

Similarities: ‘Gets "the girl"’ but feels that "the girl" in question regrets that. Tangles with the wrong type of person.

Both of these guys are fascinating. There's a lot of struggling with insecurities. Their characters explore trying to convince themselves that it's all in their head. Should they give over to the fact that their triumph has ironically been their downfall? Is it a downward spiral of bad decisions in a negative character arc? A cautionary story? There's lots of thinking on the human condition prompted by this.

Marian Sinclair vs. Elizabeth Poldark:

Similarities: Feels that she chose the wrong man when the other love of her life returns.

I don't like either of them so there's not much to say. It's the biggest fault of this trope that gets used every time, so can writers FOR ONCE not make the gal flaky?

(Can we talk about how CONFUSING it is to have Robert Preston always be yelling "Marian!" and then Shirley Jones doesn't appear? I've probably just watched The Music Man too much...)

The relationship dynamics:

So, MC, you've talked about how you don't like the decisions Ross makes but, doesn't Francis make many of the same decisions? He's not exactly what you would call an upstanding citizen. Sure, they both make bad decisions but I have a line to cross when it comes to certain decisions (like gambling vs. adultery). But why I like one character over the other is the REASON they make those decisions. 

Ross makes his decisions because he is full of confidence that quickly turns to arrogance. He figures he knows what justice is, that he can do things by himself, that some people are too stuck up for their own good (pot calling the kettle black?). 

Whereas, Francis makes his decisions because he's lacking confidence and faith in himself. He sees himself as the second, unwanted choice. He feels that his father would've preferred Ross for a son. The poor guy is miserable and doesn't see a way out so he lets life get away from him. Because he thinks nothing he's going to do is going to make Elizabeth love him. The poor guy! My heart melts for him! I relate to him so much (Fine, you caught me, I'm biased because I relate to Francis. I have a post planned for those similarities but I want to watch the show again before I make those points. I'm trying to get my sister to watch because I know she's going to be in love with Dwight and Drake. Who isn't?) That doesn't pardon what Francis does, but it makes it more human to me (both Ross and Francis have issues with consent. Though Francis knows to back off and Ross doesn't).

(It should be noted that the 'romance' issues in Poldark do not end with the three peeps I've been talking about. It's not even a triangle as much as a star. It's really messy. So we can't really blame Francis, but we can blame Ross. Not that that's important to what I'm talking about, BUT it shows that it has more than just the 'Triangle of Regret' trope. That's only the starting position)

You see, I don't like characters who are brash and full of bravado. I like the quiet ones with deeper things going on under the surface. The ones you only see 'whispers' of their thoughts...which leads us to Whispering Smith. 

Luke is confident in his instincts--that's what has got him his job--but he's not brash about it. He is patient and kind. He shows the girl in question (Marian) that he cares but respects the decisions made. He's trying to do the right thing and make sure people don't get hurt.

Just LOOK at the posture each of these characters exhibits, as that tells a lot. I can't stand Ross's smirk, ugh.

Unlike Francis, Murray turns more to anger as opposed to sorrow. He blames Luke even though Luke has done nothing wrong. It's more of revenge instead of hopelessness. I don't really feel anything for him besides pity and regret. Francis, on the other hand, puts work in and realizes that he can't let others' opinions get the best of him. He has to be the best person he can, and the best father he can be. Humility is one of the most attractive traits to me. (Oh, when you get into the layers of bravado to hide insecurities I will also melt at that, but none of those characters have that. Sorry, tangent.)

So, who wins this face off? Which do I like better, Whispering Smith or Poldark? Well, neither. I think it would be best if elements of the two were combined. I want Luke Smith and Francis Poldark to work together. But why don't I like either? I don't like Poldark because of the aforementioned Ross problem, and I don't like Whispering Smith because I can't. stand. the. ending. ack.

Redemption is very important to me (a post on that coming soon, I hope...). Whispering Smith decides that one character can't be redeemed where I think he had a chance. Poldark decides one character is automatically redeemed (unfairly!) because he's the main character, and I don't think enough work is ever put in. And yes, I don't like how things end in Poldark, either, but it seems more like a BBC/Masterpiece shock factor thing which I am used to by now. 

Maybe each works with respect to the antagonist/rival? Maybe I wouldn’t love Francis so much if Ross was decent and I wouldn’t love Luke so much if Murray had it together?

But I think not. I think I would still love Luke and Francis more. And I think it would be cool to have them together. So if I were ever to write this trope I would do three things:

-Have the woman be confident in her decision.

-Have EVERYONE, namely the two hopefuls, be respectful of her decision.

-Reduce the amount of bluster and show a human side of everything.

You’re probably all wondering where this came from. Well, I’ve been swearing that I’ll do something fun for Legends of Western Cinema Week for YEARS and this year I finally bit the bullet. Thanks to Olivia, Hamlette, and Heidi for hosting this again!

Today is the last day! So get on over to the hosts posts (mwahaha, that rhymes) to check out the tags, games, and giveaways!

(Thanks to Hamlette again because I found a lot of the Whispering Smith photos I used on her blog!)

Thanks for reading! Yes, I compare really strange things, but is this as bizarre as my Sense and Sensibility vs. Frozen post? What do you guys think of this trope? Do you have a version you like? Do you like a louder main character or a quieter one? Has anyone else seen both Whispering Smith and Poldark? Is 'the Triangle of Regret' a good name?

Happy trails!

Chloe the MovieCritic