公主新娘

80年代的经典，表面上看是一个老套的廉价童话故事，不过其kitch和cheesy的风格恰恰是成为经典的原因。锋利的剧本充满了幽默的对话，而个性演员卖力的表现也是很具喜感。片中Andre the Giant出言的巨人后来成为著名涂鸦艺术家手下的题材，无疑对后来的流行文化有着影响。
剧中经典对话连连，其中一节坏王子抱怨因为要做太多坏事忙不过来的时候，心腹语重心长地说出‘身体是革命的本钱’之类的话来，真理啊！
原文如下

Prince Humperdinck: [sincerely] Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.

Count Rugen: Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything.

悬念从一开头的船跟踪他们开始就没了，谁都容易猜到穷小子没死，尤其爬悬崖那里更明显了。爬悬崖和比剑那一节很好玩。毒酒那里我猜到了他二杯都放了，但我以为他有解药呢（解药是中国江湖式打法）。整体还不错，大框架虽然没什么新意，但好些桥段和对白都极幽默，比如巨人打破门、公主对王子懦弱的讽刺等等。中间几段爷爷给孙子讲故事的插入，画蛇添足，纯属多余，都被我快进了，就好比《史瑞克1》里，时不时地冒出一个老头儿，讲给孙子听，你烦不？我打8分

最近不知道为什么脑子里晃来晃去都是storybook love的调子，然后就想起了这个电影。今天回去翻，就被豆瓣6.7的低分震惊到了，这可是IMDB250,一共才几个二百五 摔。
　　
彼时我在医学院上一门叫NBIO206的神课，全称The Nervous System，8学分，不光要把脑壳锯开，还要把脑子取出来削成一片一片的还要背每一片叫啥每个区叫啥还要知道这一片的某个坐标是怎么连到下一片的。当然我都不记得了这些也不重要。这门课对我的唯一意义就是某堂课放了一个电影片段，一个人躺在床上滔滔不绝地讲解pain.虽然没大听懂可我觉得我也挺pain的，就去借了这个电影，这可是我和gxj在stanford的图书馆地下多媒体借的第一个DVD。第一个！具有重大的意义，奠定了我两年（当时以为是六年。。。）的研究生要以多么颓废的形式度过sign。
　　
客观评价这故事特别假特别俗套制作特别低成本特别粗劣，但当时看完就和gxj说不知道为什么有不可言喻的感觉，觉得就是非常有意思。我俩还把bonus features全部看了，包括演员的访谈和一个在船上打鳗鱼的弱智游戏。两年多过去之后，我终于似乎明白了一点那是什么感觉。
　　
电影里很多很多细小的部分：
　　
　　慈爱的爷爷在床边跟孙子翻开书讲故事
　　女主的名字叫buttercup(真是吃货啊)
　　她用轻柔的声音叫："the farm boy~"
　　wesley那句经典的磁性的“as you wish”和实际的意思
　　妹子伤心又决绝的“I will not love any more”
　　矮胖胖挤眉弄眼的“inconceivable!”
　　Fire Swamp里会咬人的大老鼠、流沙和火焰
　　Inigo高贵的声明“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
　　小木屋里神神叨叨一边救人一边吵架的valerie老夫妇
　　敦厚的Fezzik是个天生巨人演的。
　　爷爷讲到kiss的时候故意不讲了小朋友好着急的
　　
他们都让我回想的时候觉得心里很温暖。
　　
其实一切的俗套都在开始时有了一个合理的解释：爷爷说——“我要给你讲一个童话”。（哦对了，还真的有这本故事书，还有人送我了）
　　
我以前觉得小朋友都不应该看童话，全是happy ending，全然不顾现实的残酷，满满的欺骗啊闹哪样。可是，现实可怖人就不应该追求幸福了么？
　　
我现在觉得，感知幸福的能力来自丰富的内心和对美好事物的敏锐观察力。而童话不就是在心灵幼小的时候把美好先填进去么？从此而往，即使因为悲剧而震动，也是难过于美好的丧失，而不会真的颠覆或毁灭。
　　
最近偶遇一故人，ta说我为以前对你做过特别不好的事情伤害到你道歉。可是我说快十年了我真的不记得了。ta说你不记得没关系，我说出来自己心就安了。然后我开始审视自己过去有无因为愤怒软弱等个人的弱点故意伤害过别人。我良心是安宁的，但是答案我也不知道。我有过悔恨的时候，但是随着慢慢对自由意志信念的丧失，我觉得那些错误不是我一个人造成的。如果时光倒转，给予当时的情状当时的心境我可能还是会做相同的选择。
　　
只是我会难过，虽然难过但是我记住了过去中美好的部分，我没有主动舍弃感受痛苦并同时体察温暖的心。没有心会惬意，会志得意满，但是看不到buttercup抬起又垂下的眼睛，不会沉浸在童话的美丽与悲伤中，不会充满幸福的能力。
　　
　　====================================
　　
　　My love is like a storybook story,
　　But its as real as the feelings I feel.
　　
　　And he said:
　　"Don't you know i love you oh, so much,
　　and lay my heart at the foot of your dress."
　　And she said:
　　"Don't you know that storybook loves,
　　Always have a happy ending."
　　
　　====================================
　　**http://youtu.be/aYQ4B1nuj8Y
　　

这学期上了一门谈判课，要写一篇期末论文。想不出什么好题目，就看了看给了六星的那些电影，觉得公主新娘里的谈判很有意思。


I. Introduction

Negotiations are everywhere, whether at work, in life, or in fairy tales. In this paper, I analyze the movie Princess Bride from the perspective of negotiations and draw some lessons that negotiators can learn from its characters and the movie as a whole.
 
The paper will be organized as followings. In Part II, a brief summary of the plot will be offered so that the reader does not have to re-watch the movie (though I cannot conceive any reason why anyone would forgo any excuse to re-watch Princess Bride). In Part III, I analyze the negotiations between Westley and the three kidnappers. Part IV will focus on a brief episode of the movie where Miracle Max decides to resurrect Westley. Finally, the paper concludes with some general lessons from Princess Bride in Part V.

II. Plot Summary

The movie begins with the frame story, where a small boy is sick and his grandfather comes to visit him. The grandfather affectionately pinches the small boy’s cheek (which the small boy hates) and begins to read a storybook (to which the small boy reluctantly acquiesces and graciously promises to try to stay awake).

The main story is the story the grandfather reads from the book. A young woman named Buttercup lives on a farm. Whenever she gives orders to the farm boy Westley, the farm boy always replies “as you wish” and happily does what she instructs him to do. Eventually, Buttercup realizes “as you wish” means “I love you” and they fall in love. In order to get married, Westley goes away to seek his fortunate. However, news comes to Buttercup that Westley died from a pirate attack.

Five years later, Buttercup decides to marry Prince Humperdinck. Before the wedding, Buttercup is kidnapped by a group of three kidnappers: the boss Vizzini, the giant Fezzik, and the fencer Inigo Montoya (who seeks to take a revenge on a six-fingered man who killed his father). It is later revealed that the kidnappers are hired by Prince Humperdinck to kill Buttercup and frame the prince’s enemy country to serve as a pretext to start a war. The kidnappers are chased by Westley (who, as it turns out, did not die) wearing a black mask and by Prince Humperdinck leading a small army. Miraculously, Westley beats the three kidnappers in three separate encounters: he first wins a fencing combat with Inigo Montoya, then prevails over the giant in a hand-to-hand fight, and finally outsmarts Vizzini in a battle of the wits.

Shortly after Westley reunites with Buttercup, the prince’s army catches up with them, “rescues” Buttercup and captures Westley. The prince tortures Westley to death, but Westley is resurrected by Miracle Max. Inigo Montoya, the giant, and Westley invades the prince’s palace and rescues Buttercup.

At the end of the story, the small boy invites the grandfather to come back again, to which the grandfather replies, “as you wish.”

III. Negotiating with Kidnappers

One brilliant aspect of Princess Bride is its surprising and comic element. The title and general plot suggest a typical fairy tale with a hero undertaking a grueling adventure, beating all his enemies, rescuing his princess and living happily ever after with her. Although this is exactly what happens in Princess Bride, the process by which the happy ending is accomplished is very different from a typical Disney movie.

In particular, the protagonist Westley is not like typical Disney heroes that are strong, brave, and invincible. It seems that each of his victories is attributable more to his good fortune than to his bravery and strength.

Re-watching the movie after taking the Negotiation Workshop, however, I realize what I used to characterize as “good fortunate” are actually negotiating skills.

A first example is Westley’s negotiation with Inigo Montoya at the Cliffs of Insanity. After the three kidnappers and Buttercup climb up the cliffs with a rope, Westley is following them with the same rope. The kidnappers cut the rope after they reach the top, but Westley hangs on to the rocks of the cliffs. Vizzini leaves Inigo Montoya to wait at the cliffs to either see Westley fall or kill him. The following conversation occurs between Westley hanging onto the cliffs and trying to climb up and Inigo Montoya waiting at the top.

Inigo Montoya: Hello there! Slow going?
Westley: Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks. So I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t distract me.
Inigo Montoya: Sorry.
Westley: Thank you!
Inigo Montoya (after practicing fencing for a few strokes): I don’t suppose you could speed things up?
Westley: If you are in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do.
Inigo Montoya: I could do that. I got some rope up here, but I do not think you would accept my help since I am only waiting around to kill you.
Westley: That does put a damper on our relationship.
Inigo Montoya: But I promise I won’t kill you until you reach the top.
Westley: That’s very comforting, but I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.
Inigo Montoya: I hate waiting … I swear on the soul of my father, Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive.
Westley: Throw me the rope.

The parties begin this negotiation without setting up a process, which is understandable since Inigo Montoya is in a hurry to kill Westley and Westley is busy staying alive by grasping onto the cliffs. Inigo Montoya shares his interest to have Westley climb up faster. Westley responds by proposing options, such as lowering a rope or some tree branches (or a ladder). Luckily enough, Inigo Montoya does have a rope.

Even though the substantive component of the negotiation is going well, the parties reach a deadlock because of a relationship issue: Inigo Montoya destroys the trust between the parties by reminding Westley that he is only waiting here to kill Westley. In the end, Inigo Montoya has to invoke a criterion, a swear on the soul of his father, in order to rebuild the trust.

The first interesting point about this negotiation is that the setup is similar to (but not the same as) the prisoner’s dilemma. Each party has a cooperative option and a defaulting option: Inigo Montoya can cooperate by throwing down the rope and can default by killing Westley while the latter is about to climb to the top; Westley can cooperate by accepting Inigo Montoya’s help and can default by keeping him wait.

This leads to a second interesting point: a shift in bargaining power. The initial setup leaves Westley with very little bargaining power: his defaulting option does not hurt Inigo Montoya and is very risky for himself since he will likely become exhausted and fall down the abyss; on the other hand, Inigo Montoya’s defaulting option will take Westley’s life. Nevertheless, Inigo Montoya’s impatience shifts the bargaining power balance to Westley’s favor since the possibility of waiting for a long time is very unacceptable to him. As a result, he has to swear on his father’s soul to make Westley trust him.

Third, the parties create value by resolving their differences in forecasts with a contingent contract. As demonstrated by his earlier comment to the giant, Inigo Montoya is positive that he will win a fencing battle with Westley since he even plans to use his left hand although he is right-handed. Similarly, Westley is also confident that he will win because he also begins the battle with his left hand when he too is right-handed.

With their different forecasts, their negotiation could reach an impasse with Inigo Montoya saying “since I will kill you anyway, why don’t you save us some time by jumping down the cliff yourself” and Westley saying “since I am a much better fencer than you, please just find a rock and knock yourself out. Wait, throw me the rope before you do that!”

Instead, the parties resolve their differences by agreeing to a contingent contract: a duel. Since either side thinks he is better than the other side, a duel is acceptable to them both. In the end, Westley knocks out Inigo Montoya and continues his chase.

Realizing that Westley is still chasing after them, Vizzini orders the giant to kill Westley. When they meet each other, the giant could easily have killed Westley by throwing a stone. Instead, he proposes that they drop their weapons and fight with hands only. Unfortunately, instead of doing what a principled negotiator would do (i.e. convincing Westley with reason and criteria that a hand-to-hand fight is more sportsmanlike and civilized), the giant resorts to threat by telling Westley that if Westley does not agree to a hand-to-hand fight he will kill him with a stone now.

Similar to the encounter between Westley and Inigo Montoya, the giant’s take-it-or-take-the-stone proposal is also a contingent contract: since the giant is certain that his physical strength will outperform that of Westley, he does not mind settling it with a hand-to-hand fight.

In yet another effort to make Princess Bride a full-length movie, Westley miraculously chokes the giant and goes on to chase Vizzini and Buttercup.

When Westley finally meets Vizzini, the latter is holding a knife against Buttercup’s neck. The following conversation occurs.

Vizzini (while Westley is walking closer): If you wish her dead, by all means, keep moving forward.
Westley: Let me explain.
Vizzini: There is nothing to explain. You’re trying to kidnap what I’ve rightfully stolen.
Westley: Perhaps … an arrangement could be made.
Vizzini: There will be no arrangement … I can’t compete with you physically, and you are no match for my brains.
Westley: You’re that smart?
Vizzini: Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?
Westley: Yes?
Vizzini: Morons!
Westley: Really? In that case, I challenge you in a battle of wits.
Vizzini: I accept.

Right from the start, Vizzini is employing two difficult tactics: using threat and refusing to negotiate. On the other hand, Vizzini should be commended for establishing the legitimacy of his position (by accusing Westley of trying to kidnap what he has rightfully stolen) and invoking objective criteria to show how smart he is.

As a skillful and by then experienced negotiator, Westley successfully reaches a deal with Vizzini by proposing the same kind of arrangement with Inigo Montoya and the giant: a contingent contract. Since Vizzini is confident that he is so much smarter than Westley, he should be willing to accept a contingent arrangement in which the wittier side will triumph.

Coming up with this proposal demonstrates that Westley is not only good at getting to yes but also fluent in active listening skills and knowledgeable about difficult conversations. Firstly, he listens carefully and catches a key piece of information, namely that Vizzini thinks Westley is no match for his brains. Secondly, he succinctly paraphrases “no match for my brains” with “smart” and inquires further about Vizzini’s smartness. Finally, Westley proposes a battle of the wits knowing that Vizzini cannot refuse it, because of the identity conversation: if Vizzini refuses Westley’s proposal after asserting his intelligence, his identity will be threatened because others may think Vizzini is not that smart and is a liar.

As expected, Westley prevails again in the battle with Vizzini and reunites with Buttercup.

In all three encounters, Westley has very little bargaining power to begin with: he is holding onto the cliffs while Inigo Montoya is waiting at the top, the giant could easily shatter him into pieces with a stone, and he has to do whatever Vizzini asks him to do as Buttercup’s life is at stake. However, in each encounter, through skillful negotiations, Westley is able to reverse the unfavorable position and get the other party to agree to a process that Westley has a reasonable chance of success. One lesson for negotiators is that: do not give up easily, for you never know when the other side’s impatience, arrogance, and vanity will work wonders.

IV. Resurrection Negotiation

After Westley is tortured to death, Inigo Montoya and the giant find his body and try to bring him back to life by seeking help from Miracle Max.

Inigo Montoya knocks at Miracle Max’s door and asks whether he is the Miracle Max who worked for the king. Miracle Max replies, “the king’s stinking son (Prince Humperdinck) fired me and thank you so much for bring such a painful subject.” After hearing this, Inigo Montoya simply says that he needs a miracle and it is very important. What he can do differently next time is to apologize and acknowledge Miracle Max’s feelings.

Luckily, Miracle Max agrees to take a look and the following conversation happens between him and Inigo Montoya.

Miracle Max: You got money?
Inigo Montoya: 65 dollars.
Miracle Max: I never worked for so little … except once, and that was a very noble cause.
Inigo Montoya: This is noble, sir. His wife is crippled. His children are on the brink of starvation.
Miracle Max: Are you a rotten liar?
Inigo Montoya: I need him to help revenge for my father, murdered 20 years ago.
Miracle Max: Your first story was better.
Inigo Montoya: This is Buttercup’s true love. If you heal him, he will stop Humperdinck’s wedding.
Miracle Max: I make him better, Humperdinck suffers? That’s a noble cause. Give me 65, I’m on the job.

This episode demonstrates the importance of exploring interests and emotions. In a negotiation, it is advisable for parties to share interests so that they can find value-creating opportunities. In this particular negotiation, Miracle Max does a great job sharing his interests and feelings: he only works for much more than 65 dollars but he is willing to make exceptions for noble causes, and he still bears grudges against Prince Humperdinck for firing him. In contrast, probably because of his impatience, Inigo Montoya does not adequately share information with Miracle Max and does not pay enough attention to the interests and feelings expressed by Miracle Max. Fortunately, in the end, the parties realize that resurrecting Westley will meet the interests of both: helping Inigo Montoya revenge for his father and enabling Miracle Max to get back at Prince Humperdinck.

Another lesson from this episode is the danger of lying. Upon hearing that Miracle Max is willing to work for less if there is a noble cause, Inigo Montoya fabricates a crippled wife and starving children. Miracle Max skillfully names Inigo Montoya’s game by calling him a rotten liar. Furthermore, Inigo Montoya’s lie destroys Miracle Max’s trust so that the latter no longer believes him even when he is telling the truth about revenging for his father.

V. When Not to Negotiate

One great thing about the Negotiation Workshop is making us realize how useful and ubiquitous negotiations are in real life. Naturally, we are excited to engage in more negotiations and further develop negotiating skills after the course.

Meanwhile, it is also important to be aware of the limits of negotiation and know when not to negotiate. In that regard, Princess Bride offers some suggestions.

I discussed how Westley overcomes his adverse positions through negotiations. The flip side of that is, the kidnappers lose their battles precisely because they decide to negotiate. Negotiation is not the only legitimate way to resolve issues. If you are in a favorable position or have a lot of bargaining power, so long as such position and power are not obtained through illicit or unethical means, it is okay to take advantage of them. For instance, in Vizzini’s case, when someone in a black mask is trying to kidnap the person he has rightfully stolen, he should not feel obligated to negotiate.

The grandfather probably knows very well that the grandson does not like him to visit and does not like it when he pinches his cheek. However, instead of trying to negotiate with and persuade his grandson, he just visits and pinches his cheek, perhaps knowing that one day the grandson will miss the cheek-pinching grandfather all too dearly.

Other times, it is best just to agree to whatever the other side wants. Compared to “I am not a pushover; you are giving too many unreasonable orders, and in disrespectful ways” and “I have a lot of things to do tomorrow, and I already visited you today, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back tomorrow to read you more stories,” a simpler and better alternative would be “as you wish.”

很久很久以前，熬夜看了这部imdb评分奇高的老电影。我本来期待一个俗气冒泡的童话故事，结果里面的恶搞桥段简直要把我逗死了，况且故事本身就很不错了，即便情节上有些小小漏洞，还是瑕不掩瑜的好看！

有个大眼睛的可爱小男孩生病了，他的爷爷为了安慰他，特意来给他讲故事。小男孩满不情愿地放下手中的棒球游戏，很提不起精神来地听童话故事，还时不时地插几句嘴。

故事很简单啦，美女生活在农场，经常支使帅哥干活，帅哥每次都如她所愿地完成任务，日久情深，美女和帅哥相爱了。然后帅哥去航海赚钱，美女在农场等到的是帅哥被海盗杀害的消息。五年后，她接受了王子的求婚，住进了城堡。不料某天，三个坏人出现劫持了美女，想在两国边界杀掉她引起战争。在带着美女去邻国的途中，他们遇到了一个黑衣人的追踪，黑衣人解决了坏人，救出了美女，然后揭晓了自己就是当年被误传已死的帅哥。美女帅哥冰释前嫌。为了摆脱前来救人的王子，两人穿越了火沼泽，但最终还是被王子擒住了。王子带美女回堡，条件是不伤害帅哥，但背地里王子把帅哥囚禁在绝望渊。美女几经反复，终于决心跟随真爱，她要求王子召回帅哥，否则就宁死不嫁。王子假意应承，其实他想在新婚夜杀死美女，以挑起两国战争，之前的坏人也是他雇来的。于是，帅哥在备受折磨，美女被蒙在鼓里。好在之前劫走美女的坏人中的两个并不是那么坏，他们只是被雇来行事的，其中剑客的仇人正是折磨帅哥的宰相，另一位巨人则是凑热闹来帮忙，他们从绝望渊救出了奄奄一息的帅哥，送到巫师那里求了一个奇迹。帅哥复活，但全身无力。于是三人设计吓跑了城堡前的六十守卫，冲进堡中，杀了仇人，辱了王子，救了美女，从此小两口幸福地生活在了一起。

哈，还是很不错的童话故事吧？主要是里面好多胳肢人的地方。比如听故事的小男孩，动不动就受不了帅哥美女亲来亲去，直呼腻歪，到后来他竟抗议起美女要嫁给王子，还嚷嚷不公平，直到结尾，还强烈要求爷爷把略去的热吻一段给他补回来。总之，逗乐得不行~

把从故事中学到的道理总结一下：

1、如果一个人总能事事如你所愿，而你也毫无愧疚地去支使人家，那十有八九你俩要结连理了。

2、as you wish是一句魔咒。会勾去人心哟。

3、 我再也不会爱上别人了——刚失恋的小青年常挂在嘴边，其实过不了多久就违誓了。

4、有怪人问路要谨慎。

5、坏人的口头禅都很无聊，eg：unconceivable？！

6、需要喝毒酒撞运气时，逻辑分析那一套都不顶用，最好是有解药或者百毒不侵。

7、如果你相信你和他之间是真爱的话，那就不要担心会有路人甲乙丙什么的来干扰，真爱总会有happy ending的，尤其在故事里。

8、不要相信盛传的虚名，往往名不符实；不要相信帅哥在你面前逞强的话，很快他就会不得不把那句话吞回去。

9、女生可以娇气，但不能不勇敢，累赘谁都会厌倦。

10、生活确实不公平，但童话总是恶有恶报，善得善终的。

11、奇迹确实存在，但有时候它发生得并不那么神奇，所以你都没意识到那是奇迹。

古典，这是我想象中的古典。
为了骑士风度，为尊重对手而给敌人帮助的剑士；边打斗边对自己的过往战绩喋喋不休的巨人；对爱情绝对忠贞但是在涉及危险场面时绝对退居二线的娇弱女主；还有关键时刻总是能够挺身而出，说出那句“AS YOU WISH”的海盗帅哥。简直是古典地不能再古典了。
我承认作为一个没什么深度的人，一开始的时候我就被男主角的蓝眼睛迷住了，当他渐渐走近女主，说出那句“AS YOU WISH”的时候，用句恶俗的话，我觉得他的眼睛真是蓝的像海哭了。
整部片都有一种浑然天成的喜感，不做作，透着一股天真的稚拙。于是你虽然知道这部片是如此的超现实，虽然这部片的许多布景是如此的不靠谱，坏人和好人都是如此的没智商，你还是会原谅它。
片子的主体架构是慈祥的爷爷给病中的孙子朗读的一本童话书，而谁会去向一本孩子的童话书较真呢。当每次童话的走向显得不尽如人意的时候，孙子都会提出抗议，然后故事果然就会向他希望的那个方向去发展。爷爷赞扬孩子是聪明的，可是我们都知道，更多的可能是没有这样的大团圆，没有坏人的罪有应得，没有好人的夙愿得偿，没有在关键时刻如同奥特曼红灯亮起时一样打了鸡血的效果。可是没有人愿意说出来。
这是我们的古典情结，这是我们的童话情结。一切安好，一切顺利，一切完美如画。