I think I see what you mean, Christopher. Like when Kermit and Piggy were out walking in Paris, I almost expected him to yell and argue at her out of frustration and then walk away in a huff. Instead he just seemed to take the abuse, which isn't out of character given their history, but at the same time it wasn't just about them getting back together as a couple, but getting back the gang as a whole, and he needed her to realize that.
It's true that Kermit & Piggy's relationship has historically been fiery, with a lot of yelling on both sides. But the Kermit-Piggy scenes in this movie actually worked pretty well for me. I agree that it was informed by their (implied) history as a couple, and there was some good character writing there. It made sense in that context that Kermit would be more apologetic and subdued.
There's also the scene when they're all together outside. I could see his frustration and reluctance and his friends trying to get him out of that funk. As a leader though, he didn't know what to do. I expected him to yell out of frustration there too, but in the context of the movie, I think it was to show that leaders don't all have the answers.
Sure, and that would've worked great up to a point, but I just think they took it too far. Showing doubt and frustration would've been one thing, but his
immediate response to every single setback was complete despair and surrender, and that was just taking it too far. It should've been more of an arc -- maybe at first he takes the setbacks in stride and tries to keep everyone's spirits up, but then as things get worse and worse, he has to struggle more to find any hope, and that's when he needs his friends to do for him what he's always done for them. That's my problem -- that his character progression through the movie was more a flat line than an arc.
Yeah, I don't think Kermit's behavior was at all out of character; his character had simply changed. It had been a long, long time since he had played the role of leader, and I think he was suffering from some abandonment issues with Piggy and the rest of the Muppet crew. That's why he needed Walter; Kermit just didn't have it in him to lead the Muppets like he used to.
Yes, obviously that's the way the writers chose to portray Kermit. I don't need that explained to me. What I'm saying is that I don't
like that portrayal. It's sad for me as a lifelong fan of Kermit, as someone who's always seen him as an inspirational figure. I don't want to see my heroes so completely broken and marginalized. Particularly in something like this where the whole goal is to return them to their former glory.
I've felt for a long time that Kermit was getting increasingly marginalized in post-Henson Muppet productions. The emphasis in the movies and specials over the past couple of decades has been shifting increasingly away from the core of Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy and more toward the favorite characters of the current lead Muppet performers -- Gonzo (Dave Goelz), Rizzo (Steve Whitmire), and that irritating prawn Pepe (Bill Barretta). It's like if the later
Star Trek movies had become the adventures of Scotty, Chekov, and Saavik, with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy sort of hanging around in the background. This movie was the big chance for the core threesome to return to center stage, and while it handled Fozzie and Piggy pretty well, it diminished Kermit too much. And that made me sad.
