All the talk about Sean Bean made me want to make a little picspam today. A lot of the pictures are in my previous picspam, and I say, “Yeah? What of it?”
If history has taught us anything, it’s that Sean Bean is badass. The best headline I’ve ever seen just hit: Sean Bean Actually Stabbed, Remains Awesome. Ha! Who else would take a shard of glass to the arm in a bar fight, refuse medical treatment, and then calmly order another drink at the bar? :love: it.
In related musings, I have to admit that I was never a huge fan of Robb Stark until, well, let’s just say Book Three. The latest Game of Thrones episode, “Baelor”, really did a great job of showing the essence of the character, though. In one swift scene, I was able to “get” what I had missed when I read the books. Although I remain a Jon fan, I can certainly appreciate Robb more than ever before, and it’s things like this that make the production of the show truly fantastic. I’m looking forward to the final episode of the first season, but I’ll be anxiously awaiting the return of some of my favorite characters.
When the gods of Fandom are smiling upon us, lovely things happen. In A Song of Ice and Fire, we are hard pressed to find a character whose motives and decency are rarely questioned. It’s not difficult to have great affection for the few we can find, and probably none more so than Jon Snow. The casting of the role must have been a difficult chore, but HBO’s Game of Thrones got it right. Very right.
Rarely has the film/television casting of a role been so convincing as to actually increase the admiration of a much-beloved book character. Kit Harington, a newcomer, gives the character the perfect balance of skill, modesty, and longing. Obviously, the ages of most characters in the television adaptation have been bumped up a bit, but this portrayal of Jon Snow captures his sadness at being shunned by society, and even more hurtfully by his step-mother, in a believable way. Whether he is a teen or a young man, those hurts still penetrate, and in his eyes, you feel his isolation. With the big events that will arise in the series, I can only say, “THANK YOU!” to HBO so many times for the excellent casting job they pulled off, particularly with Ned, Jon, Arya, Jaime, and Tyrion.
I’m now starting to feel that the new Doctor Who series has disturbing parallels to the Alfonso Cuarón era of the Harry Potter movies.
When Cuarón helmed the third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, fans rejoiced. Most fans rejoiced. I did not. The tone of the entire series darkened, most strikingly, visually. Figurative darkening was a necessity, as the source material was becoming more dangerous and entangled, but visually, the movie felt as if it had been shot through fog and the world seemed dim as a result. The sets showed the darkness, too. Everything began to look dilapidated and uninviting, even Hogwarts, which had seemed magical and bright in the previous films. This hazy, dark look continued throughout the films and was the primary reason I stopped watching them.
Steven Moffat, similarly genius in his storytelling, appears to be doing the same to Doctor Who. His Series 3 episode “Blink” is universally considered one of the best episodes of the modern era. As a standalone ep, I agree, it’s striking in its difference. As the tone of a series, it’s depressing and dull. I allowed the thought that Series 5 was a bit less colorful because of the transition to our Eleventh Doctor. I, like all of fandom, was feeling him out along with the new sassy companion. I was pleased. As this season began, we were hit with too many cliches and teases in the first two episodes. Following the convoluted story of the opener, we were treated with two dark, dank episodes that did little to harken back to the glory days of FUN Doctor Who, and I fear we will not return.
My fear is that I am alone in my distaste for the new style. I was completely isolated in the HP fandom as someone who preferred that a children’s story (and regardless of what is said, Harry Potter is a children’s story) remain a bit fantastic and bright. The response to last night’s cheerless episode “The Doctor’s Wife” written by Neil Gaiman has been exceedingly positive. Having several scenes of suffering and misery seems to appease fandom, and on that count we differ. I accept and appreciate darkness in the right fandom (BSG, GoT) but this is still, at heart, a show for younger fans with a fifty year tradition that should be respected.