Monday, February 22, 2016

Quirky Monday: Austen Rant

Ok, soapbox time.

I recently saw Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with a friend. AND I LOVED IT. You know what the best part was? It made several things blatantly obvious that are hidden beneath the layers of the original. Not the least of which is:

Elizabeth Bennet is a conceited prig.

There, I said it, and I’m not taking it back.

Why? Well, first of all, because it’s the truth. Having been a fan of Austen from the time I was—eight(I KNOW!!!!); I have had/overheard countless conversations with friends/peers about her books. Chief among the subjects is something like this—“Mr. Darcy is a selfish arrogant snob that doesn’t deserve Elizabeth, blah, blah, blah.” But never never is Elizabeth faulted. Everything is laid at Darcy’s door, and some of those peers—who, understandably, have little understanding of Austen’s culture—deem him the villain of the piece. He isn’t. Not by a long shot.

Elizabeth is.

Here’s why: the class system of Austen’s world meant that those who were raised in the upper echelon of society were taught a form of etiquette where one of the rules was this: you do not speak to anyone who has not been introduced. Now, call me quirky, but if I had been raised by those rules my entire life, I’d have trouble “conversing with those of which I have no acquaintance”.  It isn’t snobbery; it isn’t anti-social behavior; it’s etiquette.


Additionally, if I was raised in a middle-class family with a scheming, rather embarrassing mother and a father who wanted to be left alone(and didn’t care a jot for society); and four sisters that were—well, they all had a fault of some kind—I would  certainly want to hide my hurt with something we all hold a little too dear at times. That something is called Pride. And when our pride is damaged, when tend to do and say stupid things, sometimes with the best of intentions.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that those of us with faults tend to tar others with the same brush. People familiar with both the book and the film will remember Elizabeth’s words to Darcy when he first proposes to her: “Your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain convinced me that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry!”

She calls him arrogant, conceited, disdainful. Anybody wonder if she picks those out because sub-consciously she has those faults herself? That’s called prejudice.; and it’s something Elizabeth developed long before that jackass Wickham came into her life. 
And ok, if someone I was attracted to(yes, she was attracted to him!!! it’s in the book)said I was “not handsome enough to tempt [him]”; and I was already aware that my fortune and family wouldn’t exactly get me the best match, I’d be ticked off too.

Pride and Prejudice doesn’t just get its name from the faults of one of it’s characters; the title comes from the faults of two. Both act—in part—according to how they were raised; and both have to overcome the faults in their upbringing to get their happily ever after.

The end.

Descending soapbox.

This post was brought to you in part by “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”, now playing in theatres and one of the few adaptions where the screenwriter gets both Elizabeth and Darcy right.


Friday, February 12, 2016

Name of the Game: What's in a Genre?

“I admire those authors whose plots are charted from the first chapter, and whose characters do just what they tell them to. My characters know who is boss. Them.  I just watch, chronicle, and occasionally go back and rewrite after they’ve made a hash of my carefully laid plot plans.”  Lauren Willig

“Honesty is definitely the best policy when there is no danger of being taken seriously.” Lauren Willig

Really, there is nothing like one of my favorite authors to clunk me over the head with facts like that.
Thanks Lauren.

So this is me being honest. Again.

I hate writing fantasy with "magic-based" magic systems. And yes, part of it is pure laziness on my part because I hate coming up with rules and I hate outlining and developing magic-based magic systems has a lot to do with outlining and rules(kill me).

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against magical fantasy when done well, but let's face it, there are only a few authors who can do it right. The rest use seem to use magic as a cop out("hey, there's magic in my story, so it's fantasy"--BLEH!!!).

Looking back, the second reason for my not wanting to write "magic-based" magic systems in fantasy might have to do with some of my favorite fairy tales.

First Case in Point: Maid Maleen by the Brother’s Grimm

This is a fairy tale very few people know about, unless you’ve read Shannon Hale’s adaption, Book of A Thousand Days. Briefly, it’s the story of a maid named Maleen, who is also a princess. She refuses to marry the man of her father’s choosing, and so the king locks her and her servants up in a tower for seven years. When the food runs out after seven years, the princess and her entourage escape and run to the kingdom of Maleen’s love. The prince has been betrothed to another princess, who—on the night of their wedding—become so terrified that she sends Maleen in her place. After the marriage, the prince’s actual betrothed sends as an assassin to kill Maleen and the prince follows.  In true fairy tale fashion, he shows up in time to save her and they live happily ever after.

Magic? No.

One of my favorite fantasy stories? Yes.

Second Case in Point: Tathea by Anne Perry

Disclaimer: This book and it’s sequel are like fifteen thousand pages long and took me five tries to actually get through them.

However, it’s a brilliant piece of work. Written in multiple POV the story is initially hard to follow, but the basic plot concerns an exiled Queen, Tathea, and her search for the meaning of life.—complete with references to Judeo-Christian mythology and teachings(several of which made this little LDS[Mormon] girl very very happy!). Once again, there is no magic, there are no elves, dwarves, or regular staples of fantasy; yet it is still a fantasy.

Third Case in Point: The Knight’s Tale I and II  by Chaucer
I love the Canterbury Tales—even the dirty ones. They are delightful ways to while away time when all you want is a piece of lit fluff. The two Knight’s Tales are my particular favorites. One everyone already knows thanks to the Health Ledger movie. You know, the one about the peasant squire who masquerades as a noble knight and it turns out he is one?

The other Knight’s Tale isn’t one that many people—short of British History/English Lit majors—are familiar with.  It’s set in the time of King Theseus and concerns two childhood friends—Palamon and Arcite—who are knights and fall in love with the same woman, the king’s sister Emeyle. The king declares that they joust for the right to marry his sister and in the end Arcite dies and Palamon marries Emeyle at Arcite’s command. Which turns this little romantic into goo.

The original genre definition of a fantasy work deals with folklore and mythology. Fantasy doesn’t have to be about wands, wizards, elves, dragons and the like. Not everything has to be LOTR or Harry Potter to be great fantasy. Heck, not everything has to be Robert Jordan or George RR Martin or Brandon Sanderson either.

Which is awesome for someone like me.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Quirky Monday: Week of Mush

You know how I theme read? I also theme watch. And since it's Valentine's week, here's a little Valentine quirk for you: 

I watch chick flicks and period films the whole month of February.

I'm one of those types who plunks down in front of the screen ready to squeal at period romance and mourn over the fact that so few people behave like this anymore(that's for a later post)

So for you reading pleasure, below is a list of the films I indulge in this month--with a new one recently added, because Sean Bean in frock coat. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
 Follows the coming of age of a young governess, Jane Eyre, and her love for her master, the enigmatic Mr. Edward Rochester. Read so many times both covers are torn off, pages are dog-eared, and binding held together with—wait for it—packing tape.
Originally published: October 1847
Adapted for Film/Television:   adapted thirty-four times between 1910 and 2011
Adapted for the Stage/Radio: Adapted 22 times between and 2013 including radio adaptions, and web series
Most Famous Adaptions:
Film: Starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontain; 2011 Starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska
Stage: Adaption by John Caird and Paul Gordon, starring Marla Scheffel  and James Stacy Barbour
Television: 1983 BBC starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton; A&E 1997 starring Samatha Morton and Ciaran Hinds; Masterpiece Classic 2006 starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson(personal favorite)
Radio: Campbell Playhouse 1944 starring Orson Welles and Loretta Young; BBC 1994 starring Ciaran Hinds

**NEW**Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
Note: Hardest classic I’ve ever read. I have developed an intense dislike of epistolary novels.  Follows the lovely Clarissa Harlowe, and her seducer Robert Lovelace.  Also has the ability to makes me cry quarts--at the villain’s demise of all things
Originally Published: 1748
Adapted for Film/Television: Once in 1991
Adapted for Stage/Radio: Once in 2010
Most Famous Adaptions:
1991 BBC Starring Sean Bean as Lovelace(and that, ladies and gents makes 102 on my stupid list!!!!)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The lives and loves of the Bennett sisters, particularly Jane and Elizabeth, the latter of whom catches the eye of the proud and misunderstood(yes, I said misunderstood)Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. I could go on a whole spiel about why Darcy is so misunderstood—but that’s another can of worms altogether.
Originally Published:
Adapted for Film/Television: Eleven times between 1938 and 2005
Adapted for Stage/Radio: Nine times between 1935 and 2014(I happen to know the playwright of the 2014 adaption)
Most Famous Adaptions:
1940 Starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier(and containing the BEST Lady Catherine/Elizabeth showdown ever “I like her. She loves you Darcy; she’s the one for you.”  Eeek! Why was that not in the book?!
1995 A&E/BBC Starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth(with that LAKE SCENE!!!! why was THAT not in the book?!)
“Furst Impressions” Wishbone episode starring the darling Jack Russel Terrier as Mr. Darcy(if you haven’t seen it, Youtube it—SO CUTE!!!)
2005 Starring Kiera Knightly and Matthew Macfacdyen (Confession: I am not a Kiera Knightly fan, but this movie was one of her good ones—and the little thing with casting Collins as a shrimp—loved it!!!)
2014 by Melissa Lelani Larson. Premiered at BYU in Utah for the 50th anniversary of the Fine Arts Building

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Follows the story of the dashing masked hero, Sir Percy Blakney and his wife Marguerite St. Just, as they rescue French aristocrats and foil the plans of the slimy Chauvelin.  Read the first book in four hours—lost sleep due to how good it is. Sequels? Not so much.
Originally Published: 1905
Adapted for Film/Television: Eighteen times between 1918 and 2006
Adapted for Stage/Radio: Adapted three times between1950 and 1997
Most Famous Adaptions:
1934 Starring Leslie Howard(playing the fop to the hilt!!!)
1982 Masterpiece starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Ian McKellan(SO dashing as brunette, and fabulous foil for Anthony Andrews!)
1997 Broadway Musical by Frank Wilderhorn and Nan Knighton originally starring Douglass Sills, Christine Andreas and Terrence Mann
1999; 2000 A&E Adaption starring Richard E Grant, Elizabeth McGovern and Martin Shaw(some fans hate this—I happen to LOVE it. All of them! It’s called poetic license people. Deal!)

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
The most famous of the Gaskell novels, follows the somewhat snobbish Margaret Hale as she moves from the south of England to the North, where she also catches the eye of mill owner John Thornton.
Originally Published: 1855
Adapted for Film/Television: Twice; 1975 and 2004
Most Famous Adaptions:
2010 BBC Starring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Note:  my personal favorite Austen
Fanny Price is sent to live with her rich relatives at Mansfeild Park, where she observes that just because you’re rich, it doesn’t make you happy. She also falls in love with her cousin, Edmund.
Originally Published: 1814
Adapted for Film/Television: five times between 1983 and 2014
Adapted for Stage/Radio: three times between 2003 and 2014
Most Famous Adaptions:
1999 by Patricia Rozema starring Francis O’Connor and Johnny Lee Miller
2003 BBC Radio starring , Felicity Jones,  Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant(and Benedict and David make stunning brothers!!)

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
Originally Published: serialized 1866
Adapted for Film/Television: twice in 1971 and 1999
Most Famous Adaptions:
1999 BBC starring Keeley  Hawes, Justine Waddell, Tom Hollander and Anthony Howell(I personally don’t find one of the leading men all that stereotypically attractive, but hey, to each her own. His voice makes me squeal.)

Friday, February 5, 2016

Quirky Tidbit Name of the Game: Bean, Sean Bean

So. It has clearly been a busy week, which means that this will be a mishmash of Quirky/Tidbit/Name of the Game. Thank you adulting. Fortunately, all three of these things coincide.

I've already mentioned that I do these weird celebrity obsessions right? This one has to do with my current projects. And it's weird, because not only is this someone I've had a secret crush on for a while, but I've never really talked about. Out loud. Fortunately, this is someone everybody knows(thank you pop culture). He started as Lovelace and Sharpe; he's done James Bond(as a villain); he's acted with Nic Cage(and was fabulous); current pop culture knows him as Boromir and Ned Stark. Know who he is yet?

Yes. It's Sean Bean. And yes, I fell in love with him when I saw Lord of the Rings. I saw him in National Treasure and he won me over even as a villain. Thanks to my job, I have access to all his earlier work, namely the Sharpe mini-series and the BBC adaption of Clarissa. So I've been doing a bit of a binge on all things Sean Bean that I can possibly get my hands on--and I feel no shame about such.

 The result is this week's "Tidbit Tuesday" section: that he  is currently dancing around in my head as a celebrity model for not one, but two of my characters. And here's why. See this photo above is Sean Bean as of last year. The photo below is when he was younger, specifically as Richard Sharpe:
And yes, all right, there isn't much difference between the two(the photos are fifteen years apart). But these are the faces I get when I think of these two characters--one the villain, and one the hero. I love his accent--both his natural and those he assumes for his roles; I love the way he moves, whether he's flirting/seducing a woman, or shooting things, or swinging his sword around. I haven't seen every episode of Game of Thrones but I have read the first book; and I follow enough of it on Social Media that I was upset by the death of his character(I watched Ned Stark's death on Youtube multiple times--some of the saddest fifty-three seconds of my life:) 


Needless to say, once this project is over, his face will stay in my head. And yes, he is one of the celebrities on my Collaboration Bucket List.