Team Eva Green and Team Joanne Whalley
Mar. 23rd, 2011 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreToday I watched the preview episode of Camelot that aired a few weeks back,and the pilot episode of The Borgias that leaked.
Camelot
So, this Arthur is introduced by us as he’s having sex with his brother’s girlfriend. And then thinking it’s funny when Kay shows up and is upset. So endearing, right? Actually, he’s just…generally annoying. Even moreso than in the previews. Also, I must question that girl’s preferences. Kay is sweeter, nicer, more loyal. Not so sure either brother is that bright. But why would you ditch Kay for a smug, cocky, whiny guy like Arthur? And I…don’t know what they were thinking when they cast this guy as Arthur, aside from “he was in Twilight, and I had hopes that he’d come across better in the previews. Well, maybe Guenevere will make Arthur a bit more tolerable. Though, when Merlin was smugly going on about how he helped Uther raped Ygraine (guess who my least favorite character is…) and Arthur actually went “WTF I’m the product of rape?” and so possibly made himself the first person I’ve encountered to actually call it what it was in canon, my tolerance level went up a bit. I’d say “maybe Guenevere will make him a bit better,” but she only showed up as Arthur’s wet dream. Which Merlin, like, spied on or something. Ick and double ick.
On the flipside, there is MORGAN, which really would deserve sparkle text even without the bonus of EVA GREEN. Thankfully, it’s more sympathetic to her, so far, than the trailers led me to believe. I’m…not big on making Ygraine not be her mother and having her hate Ygraine, but at least her motivation is still wrongs done to her mother. And her hate for Ygraine seems to be more contempt at Ygraine’s passivity than anything else. Also, she, like, keeps going around saying things that I always want people to say. And then she went and acquired James Purefoy as a boy toy.
I am…withholding judgment on Ygraine. Passive acceptance has clearly been her way of life so far (and I definitely have sympathy for her situation, because she probably really did have very few options), but I have hopes that that will be changing, and that she will reveal inner awesome, though I’m not having faith just yet.
In short and with no spoilers: I can only assume we are meant to root for Morgan, and that this version of Arthur and Merlin exists purely to encourage us to do so. Morgan is awesome, Lot is quite the nice arm decoration, Kay is adorable, Leontes has potential, I have hopes for Ygraine but not necessarily faith in the writers, and, sadly, there is no Guenevere worth speaking of yet. It’s not necessarily good (seriously) but it largely entertained me and keeps saying things I always want to be said. Also, since the official premier is supposed to be 2 hours, I assume that what aired is only the first half, especially with the abrupt ending.
The Borgias
I have less to say and no spoilers here, but I…largely uncritically enjoyed this? I know enough about the history to know the historians will understandably be sobbing and ripping hair out, but not enough to rip my own hair out. Except for Juan (who I’m not supposed to like) I enjoyed pretty much every character. I have…issues with something that happens near the end, but it made sense in context. I’m told Cesare’s actor says there is no hanky-panky between Cesare and Lucrezia. I assume that his agent told him no incest-sex, and he hadn’t read the scripts yet. Because if you take out the times he refers to Lucrezia as his sister, every line and every camera shot plays out like epic childhood-love-that’s-soon-to-be-forbidden-but-is-still-70%-innocent.
No, really.
(I had things running in the background, so the picture glitched at times, and this was obviously one of hose times. But you get my point.)
Jeremy Irons is, of course, Jeremy Irons, and so awesome. But no one told me Joanne Whalley was in it! (As Mama Borgia, whose name I cannot spell without looking it up.) She has aged quite well! And, uhm, may be my favorite.
Also, I have to remind myself that Cantarella absolutely is not the proper thing to compare this too or or go “but in Cantarella…
Both shows either technically do or do not pass Bechdel, depending on your interpretation. Because there are, like, decorative men in the background, but they’re pretty much inconsequential to what are some of the best scenes in the respective shows. The Borgias is technically the better of the two, as such things go, but Camelot is more likely to engage me on the met narrative level.
Hmm...I am now reminded that I tracked down the 1981 BBC Borgias series a while back and haven't watched it yet...
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Date: 2011-03-24 12:50 am (UTC)(Like, inexperienced goof off? Fine with that as a starting point. Stabbing his brother in the back for giggles? Why exactly should I be sorry for him when Gwen betrays him again?)