Of Swords and Parasols

…

I see what you did there re: Uther-Ygraine-Merlin-Morgan-Uther.

I’ll let you know what I think of it after we see how it plays out.

So, basically, this episode was about how Claire Forlani is hot and a fabulous actress, and how the show should be about Morgan and Ygraine.

( spoilers )

Wow, some of this was actually almost good. Though, if they kill Ygraine at the end of the season (which I suspect they’re leading up to) I’m probably gone. While Morgan is unsurprisingly my favorite, I’m judging the show more harshly when it comes to Ygraine, and having her still be around for the main story and not just disappearing after giving birth and having her child(ren, given that a lot of versions have Morgan and Morguase being sent away with Merlin urging Uther to kill Morgan because she'll be trouble) stolen is pretty much my main incentive to watch.

Also, Gawaine, Kay and Leontes can stay, but please, feel free to get rid of the rest of the men. Actually, I'd prefer it if you would.

( Spoilers are long winded. Like an English major. )

Dear Writers,

You seem to be implying at least a bit of an eventual Ygraine/Merlin. I admit, in certain circumstances, I could be intrigued by this, with a Merlin I hated less. Though, I would have certain requirements for that. Requirements like, say, Merlin NOT being complicit in her rape, Merlin NOT be partly responsible for her first husband’s death, Merlin NOT helping to place her completely under the power of a wife killer who controls by fear and oppression, and, oh yeah, Merlin NOT stealing her newborn child and not letting her know if it was alive or dead for twenty years.

Absolutely no love on this front,

Me

Meanwhile, I understand that fandom likes to talk about Ygraine being a horrible mother who abandoned her child. I guess they slept through the scene where Merlin literally ripped Arthur out of her arms and Uther restrained her while she begged Merlin to give her child back. Also, I’m not really going to argue with people about Ygraine having qualities that get called “doormattish,” because she does (though I will say that in episodes three and four, when she’s actually been free of Uther for more than a few days, she’s much livelier and more assertive) but hey, if you spent the last twenty years completely under the power of a man who forced you to marry him after killing your husband and using his face to get you to have sex with him, not to mention that she pretty much confirmed in ep 4 that this is one of those versions where Uther is so obsessed with possessing her that he literally wages war to get her, well, I’m pretty sure you’d adopt utter passivity if you thought (pretty darn reasonably) that it was your only way to survive.

I’m actually not really sure how much I actually like this Ygraine, but all the Arthuriana I’ve been watching has made me very invested in her in general, and while I have issues all over the place with this show, including what they’re doing with her, this is dealing with the aspects of Ygraine’s story that I want to see explored.

So, basically, I’m watching for Morgan, Ygraine and Vivian. I like Kay and Leontes, but they spend a lot of time going on about how awesome Arthur is. I like Guenevere and want to be invested in her, but so far they’ve literally given her absolutely nothing to do except be torn between Arthur and Leontes. Also, I am totally mystified as to why we’re supposed to think Guenevere can’t help falling for Arthur when she already has the far superior in every possible way (including looks, and Philip Winchester isn’t my thing at all) Leontes. Even without that, none of their interactions justify anything resembling the epic connection the show wants us to buy into. Also, Arthur apparently studied at the Damon Salvatore School Of Wooing. You know, the one that says the way to a girl’s heart is to try to bully her into loving you and keep telling her she does and ignore her when she keeps telling you to knock it off.

Uhm…I’m only ranting outside the cut, aren’t I? Sigh.

I will say that it’s interesting how the show is largely following pre-Mallory/de Troyes myth (with bits of those thrown in) and then just throwing in random twists? Some of which I like, and some of which I don’t. (Like making Ygraine not be Morgan’s mother. On the one hand, I think they did that so they can have a focus on Ygraine and her past/freedom without having her torn between two children, while keeping Morgan’s motivation centered around her mother’s ill use and the death of a parent, but at the same time, it basically turns the main conflict into the two white guys we’re supposed to root for trying to screw a woman out of her birthright.) Also, this is one of the few things to actually remember that Excalibur isn’t the sword in the stone. And there was totally a callout to White’s Once and Future King at the end of ep 3. (Morgan is smirking and petting her owl when Merlin comes up to her.)

( spoilers )

Also, speaking of shows where I have a partial Stockholm relationship with them, a coworker has started watching Vanpire Diaries. She describes Caroline as “the really pretty white girl who can’t get any” and ordered me to assure her that Caroline lives. She also thinks Bonnie is the most interesting character so far (we already share favorites) and already wonders why Damon exists. She also has a huge crush on Stefan, which kind of amuses me. (I am fond of Stefan as a character, but he doesn’t do much for me, really? But gushing about Stefan is certainly a lot easier for me to take than gushing about Damon.)

Today I watched the preview episode of Camelot that aired a few weeks back,and the pilot episode of The Borgias that leaked.

Camelot

( I think most of these spoilers have made the rounds but just in case... )
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...

Which is basically what Ursula K. LeGuin spends a long time saying here.

LeGuin isn't talking about Starbuck, actually, but about Helen Mirren playing Prospero. I...suspect most people here would have their interest amplified by this Prospero becoming Prospera, but LeGuin basically spends a long time saying it's an amazing and brilliant performance but is wrong wrong wrong because...Helen mirren is a woman.

It...rather speaks for itself if you read even the first few paragraphs, but I think what really had me headbanging was when she was using other Shakespeare charcters to explain why it was a bad idea? But she was completely missing the part where all the characters she used lived in a society with endless rules and constraints regarding gender, and in those cases to have a genderswap like this appears to be within the established story, where only the character's gender is and everything plays out the same, you'd essentially have to flip the entire society. Which is, you know, not a bad idea, but completely different from Prospero's case, where he's living alone on an island with his daughter nd magic folk, completely isolated from that society and its rules. Which, IMO, makes it the perfect framing for this kind of experiment.

Trailer for the movie:

I...am withholding Ultimate Judgement regarding Caliban until I've seen it.

Meanwhile, I understand that there's a new Arthuriana series called Camelot (But not based on the musical?) with Eva Green as Morgana? I suspect everyone but me already knew about this. I...admit casting an actress I love as my mythic girlfriend and not naming itself after a character I'm almost always disinterested in and making the queen the black servant (Three words for you, people: Princess. In. Disguise. Only acceptable excuse!) and advertising the epic manly bond makes me likely to check it out much more quickly than certain other shows. Though...is it just me, or are most of the cast except Philip Winchester more movie peoplethan TV people?