My version of this is looking at all the ladies in their finery, and asking “where are your shifts? You’re going to sweat all over your unwashable silks!”
November 13, 2025 at 12:46 PM
My version of this is looking at all the ladies in their finery, and asking “where are your shifts? You’re going to sweat all over your unwashable silks!”
It’s a shame…I was really rooting for del Toro - I was sure he’d GET it - but it felt like all the attention went to the visuals and not nearly enough to the story.
Wouldn’t it be sad if no one was nice to poor innocent Jacob Elordi isn’t much of a plot.
Wouldn’t it be sad if no one was nice to poor innocent Jacob Elordi isn’t much of a plot.
November 9, 2025 at 6:24 PM
It’s a shame…I was really rooting for del Toro - I was sure he’d GET it - but it felt like all the attention went to the visuals and not nearly enough to the story.
Wouldn’t it be sad if no one was nice to poor innocent Jacob Elordi isn’t much of a plot.
Wouldn’t it be sad if no one was nice to poor innocent Jacob Elordi isn’t much of a plot.
(Never underestimate my ability to bring all conversations back to Dracula)
It bugs me, because with both I would love to see a version that was genuinely faithful to the original texts, and it really hasn’t been done.
(Admittedly, my instinct would be to jettison all the monster creation stuff)
It bugs me, because with both I would love to see a version that was genuinely faithful to the original texts, and it really hasn’t been done.
(Admittedly, my instinct would be to jettison all the monster creation stuff)
November 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
(Never underestimate my ability to bring all conversations back to Dracula)
It bugs me, because with both I would love to see a version that was genuinely faithful to the original texts, and it really hasn’t been done.
(Admittedly, my instinct would be to jettison all the monster creation stuff)
It bugs me, because with both I would love to see a version that was genuinely faithful to the original texts, and it really hasn’t been done.
(Admittedly, my instinct would be to jettison all the monster creation stuff)
I think Dracula and Frankenstein particularly suffer from this, though I don’t know why.
They’ve both been adapted approximately a gazillion times, but every adaptation I am aware of* diverges wildly from the source material.
(*which is likely only a fraction of the total).
They’ve both been adapted approximately a gazillion times, but every adaptation I am aware of* diverges wildly from the source material.
(*which is likely only a fraction of the total).
November 9, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I think Dracula and Frankenstein particularly suffer from this, though I don’t know why.
They’ve both been adapted approximately a gazillion times, but every adaptation I am aware of* diverges wildly from the source material.
(*which is likely only a fraction of the total).
They’ve both been adapted approximately a gazillion times, but every adaptation I am aware of* diverges wildly from the source material.
(*which is likely only a fraction of the total).
Of course the AIs producing the text for hand-written reproduction will then start inserting intentional errors to beat the rules, and what the next step in the arms race is at that point, I don’t know.
November 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Of course the AIs producing the text for hand-written reproduction will then start inserting intentional errors to beat the rules, and what the next step in the arms race is at that point, I don’t know.
The era of ‘handwritten submissions only’ with secret tests* is inching closer.
*like Flann O’Brien’s book-handling service - must have four words misspelt, one sentence that lasts a whole paragraph, and a too-long-word crammed into a too small space. Judgement of veracity made by AI, of course.
*like Flann O’Brien’s book-handling service - must have four words misspelt, one sentence that lasts a whole paragraph, and a too-long-word crammed into a too small space. Judgement of veracity made by AI, of course.
November 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The era of ‘handwritten submissions only’ with secret tests* is inching closer.
*like Flann O’Brien’s book-handling service - must have four words misspelt, one sentence that lasts a whole paragraph, and a too-long-word crammed into a too small space. Judgement of veracity made by AI, of course.
*like Flann O’Brien’s book-handling service - must have four words misspelt, one sentence that lasts a whole paragraph, and a too-long-word crammed into a too small space. Judgement of veracity made by AI, of course.
more in line with the themes of the book - all the “seeking out Nature’s secret places” and the whole shameful, maybe sexual, secret VF makes of the whole thing.
The sexual imagery of the book is so intensely female, I’ve never got why adapters don’t work with that more.
The sexual imagery of the book is so intensely female, I’ve never got why adapters don’t work with that more.
November 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
more in line with the themes of the book - all the “seeking out Nature’s secret places” and the whole shameful, maybe sexual, secret VF makes of the whole thing.
The sexual imagery of the book is so intensely female, I’ve never got why adapters don’t work with that more.
The sexual imagery of the book is so intensely female, I’ve never got why adapters don’t work with that more.
See, in theory, I would agree - but the dead Mommy/Daddy motive is done so frequently, that unless you do something really creative with it, it winds up feeling trite, which I think it did in this adaptation.
Whereas ‘seeking to appropriate women’s fertility’ is at least new, and - I’d argue -
Whereas ‘seeking to appropriate women’s fertility’ is at least new, and - I’d argue -
November 9, 2025 at 5:22 PM
See, in theory, I would agree - but the dead Mommy/Daddy motive is done so frequently, that unless you do something really creative with it, it winds up feeling trite, which I think it did in this adaptation.
Whereas ‘seeking to appropriate women’s fertility’ is at least new, and - I’d argue -
Whereas ‘seeking to appropriate women’s fertility’ is at least new, and - I’d argue -
And if I remember rightly, you do have to pretty much invent a motivation for him, because the novel’s explanation is pretty damn thin.
November 9, 2025 at 3:49 PM
And if I remember rightly, you do have to pretty much invent a motivation for him, because the novel’s explanation is pretty damn thin.
I find it telling that so many adaptations attribute Viktor’s desire to create life to trauma from his mother’s death (paging Dr Freud), and never wonder at reproduction.
Imagine a Frankenstein who holds a newborn baby for the first time, and realises he wants to do what women can do?
Imagine a Frankenstein who holds a newborn baby for the first time, and realises he wants to do what women can do?
November 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
I find it telling that so many adaptations attribute Viktor’s desire to create life to trauma from his mother’s death (paging Dr Freud), and never wonder at reproduction.
Imagine a Frankenstein who holds a newborn baby for the first time, and realises he wants to do what women can do?
Imagine a Frankenstein who holds a newborn baby for the first time, and realises he wants to do what women can do?
Has there ever been an adaptation of Frankenstein by a woman?
It has always struck me as an intensely gynaecological* story, but I’ve never seen an adaptation that really played into that.
*Victor has post partum depression and is unable to bond with his offspring, etc etc.
It has always struck me as an intensely gynaecological* story, but I’ve never seen an adaptation that really played into that.
*Victor has post partum depression and is unable to bond with his offspring, etc etc.
November 9, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Has there ever been an adaptation of Frankenstein by a woman?
It has always struck me as an intensely gynaecological* story, but I’ve never seen an adaptation that really played into that.
*Victor has post partum depression and is unable to bond with his offspring, etc etc.
It has always struck me as an intensely gynaecological* story, but I’ve never seen an adaptation that really played into that.
*Victor has post partum depression and is unable to bond with his offspring, etc etc.
I also think this version of the monster is terribly boring - not a criticism of Elordi’s performance (though the prosthetics got in his way a bit), but a Monster stripped of the child-killing and innocent woman framing means the story loses basically all its moral complexity.
November 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I also think this version of the monster is terribly boring - not a criticism of Elordi’s performance (though the prosthetics got in his way a bit), but a Monster stripped of the child-killing and innocent woman framing means the story loses basically all its moral complexity.
Remembered as the more successful Prime Minister of that turbulent time in French history.
October 31, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Remembered as the more successful Prime Minister of that turbulent time in French history.
As an adult I have come to accept that for all it is a ‘political’ show the West Wing is totally uninterested in how or if political change happens.
If you view it as Star Trek: the White House it becomes much more satisfying.
If you view it as Star Trek: the White House it becomes much more satisfying.
October 30, 2025 at 7:24 PM
As an adult I have come to accept that for all it is a ‘political’ show the West Wing is totally uninterested in how or if political change happens.
If you view it as Star Trek: the White House it becomes much more satisfying.
If you view it as Star Trek: the White House it becomes much more satisfying.
When I was a kid, bonfires were part of Halloween in Ireland as well (and may still be so). And fireworks were and still are ubiquitous.
Though no one uses turnips for Jack o’Lanterns any more (probably since you need a chisel to do it).
I miss Halloween living in London - and I miss brack!
Though no one uses turnips for Jack o’Lanterns any more (probably since you need a chisel to do it).
I miss Halloween living in London - and I miss brack!
October 29, 2025 at 1:10 PM
When I was a kid, bonfires were part of Halloween in Ireland as well (and may still be so). And fireworks were and still are ubiquitous.
Though no one uses turnips for Jack o’Lanterns any more (probably since you need a chisel to do it).
I miss Halloween living in London - and I miss brack!
Though no one uses turnips for Jack o’Lanterns any more (probably since you need a chisel to do it).
I miss Halloween living in London - and I miss brack!
It felt very odd to depict Roman’s Fritz Van Papen cosplay, and then elide any of what would follow from that.
Game of Thrones fell prey to this towards the end, where the world sort of bent to suit certain characters no matter what they did.
At least in Succession there was thematic point to it.
Game of Thrones fell prey to this towards the end, where the world sort of bent to suit certain characters no matter what they did.
At least in Succession there was thematic point to it.
October 24, 2025 at 9:53 AM
It felt very odd to depict Roman’s Fritz Van Papen cosplay, and then elide any of what would follow from that.
Game of Thrones fell prey to this towards the end, where the world sort of bent to suit certain characters no matter what they did.
At least in Succession there was thematic point to it.
Game of Thrones fell prey to this towards the end, where the world sort of bent to suit certain characters no matter what they did.
At least in Succession there was thematic point to it.
I think it’s not even so much the writers liking the characters, as not losing sight of the consequences of their actions. As in, Succession raised the spectre of some extremely dark and dangerous forces unleashed by the Roys, and then ducked away into the emotional fallout of Logan’s death.
October 24, 2025 at 9:50 AM
I think it’s not even so much the writers liking the characters, as not losing sight of the consequences of their actions. As in, Succession raised the spectre of some extremely dark and dangerous forces unleashed by the Roys, and then ducked away into the emotional fallout of Logan’s death.
Yeah, I think if Veep had acknowledged what they’d depicted, it wouldn’t have bothered me so much. It was presenting it as rollicking absurd, and the man involved as every woman’s fantasy boyfriend, that I really objected to.
And I really couldn’t understand all the softboi Roman takes by the end!
And I really couldn’t understand all the softboi Roman takes by the end!
October 24, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Yeah, I think if Veep had acknowledged what they’d depicted, it wouldn’t have bothered me so much. It was presenting it as rollicking absurd, and the man involved as every woman’s fantasy boyfriend, that I really objected to.
And I really couldn’t understand all the softboi Roman takes by the end!
And I really couldn’t understand all the softboi Roman takes by the end!
To give a different example, Veep lost me in the final season when it showed what to me seemed an obvious case of a woman being bullied into having an abortion. It tipped a previously entertaining dynamic into one I found actively repulsive - but I know a lot of people viewing saw it differently.
October 24, 2025 at 9:36 AM
To give a different example, Veep lost me in the final season when it showed what to me seemed an obvious case of a woman being bullied into having an abortion. It tipped a previously entertaining dynamic into one I found actively repulsive - but I know a lot of people viewing saw it differently.
It’s hard to nail down, is the thing, and it probably varies for each person when exactly it happens - for instance, in Mad Men, I don’t think anyone except Joan’s awful husband in crossed it (though Duck, Roger and Pete all come pretty close), but another person might view that differently.
October 24, 2025 at 9:23 AM
It’s hard to nail down, is the thing, and it probably varies for each person when exactly it happens - for instance, in Mad Men, I don’t think anyone except Joan’s awful husband in crossed it (though Duck, Roger and Pete all come pretty close), but another person might view that differently.
(Jumping in) There’s a red line which a “not good but very entertaining” character can cross, where they stop being entertaining and enter “get the fuck off my screen” territory.
It varies for the world, but in Succession I lost all interest or care for Roman when the fascist apologetics started.
It varies for the world, but in Succession I lost all interest or care for Roman when the fascist apologetics started.
October 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
(Jumping in) There’s a red line which a “not good but very entertaining” character can cross, where they stop being entertaining and enter “get the fuck off my screen” territory.
It varies for the world, but in Succession I lost all interest or care for Roman when the fascist apologetics started.
It varies for the world, but in Succession I lost all interest or care for Roman when the fascist apologetics started.