(no subject)

[emerald_skies]

So, I've been trying to watch the T.V. version of Dresden Files and...it hasn't been going well. Normally I'm inclined to cut visual adaptations of books a little slack (sometimes you have to trim things for time or because they clutter up the story), but this? This series has virtually nothing in common with the books. NOTHING. It's like that thing I've heard people complain about in fandoms over the years where everything is so OOC that it's obvious the author just pasted canon names onto original fiction.

At first I was like


But then I


Meanwhile, Le Boyfriend has been like this the whole time

Subtitles: Oh my God, I'm dating a gigantic nerd


Ugh. Save me, internets, I think I might be turning into one of those obsessive neurotic types who hates everything adaptations get wrong. In the mean time, I'll be over here in the corner trying to write and trying not to have an aneurysm as this abomination of a T.V. series continues to butcher (HA!) one of my favorite book series of all time.

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"Take away love and our earth is a tomb..." -- Robert Browning

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Cheers.

P.S. - Oh, this came from SyFy.....I should have known.

P.P.S. - If any of you have secret purist tendencies like this, feel free to rant with me! Misery loves company, after all.

Comments

might be a little TL:DR- what can I say, I have a lot of feeling about the subject apparently

[ladyseraph-756.livejournal.com]

I think if there's nothing in the adaptation that at least matches the story then yeah as a fan you have every right to be annoyed. I think this is partly why TB started to bug me, because after season 1 I read most of the books and it just confused things so much now both mediums irritate me. It's also why I'm really dreading the Outlander adaptation even though I would like to see Jamie Claire and the rest of the characters onscreen.
There is a definite feel of 'this isn't what I signed up for'. I'm not saying every adaptation has to be utterly slavish. Sometimes that just isn't practical or desirable. But it should be recognisable otherwise what's the point of watching it as a fan?
I also get really arsey when I've watched a film and read the book later and notice really bad inaccuracies, character that aren't in the source material, plot points . It throws me for a loop.
IDK, there's some books that make terrible films and vice versa. Adaption is no easy thing. I actually think it's harder then writing an original screenplay in a way.
/opinionated fangirl is rather opinionated

Re: might be a little TL:DR- what can I say, I have a lot of feeling about the subject apparently

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying every adaptation has to be utterly slavish. Sometimes that just isn't practical or desirable. But it should be recognisable otherwise what's the point of watching it as a fan?

THANK YOU, I'm so glad someone agrees with me so precisely. Some changes I can understand -- I get why they cut Tom Bombadil out of the LOTR movies, for example. On the other, details that are significant to the story can make me really angry when adaptations get them wrong -- for crying out loud, Warner Bros., you couldn't be arsed to get Harry's eye color right in ONE movie? Harry's GREEN eys come up time after time after time and yet...ugh, I'll stop myself now or else we could be here for days.

Adaption is no easy thing. I actually think it's harder then writing an original screenplay in a way.

This is actually quite true, adaptations can be something of an inexact science depending on a few variables. It's why I'm usually inclined to cut them a little slack (with some exceptions, as my above mini-rant indicates :P)

[southoffebruary.livejournal.com]

I liked The Dresden Files, but I havent read the books. I was going to, but I'm kind of scared. lol. Everyone has said how awful the series is compared to the books.

I am like you though, I HATE it when movie/tv adaptations change things so much, its why True Blood bothers me.

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

I would say that the books are quite good, but I don't know enough about your taste in books to make a sweeping statement like that. Instead, I'll say that I quite enjoyed them, and I got two out of three other members of my family to start reading them (they even stole my copies sometimes to keep reading, the reception was that good :P) For some inkling of what the books are like, the eighth episode of the series ("Storm Front", like the title of the first book) is probably the most faithful adaptation -- it follows the first book relatively closely for such a short time frame.

As for True Blood, well, some things about it bother me and some don't. For instance, I don't mind that they kept Lafayette and made Tara a more prominent character than she was in the books because, for the most part, I adore the hell out of them both. I liked that they tweaked Godric's role into what it became. At least you can tell that AB tried to get the basics (what each character looks like, etc.) accurate, even if he did sort of take the plot and throw it out the window. Some of the plot tweaks straight up piss me off though -- don't even get me started on what he did with the fairy storyline, for example >:|

Am I stupid for hoping that he'll pull his shit together this coming season? I feel stupid for hoping but damn it, a fangirl can dream!

[pau494.livejournal.com]

Haven't read the books or seen the show, but I do think that fans of the original material have a right to raise concerns when the adaptation deviates too much! And get pissed, that is totally okay!!! It's why I think the earlier Harry Potter movies are less than great. :/

I think it's a problem to make adaptations because fans can tell from the finished product if the intention was to at least try to stay faithful to the source or just make a load of money off of something popular. With LOTR, for example, I wouldn't have had a problem with the movies being 2385837 hours long, but I understand how that would be impossible! I was okay with the things they cut because they stayed true to the spirit of the books. On the other hand, I read The Hunger Games trilogy and I already feel like there's 50% chance of the adaptation being terrible. Idk.

Blablabla, I'm rambling. Would you recommend The Dresden Files? I'm always looking for new things to read!

ALSO, WORKING ON YOUR EMAIL. <333333

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

Man, some of the HP movies really are a crying shame because you're right, they aren't that great, but they should be because some of them were helmed by some pretty fucking awesome directors. Alas :\

Anyway, I fully concede that making adaptations is hard! Like I said somewhere further up, it's something of an inexact science because you have so many different things you have to worry about at the same time if you try one. But this? This is just insulting, this was one of the most blatant attempts to cash in on something's popularity that I think I've ever seen. I'm honestly amazed that Jim Butcher allowed them to mangle the story so badly.

On the other hand, I read The Hunger Games trilogy and I already feel like there's 50% chance of the adaptation being terrible. Idk.

Ugh, I'm right there with you. Part of me hopes the movies will be awesome, but the rest of me knows that movies aimed at the young adult demographic generally don't turn out well -_-

Would you recommend The Dresden Files? I'm always looking for new things to read!

Hmmm, let me think about i-- YES. READ THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE AMAZING AND THEN I CAN HAVE SOMEONE TO FLAIL WITH ABOUT THEM.

In the mean time, I eagerly await your reply email :)

[werewolf-song.livejournal.com]

That's funny - I thought it was enjoyable on its own even if definitely not a word-for-word adaptation of the book series. Measuring the time between Dresden stories in days instead of months was kinda nice - appetizers to tied you over 'til the main course arrives - and the show was entertaining at least, which is something that can't be said for Sci-Fi Channel's usual (WWE is not sci-fi, nor is a cooking show even if you throw 'quantum' into the name, and then there's those eyeball-crucifyingly horrendous original movies) and a lot of television in general of late, actually (TV Dresden versus watching people open briefcases for an hour? That's a no brainer.)

I think we lost it too soon. But at least they got to finish the "Justin's still out there" storyline.

[werewolf-song.livejournal.com]

Uh, I mean 'tide.' [wishes you could edit these]

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

Well, once I calmed down and thought about it a little bit, I picked out some parts of it that I actually kind of liked (such as a couple of the "new" spells). I think what made me so angry was because I kept finding things I would LOVE to see on screen as I was reading the books, so I got really excited when I found the show on Netflix, but then it basically dashed my hopes. Plus they fucked up some central character dynamics -- for example, Bianca is supposed to HATE Harry with a fiery, all-consuming passion, but the show made her a quasi-love interest. Also they totally mixed up Murphy's and Susan's appearances, which just annoyed me on general principle (that's not super hard to get right, for God's sake). It's what it did to some of the fundamentals that got to me, I guess.

However, perhaps you're right, maybe it just got cut off before it had a chance to pick up steam and incorporate some of the more important details.

[werewolf-song.livejournal.com]

What's funny about the casting is that Murphy and Susan were going to be played by each other's actresses. They were just so good at playing each other's roles that they switched 'em.

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

Huh, I don't watch it so Idk what to tell you. Since you like the mythology, have you read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley? If so, how did you feel about it?

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

Even though it gets seriously fucked up and depressing as hell in some places, I'm inclined to agree :P For one thing, it put a fascinating spin on the whole Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere triangle. Also, Vivianne was a fucking boss (just sayin'),

[emerald-skies.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the other books in the series, but I want to! I have a bunch of them saved on my Amazon wishlist, I just haven't been able to buy any yet because I'm flat fucking broke pretty much all the time. *sigh* Why do books have to be so expensive? ;____;

(Also, I hadn't even heard about The Firebrand until just now, but I just read about it on Wikipedia and that shit is SO going on my wishlist)