in which your humble narrator Geeks Right Out.
Suck it, Sci-Fi channel!
Geek alert! Geek alert!
You've probably noticed the ads for the SciFi Channel's Legend of Earthsea around. Maybe even caught it on the teevee.
And I'm pissed. Because I *love* the Earthsea books. But the production design looks like a cheap-ass ripoff of the Lord of the Rings. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but where Tolkien would spend whole big paragraphs talking about stuff like helms and armor, and building up a really grand and heroic picture in your mind, Le Guin always goes for a more stripped-down approach in her language, in the way the characters interact, especially in the way she creates a sense of "place" where the story can happen. Although there are definitely heroes in Earthsea, her wizards and warriors are more human than Tolkien's blood-n-bravery heroics. To put it another way-- aesthetically, Earthsea is to Middle-Earth, what a Zen garden is to a rain forest. Both are pretty, but in very different ways-- they are NOT interchangeable, no matter how much you try.
And then there was the casting. Hoo mama. See, Le Guin makes a point of having a multicultural cast in her books. I never really knew if there was any Big Idea (besides "well, why not?") behind Le Guin's multitonal Earthsea, since although she's written specifically about race in some other books, racial themes really aren't too central to the Earthsea stories. Still, it works well, and it goes along with the more realistic world she portrays.
The main character, especially, is described a brown guy. So obviously, the best person to play him would be... Iceman. WTF! Look, I'm sure he's a fine actor and all, but come ON, people! The fantasy geeks would have a poop-throwing fit if Gandalf were a brother, but it's somehow OK to work the other way around?
Fuckin' idiot producers. Fuckin' Sci Fi channel.
And then I saw this article in Slate today.
Cliff Note version for the impatient: Hi guys, thanks for letting me be a useless "consultant" after you'd already started filming. You totally ignored the story. It's not even my story. That aside, I very deliberately made the characters different races, mainly because I felt like it, but also because it would be interesting to have a fantasy story that wasn't all about white people. You totally ignored that too. Bite my shiny metal Hugo Award, bitches. Love, Ursula Le Guin.
Which makes me very happy.
Geek alert! Geek alert!
You've probably noticed the ads for the SciFi Channel's Legend of Earthsea around. Maybe even caught it on the teevee.
And I'm pissed. Because I *love* the Earthsea books. But the production design looks like a cheap-ass ripoff of the Lord of the Rings. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but where Tolkien would spend whole big paragraphs talking about stuff like helms and armor, and building up a really grand and heroic picture in your mind, Le Guin always goes for a more stripped-down approach in her language, in the way the characters interact, especially in the way she creates a sense of "place" where the story can happen. Although there are definitely heroes in Earthsea, her wizards and warriors are more human than Tolkien's blood-n-bravery heroics. To put it another way-- aesthetically, Earthsea is to Middle-Earth, what a Zen garden is to a rain forest. Both are pretty, but in very different ways-- they are NOT interchangeable, no matter how much you try.
And then there was the casting. Hoo mama. See, Le Guin makes a point of having a multicultural cast in her books. I never really knew if there was any Big Idea (besides "well, why not?") behind Le Guin's multitonal Earthsea, since although she's written specifically about race in some other books, racial themes really aren't too central to the Earthsea stories. Still, it works well, and it goes along with the more realistic world she portrays.
The main character, especially, is described a brown guy. So obviously, the best person to play him would be... Iceman. WTF! Look, I'm sure he's a fine actor and all, but come ON, people! The fantasy geeks would have a poop-throwing fit if Gandalf were a brother, but it's somehow OK to work the other way around?
Fuckin' idiot producers. Fuckin' Sci Fi channel.
And then I saw this article in Slate today.
Cliff Note version for the impatient: Hi guys, thanks for letting me be a useless "consultant" after you'd already started filming. You totally ignored the story. It's not even my story. That aside, I very deliberately made the characters different races, mainly because I felt like it, but also because it would be interesting to have a fantasy story that wasn't all about white people. You totally ignored that too. Bite my shiny metal Hugo Award, bitches. Love, Ursula Le Guin.
Which makes me very happy.