CARTER: THE ORIGINAL EMO KID
Ok, I couldn't resist posting about the Carter segment of the Egypt docudrama. It wasn't as rage-inducingly god-awful as the Belzoni segment, but it was deeply hilarious in its own way.
So, my opinion of Howard Carter has never been exactly glowingly positive. He was, after all, responsible for hacking up Tutankhamun's mummy into little pieces so that he could get it out of the coffin and get at all the shinies. But that's neither here nor there. Let's take a look at how the BBC miniseries represents him, shall we?
Oh, poor Carter. He's so emo:
So emo.
I mean, this is . . . kind of getting out of hand:
His life is just SO HARD:
Oh, maybe some news that there might still be hope of finding Tut's tomb will cheer you up. No?
Okay, maybe not, then. How about if you actually find him?
Nooooo, because you never really fouuuuund him! I mean, you can't learn anything from someone's burial assemblage or, say, their physical remains. There have to be TEXTS. You know, like a DIARY or something. Too bad you can't use that archaeology stuff to deduce anything about the way these ancient people lived.
Of course, you can't really blame him for being so sad. After all, he had to deal with things like that EVIL SCHEMING FRENCHMAN LACAU who tried to do things like get Egyptian press coverage of the tomb and keep the antiquities in the Cairo Museum for the people of Egypt instead of putting them out on the antiquities market so that the whole world could have them and trying to make Carter follow procedure during his excavation! Look how evil he is, with his desk and his facial hair and his logic:
Also, he had to deal with those Foolish Natives! Wait, Foolish Native, let CARTER show you how it is done! That's not how you break things:
THIS is how you break things:
Make sure you knock lots of dirt and rocks into that chamber and all over the "wonderful things" you just saw. OH YEAH.
Also, it wouldn't be Egyptology if you weren't setting priceless antiquities on fire:
WHY IS IT ON FIRE, CARTER? WHY IS IT ON FIRE.
Of course, I really do feel kind of bad for him for having to deal with Carnarvon and his incredibly annoying wife:
I'M SORRY YOU HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH ALL THIS DREADFULLY TEDIOUS EGYPTOLOGY, LADY CARNARVON. Seriously, I hope she was not this annoying in real life.
Also, his incredibly annoying daughter:
Of course, every biopic about Egyptologists requires a romantic subplot fraught with angst and unrequited emo whining, so I guess it's okay.
Still: WHY IS IT ON FIRE?
ETA: Oh, I forgot the flounce!
Carter announces that he is TAKING HIS TOYS AND GOING HOME after that evil Lacau tries to enforce some more of those pesky regulations. Damn you, Lacau!
So, my opinion of Howard Carter has never been exactly glowingly positive. He was, after all, responsible for hacking up Tutankhamun's mummy into little pieces so that he could get it out of the coffin and get at all the shinies. But that's neither here nor there. Let's take a look at how the BBC miniseries represents him, shall we?
Oh, poor Carter. He's so emo:
So emo.
I mean, this is . . . kind of getting out of hand:
His life is just SO HARD:
Oh, maybe some news that there might still be hope of finding Tut's tomb will cheer you up. No?
Okay, maybe not, then. How about if you actually find him?
Nooooo, because you never really fouuuuund him! I mean, you can't learn anything from someone's burial assemblage or, say, their physical remains. There have to be TEXTS. You know, like a DIARY or something. Too bad you can't use that archaeology stuff to deduce anything about the way these ancient people lived.
Of course, you can't really blame him for being so sad. After all, he had to deal with things like that EVIL SCHEMING FRENCHMAN LACAU who tried to do things like get Egyptian press coverage of the tomb and keep the antiquities in the Cairo Museum for the people of Egypt instead of putting them out on the antiquities market so that the whole world could have them and trying to make Carter follow procedure during his excavation! Look how evil he is, with his desk and his facial hair and his logic:
Also, he had to deal with those Foolish Natives! Wait, Foolish Native, let CARTER show you how it is done! That's not how you break things:
THIS is how you break things:
Make sure you knock lots of dirt and rocks into that chamber and all over the "wonderful things" you just saw. OH YEAH.
Also, it wouldn't be Egyptology if you weren't setting priceless antiquities on fire:
WHY IS IT ON FIRE, CARTER? WHY IS IT ON FIRE.
Of course, I really do feel kind of bad for him for having to deal with Carnarvon and his incredibly annoying wife:
I'M SORRY YOU HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH ALL THIS DREADFULLY TEDIOUS EGYPTOLOGY, LADY CARNARVON. Seriously, I hope she was not this annoying in real life.
Also, his incredibly annoying daughter:
Of course, every biopic about Egyptologists requires a romantic subplot fraught with angst and unrequited emo whining, so I guess it's okay.
Still: WHY IS IT ON FIRE?
ETA: Oh, I forgot the flounce!
Carter announces that he is TAKING HIS TOYS AND GOING HOME after that evil Lacau tries to enforce some more of those pesky regulations. Damn you, Lacau!