I'm finally free of the semester, so I'll have to leave a little something here :P
To be honest, I don't mind adaptations of a book who aren't 100% faithful to the original - but you know, as you said yourself, the key is that you have to either want to "improve" the text (i.e. fix a few Values Dissonances or plot holes, or give an Ensemble Darkhorse more to do), either want to fit the source material to a certain format. If you're going to adapt Lord of the Rings into a film trilogy, for instance, some segments will have to go since the books are pretty huge.
Problem with Andrew Davies is that it almost feels like he's smug towards the source material itself, which, quite frankly, is not a good starting point. He doesn't like the musical? Fair enough (even though it's hilarious that the whole atmosphere is uncannily similar to the 2012 film). The whole thing about how the characters were "not sexual enough" was utterly bizarre, though (and I won't lie that I was VERY afraid of what it'd imply for characters like Fantine or Eponine). There is some added sexual material in some other adaptations of his - Northanger Abbey and War and Peace come to mind - but they didn't feel out of place either?
To be fair, there were quite a few people of color in big cities like London or Paris back in the 19th century, but it's like most period dramas who try to incorporate some... don't do it very well either (one exception I can think of on top of my head that does it well is Harlots)?
If anything, making Fantine black would have made more sense and would seem a tad more cautious when it comes to unfortunate implications - she's described as blonde in the book, but while I love Lily Collins, she's a brunette!
And yes, Gillenormand is by no means nice in the original novel, but he's very human, changes through the course of the story, genuinely loves Marius and comes to like Cosette as well - and that's what makes Victor Hugo's work so great, in the sense that while some characters are horrible, they're still human - again, remember the rule that you need to improve things if you're going to change them, and not flatten it?
The whole point of Cosette is that she's Spoiled Sweet: yes, she's a Daddy's Girl, but Valjean has clearly raised her to be kind and generous to people around her, and she even extends that to her own father. In the "godforsaken" musical, yes, there is a side of her that wants to "go outside", learn about herself, about the outside world, and she does feel like she's very sheltered by Valjean, too much, even, but she never comes off as bitter about it either? She's very much a dutiful daughter in all aspects (which would be expected of a 19th century heroine), all the while remaining a Spirited Young Lady. It's a hard thread to follow today, but making her the typical Rebellious Teen isn't really the way to go...
Fantine's hairstyles aren't historically accurate either - I don't understand for the life of me why she goes around with half her head down and the rest pulled up in a really weird huge bun. It almost looked like a 60s beehive - NOT GOOD. Especially that bringing your hair up was an element of pride for young girls, since it symbolized they were women now - Cosette being a bit vain (but of course, in a way that is silly and endearing more than anything else), she would definitely make a point of pining her hair up...
Also, I'm a Fantine/Valjean shipper and I feel very guilty right now XD
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-04-23 05:28 pm (UTC)To be honest, I don't mind adaptations of a book who aren't 100% faithful to the original - but you know, as you said yourself, the key is that you have to either want to "improve" the text (i.e. fix a few Values Dissonances or plot holes, or give an Ensemble Darkhorse more to do), either want to fit the source material to a certain format. If you're going to adapt Lord of the Rings into a film trilogy, for instance, some segments will have to go since the books are pretty huge.
Problem with Andrew Davies is that it almost feels like he's smug towards the source material itself, which, quite frankly, is not a good starting point. He doesn't like the musical? Fair enough (even though it's hilarious that the whole atmosphere is uncannily similar to the 2012 film). The whole thing about how the characters were "not sexual enough" was utterly bizarre, though (and I won't lie that I was VERY afraid of what it'd imply for characters like Fantine or Eponine). There is some added sexual material in some other adaptations of his - Northanger Abbey and War and Peace come to mind - but they didn't feel out of place either?
To be fair, there were quite a few people of color in big cities like London or Paris back in the 19th century, but it's like most period dramas who try to incorporate some... don't do it very well either (one exception I can think of on top of my head that does it well is Harlots)?
And coming from someone who LOVES David Oyolewo (it's a REAL shame he didn't have better material to work with), it makes me laugh though that Javert was actually Romani in the original novel - therefore not white. But I guess he wasn't dark enough to Davies' taste, and he also didn't realize the VERY unfortunate implications of making Thénardier black...
If anything, making Fantine black would have made more sense and would seem a tad more cautious when it comes to unfortunate implications - she's described as blonde in the book, but while I love Lily Collins, she's a brunette!
And yes, Gillenormand is by no means nice in the original novel, but he's very human, changes through the course of the story, genuinely loves Marius and comes to like Cosette as well - and that's what makes Victor Hugo's work so great, in the sense that while some characters are horrible, they're still human - again, remember the rule that you need to improve things if you're going to change them, and not flatten it?
The whole point of Cosette is that she's Spoiled Sweet: yes, she's a Daddy's Girl, but Valjean has clearly raised her to be kind and generous to people around her, and she even extends that to her own father. In the "godforsaken" musical, yes, there is a side of her that wants to "go outside", learn about herself, about the outside world, and she does feel like she's very sheltered by Valjean, too much, even, but she never comes off as bitter about it either? She's very much a dutiful daughter in all aspects (which would be expected of a 19th century heroine), all the while remaining a Spirited Young Lady. It's a hard thread to follow today, but making her the typical Rebellious Teen isn't really the way to go...
Fantine's hairstyles aren't historically accurate either - I don't understand for the life of me why she goes around with half her head down and the rest pulled up in a really weird huge bun. It almost looked like a 60s beehive - NOT GOOD. Especially that bringing your hair up was an element of pride for young girls, since it symbolized they were women now - Cosette being a bit vain (but of course, in a way that is silly and endearing more than anything else), she would definitely make a point of pining her hair up...
Also, I'm a Fantine/Valjean shipper and I feel very guilty right now XD