(no subject)
Nov. 21st, 2022 02:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impySunday headaches are real. BOO.
Speaking of boo, but in a positive way, my boo bucket fromvenivididolli came the other day after a little detour that apparently involved the box being kicked here. It's fine and Mom was very overcome by how sweet Lori was to share. ♥
I spent my day off catching up on the last three episodes of Interview With The Vampire and I have many, many thoughts.
I have conflicting emotions about the back half of the season. And there are absolutely spoilers here so if you clicked by accident, run away now.
N
o
t
k
i
d
d
i
n
g
.
.
.
Okay. I'll admit it's been YEARS since I read any of the vampire chronicles and I'll also admit that I never finished them. I think I paused somewhere around Pandora (which I own, somewhere) and no idea if I was reading in order at that point anyway. I'll also admit that while I breezed through Interview itself, it took me much longer to get into Lestat initially. I think I started and then stopped a couple of times but once I actually sat down and read it (at work when I worked at the gas station), I was hooked. QotD is probably my favorite book and we don't speak of the movie. Point is, I couldn't tell you much about the later stuff and there are holes in my own memory of things I did read/know once upon a time.
But I'm willing to bet a fair amount of change that episode 5 takes the biggest divergence from the source material annnnnnnnnnd I think it fails in part. I get WHY one bit was done, and we'll get there, but the other? No.
We begin with the change that pissed me off the most. In ep 5, Claudia runs away. While out in the world, she meets another vampire finally and at first she's thrilled. And then she's not, because he attacks her and while we do not see the rape, it's definitely a thing that happened with no possibility of "well, maybe..." and blaming the unreliable narrator. I think, for the most part, the showrunner and writers did a fine job of adapting things and the changes they chose to make work... but you can absolutely tell that they swapped in a rape for the absolute horror that is book!Claudia being stuck in a child's body as her mind ages and she matures in everything but her physical body. This is a terrible change, a terrible swap, and it's the biggest faltering of aging Claudia up... and it honestly taints a lot of the rest of the series. It didn't add to her character in any meaningful way and it reads very much as the default, "well, we need to traumatize a female character and you know what that means!" It's maddening and I hate it so much.
The next bit is where I'm wondering if my memory is failing me or if it's possibly WHY Anne's son has been radio silent on the adaptation: I don't recall Lestat flat out hating Claudia. Them clashing terribly because dude, making her was not a wise decision and she's very, very much like Lestat in SO many ways? Yes, absolutely. But TV!Lestat goes from seeming to adore her (or at least the way she binds Louis to him) to not seeming to care at all what happens to her. He's jealous of how Louis loves her, and this I absolutely buy, but there are multiple scenes where I wouldn't have been surprised if Lestat flat out killed her and they'd decided that would be another acceptable change. I'm not sure if this is simply one of the casualties of S1 being so very, very short and time flying by a little too fast, or if I'm misinterpreting things, or if the show's really trying to say, yeah, Lestat does not give a fuck about Claudia after a certain point. It makes it even more baffling when she escapes and he goes to the trouble of bringing her back. I assume that's just his goddamn ego getting in the way yet again but the Lestat/Claudia dynamic is... yeah. I seriously do not remember him being so completely uncaring to that degree. Also, I get that he says it's for Louis and thing is, he's not wrong. Louis just finished waxing poetic about how the only reason he didn't kill himself that very night is because he didn't want to taint her first night of freedom. But given how Lestat's written Claudia off at this point, it's also something that feels OFF, y'know?
Ep 5 also has Lestat damn near kill Louis. I'm assuming this is done because they want to hammer home the idea that this is beyond toxic and this show does lean very much into the OTT violent displays where Lestat is concerned because he's a goddamn drama queen. But it's also very much uh...Lestat, honey, what part of damn near killing Louis (and dropping him from the goddamn sky) is going to get you what you want? I do understand that this is the turning point in the relationship and what makes Claudia's plan to kill Lestat something the audience roots for, but damn.
I'd say it's meant to keep people from actively shipping Louis/Lestat but dude, even I know AR wrote them as endgame and I stopped reading her stuff when she went on her God fanfic stuff. So... there's that.
What else, what else. In general, not just ep 5.
Armand. FUCKING CALLED IT. And oh, how I laughed at Daniel's little eye narrowing at the whole "love of my life" declaration. HILARIOUS.
Also hilarious: Claudia dipping her pen in Lestat's wound to record his final words in his own blood. Her mocking of him as he's dying. His temper tantrum when she bests him finally in chess and then refuses to play out the game. Louis throwing Lestat's coffin out the window/off the balcony when Lestat comes to try and buy his way back into their good graces. Daniel's reaction to the L/L near death fight. "Clean up and then come to coffin."
The show didn't need to add rape to Claudia's backstory because just about everything else they've done, they've done well. It's a fantastic blend of horror and comedy and drama.
Sam Reid is an amazing Lestat and I love that he's not trying to outshine Tom Cruise's Lestat. He's simply going for book!Lestat and it works so well. Watching him shift from camptastic to heartbroken to effortlessly cruel is a goddamn joy and worth the price of admission easily.
Louis is compelling to watch as he comes so close to breaking free in various ways and then falls back down or allows himself to be dragged back. His brief stint in the 70's is joyous and holds up to the reveal that might otherwise be all that you remember about that bar scene. You're right there with both Daniel and Claudia as they realize this fucker is never going to break free of Lestat on his own and yet you want better things for him.
Daniel being a cranky old reporter is a change I wasn't sure I'd like but dude, his calling out bullshit at every turn is fab. I cannot WAIT to see more of him and Armand.
Claudia is still a damn delight and her plotting is just perfection. I love the little ways in which she mirrors Lestat while being completely oblivious to their similarities and I love that it's the ways in which they're different that lead to her being able to best him... or would, if Louis hadn't pulled the final punch. I won't fault anyone who can't get on board with the aging up, though, especially after Ep 5. I assume that they'll be going with her killing her maker as the reason she dies, but who knows.
I will say I absolutely CANNOT deal with idiots doing more than a wistful sigh of wishing Claudia doesn't die. If they don't kill her, I will riot. I can excuse many a change but that would going too far.
I am very curious as to how much of this is Armand's retelling of the story as it's been made very clear that no one in this thing is a reliable narrator and Armand's got that whole mind control/influence thing so.
S
p
o
i
l
e
r
S
p
a
c
e
J
u
s
t
I
n
C
a
s
e
This is the first time in a very, very long time where I watched/read something and immediately dreamed about it. I guess it's probably helped by this not being my first Vampire Chronicles rodeo. I have to admit that watching newbies come to the realization that Anne Rice absolutely fell in love with her own character is amusing me on so many levels. SO MANY. Probably because they almost always say, "maybe fell in love with" like dude, no. That is a well documented thing that happened.
Speaking of boo, but in a positive way, my boo bucket from
venivididolli came the other day after a little detour that apparently involved the box being kicked here. It's fine and Mom was very overcome by how sweet Lori was to share. ♥ I spent my day off catching up on the last three episodes of Interview With The Vampire and I have many, many thoughts.
I have conflicting emotions about the back half of the season. And there are absolutely spoilers here so if you clicked by accident, run away now.
N
o
t
k
i
d
d
i
n
g
.
.
.
Okay. I'll admit it's been YEARS since I read any of the vampire chronicles and I'll also admit that I never finished them. I think I paused somewhere around Pandora (which I own, somewhere) and no idea if I was reading in order at that point anyway. I'll also admit that while I breezed through Interview itself, it took me much longer to get into Lestat initially. I think I started and then stopped a couple of times but once I actually sat down and read it (at work when I worked at the gas station), I was hooked. QotD is probably my favorite book and we don't speak of the movie. Point is, I couldn't tell you much about the later stuff and there are holes in my own memory of things I did read/know once upon a time.
But I'm willing to bet a fair amount of change that episode 5 takes the biggest divergence from the source material annnnnnnnnnd I think it fails in part. I get WHY one bit was done, and we'll get there, but the other? No.
We begin with the change that pissed me off the most. In ep 5, Claudia runs away. While out in the world, she meets another vampire finally and at first she's thrilled. And then she's not, because he attacks her and while we do not see the rape, it's definitely a thing that happened with no possibility of "well, maybe..." and blaming the unreliable narrator. I think, for the most part, the showrunner and writers did a fine job of adapting things and the changes they chose to make work... but you can absolutely tell that they swapped in a rape for the absolute horror that is book!Claudia being stuck in a child's body as her mind ages and she matures in everything but her physical body. This is a terrible change, a terrible swap, and it's the biggest faltering of aging Claudia up... and it honestly taints a lot of the rest of the series. It didn't add to her character in any meaningful way and it reads very much as the default, "well, we need to traumatize a female character and you know what that means!" It's maddening and I hate it so much.
The next bit is where I'm wondering if my memory is failing me or if it's possibly WHY Anne's son has been radio silent on the adaptation: I don't recall Lestat flat out hating Claudia. Them clashing terribly because dude, making her was not a wise decision and she's very, very much like Lestat in SO many ways? Yes, absolutely. But TV!Lestat goes from seeming to adore her (or at least the way she binds Louis to him) to not seeming to care at all what happens to her. He's jealous of how Louis loves her, and this I absolutely buy, but there are multiple scenes where I wouldn't have been surprised if Lestat flat out killed her and they'd decided that would be another acceptable change. I'm not sure if this is simply one of the casualties of S1 being so very, very short and time flying by a little too fast, or if I'm misinterpreting things, or if the show's really trying to say, yeah, Lestat does not give a fuck about Claudia after a certain point. It makes it even more baffling when she escapes and he goes to the trouble of bringing her back. I assume that's just his goddamn ego getting in the way yet again but the Lestat/Claudia dynamic is... yeah. I seriously do not remember him being so completely uncaring to that degree. Also, I get that he says it's for Louis and thing is, he's not wrong. Louis just finished waxing poetic about how the only reason he didn't kill himself that very night is because he didn't want to taint her first night of freedom. But given how Lestat's written Claudia off at this point, it's also something that feels OFF, y'know?
Ep 5 also has Lestat damn near kill Louis. I'm assuming this is done because they want to hammer home the idea that this is beyond toxic and this show does lean very much into the OTT violent displays where Lestat is concerned because he's a goddamn drama queen. But it's also very much uh...Lestat, honey, what part of damn near killing Louis (and dropping him from the goddamn sky) is going to get you what you want? I do understand that this is the turning point in the relationship and what makes Claudia's plan to kill Lestat something the audience roots for, but damn.
I'd say it's meant to keep people from actively shipping Louis/Lestat but dude, even I know AR wrote them as endgame and I stopped reading her stuff when she went on her God fanfic stuff. So... there's that.
What else, what else. In general, not just ep 5.
Armand. FUCKING CALLED IT. And oh, how I laughed at Daniel's little eye narrowing at the whole "love of my life" declaration. HILARIOUS.
Also hilarious: Claudia dipping her pen in Lestat's wound to record his final words in his own blood. Her mocking of him as he's dying. His temper tantrum when she bests him finally in chess and then refuses to play out the game. Louis throwing Lestat's coffin out the window/off the balcony when Lestat comes to try and buy his way back into their good graces. Daniel's reaction to the L/L near death fight. "Clean up and then come to coffin."
The show didn't need to add rape to Claudia's backstory because just about everything else they've done, they've done well. It's a fantastic blend of horror and comedy and drama.
Sam Reid is an amazing Lestat and I love that he's not trying to outshine Tom Cruise's Lestat. He's simply going for book!Lestat and it works so well. Watching him shift from camptastic to heartbroken to effortlessly cruel is a goddamn joy and worth the price of admission easily.
Louis is compelling to watch as he comes so close to breaking free in various ways and then falls back down or allows himself to be dragged back. His brief stint in the 70's is joyous and holds up to the reveal that might otherwise be all that you remember about that bar scene. You're right there with both Daniel and Claudia as they realize this fucker is never going to break free of Lestat on his own and yet you want better things for him.
Daniel being a cranky old reporter is a change I wasn't sure I'd like but dude, his calling out bullshit at every turn is fab. I cannot WAIT to see more of him and Armand.
Claudia is still a damn delight and her plotting is just perfection. I love the little ways in which she mirrors Lestat while being completely oblivious to their similarities and I love that it's the ways in which they're different that lead to her being able to best him... or would, if Louis hadn't pulled the final punch. I won't fault anyone who can't get on board with the aging up, though, especially after Ep 5. I assume that they'll be going with her killing her maker as the reason she dies, but who knows.
I will say I absolutely CANNOT deal with idiots doing more than a wistful sigh of wishing Claudia doesn't die. If they don't kill her, I will riot. I can excuse many a change but that would going too far.
I am very curious as to how much of this is Armand's retelling of the story as it's been made very clear that no one in this thing is a reliable narrator and Armand's got that whole mind control/influence thing so.
S
p
o
i
l
e
r
S
p
a
c
e
J
u
s
t
I
n
C
a
s
e
This is the first time in a very, very long time where I watched/read something and immediately dreamed about it. I guess it's probably helped by this not being my first Vampire Chronicles rodeo. I have to admit that watching newbies come to the realization that Anne Rice absolutely fell in love with her own character is amusing me on so many levels. SO MANY. Probably because they almost always say, "maybe fell in love with" like dude, no. That is a well documented thing that happened.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-22 03:47 am (UTC)I freely admit my memory of the QotD movie basically involves Lestat's hairy nipple, everyone and their brother saying the only good thing was Aliyah, and general disappointment because I loved the book so much and sigh. But now that you mention it, baby faced Armand was also a good choice.
Not sure on the bucket. I think it wound up being sent to the wrong local post office and that added a day to the journey. It's currently sitting on the bar grinning at me. :D Thank you again!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-22 04:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-22 09:07 am (UTC)Since the show has me wanting to re-read some of the books, maybe I'll give QotD another whirl before I do that to give it the best chance of hitting at least guilty pleasure status. If nothing else, the whole ST nipple thing is worth the price of admission for me as I send the friend who just would not shut up about it a picture at least once a year at the most random times just to keep her on her toes.