Tag: tv

biweekly links 8-1-2018

Satan’s Honor Roll: can Satanism be ethical? Oh yes! I’m finding very little here to argue with, and surprisingly (or not) very little of it has to do with actually worshipping a devil. Thoughts?

“Head Over Heels,” Reviewed: A Trans-Positive Spin on a Sixteenth-Century Romance, with Help From the Go-Gos: it’s Philip Sidney’s “The Arcadia” with early 80s pop! I’ve actually been hearing about this for a long time but this is one of the first reviews I’ve found with photos. Personally I’m tickled by all the Elizabethan clothing in day-glo lamé, but then, I love a good mashup.

Mary, Queen of Scots film ‘problematic’ says historian: how much fiction do you want in your historical fiction? The author’s argument is accurate (Mary Queen of Scots likely had a French accent, and Mary and Elizabeth I never met) but I also understand the director when he claims that letters back and forth don’t translate to a visual medium. Not sure where I stand on this. I love Cate Blanchett’s “Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth the Golden Age” but both are veer so far from true that they’re historical fantasy at best. But the acting is so good! I may see this because Saoirse Ronan has been fantastic in everything I’ve ever seen her in.

Nineteenth century engraving of Mary Queen of Scots, complete with hourglass figure and rosy cheeks
But is this picture any more accurate? In their enthusiasm for medieval revivalism, the Victorians got a lot wrong and their erroneous scholarship colors our impressions of the Middle Ages today. Is this worth a post of its own? Via.

Project Blue Book trailer goes all-in on UFOs for History: sure to piss off anyone who laments that the History Channel hasn’t had much to do with history for a long time! This new series about the 1950s Air Force UFO research project dramatizes J. Allen Hynek‘s investigations for Project Blue Book. While I expect they’re going to get a lot wrong I’m still eagerly anticipating “X-files 1950” (no, this isn’t a spinoff or continuation of the X-files franchise but the overall mood is similar).

last to the party

I’m not the best at keeping up with trends. Maybe it’s age, maybe I’m just perpetually up to my ears in my own peculiar interests, but I don’t always know what’s happening in pop culture at large, even in my own bailiwick.

Take “Hamilton”. I first became vaguely aware of the play only because a fellow writer mentioned it on Facebook. At the time I chalked up her enthusiasm to her subject matter (historical fiction set in 18th century America), but it didn’t take long before half the people I knew were swooning over the soundtrack. Had I heard it? Wasn’t it awesome?

And I hadn’t. A musical about a founding father sounded like an interesting trick to me but then, I’m a history nerd. Alas, I’m a lazy/distracted history nerd and didn’t go much beyond Googling the play. Rationalizing that I couldn’t get much out of a soundtrack to something I’d never seen (and wasn’t likely ever to be able to!) I wandered off into other things.

Then a friend played the opening “Alexander Hamilton” track for me. Hip hop and history – I like it! I mused aloud that putting historical fact to modern music would make it relatable and memorable.

It wasn’t until this past summer that my husband caught the bug, and at his urging I finally downloaded the soundtrack for the Jamestown roadtrip.

Um, damn.

Every single track an earworm, memorable even on first hearing! Funny too – I didn’t know this was a comedy. Wait, it’s not – oh poor Eliza! Is this one about the Federalist Papers? Did this guy seriously just make dry political legalese cool?

I think I get it, finally. I’m not a “foaming-at-the-mouth-best-thing-since-sliced-bread” fan but I’m all in favor of translating history to appeal to modern audiences and “Hamilton” does this flawlessly. The new PBS making-of special is excellent, including not just performances but Miranda’s writing process: how he decided what to keep, cut, fictionalize, and compress from the historical record to tell a good story. Even the actors researched their characters, to the point of going to historic sites and collections [envy!]

So, I reckon I got there in the end. Anyone have something new to recommend?

 

Pop culture roundup

Whenever I tell people I’m writing about John Dee and Edward Kelley, they tend to say:

“Who?”

I’m surprised how often I hear this – they’re “B-list” historical figures but I’m not the first to fictionalize them. A friend suggested I whip ’round the Web to see if they ever showed up in the more accessible worlds of tv/movies/video games and I found a few examples:

Dee may be the inspiration behind white-bearded wizards Gandalf and Dumbledore but seems to be more of a niche/”alternative” character on his own. Director Derek Jarman and author Alan Moore were/are fans; it cracks me up that Richard O’Brien played Dee in Jarman’s punk film “Jubilee”.

Richard O'Brien as John Dee in Derek Jarman's "Jubilee"
Yes, that’s “Rocky Horror”‘s Riff Raff, courtesy johncoulthart.com

Edward Kelley was harder to find; he’s better known in the Czech Republic than in the English-speaking world due to his gold transmuting feats (“feats?”) in Prague. Still, he turned up in the (now defunct) Facebook game Assassin’s Creed: Project Legacy. The designers clearly did their homework: they included Kelley’s stepdaughter Elizabeth Jane Weston and together with Dee they do alchemy and look at mysterious books.

Man shows little girl a handful of magic red dust
Edward Kelley showing Elizabeth Jane Weston the magic red dust. Image found at assassinscreed.wikia.com

And of course, “Supernatural” introduced the Enochian angel language to a wide tv audience.

productimage-picture-it-s-funnier-in-enochian-7212-480x300
T-shirt design found at HideYourArms.Com

I found other brief references: Dee in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age“; an Edward Kelley costume for rent (but only in the Czech Republic). There’s more at their respective Wikipedia pages, but most of the references are literary.

Feel free to include other examples in the comments!