idle thought #409

[madimpossibledreamer]

unpopular opinion: the dresden files tv show is not actually bad. no, it's not the books, but Butcher himself said it's not meant to be the books ("It is meant as an alternate world, where the  overall background and story-world is similar, but not all the same things happen.").  it's got the spirit of the books down, and Butcher thought that the depiction of Bob was actually an improvement.  Which makes sense, because Terrance Mann is awesome.  in general actually the casting of everyone is awesome and I prefer Conrad Coates as Morgan, rather than what's usually shown (yes I also own graphic novels. and the roleplaying system) I think the scruffy look fits Dresden better even though long coats are badass, and I also really like the touches of having his staff be a hocky stick and his blasting rod be a drumstick because those are everyday items that a street wizard would use. also Ancient Mai is awesome.  Her entire intro scene in Storm Front was great, and also Things That Go Bump which is my favorite episode and also has more awesome Morgan.  She came off to me as more nuanced (I don't remember her actually being in the books) but I could be wrong as I don't have a horse in that particular race.  I am ready, willing, and excited to be informed!  I do miss Marcone and the Alphas, though.  ...that's pretty much it, actually. 

EDIT: It also is missing 90% of the skeevy stuff.  Bob is more tame, even the SUCCUBUS episode happens to be...weirdly tasteful for the subject matter?  and have an oddly familiar character if you've seen certain scifi?  there's no white court, there's no winter mantle, there's no skeevy interactions with underage apprentice, there's only a touch of the chivalry thing and it's not the RUB IT IN YOUR FACE THIS IS GOOD FOR YOU version, women get to be competent without being SCARY and it's not so focused on the 'they are pretty' (okay, half of that might be the fact it's 3rd person + voiceovers, but  still).  What About Bob, an AMAZING episode with Bob, exists. The dragon episode exists.  I can ship him with Murphy and know i'm not relegating her existence to hell.  black people exist in chicago and are fairly prominent characters.  who are not evil just because they don't like the main character; they're good at their jobs and know the way this goes. lgbtq+, sadly, is not added from what I remember, but even there i'd call it a bonus because Lesbians For Male Gaze and Stereotypical Thomas Play-acting are minuses to the original, so.  also the plots make more sense.  except for Storm Front DVD edition, considering they cut the pilot in half and it no longer works.  also there's no sense of deciding who 'deserves' to be saved and who doesn't. also harry actually comes off as a powerful but still outclassed street wizard.  also sex isn't just Good for Male and has its downsides.

also, we finished watching Cowboy Bebop Netflix today.  It doesn't really change that much in my review; as anime adaptations go, the only better one is the Japanese Death Note movies.  The casting was great, and Vicious' actor finally figured out what he was doing.  The changes to make it more lgbtq+ friendly, including giving Gren a better position and letting Faye have a female love interest, were great.  They actually expanded Julia's part and didn't just make her the damsel in distress which is a feminist choice I appreciated.  Having everybody more involved in the finale than they were in the anime was also appreciated.  Special shout-outs to John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda, although Gren and Anna's actors were pretty good too.  I think they got the feel of the universe and the music down, and I like the alternate universe but-still-true-to-the-original approach that they were going for.
Except for Ed.  But I was warned about Ed.