Rainy days

I woke up to overcast skies and a hug from the tiny monster.  Isn’t he adorable?  His cuddle was very cute until he started batting me to let me know that he wanted to get up and I was taking far too long to please get up and attend to his breakfast!  Don is a little disappointed that his teams are not doing as well as he’d like in the playoffs.  One of them is out, and the others are hanging on  by a thread.  I’m getting better at feigning interest in the games, but there you go!  There was a massive thunderstorm this afternoon, so thank goodness that it’s much cooler than it was for the last few days.  I like the weather like this, as it’s much more comfortable now.  

You guys know how I feel about movies made from books, especially books I like.  I was reading a blog post from one of my favourite authors, written before his death in 2007, in which he explained that authors don’t owe their readers anything. They aren’t required to have a favourite character experience a particular good event, nor to kill off an evil one, or end a story with a couple getting together. It made me think about how movies evolve.  Like books, the movie writers don’t owe the viewers anything.  They can either replicate the book, or reinterpret it, or take the characters and tell a whole new story.  That’s their right and privilege.  My right is to decide if I’ll watch it or not, and if I do, and I don’t enjoy it, I need to assess whether I dislike it because it was different from the book, or because it was poorly acted, directed or presented.

I mention this because a series that I really enjoy has been turned into an Amazon Prime series as I’ve griped before.  In the chat groups, I’m horrified at the utterly terrifying anger and attacks online!  People are uttering death wishes to the producer, writer, actors, etc.  I had an initial reaction that in a series with over 10,000 named characters really didn’t need to have new ones introduced, please and spank you!  Plus I thought that changing large chunks of the storyline wasn’t needed!  But then in a moment of sanity, I realized that not making those changes would make the series stupidly and needlessly lengthy without necessarily benefiting the story, and then it occurred to me that as long as I had my favourite named characters, it really didn’t matter if thing M happened before or after thing P as long as they happened.  That’s especially clearer as I’m rereading the series and remembering that it is insanely complex and filled with more twists and turns than a pot of spaghetti tangled with a pot of ramen noodles.  I’m of the view that it would probably have been easier and better if the series had been animated, and the same actors doing the voices.  IMO, pretty much any swords and sorcery fantasy series should be animated, as the magic and transformations are better if you’ve got decent animators.  That’s just my view, and I realize that there is no obligation from the author/showrunner/actors/other significant personage to even consider my thoughts.

I’m stunned that people will judge a series before seeing it, based on the comments of others, many of whom are complaining because they’re responding to others.  It’s sad, because it suggests to me that they’re unable to think for themselves! Why not do that?  Watch the show and decide for yourself whether it’s as bad as the trolls want you to think.  Because it may very well be acceptable and you might enjoy it, and you can grumble about how the magic is animated (my main grouse.). OK, I am again being pestered disconnect from the internet as the tiny dictator is letting me know that I’ve been on the iPad for far too long and I should clear my lap.  Good night, my lovelies.   Sleep well!