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eyreguide · 4 years

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A recap of the Brontë2020 Virtual Conference

On Friday the very first virtual Brontë conference was held and included a program of various talks and presentations by people knowledgeable on many different aspects of the Brontës. And reader, I had a wonderful time.

This post is just a brief overview of the event, with some commentary on the different topics and comments that were discussed and that I found interesting. This conference was held as a way to help support the amazing Brontë Parsonage in Haworth as they are going through a difficult time with the impact of Covid-19. If you are able, please donate whatever you can to the Parsonage by visiting this site. Help them reach their goal!

I live in the United States so I wasn’t able to attend all the panels - I decided to make my first one the discussion with Sandy Welch (screenwriter of the 2006 Jane Eyre adaptation) which was 5 am my time! I was so excited to hear what Sandy had to say about writing Jane Eyre that I was wide awake by the time her panel started.

Special Guest: Sandy Welch

First off, I didn’t realize Welch had also written the screenplay for North and South (one of my absolute favorite period dramas!) so I was pretty much in awe of her talent, even though the 2006 Jane Eyre isn’t exactly my favorite. If you read through my reviews of all the adaptations here. I have a few issues with the scenes after the failed wedding where Jane and Rochester are on her bed. And also I felt like the dialogue and added scenes did not always feel true to the novel. But Welch talked about her approach to adapting Jane Eyre and I agreed with all of her comments. Jane is a modern woman in that she is making her own way in the world, and that her thoughts and prose in the book are direct and clear to the reader. And Welch was glad to give more time to the conversations between Jane and Rochester so that the humor and intelligence that connects them shines through. The emotions were allowed to develop and we can see how Rochester changes with Jane.

There was some discussion about the character of Rochester and how the audience needs to see that they deserve each other and are equals. So you see more of Rochester’s vulnerabilities and emotions in this adaptation. It’s important to remember too that Charlotte made Bertha irredeemable so that Rochester could not make his situation better, but he tried his best to take care of her.

A question from the audience did bring up that scene where Jane must say goodbye to Rochester and they end up on her bed - I was very keen to know what Welch would say. She acknowledged that it was a bold choice, but there is that sensuality in the book, and Rochester wants to “impress” himself on Jane, and throughout the novel, Jane is very passionate. It seemed natural to Welch to have that shown on screen. It’s a bit of artistic license that still doesn’t sit easily with me, but I am glad to know the thought process was grounded in trying to take a realistic approach to how that scene would develop.

Another question also asked about the addition of the twins and the doubles theme in the adaptation. Welch included that to give Jane an opportunity to participate in the conversation around her since she is intelligent and able to hold her own. And to show that not all of the people in Rochester’s party are horrible. It also gives a little foreshadowing to the call across the moors between Jane and Rochester near the end.

The last topic I want to mention is when someone asked what the difference was between approaching Margaret Hale’s character (from North and South) and Jane Eyre. Welch worked to make Margaret more sympathetic and Thornton a little less so, so that they were equals in the story - much like Jane and Rochester already are.

A Day in the Life of the Parsonage

I was very excited about this next panel, where Ann Dindsdale, the collections manager of the Parsonage, and Rebecca Yorke, the communications manager, talk about what it is like to manage the Parsonage day to day. It made me long to be able to work there myself! Just think how lovely it would be to be up early in the morning at the house, preparing for the visitors that day.

On my last visit to the Parsonage, I was able to take the VIP tour (which I talked about here) and I have to say seeing a glimpse of the place behind the scenes and led by a knowledgeable docent was amazing. They do wonderful work there!

The two talked about the work that goes into maintaining the house - especially during the month-long closure in January where they clean every book and check every piece of furniture! When asked how they decide what to display, Ann said she puts out “what she likes” (lucky!) but it was also good to rotate everything regularly.

The Parsonage feels it is important for guests to “engage with the Parsonage” - a wonderful way to describe how the guests are made to feel when they visit - as a part of the experience. And with social distancing right now due to the pandemic, visiting the Parsonage couldn’t be a more personal and intimate experience. I so wish I could make the trip across the pond right now and visit!

Author Roundtable: The Brontës, the 21st Century and Us

This was a fascinating panel with talented authors. I’ve read some of their books so I’ll link to my review of their work when possible. The panel was moderated by Rowan Coleman (The Vanished Bride) and included Finola Austin (Brontës’ Mistress), Syrie James (The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë), Sarah Shoemaker (Mr. Rochester), Julie Cohen (Spirited), Lucy Powrie (The Paper Hearts Society) and Nikita Gil (a well-known poet, although unfortunately I am unfamiliar with her work.

The conversation was dense and thought-provoking. The authors touched on many topics and ideas beginning with how each author felt about the Brontës’ work. Their books are about identity and who we are as people - we can live by their ideals, said Lucy. Sarah said that women are still not equal to men in how they are treated today and she loves how Jane does not hesitate to tell Rochester that she does not think him handsome - it’s an unconventional answer, the unexpected one, and it shows how they are opening up to each other and on their way to being equals. Syrie is fascinated by the almost mythical story they lived in their little place in the world. And how you can feel their rage against patriarchal societies in their work. Nikita pointed out that patriarchy erases the role of women, but the Brontës have endured in spite of that.

In their approach to writing stories that revolve around the Brontës and their work, they try to be as reverential as possible and stick to the facts because so much of their lives are known, and their stories can be very autobiographical.

Julie talked about how we read the Brontës to find out about ourselves. With Villette especially there is a sense with Lucy Snowe that she is hiding a part of herself from the reader and people can relate to that.

The talk ended with thoughts on publishing bias - how women may not need to publish under pseudonyms today, but there is still a bias against what a woman writes and against race, sexuality, and many other things. We as readers need to show that we are interested in reading about a variety of lives and experiences.

In Conversation with Adam Nagaitis

Adam Nagaitis played Branwell Brontë in the film To Walk Invisible and talked with the organizers about his role. They opened by asking him trivia questions about Branwell to see how much he remembered from his research. Adam mentioned that he is still in touch with the actresses who played his sisters which I think is wonderful. They seem to all have gotten along very well.

Adam read all the classic works on Branwell to prepare, but he also dived into documentaries on alcoholism and it’s gruesome realities to understand Branwell better. Branwell wasn’t mature enough to deal with the vicissitudes in his life - with his relationship with Lydia he was excessive and consumed. He thought that turned her off from him, and that started a cycle where he blamed himself for the failed relationship and his failures in his art.

Because he was always surrounded by the people who knew him best, he was always reminded of his failure. Adam’s approach was very sympathetic to Branwell and tried to understand him mentally. Adam also talked about how he felt Branwell was never free as an artist. He always needed to work for the family or money but he could have been a brilliant newspaper satirist - something that might have been more along with his interests since he made wonderful biting cartoons.

In Conversation with Sally Wainwright

The last panel of the conference was a talk with Sally Wainwright - the writer and director of the superb Brontë biopic To Walk Invisible. Sally was approached to write this back in 2010 but she didn’t have time until 2016 which coincided with Charlotte’s bicentenary. It was a tough shoot for her as she felt she didn’t get all the shots she wanted, but the set was fantastic. They recreated the Parsonage as accurately as they could, resulting in a place that is bleaker and more isolated than the actual Parsonage today.

Sally also mentioned something that I found interesting - that she felt like the “Victorian” speak that people use today in period dramas probably didn’t really exist. We have constructed people in our period drama adaptations to speak in a particular way. And that the inclusion of curse words in her program showed that the characters were very like us - of course Branwell would curse and say the F-word.

Her approach to adapting the story was always to show it as realistically as possible and she wanted to show how the family was an interdependent team. For people who felt that Branwell was featured too much in the story - it’s important to remember that he was the leader of their gang as children and that when they were older, living with an addict affected their work as can be seen in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Wuthering Heights.

And speaking of Tenant of Wildfell Hall, apparently, Sally is working on a screenplay for the story, although it is on the backburner at the moment. She is having a hard time empathizing with Helen - especially because it is difficult today to empathize with a character who behaves in a certain way solely because of their religious beliefs. I do hope we get to see her adaptation of Anne’s work someday soon though!

#Brontes #Jane Eyre 2006 #Sandy Welch #Sally Wainwright #Adam Nagaitis #Jane Eyre #Wuthering Heights #Tenant of Wildfell Hall #To Walk Invisible

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dettiot · 5 years

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Fic: Winner, Winner! (Chuck)

Winner, Winner! By @dettiot Fandom: Chuck Couple: Chuck/Sarah Rating: PG Summary: Chuck and Sarah participate in a charity auction to learn more about where his mom might be. Set between Chuck vs. the Anniversary and Chuck vs. the Suitcase. Notes: Written for the “Bidding War” prompt on my @fluffbingo card. Hope you enjoy this visit from fandoms past!

XXX

Standing in a line of tuxedo-ed bad guys, Chuck Bartowski felt distinctly out of place. Not just because he was really out of practice at the whole spy gig, but because . . . well, even with all the working out he had been doing, and the shorter haircut that had removed most of his curls, he stuck out like a sore thumb around here.

The guy in front of him could flex his neck like it was his bicep. How was that even possible? The guy in front of that guy had loudly told everyone his suits were custom made by “Mr. Versace” because “off the rack, never woulda fit, ya know.” Then he twisted into a bodybuilding pose and everyone nodded in silent agreement that no, an off the rack tuxedo would have never fit that guy.

Resisting the urge to tug at his tie, Chuck reminded himself Sarah was out in the audience, so at least he would receive one bid. But more than just preventing him from being embarrassed at this bachelor auction for charity, the bid would be the signal to their contact. And once they had gotten the intel from the anonymous yet vetted informant, they would be one step closer to finding his mom.

It wasn’t ideal, being forced back into working for the CIA, lying to Ellie, and being at Beckman’s beck and call, but . . . he was working with Sarah and Casey again, and he was going to make it up to Ellie--all the lying, all the secrets--by bringing their mother home. Hopefully in time to meet her grandchild.

Chuck was distracted from how crazy-amazing it was, for his sister to be pregnant, by a round of enthusiastic clapping from the overly-thin, overly-Botoxed woman running this show. “All right, all right, bachelors!” she cried out in Russian-accented English. “It is time! Please follow me.”

Squaring his shoulders and reminding himself that he belonged amongst this lineup of bodybuilder bachelors, Chuck filed out onto a stage with the rest of the men, the music loud and pounding as they entered the hotel ballroom for tonight’s charity bachelor auction.

It took him a moment to place the song that was playing, and then he wanted to laugh. Because Chuck never thought he would hear a Russian version of “It’s Raining Men.”

Standing on the stage with the rest of Russia’s Next Top Henchman, Chuck clasped his hands behind his back and tried to look like the millionaire software developer he was supposed to be. He gave what he hoped was a charming smile to the women crowding the stage: women who were whooping and cheering and waving their bidding paddles. They were all very pretty, he had to admit. But he only had eyes for one woman.

Sarah was hanging back a bit, playing the woman of mystery role tonight. In her skin-tight black dress, long cigarette holder, and big dark glasses, she certainly looked the part, Chuck thought. And with the red wig she was wearing, he was getting serious Mary Jane Watson vibes from her. Perhaps at some point, they could do the upside-down Spider-man kiss? That would be so hot.

He watched as she lowered her glasses and made very deliberate eye contact with him.

“Time to put on the ol’ Bartowski-pretending-to-be-Carmichael charm,” he reminded himself silently, before giving her a smolder in return.

Thanks to knowing a lot about Sarah Walker, Chuck caught how her lips twitched for a split-second. And he knew that meant she was doing all she could to shove down a giggle--not because he was laughable, but because they had so much fun being around each other. Instead of letting it out, Sarah stuck to her part. She slid her glasses back up and ambled towards the stage, fanning herself a little with her paddle, just as the auctioneer stepped up to the podium and began the auction.

The first few bachelors prompted a flurry of bidding, the women eager to get their hands on their chosen partners for the evening. It did make Chuck wonder why these kind of charity auctions even existed. It all felt a little too pre-Civil War for his liking, although maybe it was more his sour grapes at knowing he wasn’t the kind of man anyone here was looking for.

Chuck looked back at Sarah, seeing how she gave him a tiny little head nod, and he felt warmth go through his body at her silent support. Especially now that it was his turn.

“Gentleman number five: Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, hereditary Count of Dragov and software millionaire. Come forward, sir, and allow all our lovely ladies to see you!”

The auctioneer’s voice was overly jovial, like he knew there was no chance in hell Chuck would be bid upon, and Chuck did his best not to take it personally. Stepping towards the edge of the stage, he smiled and waved at the crowd, noticing how lackluster their applause was.

“Count Ivanov enjoys sailing, fine dining, and the symphony in his free time. He is offering to take the lucky winner of his date on a Neva river cruise in his seventy-foot luxury yacht, with dinner personally cooked by top chef Dmitry Blinov!”

That got a bit of a response, but honestly, Chuck wasn’t really noticing the other women right now. Not with how Sarah was slowly and sensually licking her lips as she looked at him. He could feel his ears going red and tried not to get distracted.

“May I start the bidding at three hundred thousand rubles?” the auctioneer cried out, doing his best to whip the crowd into their previous frenzy. “Remember, ladies, it’s for charity!”

With a lazy yet elegant motion, Sarah lifted her paddle, numbered sixty-two. The auctioneer looked around the room, then sighed. “Anyone want to top this bid with three hundred and ten?” he asked, sounding as if he knew the answer to that question.

Chuck knew Sarah’s paddle number was the signal to the informant, so he tried not to feel bad about only going for just under ten thousand US dollars, when the lowest-winning bid so far had been in the neighborhood of twenty thousand. But he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of self-doubt--something he had thought he had gotten past once Sarah had looked at him and said, “I want to quit the spy life and be with you.”

The conversational buzz and auction pamphlet rustling grew louder as everyone prepared for this particular bachelor to be sold quickly, but then a soft, high-pitched voice called out, “Three hundred and fifty.”

Chuck could see Sarah’s eyes widen, even behind her dark glasses. All heads in the room whipped around, towards a thin, dark-haired, big-eyed woman in a dress as pale as her skin. She held aloft her paddle and repeated, “Three hundred and fifty.”

The words were barely out of her mouth before Sarah said, “Three hundred seventy-five.” She was attempting to sound bored, but Chuck could hear the ripple of anger underneath.

The young woman stepped closer to the stage. “Four hundred,” she countered, giving Chuck a shy smile.

He smiled back in dumbfounded amazement, because he just couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Four hundred and twenty-five,” called out another woman, smirking slightly.

There was an actual bidding war happening for him!

The third woman dropped out fairly quickly, leaving the bidding to Sarah and the dark-haired waif. As it kept going, and the auctioneer really got into it, Chuck leaned towards the man beside him. “Who is she?” he asked, pointing at the other woman.

The man snorted. “Some kind of smart guy, bro, if you don’t know Anna Krovopuskov.” At Chuck’s lack of reaction, the man shook his head. “Krovopuskovs are bodyguards. Name means ‘to shed blood’. They protect bigwigs, going back to Imperialist days. Made big bucks. And Anna is the last of her line.”

“She’s a bodyguard?” Chuck asked in disbelief. “She looks more breakable than me.”

“Appearances are deceiving, bro,” the man replied. “You’re up to seven hundred thousand, and the redhead looks mad enough to be dumber than you.”

Turning his head, Chuck locked eyes with Sarah and couldn’t help agreeing with the man. Sarah’s jaw was clenched and her knuckles were white around the handle of her paddle. Her voice sounded clipped as she kept bidding against Anna. He tried to tell her with his eyes that she didn’t need to do this--it didn’t matter if she won the auction, because this was all about signaling their contact.

He couldn’t deny that his self-doubt had vanished, though, thanks to the bidding war and how Sarah was fighting for him, but he could just imagine how Beckman would react if Sarah spent--he quickly calculated--thirty thousand dollars when it wasn’t necessary.

“A million rubles!” Sarah snapped, prompting a hush to fall over the crowd, before their heads all turned to look towards Anna Krovopuskov.

“Two million,” she said, sounding serene but timid.

Everyone knew the auction was over, even before Sarah’s shoulders slumped and she lowered her paddle. Because who would have thought the nerd would go for so much?

As the auctioneer brought down his hammer to a round of applause, Chuck looked at Sarah and, taking a risk, mouthed “It’s okay.” Then, at the prompting of the auctioneer, Chuck stepped down from the stage and went over to Anna, taking her hand and doing his best to act as his cover dictacted.

Chuck could see Sarah making her way over to the bar, where Casey was stationed in his usual bartender role, and hoped he wouldn’t tease her too much for losing control of the bidding. Together, Sarah and Casey could meet with the informant and get the intel--Chuck trusted them. They knew how important the search for his mother was.

For now, though . . . he had a fake date to go on.

XXX

Why did his first dates with spies go so badly?

Although Anna wasn’t a spy, but the date, such as it was, did happen due to spy-related issues, and it was technically a first date, so . . .

Gripping Anna’s hand, he tugged her along as they ran away from the smoking remains of the luxury yacht, half-sunk in the Neva River, wishing he had his tranq pistol.

“I can’t believe you were our contact!” he said again, for perhaps the dozenth time.

“Stop saying that,” Anna said through gritted teeth, shaking off Chuck’s hand and easily keeping up with him.

Arms and legs pumping, they ran through the streets of St. Petersburg for a few minutes, before Chuck pulled up with a stitch in his side. “Oh--oh, okay, gotta up the cardio, I see,” he panted.

Anna stood beside him, her arms folded over her chest. “How are you related to Frost? It’s impossible.”

Chuck straightened up quickly, feeling light-headed from both the side stitch and Anna’s words. “What? You--you know Frost?”

She sniffed. “Of course. Volkoff is my main supplier. I’ve known Frost for years. She . . . she’s wonderful.” Anna paused, then shrugged. “When I wiped out my family so I could take over the family business, Frost understood why I had to do it, why those small-minded misogynists forced my hand. She is like my mother--which means more than her just giving birth to you.”

Chuck rubbed a hand against his side and tried to think. “How--how do you know Frost that--that she’s my . . . ?”

“Your mother?” Anna looked at him scornfully. “You don’t deserve her. I don’t know why she cares about you, but she sent me here to make contact with you, to pass along a message from her.”

“And . . . what’s the message?” Chuck asked slowly, staring at Anna’s hard face.

With no warning, Anna’s fist flew at his face, popping him right in the nose. It sent Chuck reeling back, only for his legs to be kicked out from underneath him.

Wheezing, Chuck coughed and looked up at Anna, who was leaning down towards him. “Frost says, stop looking for her. There’s no way you can win against Volkoff and you’re just gonna get hurt.” She gave him a scathing look. “I have to say, I agree with her.”

“Low--low blow, Anna,” Chuck said, pushing himself up on his elbows.

She shrugged again and straightened up, just as a Porsche pulled up to the curb. “My ride is here. You should listen to your mother.”

And with that, Anna left him lying on the sidewalk, wondering if she was right. If he should listen to his mother.

XXX

When he walked into the hotel room, limping a little, Sarah rushed at him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Chuck held back his groan as she crushed his definitely-bruised ribs and hugged her back, relieved and happy to be with her again.

“Chuck, Chuck, I’m so sorry, our contact never showed--we’ll just have to keep working to find your mom--” Sarah said in a rush, stroking the back of his neck.

“Anna was our contact,” Chuck said, pulling back a bit from Sarah. At her frown, he explained, “The woman who won me in the auction?”

Sarah’s jaw clenched. “So she changed the meet protocol without warning and made sure to win you in the auction? I’m gonna kill her.”

“Hey, hey, hey, no need to kill her,” Chuck said, rubbing her arms. “She gave me the info, it’s okay.”

Her face relaxed, then her head tilted to the side. “It doesn’t seem like it was good news . . .”

“It wasn’t,” Chuck admitted. He took a breath. “The message was to stop looking for my mom. That I couldn’t match up with Volkoff and I would just get hurt.”

“Chuck,” Sarah said softly, but he stepped back and out of her arms.

“What if my mom is right?” Chuck asked, gazing at Sarah forlornly. “What if I did get hurt? I’m Ellie’s only family left and if something happened to me, if I didn’t manage to get my mom away from Volkoff, I would never forgive myself for hurting Ellie like that, more than I already have--”

“Chuck,” Sarah said again, breaking into his ramble and halting his spiral. “It’s quite possible your mom had to send a message like that. She could have not been alone, she could have not trusted Anna, she might think it’s not you looking for her but one of her enemies.”

Her words were sensible and logical, but Chuck wasn’t sure he was ready for logic right now. He looked down as he gave voice to the only thought he had. “What if she meant every word?”

Sarah’s hands firmly cupped his face, bringing his eyes up to hers. “I don’t believe it. Because I bet your mom, when she heard that her son was looking for her, would only want him to find her.”

It was crazy, but it was only the warmth of Sarah’s words, her soft yet calloused fingers holding his cheeks, and the intensity of her eyes made him realize how numb he had been feeling until she spoke.

“Really?” he whispered.

“Really,” Sarah said, leaning up and kissing him softly.

Chuck kissed her back slowly, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. The kiss lasted forever and just a moment before Sarah broke it and smiled at him.

“We’ll take tonight to rest and regroup, and tomorrow, we’ll start again,” Sarah said. “I’ve got a few contacts I can work, and you can bet Casey is owed a few favors that he can call in.”

“Are you sure? I mean, it’s my mom--”

“Exactly,” Sarah said, interrupting him again. “It’s your mom, Chuck. And both Casey and I would be dead a dozen times over without you. It’s the least we can do. Okay?”

In that tone of voice, Chuck knew there was no arguing with Sarah. And really, he didn’t want to argue with her. He felt a welling of gratitude and love and happiness at having her in his life, at having her by his side in everything--not just the spy life, but in life in general.

“I love you so much, Sarah,” he said, hugging her tightly.

“I love you, too,” she said, rubbing his back. “It’s too bad Anna the Ghost didn’t know that.”

“Baby, are you still mad over losing the auction?” Chuck asked, smiling a little.

“Mm-hmm,” she said, starting to unbutton his shirt. “Very mad. Because it delayed this.”

Sarah leaned in and kissed his neck, making Chuck whimper. “Oh. That--that’s too bad. Now I”m mad, too. Furious.”

Pausing long enough to give him a saucy grin, Sarah kept pressing kisses to his skin.

“Enraged, in fact,” Chuck said as Sarah began pulling him over to the bed.

“Stop talking, Chuck,” she said as she gently pushed him down onto the bed.

It was the second time tonight a woman had given him an order. But this time, Chuck was more than happy to comply with the order.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he pulled her down to kiss her.

End.

#chuck #chuck fic #nbchuck #my fic #woo more fic from me!

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raywritesthings · 6 years

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It is interesting that you can write 10 so well considering the way you feel about him. I understand what you mean, I do, but I think there’s more going on there and 10 is my favorite in part because he has such a depth, hurt and real emotions to him, even that he hurts others (and he does). I can’t stand 12 see him as almost evil. SoI get it! I just wanna say you have mad skills to be able to write him despite your feelings. So please don’t take this the wrong way. I couldn’t write 12. No way!

Anonymous said:Whoops, I didn’t realize there was a bit of an argument going on when I sent that last comment. I was just replying to your post about shipping 10 and Donna but not liking 10 outside of series 4! Definitely didn’t mean to get into anything here... Sorry! You can just ignore me. Lol.

Haha, no it’s okay. I think the debate has blown over. And sorry if it seems like I was ignoring this; I was just celebrating my birthday yesterday and didn’t have time to get on my laptop to properly reply. And it’s probably gonna be long (sorry) so the rest of this is gonna go under a cut. Read more if you all wanna know some of my thoughts on Ten, otherwise feel free to skip.

Firstly, I want to thank you for the compliment. Regardless of how I feel about a particular character, when I sit down and write them I try to get into their head and into what they’re thinking and do it from their point of view. Now, I don’t always agree with what they think/feel/do in the story, but I present it as logically as I can.

My frustration with Ten specifically is that, while David Tennant put so much into the character and RTD clearly had certain character beats or threads he wanted to explore - they’re never really given their proper due in the narrative.

Like, there’s this idea there that he and Rose are too reckless/careless in series 2, a bit too arrogant and uncaring of how their actions impact others (we see it specifically with Mickey and Jackie), and that it leads to the creation of an organization bent on stopping the Doctor (even though Rose was the one ceaseless bugging Victoria, but I digress). Here’s the thing, though: the initial plan for Tooth and Claw was for them to accidentally get Queen Victoria killed, thus altering/damaging history. Real consequences, not just a single moment where we see Jackie sad in the Elton episode, or Rose admitting for one second that they take Mickey for granted right before we say bye to him in the parallel world (for the time being). But without that plot, a majority of the audience completely misses that idea. Series 2 is considered the “good times” for Ten, where everything was right and nothing bad had happened yet. Never mind that there was plenty wrong with him already.

“Don’t you think she looks tired?” With one bit of misogynistic language, he topples the government that was supposed to usher in a Golden Age according to his previous incarnation. Into the power vacuum steps the Master. There’s this repeating theme that the Tenth Doctor creates his own worst problems, but it’s never really crystallized in the narrative. Again, I read that RTD was planning to emphasize that, but never quite got around to it.

On the other hand, the narrative has no problem shifting blame off of him wherever possible. “Then what happens next is your own doing,” he tells the Racnoss Empress before pressing a button he knows will drown all of her children. “You make me this,” he says to Miss Hartigan before destroying her and the other Cybermen. It doesn’t exactly matter that they’re evil; he’s still blaming the victim of his actions for causing his actions in the first place, rather than taking ownership of them. And other characters do it for him, too! “Some things are worth getting your heart broken for.” “The Doctor is worth the monsters.” “He’s like fire.” Like it’s just a natural thing that he can’t help it if you get hurt, when there are absolutely things he could be doing to mitigate the damage he causes, he just doesn’t. And almost nobody holds him accountable, at least not successfully.

Almost nobody - enter Donna Noble.

Donna was the best thing to ever happen to the Tenth Doctor’s character. I’ll be honest with you, I got into the show a bit late. DT was already gone, so I went back to watch his stuff after watching most of the Matt Smith era (what had aired of it at the time). A friend had told me to skip Rose, so I started right in on the Runaway Bride. Then, because I didn’t want to wait for more Donna, I skipped right over series 3 and went straight into 4. And here’s the thing; I genuinely liked his Doctor. I was enjoying it. Imagine when I then went back for series 3 and got to see what an asshole he’d been for an entire series to Martha. And then peeked back at series 2 to see if it was a fluke only to discover even more I found distasteful.

It was like night and day! He’s quite simply a different character around Donna. That’s the only real way I can explain it. Part of it just has to do with the Runaway Bride. It is so important to their development as characters and as a relationship. Because they see each other at their absolute worst - and there’s no hiding that. There’s really no excuses for it. Donna knows exactly what he is capable of - and demands better. Won’t take no for an answer. And because he wants to impress her, wants her to like him, he delivers. That’s simply it. He cares about her opinion of him in a way that he didn’t care about what Martha thought. He wanted Martha around, but he felt he had free license to lash out and give her as much hell as he liked until she refused to take it anymore.

People like to say he’s grieving in series 3. Okay, I get it’s fine to have emotions and feel sad and miss someone. That doesn’t give him a pass to treat the people around him - people he invites into his life - like dirt. And yet, he’s largely left off the hook for that. Martha gets her goodbye speech, and Ten admits to Donna in Partners in Crime that what happened “was all my fault”, but by the Sontaran Stratagem notice how the narrative has shifted what that means. What happened is no longer “I made Martha feel unwelcome and like she didn’t matter as much as other people for an entire year (or two)” and is instead “I taught Martha how to fight and she became a soldier”. Because it’s no fun acknowledging that your main character - the through-line for most of RTD’s era - was kind of an abusive friend.

The Tenth Doctor to me is a Byronic Hero in the worst sense. Broodingly handsome and haunted by the things he’s done in the past, meant for girls to swoon over and tolerate how he treats them because he’s in pain. But Donna doesn’t give any of that nonsense the time of day, and that’s why he had to change so much in series 4. The few times he slips back into it, she’s there to pull him out or flat-out tell him “I think you’re wrong”. If he had grown out of that Byronic phase of his life, if the series 4 him had remained for the rest of his run, I might have found his character alright. There was an arc there, and he learned something and improved.

But instead, with Journey’s End, all the good is undone. He lobotomizes Donna. Full-stop. Sends Rose away with his clone and doesn’t tell anyone else what’s going to happen or that he’ll be alone, because he knows what’s best for all of them and this has to be the way. I think he likes being that tragic figure a little too much. He enjoys blaming all of his woes on inevitability and “the curse of the Time Lords”. It’s nice to have a scapegoat for all his wrongs. (Isn’t it so convenient, that Dalek Caan prophecy which declares the metacrisis “destiny”? Almost like it’s not the Doctor’s fault for leaving his hand lying around chock full of regeneration energy for anyone to touch. It simply had to happen, completely out of his control. It’s not his fault, isn’t that nice?) And then he’s killing Miss Hartigan like he did the Racnoss Empress, he’s turning down Christina because he’s meant to be alone~, he’s fighting time itself in Waters of Mars.

Sidenote, I hate the whole Time Lord Victorious title-y thing. You know why? Cause it lets the narrative push the blame again. It’s treated like this separate persona, what he ‘almost became’ - bullshit. That was the Tenth Doctor. He did those things. He spiraled out of control. The only reason he stopped was because a woman put a bullet in her head. He thinks the Ood is there to signal his death at the end and to be honest, I agreed with him. He deserved to die there.

When it came down to the Tenth Doctor’s actual final episode, RTD had to make a choice between a big, bombastic finale and a quieter, personal one. He went with the first option; had to send his hero out with a proper swan song, right? But the quiet finale I feel had much more potential to do something good to his character. Nobody watches the End of Time now for the plot - they watch it for those quiet scenes between him and Wilf, where he finally starts to admit his failings and owns up to them. It is beautifully tragic, and rightly so. The Tenth Doctor is a mass of contradiction and complexity, and I can absolutely respect people who find value in that and consider him their favorite character. My issue stems with the way the narrative chose not to properly interact with that complexity. I have an issue with characters who get off scot-free while others are held accountable in the same narrative. It bothers me. The hypocrisy in the writing there feels like an injustice. It also doesn’t help that I think any and all Byronic Heroes can go step off the nearest cliff and stop bothering women who would be much better off without them.

So I think if I tried to write him outside of that series 4 bubble (excepting some kind of post-Journey’s End fixit or, possibly, something to do with Sarah Jane because she’s about the only other character who made him likable to me), you would see a much harsher take on him. I would write as fairly as I write any character I dislike, but I would hold him accountable where the show did not. I don’t know if that counts as bashing or not. To me, it’s honesty.

I think the reason I’m much more receptive to Twelve than you are is because I feel he does learn and improve from his initial beginnings. I’ve never managed to finish series 8. Believe me, I get it, it’s sometimes painful to sit and watch how he treats the people around him in those early episodes. But, if you haven’t done it, I would recommend skipping ahead and giving series 10 a try. Because to me, that is the proof that he learned, in a way Ten was never allowed to because RTD was determined to have his “tragic hero” ending. Certainly Twelve is not perfect (no Doctor is), but I would take his interactions with Bill Potts over series 2, 3, and the Specials any day.

So, if you read this far, again thanks very much for the compliment and for giving me the opportunity to expand on my Ten thoughts. I hope I didn’t offend, as I know it’s no fun to read criticisms of a favorite character, and I hope I continue to write him well for you!

#emerson replies #emerson rants #Anonymous

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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How Booksmart Writer Katie Silberman Created A Teen Classic For The Harry Potter Generation

Katie Silberman likes to describe herself as a Molly sun under an Amy moon with a Jared rising, “but little elements of all of them,” she adds.

The Booksmart screenwriter is calling me from her apartment in Santa Monica, where she is staring at a Jane Eyre poster she stole from Amy’s room, just above the fictional teen feminist’s desk. It now hangs above her own desk in an homage to a film — and an experience — that she calls truly special. These teen characters are so much a part of her that she now talks about them like astrology, which to any Millennial is to say that they are ingrained in her very soul.

But Booksmart is more than a modern teen classic, a tale of two precocious overachievers (played by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) who try and cram four year’s worth of teenage debauchery into one unforgettable night. It’s a touching, frequently hilarious story of female friendship and, essentially, a breakup movie rolled into one. But it’s also what happens when you let women tell the kinds of stories they want to tell. Helmed by actor Olivia Wilde — her directorial debut — Booksmart boasts four credited writers, a handful of producers (including Silberman), a production designer, an editor, a post-production supervisor, and a sound mixer that all have one thing in common: they’re women. “There was something special about designing a teenage girl’s bedroom with someone who had been a teenage girl in a bedroom,” Silberman says.

Annapurna Pictures

Below, Silberman talks about how Booksmart honors the teen movies of the past while carving out a unique space of its own, what the actors brought to their roles, and why the film’s most outrageous scene is so essential.

MTV News: I’m curious, what were you like in high school?

Katie Silberman: In so many ways this is a very autobiographical story for me. I would say in high school I was probably closest to a Molly in that I really prioritized school and wasn’t super social. I didn’t really experiment or try or have the kind of wild fun that I think high schoolers should have. And I had convinced myself it’s because I was focusing on school and I was focusing on the future and I was making the responsible choice. Then when I got to college I realized that everyone that I thought had chosen to have fun instead of focusing on their future were just as smart — if not much smarter than me — and doing much better than me in all those ways. It wasn’t responsibility that was stopping me from doing all those things, it was fear and insecurity.

Annapurna Pictures

Writer Katie Silberman, actor Austin Crute, director Olivia Wilde, and actor Noah Galvin on the set of Booksmart

MTV News: So much has been said about the authenticity of the film, and that even extends to their rooms. I feel like you would learn so much about Molly just by looking at what’s in their room.

Silberman: Totally. There was a shorthand about the way girls live in their spaces and it’s so layered. I mean, there were so many elements of Molly and Amy’s room that no one will ever see in the movie, but that Katie Byron, our production designer, layered and created and gave such a great texture to. There are all the different posters and frames and awards between the two rooms, and notes between them. And little knickknacks! Molly loved Harry Potter. There’s like a tiny little Snitch hiding in her room somewhere that you should see if you can find next time. It’s so cool.

MTV News: This is definitely a film for the Harry Potter generation.

Silberman: I’m 32, so I kind of grew up with the books at the perfect ages. When Harry was 10, I was 11, and when Harry was 18, I was 20. So I got to grow up with him in a way. It’s become this qualifier in terms of making young people identify those qualities about themselves. Like, am I a Hufflepuff? I’m pretty thoughtful, but I also like academics. Maybe I’m a Ravenclaw. There’s a shorthand too that we understand, like you’re being a little Slytherin right now and I need you to take a step back. I’m also thrilled when someone is a self proclaimed, very proud Slytherin. Noah Galvin, who plays George, is like out-loud Slytherin all day. I love it. He owns it.

MTV News: I love that Molly gets turned on by the fact that Nick correctly identifies her as half Slytherin, half Ravenclaw.

Silberman: We added that after we started shooting because Beanie and I are both such rabid fans. It was really fun when we realized that the thing that would arouse Molly most in the world is someone correctly identifying her house and also that that’s the thing that really for the first time makes her take a second, rethink how she’s been talking and feeling about Nick, that if Nick could recognize that he’s a much different person than she thought.

Annapurna

MTV News: When Molly and Amy arrive at the party, they’re nervous that no one wants them there when in reality everyone is like, “We’ve been waiting for you! We’re happy that you’re here.” I thought that was a really lovely way to subvert so many stereotypes.

Silberman: That’s so meaningful that you noticed that scene because that was kind of one of the most important scenes to us when Olivia and I were developing the arc of this, of how we wanted the night to take place. I was the fourth writer on this project. There were two earlier iterations, one by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, and one by Susanna Fogel, who are all really talented writers. And there were differences between the drafts, but at the core it was about two smart best friends. And even that, focusing on smart girls who might’ve been, a tertiary character, a side character in other stories and putting them at the center was such a wonderful way to reframe that way.

And when I came on, that was the big thing I was so excited about was to tell a story with no villain. We were very purposeful about that. I feel like, traditionally, a character like Triple A or even George can play one note in that they’re a villain or they’re an antagonist in those ways. But we were very purposeful about wanting to give everyone that moment of grace at the end where you get to see them for who they really are.

MTV News: And that scene in particular really captured that warmth.

Silberman: I still think that the kindest, the most exciting and warm environment I’ve ever been in was at the end of school, because the nostalgia, that last party is everyone being like, “We’re best friends.” That’s the night that all boundaries, all relationships turn into one and everyone is so fond and affectionate of each other. It distills the journey that Molly and Amy go on, which is that they’re very brilliant obviously, but they’d had so much to learn in terms of how much they had been projecting on everyone else. It’s totally understandable why they think people wouldn’t be happy to see them, but if they had taken the time or prioritized getting to know people and things outside of the classroom, they could have maybe benefited from that their whole high school time.

Annapurna

MTV News: The characters are also so fully realized. There’s not one character who’s a teen stereotype.

Silberman: In high school you’re forced into a lot of boxes, and it’s very easy to make someone one-dimensional because it makes more sense and it’s easier and it’s safer. We were excited about telling a story that revealed the many dimensions of everybody you go to high school with and try to crack open those archetypes and remind everyone to really look at people and see beyond that. In addition to some more specific anecdotes from our own high school experiences that we got to put in throughout and characters from our high school experiences. I think everyone has a Gigi. Gigi is named after Olivia’s real Gigi who I’m waiting to hear from when she sees the movie.

MTV News: Really!

Silberman: Yeah. I had a different Gigi, but she was extraordinary. Someone described Gigi as a magical party coyote, which is the exact right way to describe the girl I went to high school with as well.

MTV News: Was there a character that you were writing that you were surprised or maybe even a little frightened by how easy their voice came to you?

Silberman: I would say it probably should be frightening how easy Gigi’s voice came to me. Who I love more than anything. I would say Gigi and George were two characters that I had so much fun writing. I could have written a thousand pages for each of them even before we started.

MTV News: How much of Gigi is Billie Lourd?

Silberman: It’s always a chemical equation. There are some moments, like the line that she gives on the top of the boat, where she says she lost her virginity in what she thought was a park but turned out to be a graveyard. That’s the kind of thing that was on the page, but when you hear it coming from Billie, you’re like, now I understand the entire character. Now I get everything! She’s 150 percent Billie Lourd. She just infuses it in every way and brings such an unbelievable energy. Also, things like her popping up and seeing Molly at the bar at Nick’s party. That’s something that we came up with on the day, and Billie agreed to hang out all night so that we could film that little scene, which is one of my favorites in the whole movie.

MTV News: The film also honors a lot of the kind of teen movies that we’ve grown up with. In one of the opening scenes Molly’s walking with her lunch tray, but she looks like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless dressed in plaid.

Silberman: Absolutely. They were in our heads the whole time. We talked so much about the movie Clueless. If you’re a young woman of a certain age, Cher is your patron saint in a lot of ways. And that movie in terms of the tone and how much it establishes the ’90s. We talked so much about Clueless, about Dazed and Confused, about Fast Times, about the movies that made us want to make movies. And how we could honor them, not just in terms of trying to do what they did in accurately reflecting a generation while still telling a timeless story, but actually honoring them. What’s so great about Jake Ryan leaning up against the car in Sixteen Candles is that everyone can imagine that feeling of like, your crush, the person you like more than anything, and you walk outside and they’re waiting for you. Our homage to that is at the end of the film; there’s a character waiting outside another character’s home, and it’s that same feeling.

Annapurna

MTV News: The scene between Molly and Amy at the airport reminded me of Lady Bird in a certain way.

Silberman: Olivia and I first realized we had cracked the version that we were so excited to tell was when we realized it was a breakup story. It’s about the end of a relationship as you know it so far, because even if you stay as close to your high school best friend your whole life, which I think is kind of a miracle, it’s never going to be the same as when you’re seeing each other for 50 hours a day, every week. You’re going to move on, you’re going to evolve into the person that you need to be as an adult and you can’t ever be as co-dependent as you are when you’re in high school. There’s a real heartbreak to that friendship ending, even if you don’t think the friendship itself is ending, but that version of your friendship having to end just because you’re getting older and moving on.

MTV News: One of my favorite scenes was the animated sequence because it was so unexpected. How did that come about?

Silberman: That was in Olivia’s original pitch deck when she pitched to direct the movie. So when I came on, it hadn’t been in any previous drafts and she was like, “I have this idea. I want to do a stop-motion Barbie sequence, I think it should be a drug trip.” It was my unbelievably fun job to try and find the best place to put something like that into the movie. What got us so excited about it was that this is a story about such ardent young feminists, and the worst kind of drug trip is the nightmare. And the nightmare for these women would be to be stuck in the body of a Barbie, like the thing they’re most against, this body that they think is not only unrealistic, but literally unlivable. And then the true nightmare is that when one of them’s in it, they kind of like it, they’re like, I might stick around in this body.

Annapurna

It’s one of those things that you can’t see it until it’s done, and so it’s a very easy thing for a studio or a producer who’s looking to cut time or to cut costs to say, “Do we really need that?” And it doesn’t seem like it’s essential to the plot necessarily. But Olivia was so adamant and fought so hard for not only its purpose in terms of the arc and what these girls are learning as the night goes on but also the reason you go see a narrative movie is to take big swings like that.

MTV News: I’m glad she fought for that sequence.

Silberman: Totally. And that’s what made me so excited to want to be a part of the movie. Her original pitch was that she wanted this to be Training Day for high school girls, because she was like, as adults, it’s so easy to kind of patronize to how passionately high schoolers and teenagers feel everything, but when you’re in it, it is that intense. High school is war when you’re in it. So this movie, if it’s truly going to honor what it’s like to be in high school, it has to feel that intense. It has to be bold.

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