#sandsquee

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I am never getting over Gwendolyn Christie's Lucifer. Chilling. She radiates terrifying power but in a way that doesn't lean into the demonic or the cackling twirly moustache evil. Perfect casting!

#the sandman #sandsquee

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And another thing about Sandman...

The diner scene omfg!

The original diner scene was one I read in the context of Regan era America. A brittle, squeaky clean pseudo-1950s version of 'family values' papered over a grotesque ideology that claimed greed was good and actively facilitated untold crimes against queer people, people of colour and the poor.

The association of the classic 50s Americana of the small town diner made it the perfect location to rip that facade off and show the ugliness and violence of that era and the hollow lie of kitschy patriotism that was the common stance in most mainstream media at the time.

It wouldn't work now.

American fascism has moved on. It's it in the open, guns blazing and grabbing politics by the uterus. Exposing that lie is no longer an especially hot take. It's pretty obvious for anyone not currently sporting a MAGA hat.

It's interesting therefore that TV version is a bit more understated than in the comics. The people in the diner have far less extreme flaws - no tales of small town necrophilia this time - and as with the build up, it's definitely less violent.

This makes a lot of sense given the change in Dee's motivation. He has lived his life immersed in lies and can no longer tell the difference between destructive dishonesty and the dreams we have about ourselves. The ones where we are good people. The ones which make us hold back the truths we know would hurt those around us and let us say 'I could kill him for that' without actually doing it.

He might no longer look like a Fallout ghoul, but Dee has been as corrupted by Dream's ruby as Rachel was by the sand. The greater degree of subtly with that corruption also makes him a more interesting character to me than his cackling comic book alter ego. Especially the idea that he genuinely believes he's making the world a better place.

If the comic Dee was a mechanism for ripping the façade off of Regan's America to show the corruption underneath, the TV version is a fundamentalist. Convinced that he is freeing humanity from a world of lies and thus his actions are justified no matter the consequences.

I found this a great way to update the character in an era where the dark side of American politics is no longer hidden under a veneer of respectability, but is out, proud and storming the capital.

#sandman spoilers #the sandman #sandsquee #Doctor Dee #Diner scene

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Obviously there have been changes made. I'm loving the relaxed attitude to gender and race with respect to the comics. It seems like the take has been 'is there a reason this character needs to be male/pale? No? In that case let's open it up to a wider pool of actors and pick the one that fits.'

Overall the casting so far has been fantastic and it really showcases the benefits of taking that approach.

Having a woman as Constantine is also a nice touch as for most of the comics - set earlier in Morpheus' timeline - Constantine was a woman, with John C brought in, I think because he was part of the overall DC universe at the time, for the part set in the 80s/90s.

The change that really struck me and I found interesting was John's response to Rosemary. He doesn't have the giggling mindless and indiscriminate destruction that he has in the comics where he full on murders her without a thought. Instead he decides to protect her because she's a 'good person' standing in contrast to his mother.

I think the choice to change that character so he's making warped but moral decisions is fascinating. As is the decision to make him more sympathetic when he's originally introduced, although we are told that he's killed people, we only see people dying because they attack him.

I'm fascinated to see how those changes play it when he gets to the diner, knowing the carnage that takes place in the comics. It seems like there's been an attempt to tone down some of the really nasty bits e.g. Rachel still dies, but her dad isn't a goey mass of living tissue body horror coating the walls of her flat.

It might just be I'm getting now wussy as I get older but I'm ok with that choice 🤣

#the sandman #sandman spoilers #sandsquee

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I first read the Sandman comics as a queer teen in the late 90s/early 2000 and it was a big deal to see people like me on media. In the UK at that time it was illegal to talk positively about queerness in school. Somehow, despite it being in direct contravention of Clause 28 of The Local Government Act there it was. In my school library. Filled with gay.

Perhaps none of the relationships counted as a 'pretended legitimate family life'. Perhaps librarians are hella radical and stocked it anyway.

Either way I've been hoping for a screen version of Morpheus's story since about 1999 and as the years have gone on the temporal connect of the story has encroached.

You can't do Sandman as Sandman was. We've moved on as a society. Queer voices are loose and prouder then the were in 2003, the year I left high school. The year clause 28 was repealed and local governments were legally allowed to treat gay people as normal people.

I'm one episode in and I'm actually excited because it looks like someone understood the meaning of transformative work.

Ngl I was initially hostile to the hair.

One episode in idgaf.

The spirit of what I loved has evolved with the world I'm living in. What an excellent tribute and addition to a story I consider to be one of the greatest works of literature of its era.

Also...I'm low-key shipping Morphius and Lucienne now which ngl is a curve ball but I'm into it 😂

#the sandman #sandsquee

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<sobs> It's even more gay than I remember ❤️❤️❤️ and there are so many more women!

#sandsquee #the sandman

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I'm gonna squee about Sandman on my phone for a bit. There will be no formatting or serious thought put into these posts.

I'm gonna tag #sandsquee because there may be a few

#the sandman #sandsquee