(no subject)

[adiva_calandia]

So, Prince Caspian.

First off, the non-spoilery thing: Oh God I miss Eustace.

Second, the spoilery stuff: I had issues, yes, and every issue I had would have been largely solved by Caspian being a few years younger.

Here's what I think. I think this movie does the same thing Prisoner of Azkaban did in the Harry Potter films -- it took the book and in some ways changed it massively, but not negatively. Mostly. I'm still pissed that the Mauraders got cut from PoA, and I'll bitch about Susan/Caspian to anyone who'll listen to me. But overall? I am very, very hopeful.

Okay, I want to get the negative out of the way. I liked Ben Barnes. He is very pretty. He played a very good young adult Caspian. But Caspian shouldn't be that much older than the Pevensies. Others have said all this -- there's no good reason for him not to have taken the throne by then, it means that the dynamic with Eustace over the next two books will change, it means the dynamic with Peter changes (although considering the wonderful things we saw from Susan and Peter dealing with being adult and child both at once, I'm not sure that dynamic was changed in a bad way).

My main beef? Susan is what, fifteen, sixteen? Caspian looked like he was at least twenty. (Ben Barnes is 26, Anna Popplewell is 19.) SKEEZY. DUDE.

Which is why I say that if Caspian had been cast to look just a few years younger, I could've dealt.

I was also miffed that they changed the "Now you are a lioness" line, and the romp, but Lucy asked the trees to wake, so I guess I can deal. I'm not sure how I felt about the added action sequences; mostly I didn't mind, although every so often I started to fidget and go "Give us more siblings, pls?"

On to the stuff I loved. Trumpkin! TRUMPKIN. So perfect. Oh, DLF. And Reepicheep. <3 And the first views of Narnia -- BFF looked over at me and whispered "Are you okay?" because I was pressing my hands to my chest at the sheer heart-clutching beauty of the landscape and the joy of the children at being there. (And, let's face it, I always watch these movies through Eustace's eyes. And so seeing Narnia hits me in the best kind of way.)

EDMUND. Edmund stole my heart. How old is Skandar Keynes? Am I robbing the cradle if I say that I got a massive crush on Edmund? (Oh, he's 16. Weeeeeeell, give him a couple years.) But. Just. "It's King. Just King. Peter's the High King. I know it's confusing." TINY HEARTS.

I mentioned the adult-child thing they all had going on, especially Susan and Peter, which I loved, and was particularly summed up in Susan's wry "You were older then." These kids -- okay, I can't really say kids, since Anna Popplewell is the same age as me and William Mosely is older -- but these actors. What I wouldn't do to work with them. Man.

I was almost crying when the Pevensies left Narnia, when Susan and Peter were leaving for the final time. And Regina Spektor singing over that scene -- oh my heart.

There's other stuff I could say, probably, particularly about the Telmarines, and about some of the throwaway things (like the centaurs, or everything involving Reepicheep ever, or Susan's wardrobe that I'd like to steal for my own), but it sums up to this:

I would see this again. If for nothing else, I'd see it for the Pevensies, because those four carry it, and they do it unbelievably well. And I am very, very heartened for the future of the series.

ETA: . . . Reading through old Eustace threads in Milliways and 2sidesofariver doesn't help me not miss him. And may have possibly made me tear up a couple of times, I miss him so much. Which is rather shocking, but. He was always so consistent. Good old dependable Scrubb, through and through and through.

God. Okay. I should sleep before I get truly weepy over him, because I have to go keep job-hunting tomorrow. And then I can coerce people into threading in defy_ka or mixed_muses later.

"Haven't you subdued those haybales yet?" "Well, obviously not . . ."

Comments

[nepheliad.livejournal.com]

I always liked Eustace. I would throw someone at him, too, if I had anyone! :| I owe you a Pandora. I owe you two of them, even.

[adiva_calandia]

You do! No pressure, though, you've had tests and finals and certifications and whatnot.

[crazedcrusader.livejournal.com]

I will totally thread with you anytime, anyplace.

Faith and Eustace. That would be interesting.

(Poor, poor boy.)

[adiva_calandia]

Didn't they talk? At some point? Somewhere? Am I making that up?

[faithful-slayer.livejournal.com]

Possibly! Faith met...gosh, Peter and Susan once each, and I'm not sure she ever met Lucy, but she and Ed knew each other rather well. Blame my fondness for Beth.

[starletfallen.livejournal.com]

Oh, Eustace. I adore Eustace. I'm very excited to see who they cast for Dawn Treader. :)

Also, I agree about Caspian needing to be younger. But on the other hand, he had a LOVELY slashy dynamic with Peter... seriously. The Susan/Caspian thing seemed SO tacked on after the boys had already been having eye sex...


Or maybe I just slash too much? >.> Naaaah.

[adiva_calandia]

*giggles* Well, I mean, I thought Susan/Caspian was tacked on anyway, but that might be a contributing factor!

Mostly I have been ruined by RP and ship post-canon Caspian/Lucy, but I was beta-ing this EPIC and awesome Peter/Caspian fic for a friend for a while that edged me into that camp.

[miraielle.livejournal.com]

Eehehe. Are you still up for further parts as they emerge?

[mercuriazs.livejournal.com]

I've gotta say, for me and my brother that movie was the Edmund, Peter and Susan Show, hands down. :DDDD They did so great.

[adiva_calandia]

Pretty much. Lucy was a little underutilized, I think, because Georgie Whatshername is clearly very good.

But yes. Edmund and the Pevensies. Tiny hearts. <3

[genarti]

I do love your Eustace. And, you know, canonical Eustace lots also.

And I haven't seen the movie yet, but a) I can be talked into a d_k/m_m thread with Edmund any time, and b) from all I've heard, regardless of what quibbles I will or won't have with the movie when I do see it, my love for Edmund will be renewed. So yes.

[fire-and-a-rose.livejournal.com]

...They messed the lioness line.

DAMMIT, THAT WAS MY ONE THING. *&scowls* How badly did they mess it up? Because I was telling myself as long as that was there that I could deal with the rest.

[adiva_calandia]

"I wish I could be braver." "If you were any braver, you would be a lioness!"

And I winced and thought, Kat is not gonna be best pleased.

[fire-and-a-rose.livejournal.com]

...

*very calm* Dear movie people,

I accept the rational of putting romance in. I understand, though I dislike it, just as I understand making Caspian older, though I dislike it. I even understand letting Susan have a Grand Hurrah, though the story is SUPPOSED to show her in the light of someone who is beginning to be a Doubter.

"NOW YOU ARE A LIONESS, NOW ALL NARNIA WILL BE RENEWED," YOU FUCKING ASSHATS. ALLEGORICALLY IT MATTERS, BUT EVEN MORE, IT IS THE ENTIRETY OF WHAT LUCY PEVENSIE IS. NOT ALMOST. THE VALIANT. FUCKING. LIONESS. THE ONE WHO, IN BOOK THREE, WHICH YOU ARE MAKING INTO A MOVIE TOO, INSISTS SHE IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO BREAK THE DUFFLEPUD SPELL WHEN NO ONE ELSE WANTS HER TO GO.

WHY, WHY, WHY THE FUCKING HELL WOULD YOU CHANGE IT? THERE IS NO REASON, EXCEPT TO MAKE LUCY MORE UNDERUSED. THERE IS NO LOGIC. THIS NAMING IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF HER INVOLVEMENT IN NARNIA AS A HISTORY OF A WORLD AND DEFINES HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ASLAN. IT IS NOT. A. SMALL. PLOT. POINT. THE LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST OF US HAS FAITH ENOUGH FOR EACH OF US. YOU ARE MAKING MONEY FROM THE SONG THAT COMES FROM, THAT YOU LICENSED THE RIGHTS TO. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD GO LISTEN TO IT. AND ON THE WAY, HIT YOURSELF OVER THE HEAD WITH THE ENTIRE CHRONICLES, IN ONE OF THOSE OH SO PRETTY MOVIE EDITION SETS YOU KEEP PUTTING OUT. OH! OH! WHY DON'T YOU GO FIND ALL THE CHILDREN'S VERSIONS OF THE BOOKS THAT YOU'VE RELEASED! I BET DROPPING ALL OF THEM ON YOUR HEAD WOULD KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO YOU, IT'S HEAVY ENOUGH. GOD KNOWS HOW MANY YOU'VE RELEASED.

I HAVE LIKELY MADE C. S. LEWIS ROLL OVER MANY, MANY TIMES IN HIS GRAVE, AND I ADMIT IT! BUT YOU! YOU, WRITERS OF THIS MOVIE, HAVE INSTEAD DECIDED TO DANCE ALL OVER IT AND IGNORE THE CHARACTERS HE WAS CRAFTING THE WAY HE DID FOR REASONS! YOU MAY BE RESIGNED TO NOT MAKING ALL SEVEN MOVIES BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS IN ADAPTATION, BUT YOU COULD AT LEAST MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO THINK ABOUT THE OVER-ALL STORY, ALLEGORY, HISTORY, FAITH, AND MEANINGS!

YOU LIE LIKE CALORMENES, YOU SMELL LIKE APES, AND TASH TAKE YOU ALL! TASH, HUH? BET YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT NAME YET!

Jerks.

No love,
Kat

*proceeds off to fume*

[adiva_calandia]

*tentative applause*

*and profferings of tea*

[fire-and-a-rose.livejournal.com]

*calm now!*

That was very cathartic, thank you.

Oh my God, that was the ONE THING. ONE THING, I told myself I could enjoy, and the movie would be bearable if it was just left alone.

Like it or not, Lucy is the "star" of the series, speaking in the human sense. The VAST majority of the entire series is told from her point of view. Voyage of the Dawn Treader, more than any other, is her book, though, and I can accept shifting the focus onto other characters to make a more rounded movie.

But she is a critical character, and the titles you earn, in Narnia, in part define you. Almost as brave as a lioness is a nice thing to reassure a little girl with when she has to do something hard.

But, "Now you are a lioness, and now all Narnia will be renewed," is what you tell a queen and a prophetess when she makes a decision that the entire history of a land hinges on, the decision to rebel against family if needed and follow one's King and Lord, in every sense of the word, and take whatever hardships that brings.

Especially when one looks like and in some (thought not all ways) is a little girl.

This is part of the set-up for Lucy in Dawn Treader, and it's important. And yes, Horse and His Boy takes place before this chronologically--but Lewis WROTE it knowing just how far the character of Lucy will evolve, just what roles she does play, and the lioness is the one who goes to battle, not Susan who stays at home. The point is that the sisters are different, neither necessarily stronger nor weaker than the other, inherently, but their choices shape their destinies and fates.

Susan's actions in Prince Caspian, fighting, are not IC. And she is supposed to be spending time with Aslan. Yes, she and Lucy "go off" with him while the boys "go to war"--but they go off to fight war too. And they free gods and rescue men, women, and children, and they bring back the forces held back by forgotten stories and doubt. And Susan is with Aslan, the last time she will be until her story is over, riding on his back and close to him as anyone can ever be, and that is a gift for Susan, and a grace.

Denying her that is no favor.

Changing her fate (as it stands from Peter's words to us) in Last Battle is not something, I think, they would dare do, and if they adapt Horse and His Boy they can only portray her so action-inclined in that, or else it's so off-course that I don't think anyone would accept it, even if just vaguely familiar with the book.

That means that she is denied her graces--and, frankly, the right to not want to fight, and there's nothing wrong with that, which is worth noting, the right to rule peacefully and gently--as she may have them, and the same hard fate is left to her.

And I do not like it one bit. For what it says about Susan, about Lucy, about the mythological system that functions in Narnia, and about Aslan. It is not kind.