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Wasn't the sequel a botched attempt to turn it into a regular series or something?
NBC's miniseries of "The Odyssey" was pretty kickass as well.
Was there a female character in that series that Odysseus didn't bang? Besides Athena (btw, best casting ever of Isabella Rossellini? I think so).
Also, the throne room slaughter at the end was fantastic.
So were Scylla and Charybdis. Fuck, the whole thing ruled.
Don't write me off as some Harry Potter nut because I certainly don't think its the end all be all that a lot of people think it is. Its fun certainly but... anyway, I digress. You are wrong.
If anything Harry Potter is a great example of magic as skill. Sure you are either born with the ability to do magic or not, but how good you are at it is not guaranteed. Its like a limb. You are either born with it or not... but it doesn't guarantee that you will be good at sports.
Hell it was a pretty strong theme in the books considering the were hrmm... at a school to study magic.
All I know is that for a prime time mini-series movie, there was a ton of violence and sex in it.
And Christopher Lee playing Tiresias, the prophet that Odysseus speaks with while in Hades.
Basically, the books are about special people. Sure, some are even more special than others - Harry, for instance, is the most special of all because he's got that nifty scar and famous dead parents. That could be interpreted as hard work having some value, but only within context of the school, which is filled with other special people.
You shouldn't forget that Wizarding society is only part of mankind as a whole. And the muggles in the books are either hated or, at the best scenario, kindly looked down upon. The moral of the books seems to be that racism is bad, but the usual reasoning just doesn't apply with Wizards and Muggles. In the book, if you're not a wizard, you're either an asshole or a victim, and unimportant in either case.
In the end, the good guys conclude that muggle genocide is bad because... well, killing people for no reason is bad in general. However, never does it put muggles on the same level as Wizards. That's the whole point of the first book. Harry's life was crappy until he discovered he was special, after which he had his comeuppance. No one would have cared that this kid is forced to live in a staircase, had he been a muggle. The first book would have been called Harry Potter and his Experiences of Child Abuse. There wouldn't have been a second.
So, yeah, it's better to be born special.
I'm not saying that Harry Potter started this trend, but now that everyone and their dog has read the books or seen the movies, this version of the Wizard is stuck. Forever and ever. It might have made sense in the middle ages, like this one poster mentioned earlier, but this message seems wrong for children of today.
There are days in which I deeply miss the eye-rolling emoticon. What you're describing is really a post Tolkien take on it. The idea that you approach magic as a science is really something you see popularized in the 50's with Vance. The idea that Merlin's power is an innate ability is closer to the vast majority of Arthurian legend then what you describe. There is more then enough room in Arthurian legend for both types of Merlin, just as there is room for the stories from the Lancelot cycles in which Merlin is evil. But the idea that only your view is a valid one on the off chance some child's sense of wonder might be enhanced by affinity for a character who is born special is silly.
I'm not sure what you're saying here. On the most basic level, I'm saying that the moral "everyone can be special with enough effort" is healthier than "you're only special if you're born that way". And that's why I prefer the first type of wizard over the second.
I'm not saying one version is more valid, authentic, or real. I'm saying that I hate to see the version where wizards are created rather than born vanish from modern fiction. It annoys me.
Most of that post you quoted was me arguing that Harry Potter values being special a whole lot, more so than Wassermelone claimed. As such, I'm angry with Harry Potter, which I believe helped popularize the innate magic wizard due to the books' huge popularity, especially among an audience that has never before read fantasy. An entire generation grew up reading Harry Potter.
I'm willing to concede I'm entirely wrong about when or where this type of wizard (or any other) first came about and gained a foothold in imagination. (Though I don't thing I ever claimed to know anything about Merlin or how he historically got his powers, just that I hate how he is portrayed in this stupid show.) I'm sure you know more about it than I do.
- The BBC Merlin is hilariously bad. I love it. That episode with the snake/shield - the guy who got bitten and falls into a coma, the one Merlin needs to wake up to prove there's nefarious magic afoot.. the first thing he says when he wakes up is, "His shield has snakes in it!" The show is also gay as hell. I would love the BBC forever if they made Arthur and Merlin a couple. Half of the programme is already like the build-up in a yaoi.
occasionallywearsahat.com, my rambly ramblings of ramble
Yeah, IIRC they never really explained it. Some people are better at certain kinds of magic than others (Voldemort, Hermione), some people are better at all kinds of magic than others (Dumbledore), some people are just average. Other than getting a good wand match, I just sort of treated it as any other skill, like some people are better at basketball or calculus than others.
Later on you this dude was using a magic shield. I called you an idiot. Turns out you were right, and you saved my sons life a 2nd time.
And yeah, when that plague hit the town, you said gwen wasnt the sorceress i accused her of being. Turns out you were right, and saved the entire kingdom from being poisoned.
But surely, now that you claim this cup is poisoned, you will be wrong, so here, drink it. If you were right, you die, if you are wrong, the other king kills you
Im not sure if I want to see the 5th episode.
The 5th episode continues the trend. :?
Well, you have to view Uther as a Legalist in the tradition of the book of Lord Shang. He sees himself as holding back a tide of anarchy and detestation by a strict adherence to codes and laws. They are his virtue and his vice. So...
Merlin was trying to sacrifice himself for Gwen, noble but not exactly a reliable source of evidence.
So we get to the chalice and bam, what this peasant is suggesting means war, and all without proof, allegations without proof are meaningless to Uther and as bad as any transgression of the law itself.
The next episode is a demosntration of this and is jolly good fun even despite the terrible, terrible CGI, you should watch it.
From the first to second episode:
Merlin's power regressed from being able to spellcast instinctively (saving the old man) to needing incantations (undoing the lock on the knight's door). It seems his ability is only useful when the plot calls for wacky antics.
Magic went from an offense punishable by death to the equivalent of "you're smoking in your room again?"
Merlin's a nobody who wants to be somebody and the great and powerful dragon tells him that his destiny is to ride the coattails of the rich prick and make the asshole look good. Great message there.
Perhaps this trend continues in later episodes - Merlin seems to have regular crisis of faith over Arthur "but he hates meee!", then the dragon tells him to stand by his man. Fortified by this, Merlin sucks it up and saves the day.
This is a bit more petty, but the castle is too clean and modern. It's like there's lightswitches hidden behind all the Ren Fair crap.
Powerful stuff needs spellcasting.
I like this show, its childish and kiddy, but silly fun.
Except he needed to say something to move a latch on a door.
Khavall's Beginner's Guide to Music Everything(Theory Blog)
Clearly this is a huge continuity error that makes the show totally unbelievable or something.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
I always thought his magical non-verbal stuff was driven by instinct/reflex with him having very little control over it. As opposed to the verbal stuff where he's using a system that allows him to exert control over its effects.
There, inconsistency resolved. People can stop bitching.
You stole the post right out of my fingertips. So he can instinctively hurl big objects around in a crass approach but the fine control to lift a door latch requires serious application of effort.
I think this thread is allowing us to easily determine who the cool, attractive people are and as such it is doing a valuable service for the forums.
Doesn't change the fact that the show blows, though. =)
One of my favorite episodes...
Sense makes no.
I saw a Saturday afternoon repeat of that snake bite episode. My viewing experience can pretty much be summed up as :?+O_o. Then, last Saturday afternoon, I saw him in Morgana's chambers hiding some kid from Arthur. He cast a spell to make a pair of boots tip-toe. Once more, O_o.
I may try watching it again this Saturday. Maybe it's like Torchwood in the way the quality varies.
He has a time machine.
So yeah, I kind of do.
It could be better, even as a family show, but yeah, it's not half as bad as some are making it out to be. Except that snake episode.
Khavall's Beginner's Guide to Music Everything(Theory Blog)
That snake episode wasn't that bad. They're a fiefy and superstitious bunch, their primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and things with molecular structures.
I don't think you understand why the snake episode was so bad.
Here's a hint: It has nothing to do with anything even remotely approaching "alloys and compositions and things with molecular structures"
Khavall's Beginner's Guide to Music Everything(Theory Blog)
So sure, he died of a snake bite. That's fairly suspicious, but oh wait, where's that evidence linking that specific knight to those snakes? Oh there is none, except he has snakes painted on his shield. How utterly convincing. [/sarcasm]
They're schemers.
Stop making my posts! Although I was going to with "There was no evidence" in capital letters with a full stop after every word. I like the sarcasm tag though.