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[Discworld] Who Watches The Watchmen In The Watch?

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    surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    ye ramkin is one of the few characters in all of fiction that is a sympathetically portrayed middle aged fat woman who is taken seriously on her own terms and is also a romantic actor

    and they replace her with an incredibly attractive young woman

    its one of those cases where they confused "this casting will piss people off because of racism" with "this is a case where an attempt at one kind of subversion utterly undercuts the ways in which a character is actually unusual in a different way"

    ramkin is, in her own way, a counterpart to vimes; she is a "loser" (social outcast, obsessive interests, not regarded as physically attractive etc) but she has the benefits of confidence etc from her underlying privilege (and to anybody who knows v rich obsessive horse women there is an accuracy to a lot of her that is lost here too - a part of pratchetts essentially british social satire). to make her simply "a cool dual wielding dragon lady" is to destroy one of the essential qualities that draws her and vimes together...

    surrealitycheck on
    obF2Wuw.png
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    PirateQueenPirateQueen Registered User regular
    "And she had style and money and common-sense and self-assurance and all the things that he didn’t, and she had opened her heart, and if you let her she could engulf you; the woman was a city."

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    surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    elsewhere some of the casting is perfectly good. makeup and direction aside, the actor playing vimes could do vimes, regional accent is an interesting choice vs what u would assume eg generic cockney but could work. making vetinari a woman - the oddness of her being the "patrician" aside - is fine as executed here, suitably imperious etc. carrot and angua both look the part. but the writing and execution more broadly would need to be in place to support the decisions and it simply isnt the case here...

    surrealitycheck on
    obF2Wuw.png
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    FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    elsewhere some of the casting is perfectly good. makeup and direction aside, the actor playing vimes could do vimes, regional accent is an interesting choice vs what u would assume eg generic cockney but could work. making vetinari a woman - the oddness of her being the "patrician" aside - is fine as executed here, suitably imperious etc. carrot and angua both look the part. but the writing and execution more broadly would need to be in place to support the decisions and it simply isnt the case here...

    I could absolutely see Pratchett writing Vetinari as a woman and calling herself the patrician.

    Would you want to disagree with Vetinari about that?

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    PirateQueenPirateQueen Registered User regular
    Wait... the patrician is well done in the show?
    Now I want to watch, just to see her X )

    I'd imagine anyone disagreeing with her would not get to do so for long...

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    Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    SharpyVII wrote: »
    MorganV wrote: »
    SharpyVII wrote: »
    I've read the synopsis including character deaths for the first two episodes and all I can say is what the fuck have they done!!

    Care to specify/link? Spoiler tags are probably appropriate. But I can't see myself giving this a chance at actually watching it.

    Sure - major character death details inside:
    Detritus gets shot to death by people with crossbows

    2021 was supposed to be better!

    It's worse!

    2021 IS WOOORRRRSSSEEEE!!!

    H9f4bVe.png
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    see317see317 Registered User regular
    Golden Yak wrote: »
    SharpyVII wrote: »
    MorganV wrote: »
    SharpyVII wrote: »
    I've read the synopsis including character deaths for the first two episodes and all I can say is what the fuck have they done!!

    Care to specify/link? Spoiler tags are probably appropriate. But I can't see myself giving this a chance at actually watching it.

    Sure - major character death details inside:
    Detritus gets shot to death by people with crossbows

    2021 was supposed to be better!

    It's worse!

    2021 IS WOOORRRRSSSEEEE!!!

    It's only the second episode though.
    There's a chance it was a ruse.
    Please let it have been a ruse.
    I mean, they've made the investment, seems silly to have done that much if they weren't going to use it.

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    Munkus BeaverMunkus Beaver You don't have to attend every argument you are invited to. Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    That's what they're called... The haha-funny thing about them is they complain about their working conditions and constantly talk about unionising.

    Ah yes, I remember that from Snuff, how they're all revolutionary as opposed to pathetic downtrodden creatures whose typical greeting translates to "Survive!"

    Fuck's sake, at least use gnolls or something - they're vicious in Equal Rites, even if they turn to scavenging once they hit Ankh-Morpork (probably because it's easier what with all the garbage available)

    Yeah, holy shit is using goblins a bad look since their entire existence in the lore is being considered subhuman by the other races until the events of SNuff

    Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
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    Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Bursar wrote: »
    Bursar wrote: »
    (Although I'm almost certain that Stoolie turned up in Jingo solely to make a grassy gnoll joke, requiring since retconning of the portrayal from Equal Rites)

    Jesus, I just got that. British slang and all that.

    I thought he was talking about jfk there but mentioning british slang confused me.

    He's Stoolie because he's an informant to the police, meaning that he's grassy.

    But he's also a JFK joke as it's part of the "lone bowman" part of investigating who shot the prince (turns out the shot came from the UU Library, in which books are deposited)

    Layers, like an onion

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
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    klemmingklemming Registered User regular
    Never assume that Pratchett was making a joke about just one thing.
    I've suddenly gotten references in Moving Pictures and Soul Music decades later as I watch or read something else about music or movies history.
    Yeah, holy shit is using goblins a bad look since their entire existence in the lore is being considered subhuman by the other races until the events of Snuff
    But goblins are the generic bad guys, everyone knows this! Haven't you seen Lord of the Rings?

    Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
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    Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    I thought that there was a goblin minion in Last Hero based on the illustrations, but I just checked and no, they're one of the Stupid Lizard Men

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
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    daveNYCdaveNYC Why universe hate Waspinator? Registered User regular
    see317 wrote: »
    Golden Yak wrote: »
    SharpyVII wrote: »
    MorganV wrote: »
    SharpyVII wrote: »
    I've read the synopsis including character deaths for the first two episodes and all I can say is what the fuck have they done!!

    Care to specify/link? Spoiler tags are probably appropriate. But I can't see myself giving this a chance at actually watching it.

    Sure - major character death details inside:
    Detritus gets shot to death by people with crossbows

    2021 was supposed to be better!

    It's worse!

    2021 IS WOOORRRRSSSEEEE!!!

    It's only the second episode though.
    There's a chance it was a ruse.
    Please let it have been a ruse.
    I mean, they've made the investment, seems silly to have done that much if they weren't going to use it.

    Um... based on some light research on the
    Detritus
    situation
    on the IMDB, his actor is only credited with three episodes. That doesn't seem to bode well.

    Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    Wait... the patrician is well done in the show?
    Now I want to watch, just to see her X )

    I'd imagine anyone disagreeing with her would not get to do so for long...

    In the show. Vetinari is played by a woman (Anna Chancelor) but addressed as 'sir'. Saying it is well done could be a stretch because whoever it is supposed to be doesn't come off as the nearly omniscient, always has a plan, nicer than you'd think, still eminently dangerous Patrician. The impression given was 'generically powerful ruler'. Given the many genderswapped characters, it's just confusing.

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    tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Even aside from the egregious stretches taken with the IP, it sounds like a total conceptual mess. Are we sure Max Landis wasn't involved?

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    JandaruJandaru New ZealandRegistered User regular
    Wait... the patrician is well done in the show?
    Now I want to watch, just to see her X )

    I'd imagine anyone disagreeing with her would not get to do so for long...

    In the show. Vetinari is played by a woman (Anna Chancelor) but addressed as 'sir'. Saying it is well done could be a stretch because whoever it is supposed to be doesn't come off as the nearly omniscient, always has a plan, nicer than you'd think, still eminently dangerous Patrician. The impression given was 'generically powerful ruler'. Given the many genderswapped characters, it's just confusing.

    Aren't there posters ("Vote for Vetinari" or something) with artwork that looks like Jack Kidby's Vetinari, and characters referring to her with male pronouns in the show.
    Is her actual identity meant to be a secret?

    0ijlzpptari2.png
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    DanHibikiDanHibiki Registered User regular
    "Vote for Vetinari"? The political system of Ankh-Morpork is described as "One Man, One Vote", in which Vetinari is the 'Man', and he has the 'Vote'.
    So I don't see think he is in need of posters as a reminder for who to vote for.

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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    I didn't bother to watch Ep3, so I don't know if this Vetinari is supposed to be a man or a woman.

    This is a fucking problem.

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    knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    Is it really, though?

    If so, why?

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
    -Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    Are you for real?

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    knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    Yes. Why would it be necessary for the patrician’s gender to be explicitly spelled out?

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
    -Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    Because Havelock Vetenari is male in the books.

    It's one thing, if silly, to gender swap characters because apparently that's important now. Dr. Cruces and CMOT Dibbler are now women in this show. They hired a regular-sized man to play a dwarf female. And at the same time hired two little people to play Carrot's parents.

    Hiring a woman to play a male character, who looks like a woman, who sounds like a woman, who dresses like a woman, and is called 'sir' is just confusing in light of every other change they've made to the world.

    Multiple characters are nothing like their personalities or descriptions in the books. They have killed a character using a method that makes no sense.

    Making radical changes to an established IP and offering no clear explanations for the new rules is a significant problem.

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    knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    I’m not happy with most of the characterization changes I’m told the show makes.

    I’m not happy with the quality of the writing that has been described to me.

    I’m not happy with the mashing together of multiple books despite each book having more than enough content to fill out a full season.

    But of all the changes made, Vetinari’s gender matters least.

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
    -Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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    Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    I guess, if the issue is we're not sure Vetinari is referred to as male because she's concealing her identity to the public at large, or is meant to trans-male, and the show isn't clear about which one (if any) the situation is, it could get frustrating. Is it an unclear effort at gender presentation, or something else?

    Hey, have there been any shots of the Disc itself, the turtle and elephants and everything? I haven't even seen the opening credits, if there are any.

    H9f4bVe.png
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    ShadowenShadowen Snores in the morning LoserdomRegistered User regular
    This is to say nothing of how...iffy British entertainment is on the issue of gender. Especially these days.

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    The Zombie PenguinThe Zombie Penguin Eternal Hungry Corpse Registered User regular
    Shadowen wrote: »
    This is to say nothing of how...iffy British entertainment is on the issue of gender. Especially these days.

    As someone who's had this sort of pass them by - could you expand on this, or link some articles? Not arguing, just genuinely interested in educating myself on the topic.

    Ideas hate it when you anthropomorphize them
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    RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic Registered User regular
    Shadowen wrote: »
    This is to say nothing of how...iffy British entertainment is on the issue of gender. Especially these days.

    As someone who's had this sort of pass them by - could you expand on this, or link some articles? Not arguing, just genuinely interested in educating myself on the topic.

    TERF ideas are surprisingly pervasive over here, even in otherwise progressive folks.

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    Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    They basically think that every trans person is a pantomime dame trying to perv on our wimmen

    Trans men might as well not exist because they don't fit the prejudices

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
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    JandaruJandaru New ZealandRegistered User regular
    DanHibiki wrote: »
    "Vote for Vetinari"? The political system of Ankh-Morpork is described as "One Man, One Vote", in which Vetinari is the 'Man', and he has the 'Vote'.
    So I don't see think he is in need of posters as a reminder for who to vote for.

    xvpu6l826ws1.png
    Okay, that tracks.

    The gender-flipped characters are fine, and I've watched too much Star Trek to be fazed by calling women "sir", but the face on this poster still confuses me.

    0ijlzpptari2.png
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    klemmingklemming Registered User regular
    It's sad that we've apparently gone backwards, as I remember Coronation Street like twenty years ago when I'd have been forced to watch it because that's what was on when we had dinner, and there was a trans woman on there who was generally treated respectfully, as far as I can remember. Specifically, the ones who had a problem with her were clearly portrayed as being assholes that nobody liked.

    I think part of the problem here is that they're trying to put one of the puns from the books in there, but it's not one anyone tells, it's one the narration makes (which is something Pratchett did a lot, and doesn't cross well to non-book media). Good Omens dealt with this by just having a narrator, but God is an important character in that book even without actually appearing, so it mostly worked. Here they've just put a poster up to reference it, and it sounds like they're not actually giving the punchline.

    No real part of Vetinari's character relies on gender, but this specific pun does.

    Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
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    Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Why is Vetinari wearing a ruff in that poster? Does the character wear one?

    Based on what I've seen of the costumes so far I'd have assumed biker leathers and a top hat with goggles on

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
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    Mr_RoseMr_Rose 83 Blue Ridge Protects the Holy Registered User regular
    What’s extra annoying is that they have a setup for introducing the world; Carrot’s arrival in A-M. It was right there you guys. Just separate that bit out form the plot of the book and call it the first episode.

    ...because dragons are AWESOME! That's why.
    Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
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    daveNYCdaveNYC Why universe hate Waspinator? Registered User regular
    What is the plan with casting Anna Chancelor and then having Vetinari looking like that on the poster? Just... what?

    The Watch isn't a TV show, it's the equivalent to The Lincoln Project except it's targeting Discworld fans.

    Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
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    Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Not in reference to The Notch in particular, but I think a good adaptation of a Discworld story should involve a rarely seen narrator in black with a wide brimmed hat who cuts in now and again to cover the extra bits.*


    *You know, these bits.

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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    knitdan wrote: »
    I’m not happy with most of the characterization changes I’m told the show makes.

    I’m not happy with the quality of the writing that has been described to me.

    I’m not happy with the mashing together of multiple books despite each book having more than enough content to fill out a full season.

    But of all the changes made, Vetinari’s gender matters least.

    I didn't say it was most important.

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    King RiptorKing Riptor Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Why is Vetinari wearing a ruff in that poster? Does the character wear one?

    Based on what I've seen of the costumes so far I'd have assumed biker leathers and a top hat with goggles on

    In my head Vetanari looks and dresses a bit like Anton Ego from Ratatouille hed never wear a ruff.
    To noticeable

    King Riptor on
    I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
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    Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    He's an Assassin, so he knows style, but you're right, it's not in character to be ostentatious; I think "slightly shabby" might have even been used to describe him in the past, plus the Medici-esque skull cap mentioned in Making Money

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
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    David_TDavid_T A fashion yes-man is no good to me. Copenhagen, DenmarkRegistered User regular
    I could see him wearing one the same way a business man wears a tie. Like, if it was part of the cultural uniform for guild leaders to wear a ruff, then he'd wear a small, thin, quite possibly black one.

    But Ankh Morpork has never struck me as a place that would encourage people wearings ruffs. Or indeed anything around their neck that could be grabbed in a fight.

    euj90n71sojo.png
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    daveNYCdaveNYC Why universe hate Waspinator? Registered User regular
    He's an Assassin, so he knows style, but you're right, it's not in character to be ostentatious; I think "slightly shabby" might have even been used to describe him in the past, plus the Medici-esque skull cap mentioned in Making Money

    Vetinari is one of the few assassins who actually grasps the importance and functioning of camouflage. Wearing a ruff or looking a tad shabby would both be in character for him, depending on the environment.

    I'm not sure that assassins grasp style so much as they tend to be physically fit, think black looks cool, and have enough money for well made clothes. Difficult to look bad if you're packing that trifecta.

    Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    I would imagine a ceremonial uniform in his own style. But, as others have pointed out, it's never been his description.

    The show's A-M is some kind of steampunk/Victorian aesthetic but i always imagined it as a more stylised medieval universe. Descriptions in Monstrous Regiment might put it as a late eighteenth/early nineteenth century universe with a large amount of technology (gonnes) absent.

    They really did miss the boat by not having Carrot as the audience surrogate as a way to introduce this A-M to the audience. It seems that that is the trend now with IP reboots. You already know this stuff, so why bother to explain anything?

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    Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    The Guild runs classes in personal grooming and dance, and in Pyramids the senior Assassins are wearing the style of the time (narrow waist, broad shoulders, wide-brimmed hats), so there's definitely an emphasis on style so that their clients know that they're not being inhumed by some common thug

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
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