u/MoonlightDahling

Here are some of mine.

Some notes, on a few of them:

Picnic at Hanging Rock (I've also read the book, and, while I liked it, I think I like the film even more)

Rebel Without a Cause (the film that got me into them, and also into classic cinema)

Carrie (book and film)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (book and film)

Gregg Araki's Teen Apocalypse Trilogy (warning: I really wouldn’t recommend any of them to anyone under 18 – especially not The Doom Generation. Also, they do benefit from being watched in release order.)

(Pictured is Brittany Murphy, who had a lovely singing voice. From Happy Feet)

Should bad singers be dubbed? I do think it’s a case-by-case thing.

Also: any instances where you thought someone should have just been dubbed? Or, alternatively, shouldn’t have been?

Hey there! I've posted here before. But it hasn’t gone over so well.

So I want to clear things up:

I like the show, overall, for what it is.

(And I'm well aware that the cast are basically different characters, before someone points it out)

I am not “shitting all over” it with my mild criticisms, in spite of what some people have told me.

I did genuinely enjoy it.

But I have complicated feelings that I need to get off my chest.

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I watched The Haunting of Hill House in January of this year. I thought it was absolutely well-made.

I thought the acting was really good, and there were definitely some scenes that I found exceptionally moving and powerful.

(Theo's famous speech, in Witness Marks, for instance. As someone with severe depression, I could certainly relate)

And I enjoyed the cinematography, set design, and atmosphere all throughout it.

That said…having read the original book six months prior, and having absolutely fallen in love with it – quite a bit of what it did with the source material bothered me.

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I get that the series is supposed to be a reimagining, not a normal adaptation (which doesn’t suit the ten-episode format). And that Mike Flanagan and many of the cast and crew are fans of the book.

I understand all of that.

But I dunno, I just found the choice to reuse character names strange, when they’re so different, personality-wise.

They’re basically completely different characters.

And I particularly didn’t like a lot of what the show did with Eleanor as a character, someone I heavily relate to in the source material.

Nell in the show is a good character, don’t get me wrong. But I felt like she was almost…defanged, in a way. Of the flaws that make her book counterpart so compelling

Which bothers me, considering how much of book!Eleanor is inspired by Shirley Jackson herself, up to, and including, her relationship with her abusive mother.

(As someone who has also had a parent constantly telling me that I'm not good enough, all throughout my life, that really resonated with me)

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Moreover: making Nell unequivocally straight, when her sexuality in the book is…INCREDIBLY questionable, and her most important relationship is with a woman, also rubbed me the wrong way.

I don’t know why Arthur couldn’t have been a woman, if they simply *had* to reuse the name “Eleanor Vance”

In general, the book is far more female-centric, and sapphic-centric, than the show. (To the extent that I'm not sure it would pass the Reverse Bechdel Test.)

Also, while I respect the fact that Theo is still a lesbian…Trish is a pretty minor character, in the grand scheme of things, while Eleanor and Theodora's relationship is THE most important one in the original book.

It just isn’t the same.

And as someone who absolutely fell in love with that relationship, in the book, I found that really disappointing.

(I do hate the fact that I have to clarify that they aren’t sisters every. Single. Time. I talk about the book.)

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While I'm glad that people enjoy the show, and I'm glad that he has drawn more attention to the book…it does hurt that it’s almost impossible to find anything about the book, on social media, anymore.

(I remember a while back, I was trying to find just a single analysis of the book on YouTube, found what I thought was one, and was severely disappointed when I realised that it was yet another of the dozens about the show)

Moreover: the show and its popularity have basically killed the chances of any other adaptation of Hill House, at least in the near future.

While The Haunting (1963) is a great film, and I respect the fact that Mike didn’t want to outdo it…it's worth pointing out that, even as the only relatively faithful adaptation, it still made some significant changes that Shirley Jackson herself disliked.

(It also made the Eleanor/Theodora subtext less mutual, and even gave Nell a moment of thinly-veiled homophobia)

I do really mourn Steven Spielberg and Stephen King's scrapped 90s adaptation, and what could have been.

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Basically: my feelings on this show are complicated.

I HIGHLY recommend checking out this video, made by a woman who’s a bigger fan of the show than me (and, again, I did enjoy the show!) and has watched it several times.

Her analysis is balanced and fair, and she sums up both the show's strengths and weaknesses, while explaining why exactly some fans of the book have issues with it.

I just wish we could have a serious discussion about the show as a “reimagining” (as it officially is).

Because, whenever I state my mild criticisms of it, I immediately get downvoted. Here and elsewhere.

I've had my mental health mocked and been accused of just being a “hater”. I'm not.

I just wanted to get my feelings out, basically. Because it does hurt, you know?

Sometimes I feel all alone in my love of the book, and it gets me down.

(I did make a subreddit for the book, actually, but I haven’t felt very motivated to work on it for that very reason.),

In order, unranked:

- Dirk Bogarde - Victim
- Paul Newman - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- (Dame) Judith Anderson - Rebecca
- Sal Mineo - Rebel Without a Cause
- Robert Walker - Strangers on a Train
- Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif - Lawrence of Arabia
- Shirley MacLaine - The Children's Hour
- Peter Lorre - The Maltese Falcon
- Marlene Dietrich - Morocco
- John Dall and Farley Granger - Rope

(Just saw that someone else posted something similar, but oh well)

Thoughts on my picks? Any that you’d add?

Looks like a beautiful transfer, from what I’ve seen just flicking through.

(I do wish it had better special features, though)

I would highly recommend reading the book FIRST, if you haven’t, because it’s more detailed, and the film did make some unnecessary changes that Shirley Jackson herself disliked.

(Also: the homoerotic subtext, between the two female leads, is a bit less mutual, which did irritate me.)

But they’re both outstanding. The film’s cast, cinematography, and atmosphere, are all top-notch.

It, like the source material, is brilliantly unsettling without an ounce of gore.

Here are some of mine.

So, I noticed this funny trend in LGBTQ+ media, where, if two characters of the same gender happen to have a romantic relationship/a relationship with queer subtext, they tend to have contrasting hair colours.

Usually, it’s a shade of blond contrasted with brunet (brown or black hair). But there are plenty of variations – including dark blonds, dyed blonds, and even a redhead in black and white.

Note that the characters don’t HAVE to be a canon couple at all. At least one of my examples is one-sided, and another has, I'm pretty sure, been confirmed as platonic.

Basically, the only qualifier is that their relationship is at least somewhat readable as queer-coded, regardless of the director's intent.

I'm curious as to whether anyone can think of any other examples.

(He was dark blond with blue eyes, FYI)

I'm wanting to add one of his characters to my island, so I’d really appreciate it.