The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Adaptation Do's and Don'ts
morriswalters:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Welsh_people ;)
Snark Knight:
--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on May 22, 2022, 01:16:16 PM ---Morgan is supposed to be of Welsh descent about 200 years old, (the surname is a giveaway)so not really appropriate, he isn’t from Chicago, and it’s a failure to address that issue which is the problem. Besides setting up an recurring antagonist as black I found problematic, same if they tried it with Rudy.
--- End quote ---
Morgan's national background wasn't particularly fundamental to his character though, despite the name's Welsh roots. And in fairness to the original show, whether related to the casting or not, they did tone down his antagonism - he was still strict and suspicious, but without the seeming personal hatred of Harry.
Granted I saw the series before finding the books, but "rational hardass" vs. "rabid" seems like a good adaptation change to me. A show would struggle with keeping a significant supporting character just an irrational persecutor for as long as it took the books to explain that behaviour.
Mira:
--- Quote from: morriswalters on May 22, 2022, 09:59:49 PM ---If you see the actor instead of the role someone isn't doing their job well.
Since Dr Who isn't human, what difference does it make what gender he/she is? I mean, come on, one of the big villains was a vacuum cleaner carrying a toilet plunger. You bought into that didn't you?
Also leave out comic book characters. Wonder Women was a bondage queen who spent as much time tied up with her golden lasso as any villain. She was also female since she was an Amazon. But face facts, Rue Paul could play her if he needn't go the full Monty. And the same for Black Widow. And how would you know? Do you have crotch vision or bust detectors? You see what you expect to see.
Kabuki Theater plays off this and it has been done on film. Victor Victoria is hysterical. Color doesn't matter much either since in Morgan's case there are Black Welsh. I'd settle for good, no matter who plays the roles.
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So since all of the above characters are fictional, what does it matter what sex or color? I think it would make no difference if Murphy was played by a man... The tough cop thing works for both sexes, so does the love thing.. Comic book or novel? Wonder Woman can change to Greek Warrior.. Or better yet, Amazons still need men to make little Amazons, some are born boys, and what if his mother decided she wanted her son treated equally to the girls? My point stands that there is no need to change the color or sex of an existing character no matter the medium because there is no reason to create more. Oh and my impression of Sanya, is though he seems to be Russian, he is also black, I seem to remember him described that way, but I could be wrong there.
BrainFireBob:
--- Quote from: Mira on May 23, 2022, 04:24:10 PM ---So since all of the above characters are fictional, what does it matter what sex or color? I think it would make no difference if Murphy was played by a man... The tough cop thing works for both sexes, so does the love thing.. Comic book or novel? Wonder Woman can change to Greek Warrior.. Or better yet, Amazons still need men to make little Amazons, some are born boys, and what if his mother decided she wanted her son treated equally to the girls? My point stands that there is no need to change the color or sex of an existing character no matter the medium because there is no reason to create more. Oh and my impression of Sanya, is though he seems to be Russian, he is also black, I seem to remember him described that way, but I could be wrong there.
--- End quote ---
Respectfully, Murphy's a trope inversion- Jim loves these. A Murphy that isn't a petite, short, doll-like woman doesn't have the same struggles. She's an interior cigar-chomping hard-ass tough-as-nails wise guy, but she looks like a cheerleader- she was Jim doing a Buffy. She's actually a miniature Viking, and her coloring furthers the joke. (Recall, Butcher's Vikings- his Einherjar- are men who gleefully go after Jotnar. Relatively speaking, compared to Murphy, you're no Jotnar.)
Just like Harry's a clever, insightful, relatively wise (for his years) man who works with his mind- and is a hulking representative of humanity. It's a joke. When they confront you, Murphy's going to loom and Harry's going to go nice cop. Harry's the one who's going to try to entrap you in lying and Murphy's the one who's going to rough you up.
To do it really well, and capture an important aspect of the books, you'll need a director/showrunner who pushes close-ups for most scenes, so you can occasionally pan out to just how tall/looming Harry is. Harry forgets the effect this has on people sometimes- particularly other tall people who aren't as tall. It can elicit instant hostility from those who are used to looming themselves. I've always thought a well-done scene with Morgan would have such a cutaway, where Harry doesn't realize he's not "in Morgan's face" but "looming down into Morgan's face", which is inherently a bit more threatening.
BrainFireBob:
--- Quote from: Snark Knight on May 23, 2022, 05:08:21 AM ---Morgan's national background wasn't particularly fundamental to his character though, despite the name's Welsh roots. And in fairness to the original show, whether related to the casting or not, they did tone down his antagonism - he was still strict and suspicious, but without the seeming personal hatred of Harry.
Granted I saw the series before finding the books, but "rational hardass" vs. "rabid" seems like a good adaptation change to me. A show would struggle with keeping a significant supporting character just an irrational persecutor for as long as it took the books to explain that behaviour.
--- End quote ---
Cast a retired cop.
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