mccartyj

Hi! Loved your article. Really interesting. Wondering if you had heard of Manga Shakespeare? I took a Shakespeare class last year and did a lot of research on this genre. It’s a reinterpretation of classic literature (and classic with a capital C I suppose, as Shakespeare is our arbiter of taste in all things literary). I’d love to hear your thoughts!

It seems strange to me that now is the time for an Artemis Fowl film. Perhaps I’m just out of touch with the series, but it feels as though the heyday of these books have long since passed. In any case, I enjoyed your article and I’m curious to see how the movies do!

Thanks!

I think there definitely is a correlation between our ‘superheroes’ today and medieval masculinity. I have to confess that my knowledge in this area is fairly limited, however. In my opinion, the idea of the ‘knight errant’ – a single, sometimes tragically so, man who fights alone with superhuman strength – is pretty much the same thing as our superheroes today. We expect them to largely forgo any serious relationships, fight alone, and follow somewhat archaic standards of morality.

I always felt that First Knight, just as jarvis says, was a great popcorn movie. Of course it isn’t “historically” accurate (though I’m assuming what you mean is canon, as the Arthurian legend isn’t grounded in any real history), or even particularly good as far as film goes. On the other hand, rather like the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood, it is hilariously cheesy. Thanks for your thoughts!

Love your article! I have always felt that the movies for these books (taboo as it may be to say) are actually better than the books. Katniss’s story is always from her perspective, while with the films they are able to cast light on more than one girl’s take.

I completely agree! I read the Divergent series recently, at the request of a friend, and found myself wondering why they seemed so flat. Obviously, it was because no one other than the protagonist and her love interest were actually developed! Love your take on things here.

I have started watching Merlin. (Got to love Netflix, right?) And I’m very much enjoying it. I find it very witty, funny, and definitely appreciate Merlin’s atypical heroic self.