I've got a problem. My story not only has a lot of characters, which is always confusing, but they're all related to each other in a complicated back story. This isn't my fault, it's the source material--the lead up to the War of the Roses. I've even cut out an entire generation (Edward III's) but it's still confusing.Isabella the She Wolf was the daughter of a French King, and married the English King Edward II. Then came Ed III. Then his kids, Richard II and John of Gaunt. Richard II was King for awhile, but he was party-hearty, and he also stole all of Gaunt's lands. So Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke (who Richard had banished) came roaring back to town, with some allies, and dethroned Richard, and then had his murdered. Bol became Henry IV. Then Henry's allies weren't too pleased with him, so he had to kick their asses--Mortimer, Glendower, Hotspur, Hot's dad, Hot's uncle, York and Douglas. And then Bol dies and his son becomes Henry V, and decides to take on the French (whose throne he claims through the She Wolf), but only after cutting one of his best friends, and hanging another for treason.
Once you translate this into a modern setting, it gets even more confusing, cause you can't have modern day people running around killing each other over throne succession.
4 comments:
You need Henry V to be the Donald Trump like star of an Apprentice-like reality show and s/he keeps "firing" people.
Sons of Anarchy, the FX (cable network) show about a motorcycle gang in California, is based on Hamlet. It's also one of the best TV dramas that I've ever seen--and Season 1 is on DVD now. I'd recommend checking that out for examples on how people do this modern day huge cast of Shakespearean characters. If you're looking for examples. Particularly when the show gets into the second season, the characters are beautifully developed.
But honestly they do a lovely job in Season 1 as well... I fell in love with the show in Season 2 and went back to Season 1 once I'd become a hardcore fan.
Of course, on seeing your post, I should say that Sons of Anarchy does have...issues with race. The POC characters are sometimes written as sort of one-dimensional thugs, whereas the white thugs in SAMCRO are much more complex.
Also, it may be instructive in terms of organization, but to be clear... It is much, much darker than what it sounds like you're writing. It gets compared to The Sopranos a lot, though I think it has much more humor than that show. Even so, it's very violent, and a lot of people die, and it's about, you know, gangs. It does have a huge following among motorcycle gangs in the US, which I hope means it gets some things right in terms of authenticity. And I *love* it. I mean, there's this scene in Season 2 where Gemma (Katey Sagal, SAMCRO's "matriarch") talks about her rape, and it is breathtaking. The actors are so powerful in that show, seriously... The other nice thing is that (except for maybe Katey Sagal), the actors tend not to be as conventionally beautiful as they are in most US shows. But yeah, there's a huge web of characters, and I had to go back to Season 1 just to understand how they all relate to each other. So, without a doubt, it would be instructive in terms of understanding lots and lots of complex characters.
Post a Comment