Spoiler Verified Film Discount is one! when they were gonna watch zombies in the snow (which i did catch, tho I didn't realise the Discount was part of the acronym :'D REASON FOR THIS: swedish does compound words a lot more than english does so when I hear, say, 'Voluntary Fire Department' and I'm not too familiar with the term 'fire department' my brain will be like 'firedepartment' and then it'd make no sense for the d to be part of the acronym bc it's in the middle of the word, what's it doing there,
just watched episode 7 and Spoiler: episode 7 oh whaaaaaat?? i mean i was expecting for it to be count olaf on the other side of the mill door because the parents reuniting with kids this early wasn't gonna happen so i figured it was probably gonna be another fake-out, "they're in the same place but their paths unfortunately do not cross" thing but i wasn't expecting for it to not be their parents what the fuck i mean that really got me, especially because Spoiler: end of book series spoilers? maybe? i'm pretty sure (not 100% sure but) that one or both of the baudelaire parents do survive?? so i mean, wow. that was a pretty good trick that the show pulled, since it pulls one over on both book fans and show fans... guess it's time to watch ep 8...
Spoiler: episode 8 aaaah i really liked that ending song hello, quagmires. i vaguely remember you from book 5? vaguely? having now watched the whole season, i concur with the prevailing opinion that the added spy stuff is a good thing. helps make it more mysterious than the early books seemed, plus it works well in a tv adaptation. also, i'm kinda thinking like. man. even if miraculously the kids did get a suitable guardian & count olaf was in jail, etc.... man would they have some trust issues, at this point. i mean, hell, at the end of this episode, they had this exchange: Klaus: "Do you think [the statue woman] will find us again?" Violet: "Klaus... we're on our own." guess i've gotta reread the books now
Okay I haven't watched the series yet but I was popping in to ask: a friend of mine posted on Facebook that the show is transmisogynistic. Now, I'm not trying to discredit her in any way, but this is something she heard from the Tumblr grapevine, so I don't know 100% if it's true. Would anyone mind telling me if this is right? I know I shouldn't support transmisogynistic things, especially since I'm cis and need to be aware that my actions are could hurt other people.
I don't really think so? There's one part where someone asks "Are you a boy or a girl?" But I don't really find that much of a problem because it's to the character that the books describe as "a person who looks like neither a man or a woman," so I thought it was just a nod to that. It's just a throwaway line and no one really seems to care about the (lack of an) answer. Another part, Spoiler: eps 7-8 Olaf dresses up as a woman and is acting very effeminate. I think the joke is more that he's overacting rather than it's "a man in a dress." I can't think of anywhere else where the topic even comes up, so yeah.
Okay, requesting spoilers. Spoiler Does this series have a happy ending? I mean, does Olaf get his ass kicked, and the Baudelaires generally end up happy and safe? I saw most of the first two episodes, and it's a gorgeous series, but given Current Events and Past History, 'lol be grateful to your hilariously abusive parental figure' is kinda triggery, and it will help my anxiety a lot if I know the abusive adults get their comeuppance.
In the books? Spoiler: bookspoips from what i remember, not really. The kids get away from parent figures but the parent figures don't really get comeuppance that i remember. There are some nice adults who try to help but its sort of... unfortunate (I probably shouldnt answer because I haven't watched the show)
@albedo Spoiler: book spoilers Like most people here, I read the books a really long time ago so my memory of them isn't that great. But as far as I remember, there's not really a happy ending. Post-book 7, the Baudelaire's stop having guardians altogether, as they're on the run and wanted for murder. The happy ending as such is that they grew into strong, capable young adults (or children in Sunny's case), and they're finally free from Olaf's scheming because he's dead and Violet is finally of age. They do eventually encounter allies (and not entirely incompetent ones at that), though various circumstances mean that there's only so much help they can give. The unfortunate events never really stop, though most of them take refuge in absurdity which makes it funny rather than depressing. YMMV though. They do meet a number of good, kind people in the series, including some of their guardians like Uncle Monty and Jerome Squalor and Hector, but they pretty much never last.
Spoiler: book ending at the end of the books count olaf dies and violet comes of age, and so the children sail off into the sunset....... where their ship promptly wreaks. there is evidence that they do survive, but likely under new identities
Spoiler Damn. I'll raincheck until a later date, then, with great disappointment. The refuge in absurdity would normally be great, but ... well, we have some positively Dickensian drama happening here now, and it's just feeling too realistic. Thanks, folks. o/
I'm having a bit of a rough time rn, and the Netflix adaption is a dream come true! I love NPH's Count Olaf even more than book Count Olaf. And the kids are fantastic. Because of all the buzz I've discovered many friends/coworkers who are also SoUE fans. I've been surprised by how few know of The Tragic Treasury, the absolutely incredible indie album by Stephin Merrit's The Gothic Archies (with Daniel Handler on accordion!) which serves as a kind of soundtrack to the books . It's almost like meta-filk. The songs are flippin' great - it includes literally my favourite song ever recorded, In the Reptile Room. Also re: transmisogyny, Spoiler I absolutely loved Olaf in drag as Shirley. The fishnets bit in the book was a kink awakening for me. And yes, she's a badly acted caricature because all of his characters are like that. But I also can't deny the story plays into harmful transmisogynistic myths about predatory "fake women".
Spoiler: on the transmisogyny i think the transmisogyny in the show specifically is a result of the social enviornment it exists in, and not of the show itself. the portrayal does plays into the existing "man in a dress" "fake woman" and "predatory trans" harmful stereotypes, but i dont personally think the portrayal is in and of itself intended to mock, stereotype, or otherwise harm trans women.
Totally agreed. And I think, for anyone who is concerned about transmisogyny, the best option is watching the show (or any media) while remaining thoughtful about what you're watching from a lit crit and socially aware perspective. You learn a lot more that way.
I haven't watched all the way through but the androgynous henchperson of indeterminate gender is specifically listed as such in the credits, if that helps.
someone on tumblr is going to take issue with any treatment of gender, especially a show where a guy might disguise himself as a woman for nefarious purposes (which does unfortunately tie into existing problematic stereotypes). still, even if a show has transphobic or sexist or racist moments, you can still like problematic things without 'supporting transmisoginy'. you just like all the parts that aren't horrible. it's like going to a buffet— you're just going to leave the tray of 'laughing at GSM people' alone and serve yourself stuff you like from the other trays. one crummy bit doesn't taint everything, or you for going near it.
Oh man, I'm really enjoying the show so far--I'm on episode 3 and it's been super faithful to the books so far from what I remember! And oh my gosh, NPH is perfect as Count Olaf.
having recently watched luke cage with the same friend i watched this with, alfre woodard as josephine felt SUPER WEIRD. but still good. Spoiler: for the wide window "Captain Sham's one shiny eye blinked, and his mouth curled up in a terrible smile. "Thank you for pointing that out," he said, and took one last step toward Aunt Josephine. Sunny growled at him, and he looked down and in one swift gesture moved his peg leg and knocked Sunny to the other end of his boat. "Let me make sure I completely understand the grammatical lesson," he said to the Baudelaires' trembling guardian, as if nothing had happened. "You wouldn't say 'Josephine Anwhistle had been thrown overboard to the leeches,' because that would be incorrect. But if you said 'Josephine Anwhistle has been thrown overboard to the leeches,' that would be all right with you." "Yes," Aunt Josephine said. "I mean no. I mean-" But Aunt Josephine never got to say what she meant. Captain Sham faced her and, using both hands, pushed her over the side of the boat. With a little gasp and a big splash she fell into the waters of Lake Lachrymose." is still So Good. That's such a good villainous one-liner. Fuck. (I've been rereading the books. I genuinely can't decide whether the book or tv show version of Josephine's death is worse, because in the book she totally gives up the Baudelaires and offers to do anything as long as Olaf lets her live, then corrects his grammar out of habit rather than defiance (which makes him sufficiently angry to push her overboard.) (Josephine is #tooreal for me in general though, please stop being so anxious you are stressing me out) Spoiler: for the miserable mill i do love those horrifying mutually-on-the-edge-of-betrayal villain couples. and yeesh the cheerful/terrifying whistling music that played at mill moments and when klaus was hypnotized was great. AND THEY MADE SIR AND CHARLES CANON GAY.. good. good The Baudelaire/Quagmire parents reveal was SO well-executed, it made me yell loudly and then immediately start putting together half-remembered plot threads, while my friend who never read the books was just very mad at the show. :P NPH as Olaf is Fucking Hilarious, even if he has yet to succeed at being as menacing as book!Olaf for me.
So I'm rereading the books to see if the arc plot confused me because it was deliberately incomprehensible or because I was like nine, and mostly I am just delighted by Lemony Snicket all the time. He is so very much a character present in the narrative, and also the human embodiment of an A Softer World comic. In The Ersatz Elevator he claims to know some French words and gives a hilariously specific and incorrect translation of "cul-de-sac" as something like "The Baudelaires found themselves facing mysterious circumstances." But then at one point during a paragraph about deja vu which he repeats several times throughout The Carnivorous Carnival for comedic effect, he offhandedly defines several French expressions, like "ennui" and.. "la petite mort..." I expect Daniel Handler knows what "la petite mort" means, but Lemony Snicket seems DEFINITELY NOT TO, which led to
