The TV Series Versailles, Second Season, And Allowing Characters To Find SOME Happiness
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about the TV series Versailles and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this historical drama TV series, especially the first season of it, you might wish to skip this post.
I’ve now completed the second season of Versailles and I now know one reason this show didn’t gain a sufficient audience.
The writers don’t allow ANY of the characters to find happiness, especially romantic happiness.
Yes, the main characters are based on real people. And these real people didn’t find romantic happiness. Or much happiness of any kind.
But there are secondary characters the writers clearly didn’t base on real people. And they weren’t allowed to find happiness of any kind either.
And with a cast of thousands, that’s…a lot. Everyone is miserable. Everyone is in constant drama.
There’s no backbone of contentment or joy or happiness.
In a Romance Novel Series, this role would be filled by the happily bonded couple (or more) of one of the previous stories in the series. Or a set of long time happy and now super content parents. Or the grandmother who is always in her kitchen baking cookies when the hero needs someone to talk with. Or the best friend who always makes the heroine laugh when she’s feeling sad.
These characters are relatively drama free and they are a respite for the readers/viewers from the darkness, from the conflict. They show us where we want the main characters to end up, our wish for them.
All drama all the time with all characters is tiring. And that type of story doesn’t appeal to many people.
Give your readers a sanctuary.
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The TV Series Versailles, Second Season, And Allowing Characters To Find SOME Happiness
The TV Series Versailles And A Cast Of Thousands
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about the TV series Versailles and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this historical drama TV series, especially the first season of it, you might wish to skip this post.
I’ve recently been enjoying Versailles, a historical drama TV series inspired by some of Louis XIV’s life. I’ve completed the first season.
And stars, I’m emotionally invested.
This is despite the showing having a HUGE cast and the similarity of how the characters look (all white, all in that period’s clothing, having that period’s hairstyles, etc.).
I believe this is because of how uniquely every character acts and thinks and how consistent they are regarding this.
Louis XIV and the Duke Of Orleans are brothers, for example.
But we know that Louis XIV will always make decisions based on what he believes will result in the greatness of himself and of France. He is also always aware that people want to harm and kill him. He’s paranoid about betrayal and he has good reason to be so.
The Duke Of Orleans has been betrayed also. But his default is trust. Because he has been raised to trust in the monarchy and in the King’s (in this case, his brother’s) decisions. This results in him trusting a loved one who, time and time again, betrays that trust.
These two very different approaches to life impacts their behaviors and their thinking.
Louis XIV acts quickly and decisively. He doesn’t ‘talk.’ He commands.
The Duke Of Orleans will defer to others. He is unlikely to act without support or consensus. He listens more than he talks.
And because he knows he has support, he isn’t overly worried about being assassinated. He ‘trusts’ other will keep him safe.
That’s great character building.
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The TV Series Versailles And A Cast Of Thousands
The White Lotus, Season Three, And Knowing The Ending
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about The White Lotus, Season Three, and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this miniseries, you might wish to skip this post.
One of the many things I love about romance novels is…
We, readers, KNOW the ending to all of them. We know the characters featured in the book description end up with a romantic happy ever after or a romantic happy for now.
Part of the fun is figuring out how they get to that point, how they manage to find that romantic happiness and make their unique relationship work.
The seasons of The White Lotus are set up very similarly. Except we are shown in the first episode that at least one character ends up dead. And our journey is to figure out how the characters get to that point.
To tell a viewer or a reader the ending of a story and then maintain their interest throughout that story takes GREAT skill. It is dang impressive.
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The White Lotus, Season Three, And Knowing The Ending
