Sean Bean Must Needs Beware the Ides of March?

How dangerous can playing Julius Caesar be? This article and IMDB page about the upcoming Caesar had me squeeing hard enough to crack my monitor. Is this for real? It reads like a fancast and I noticed a discrepancy regarding the casting of Antony. There’s supposed to be a supernatural bent too. Shakespeare shares a writing credit with Kira Madallo Sesay, so I’m guessing it’s not a straight read-through.

The comparison that jumps to my mind before the 1953 Mankiewicz film with Marlon Brando is HBO’s Rome, in part because of the cast. Rome was a gorgeous look at Caesar and company as complex people with conflicting hearts and heads. I hope it doesn’t die in development hell, but for now let’s have fun and frolic in the fiery pit. With these hotties. Here are some of the main cast.

Caesar
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”

Sean Bean rocks in almost everything, Here’s to hoping they balance Caesar’s charisma with his ambition and capriciousness. Soo much potential for epic speechmaking.

 

 

Mark Antony
“Blood and destruction shall be so in use, and dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter’d with the hands of war…

“ François Arnaud rocked mercurial nobility in The Borgias. Most likely there will be comparisons to James Purefoy‘s beguiling role on Rome. Schade! We’ve seen snarky selfish Antonys and bro-tastic jockstrap Antonys; it’s time for something new. Antony’s famous “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech is hilarious, chilling, and badass all at once.

Calpurnia
“The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.”

Indira Varma has the amazing ability to go from soft and mothering to smoldering and dangerous in a heartbeat. Not that Calpurnia needs to be either of those. Calpurnia is a fun character to explore some Shakespearean gender politics, if one is in the mood.

Brutus
“As he was valiant, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.”

Tom Weston-Jones…didn’t see that one coming. He was one of the better aspects of squeaky-clean Copper. Rock it, dude. Lucky ducky gets to act out a tragic bromance with Sean Bean! Brutus is the play’s most complex character, but these complexities don’t necessarily make him compelling. More a Hamlet than a Macbeth. The challenge lies in making the audience believe he was torn between two loves. Or, for the more contrary productions, that Brutus is a self-deluded hypocrite. Or maybe he’s both. This is what makes Shakespeare so delicious, aside from the sex jokes and put-downs.

Portia
“I have made strong proof of my constancy…”

Samantha Barks, who theater fans will remember from Les Miserables. Like Calpurnia, Portia is downgraded in stage time because the menfolk think she’s weak. Portia, however, is pissed Brutus doesn’t take her into her confidence. Always a great start for relationship conflict.

Octavius
“For we are at the stake,
And bay’d about with many enemies;
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, millions of mischiefs.”

Isaac Hempstead Wright is boyishly handsome no matter how tall he gets, but the only thing I’ve seen him in, Game of Thrones, shows he can balance youthfulness with wise-beyond-his-years. Max Pirkis‘ Octavian was cherubic shepherd boy who’d shank you in the kidney if it advanced his politics. I’m curious to see how Wright will play him; Shakespeare’s Octavius needs a good actor to keep him from slipping into one-note frigid ambition.

Casca
“It is the part of men to fear and tremble…”

John Bradley is adorable. Casca is a balls-out nutter conspiracy theorist who flies at Caesar like a Tea Party-aligned squirrel. Dear frackin’ lord is this the Game of Thrones reunion?

 

 

 

Cassius
“I know he would not be a wolf, but that he sees the Romans are but sheep.
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.”

Mackenzie Crook can certainly pull off a lean and hungry look. If this isn’t a fancast, hats off to this lovely actor for landing this fun role. Cassius, Caesar, and Antony get all the best lines.

Teen Wolf; MTV and positive examples?!

“Werewolves plus MTV, really now?”

I think I said this circa whenever the first trailers came out. It looked like a wolfy version of Vampire Diaries, which took everything Supernatural left out for good reason and hawked it up onscreen.

But my sister recommended it, and she has a similarly twisted mind to my own. Netflix Instant gave me optimal TV binge fuel, so I watched it as I worked. Lo’ and behold, I spent more time watching than working.

So my honest apologies, Teen Wolf is a really fun show. Subsequent seasons jacked up the story value and I must say as of Season 3’s finale, I’m hooked. It’s not Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad level, and it hasn’t topped Supernatural‘s best seasons, but it’s one of only two Buffy-esque show that reminds me of my warm fuzzies during Buffy‘s peak seasons.

The show follows teenage Scott after he gets a chunk ripped out of him while looking for a bisected corpse with his best friend Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), the sheriff’s son. Stiles is an ADHD adorkable smartass who helps Scott grow into his new powers. Rounding out the leads are surly werewolf Derek, love interest Allison, pretty genius Lydia, and jerk jock Jackson. Oh, and Allison’s family moonlights as werewolf hunters.

Derek, the werewolf who is not allowed to have nice things.

A werewolf show isn’t where I expected to see great examples of sex positivity and character agency. Teenagers and sex have a messy relationship in television. A female character who likes sex is usually presented as a slut or punished by an early pregnancy. The idea of two teenagers making a conscious, thoughtful choice to become more intimate? Perish the thought! After all, teens are wild horndogs who would be tupping in the hallways if schools didn’t enforce skirt and short hemlines reaching past the fingertips.

Teen Wolf does not pit Lydia, who is sexually active, against Allison, who is more sheltered. Instead they are good friends, with neither presented as having moral superiority. The labels of “good girl” and “bad girl” are never used.

Lydia is my queen. Awesome girlie.

The moment I had to clap was not when the heroes were triumphing over darkness, but when Stiles and his female friend were going to lose their virginity. Stiles stops mid-kiss to find a condom. Safe sex ftw!

Non-damsel females are presented in different ways. Allison is an archer and trained martial artist–when she hears a noise in the woods and goes to explore, she’s not the doe-eyed woman in slasher films. Meanwhile, asskicking is not the only path to power. Lydia, though also popular and snappy, is a math and science genius. When trapped in a chemistry lab and hounded by a bad werewolf, she creates a self-igniting Molotov cocktail (and when Chekhov’s cocktail eventually comes into play, it is badass).

A third character, Erica, drew more fan ire. She starts off as an outcast epileptic but turns into a seductive bombshell upon werewolfdom. I thought the writing supported it–she’s endured a lot of alienation and mockery because of her condition. It’s natural to be selfish and revel a bit. Erica is one of the weaker-written characters, but her volte-face seductiveness isn’t strange to me.

Also worth noting is the inclusion of gay characters without gay stereotypes. Danny, a side character, is a gorgeous lacrosse player and tech whiz who also happens to be gay. His friends are totally cool with it, without irritating “I support your lifestyle!” one-liners. I know not every school in the U.S. is accepting of people who are out, but as the high school is in California, it does not come across as idealization.

In the realm of highschool shows, parents are often static and invisible up until they stand in our heroes’ way. Most of the parents in Teen Wolf are cool. Stiles’ dad is the sheriff; Scott’s mom is hands-off due to her workload but obviously cares for her son; and Allison’s dad may be a werewolf hater but otherwise he’s a pretty awesome dad, and not portrayed as a bad person just because he dislikes Scott.

Papa Argent is rather DILFy

My favorite characters are Lydia (for aforementioned reasons), Stiles, and Isaac. Stiles is  much more than a plucky sidekick. Even if he has no werewolf powers or hunter training, his canniness makes him far from defenseless. Meanwhile, Isaac is the iron woobie of the show. An abuse survivor, he first revels in his newfound wolfiness and has a jerkass powertrip, but comes back around eventually. I would name a fourth character, but that would fall into walking spoiler territory.

Suffice it to say, I was surprised by Teen Wolf. Season 3 had an excellent finale with plenty of interesting fodder for next season. My only snarky hope is they beef up their CGI budget.

But please keep poking and drop-kicking tropes like the horror movie baseball bat.

Writing for Place (and tips for improving descriptions)

Sometimes, your writing has engrossing characters, compelling dialogue, and a brisk plot…but it still feels flat. It’s a fireworks display in your mind but hand it to a stranger and they glaze over. For me, it usually means I’ve done a crappy job creating a sense of place.

Describing a setting can be hard. Florid detail = usually silly. I don’t care about every plate in the china cabinet or the entire geography of the Pyrenees Mountains. A different reason is the writer may not have a vivid sense of place. A picture in your head does not equal a picture on the page.

Say your characters are fleeing a pack of werewolves through medieval Scandinavia. It’s cold and lonely. Snow, rocks, little bits of underbrush. That could also be my grandma’s farm in Pennsylvania. Readers can fill in many blanks, but conveying a vivid landscape needs enough details for the reader to imagine it, even if she has grown up in Australia and has never seen snow outside of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I use photo references. No one disses an artist for using a model or a reference photo. Why is writing different? I keep a folder labeled “Writing Inspiration” and add interesting pictures I find. 90% of these come from Tumblr, from blogs like Vurtual. That way, I can let descriptions percolate. I’ll jot down details, moods, and interesting possibilities. Physical details are good, but so is the real sense of the place. A grassy field can be serene, or it could be the spot of a bloody battle and the rustling glass sounds like ghosts. Once I have some good descriptions, I take the best and use them for my story.

It could be the path to freedom, or gap that suddenly fills in with soldiers, swords bared, crushing all hope that you escaped their dungeon.
Source: Vurtual

Amazing photography expands your mind too. We can’t all be jet setting explorers, but the world is full of magic. Could you imagine the Sahara looking like this?

Making love under the stars just got more epic.
Source: Vurtual

Photo references are great for improving descriptions in general. Personally, I love animal motifs, but animals get cliched out the wazoo. “He grinned wolfishly” – what the hell does that lazy description mean? What makes it wolfish? Pictures help you better define senses and moods and allow more showing instead of telling.

His eyes pierce, but could they care less about what lies beneath?
Source: WOLVES

Lastly, seeing is just one sense. Good writing incorporates all five. Some of the scariest shit I’ve ever read is terrifying because of sounds. A photo can’t tell you what the wind across Finnish hills sounds like, but it can spark your imagination.

“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” – Edgar Allen Poe