Dresden Files Review

[booksomewench]

So, I know I promised this to you about a month ago, but I'm pretty sure I also promised a review of my first Lunacon, back in '03. So be glad you're getting this now.

In shogunhb's post he sayd the third episode of the series "wasn't as bad as the first 2. Not all that bad at all." You'll notice, he also didn't say that it was good.

First of all, let me explain to you just what I think happened at the Sci-Fi planning session when they first decided to turn the Dresden Files into a show.


A board meeting in the upper levels of Sci-Fi TV...

Sci-Fi Exec: (chewing on a cigar) Okay, so we know that cop shows are hot. NYPD Blue, CSI in all its incarnations, Law and Order, Hell, even USA's in on it with Monk and Psyche. We gotta get in on this.

Sci-Fi Planner A: (eager to please) But give it out own, unique twist.

Exec: (dismissively) Right, right. Okay, so what can we do that'll be a science fiction-y cop show?

Sci-Fi Planner B: Show reruns of the X-Files?

Exec: Nah, FX already has that covered. We need something new, something edgy.

Sci-Fi Planner C: Detectives in Space?

Exec: We just got Enterprise. We're pretty good on the whole '...in space' genre. No, we need something more...fantasy-based. You know, give those unicorn-hugging, Harry Potter-reading, sword & sorcery pansies a thrill.

Nervous Intern: (trying to get recognition while serving coffee) Uhhh...there's a series out about a wizard, who's also a detective I think.

Planner A: (irritated) Shut up kid and just serve the damn coffee.

Exec: (mildly intrigued) No, no, let him talk. What's this about, Jr?

Intern: (desperately trying to remember what his roommate said about the series) Uhh...there's a wizard, named Harry--

Planner C: (snide) Potter? We've heard this one.

Intern: No, uh, Dresden, I think. And he....works with the police to solve weird crimes. Some detective chick...Marcy? No a guy's name...Murphy? Yeah, Murphy. And he's got a talking skull named Bob...

Excec: (Clearly lost interest) ....

Intern: (Rushing to finish) And I think the series is on one of the best-seller lists!

Exec: (Now really interested) Best seller list, huh? That's good for ratings. Okay, I think we've got all we need here. A--start drawing up a cast list. B--read the back of the books and check wikipedia to make sure we got the names right. C--go tell marketing we've got a show based on a best-seller book series and see how much funding we can drum up. Oh, and Intern.

Intern: (excited) Yes?

Exec: Go get some more coffee. All this planning's made me tired.

No, really, that's what I think happened. Then they approached Jim Butcher and said "We'd like to give you stupid amounts of money to bastardize your series." Jim, being no moron, hesitated between artistic integrity and paying his bills, and decided that paying his bills was a much better option. "I'll take your money," said he, "but I want very little part in the show, as watching you rape my novels might make me cry a little. Y'know, on the inside." "Well," quoth the Sci-Fi rep, "We'd like to have you on set occasionally, to make the fans think that we actually care about things like pre-existing plot and characterization, but we'll pay you a few extra dollars that you can use to wipe away your tears." And the deal was struck.

Seriously, the tagling should be "the show inspired by the blurbthat was nominally based on the books."


First, let me just say up front: I have a real problem with book-to-screen adaptations. Mostly because they, well, suck. I understand (intellectually) that some changes need to be made but, for the most part, I feel that if you're adapting a book for the screen (big or little) it should be because you love the book and you want to make it accessible to people in another medium. Not because you want to change shit around for no reason. If you want to do that, then you should just write fanfiction like the rest of us. Own up to your goddamn roots.

I think what's offending me most about the show is that they are changing stuff for no good readon that I can see--specifically characterization. Characterization is incredibly important to me. One of the reasons I can read MacGuffin fantasies and romance novels and still be entertained is because they have to focus so much on characterization to stand apart. Everyone knows the plot, and the ending'd not going to be a surprise either, so what has to drive the story and set it apart from its fellows is damn good characterization. And say what you like about the flaws of Jim's books and writing, I think the characters in the Dresden series are pretty compelling. Or at least, enjoyable.

The show, however, ignores all of that. They threw the plots of the books out the window, completely. The most recent episode "Hair of the Dog" was vaguely related to Fool Moon--in that someone heard people discussing it, said "Hey, Feds as werewolves, I can work that," and then made up a ritual and momentary love-interest for the episode and called it good. (This was also the first episode where Harry did anything concretely magical, but I'll ignore that for now.) But worse than ignoring the plots, worse than ignoring the who supernatural world that Harry has to deal with (and I find super-cool, fairly reminiscent of Gaiman's Neverwhere), they just completely ignore the characterization. And the most egregious example of this is Bob.

In the books, Bob is an air spirit who lives in a skull down in Harry's lab. He's basically a magical version of Google, where Harry can ask questions and Bob can answer them with six hundred years of magical experience. He's fairly amoral; he's served both good and bad wizards in his day, and has ralatively few qualms about it. Except, he's also got a personality. He's a dirty-minded, wise-cracking pervert who makes Harry work for the information he wants. He is quite susceptible to bribery, which often comes in the form of skin mags, ladies underwear, explicit romance novels, and the (very occasional) trip outside his skull, where he then wreaks havoc of a true Dionysian form.

In the movies, Bob is a whiny ghost who lives in a skull down in Harry's lab. He moans and complains, and worrys, and hen-pecks. There's nothing fun or exciting about him--I'm sure he spends him time in the skull composing bad goth poetry for fun. He had none of book!Bob's vitality, interest, or energy. He's boring, and that's really the best I can say for him. I'd never seen anyone languish upright before.

Book!Bob: You know Harry, this idea of yours sucks. No seriously, I've gotten very good in my time of measuring the suckitude of ideas, and let me say, yours sucks more than a sorority girl on Initiation Night. And if you get blown to Kingdom Come, I'll be stuck in this skull with no one but Mister for company, and he's not the kid of pussy I prefer.

Show!Bob: Harry, please forgive me for pointing this out, but your current idea is...less than ideal. I do wish you'd think of another, because I'm worried this one will only lead to grief. I'm sorry to be so harsh, and here, I made you cookies by way of apology, because I think my strong opinion might have hurt your feelings.

There's nothing about the White Court (called the High Court), nothing about Nevernever, no fey, no werewolf allies, (and, for the record, in Fool Moon they explicitly state that humans don't become werewolves just because of a bite. That was a mistake. I looked it up.) no vampires. Nothing all that interesting. Seriously, it's just a show about a detective who occasionally uses magic.

I am highly disappointed.

Next on Nu's Reviews, read as she tackles Gone With the Wind!

18!

(days till my 25th birthday)

Comments

[shogunhb.livejournal.com]

The reason this episode was so much better than the others is that
1) Harry used magic to solve the case. Three times! That's Three times more than the first 2 episodes combined.
2) Harry took an active role in solving the case and went up against difficult (though not suicidal like the books) odds to save the girl in true hero fashion, rather than being dragged along haphazardly reacting to situations out of his control and finally winning by some strange duex ex machina (like the first 2 episodes).
3)Relatively attractive werewolf chick whom Harry almost but not quite has a relationship with. (Fairly true to Harry).

All in all, if they keep going along this path, I think they have the making of a decent supernatural detective show. What they do not have is the Dresden Files. They bought the rights and used the name to pull in people who liked the books, then screwed with them. So, the only people who are going to like the show are the people who have not been exposed to the books. Bad planning guys. Anyone who randomly tunes into the show and likes it is going to track down the books and be hella confused.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Actually, the guy who developed the show is Robert Hewitt Wolfe, who is a fan of the books, has read them and everything, and talked a lot with Jim about developing the series, and Jim is on record as being happy with it.

I know fans like to construct a reality where network executives specifically gather to make them miserable, but the reality is nothing like that.

You don't like the show, fine, but don't accuse the makers of the show of motives they don't have or of being less than they are.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

(Sorry if that came across as snotty, but RHW's a friend, so I felt the need to come to his defense.)

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

I didn't suggest they did it to make us miserable, more that they didn't care enough to do it right. I think this falls under accusing them of being less than they are rather than giving them motives they don't have.

My only question is if your friend is such a fan, then why does the show have very little in common with the books save the names of characters? I understand changing Karrin's first name (since there's a cop with the name Karrin Murphy on Chicago's police force) and why a beat-up Jeep is easier to get access to than an old Beetle, but those are the only changes I understand. Why such drastic alterations to everything?

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Because the needs of a one-hour, non-serialized TV show are completely different from those of a series of novels -- which, BTW, is the main reason why they de-powered Harry, which was very wise. With a TV show, you have 20 small problems to solve per year, as opposed to a novel series, where you have one big problem to solve per year. If Harry's sooooooper powerful, he become much harder to challenge on a weekly basis.

[charmed1ofdoom.livejournal.com]

If Harry's sooooooper powerful, he become much harder to challenge on a weekly basis.

That just denotes lack of imagination. Their are reasons why a uber superpowerful person could/would not use their powers. Some reasons why and uber powerful person would not use there powers on a regular basis is: destroys the world, to avoid detection of other superpower people, or even using it x amount of times would mean their death (in a general sense).

btw cute icon.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Well, sure they could do that, but that would also be a change from the original, and result in the same complaints. *grin*

a new reply, now with more more thought!

[charmed1ofdoom.livejournal.com]

I think Nu argument closely resembles the same argument from die hard fans with the lack of "S.P.E.W" making an appearance in the last Potter movie. She understands the need for changing a few things that the series creators can't depict with accuracy or within a budget or even time limit. However, in the last Potter movie the film centered around the peoples and core story and not the uber cool graphics /scenes. In other words the last film, there is a connection to the story and the characters.

So for fundamental changes to Bob was maybe an arbitrary change to pacify people like censors but enrages the fans.

And after searching on the wiki (linky) it also seems that the eps (the chart at the bottom of the page) are out of order. An affliction that seriously messes up the whole show like Fox's adaption of Escaflowne or Firefly. (Which angers the Nu even more)

So, with those two components, lack of actual character development and network messing with the order of airing, it is easy to see why people who watch this show feel that the powers that be don't care about the product. For fans of Firefly, or any person who had their favorite Fox show cancelled mid-season, we have gone through this before. We know the power of whining. It saved Roswell until season 3. So what Nu is doing is trying to get some change with that whine.

(I would also like to point out that Dresden (at least in the one book I read) was a powerful wizard living in a world of humans to avoid living by the rules of his culture/peoples. He already was already challenged by living in two worlds and not trying to be detected by the wizard people. "Depowering" him seems arbitrary to me.)

Re: a new reply, now with more more thought!

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

See, getting rid of S.P.E.W was an adaptation I could live with. It wasn't integral to the plot, it didn't mess with anyone's characterization. It was flavor for the book, and unnecessary.

But my whole point is that the show's not just changing the plots around, they're changing the people. And if you start doing that, then why bother making the show in the first place?

Re: a new reply, now with more more thought!

[charmed1ofdoom.livejournal.com]

dude, I said that! ~_^

Re: a new reply, now with more more thought!

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

I know, I was agreeing. Your comment was perfect.

But I'm not whining. I'm bitching. Totally different.

Re: a new reply, now with more more thought!

[charmed1ofdoom.livejournal.com]

Dude I was trying to be all englishy by twisting a cliche.

Instead of cheese with that whine, I made it change with that whine.

:P

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

First, I would like to point out Dexter, from Showtime, was considered a very faithful retelling of the novel by fans of both the show and the book, though (of course) some adaptations were made, the characterizations stayed true to the book itself. I admit that I have not read the book, so can't speak to the veracity, just pointing out that's what 'is said.' But Showtime managed tO stay true to the novel by breaking the book down into episodes, so the show flowed well. No, compressing each novel into a one-hour time slot wouldn't work (it would probably set me off on another tangent) but there are definite ways to break down each of the novels so they form story archs across the season. Hell, interspersing 'random' episodes (like the first and second) into the arcs would still be fine--there'd be a narrative flow that would appease the fans, while enough 'monster-of-the-day' to make sure there were enough episodes to round out the season.

And yes, Harry may be getting sooooooper powerful in the books, but he's also going up against some heavy hitters. Why ignore the Nevernever, when it makes a great foe for him to battle with? And through the entire first book, he had the Doom of Damocles hanging over his head--it gives him a canon reason to avoid flashy uses of magic. There are many ways to keep faithful with the book and still fall under the constraints of a television show.

And, no offense meant to your friend, but why make a TV show out of a series you love if it meant changing the series out of recognition? It has Harry Dresden window dressing, but very little else. It makes a semi-decent supernatural detective show, but they could have accomplished that very easily without using Butcher's work.

And yes, we're only three episodes in. They may amaze me next Sunday with the Summer Court, an incursion of Red Court vamps, and a Bob that spends less than half an episode moping. Hell, I hope they do.

But you'll understand if I don't hold my breath for it.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Actually, there's a lot more stuff from the books coming. As soon as next week we'll be seeing Morgan and the politics of the High/White Council, and according to the series bible, other elements of the books' universe will be showing up, we just haven't seen them in the three that have aired.

Sci-Fi's airing them completely out of order for reasons passing understanding (though a secondhand source that may or may not be reliable says it's due to issues regarding post-production, which is why we're getting low-FX episodes early).

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Oh, and FWIW, they could've gone the Dexter route -- which is also what they're doing with GRRM's Thrones on HBO -- and just done Storm Front as one season, but that would make for a denser show with a smaller audience, which Showtime and HBO can get away with because they don't care about ratings. Sci-Fi, however, needs eyeballs on the TVs, so they're going to go for a more episodic approach.

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

I would guess, however, that the majority of their audience are people who are fans of the books. And this first offering is enough to get several fans I know to stop watching. Heck, the only reason I saw this last one was because Shaughn was watching it while I played FF12 (the TV's are side by side.)

But regardless of my issues with the lack of book plot, my main frustration with the series is the way the characterization is just way off. I picked on Bob, because he's such a blatant example, but Harry and Murph are pretty deep in left field, too (though, to be fair, part of it is that we're missing the voice over-which I think would improve the show a lot. Just having a bit at the beginning of the episodes isn't enough to really convey what's going on).

[kradical.livejournal.com]

I would guess, however, that the majority of their audience are people who are fans of the books.

Then you would guess very very very very very very wrong. If it was just fans of the books watching the show, the show would tank horribly, and Sci-Fi would've already cancelled it due to record-breaking lows in ratings.

Millions of people watch the show. Thousands of people read the books. The show has to appeal to an audience way bigger than that of the source material in order to be even a moderate success.

And "me and my friends don't like it" is no kind of indicator of success, FWIW. In fact, Dresden is getting the same numbers as Battlestar Galactica, which is Sci-Fi's darling. It's doing fine.

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

But me and my friends don't like it! And I am the final yardstick of what is good and what is not!

Okay, seriously, I bow to your numbers. ~_^ Truth be told, I am glad the show's doing well. But only because I'm hoping it encourages people to go out and read the books. And see how much better they are. Then read other books.

But the characterizations are still wrong. That was my first argument, my main argument, and the one I'm sticking with. That's what sets my teeth on edge in every episode, and will continue to do so until they get it right.

And I still don't understand the allure of taking a series that you love and changing into something with very little in common with the source material. I will hold to that belief until I see these other episodes that shows a much higher regard for the books. And better characterization.

Here's to hoping the better episodes come soon. Those millions of non-book fans are watching a magical detective show. They're not watching the Dresden Files.

[shogunhb.livejournal.com]

who is a fan of the books, has read them and everything

If that's your best argument as to RHW's credentials, I'm not surprised the show sucks.

Jim is on record as being happy with it.

I'm pretty sure that he couldn't in good conscience go on record otherwise after accepting their big fat check.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

"who is a fan of the books, has read them and everything"

If that's your best argument as to RHW's credentials, I'm not surprised the show sucks.

That wasn't my best argument, that was me being slightly snide. *grin* Our topic host has met me in person and knows that's my default position, but it's hard to convey tone in an Internet post. My apologies.


I'm pretty sure that he couldn't in good conscience go on record otherwise after accepting their big fat check.

That hasn't stopped authors before. (Cf. Anne Rice during the filming of The Vampire Lestat, or Jonathan Gash's many shots at the Lovejoy TV series in his Lovejoy novels written after the show debuted on the BBC.)

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

Of course, Queen of the Damned's one redeeming quality was Stuart Townsend's butt in those leather pants. Ann Rice had a point (but not much of one, since her writing is drek at best and downright painful at worst *haughty sniff*)

The show is a moderately decent show, and one I'd probably watch if it wasn't supposed to be based on a series I liked and felt it had...screwed over. My question, is Butcher happy with the show itself AND does he think it's a credible adaptation?

(I'll go on record here, {for pure candor's sake} of admitting that if he says 'yes' to my above question, I'd tell him he was wrong, too. But let's be honest here, I'm not exactly shy about voicing my opinion.)

[kradical.livejournal.com]

if it wasn't supposed to be based on a series I liked and felt it had...screwed over.

Okay, that, right there? That is the argument that drives me batshit crazy up the wall.

This series has done nothing -- nothing -- to screw over the books, even a little bit. The only thing -- the ONLY THING -- the Sci-Fi series The Dresden Files has done to Jim Butcher's series of novels is increase its profile and drive sales of the books upward.

But that's it. The series hasn't changed the books, they haven't gone back in time and retroactively altered the books. Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, and the rest are still right there, and still the cool wonderful books they always were, and will continue to be.

There's an old story about an author -- I've seen it attributed to Robert Parker and Jonathan Gash and others -- where they were doing a signing and a reader came up and asked how they felt about what the movie or TV show or whatever did to their novels. The author frowned and said, "They didn't do antyhing to my novels--" they point at a pile of books "--see? They're right there!"

This is an adaptation. It's not a slavish re-creation, nor should it be. What makes a good book isn't what makes a good TV show, which in turn isn't what makes a good movie.

But as far as the books go, the only thing that matters is that this is bringing a new audience to the novels because, like I said, the viewership of a TV show is way in excess of that of a book series, and this can only help Jim and the books reach more people.

[charmed1ofdoom.livejournal.com]

The slight flaw with that arguement is, that if the series sucks then they wouldnt read the series anyways.

Yes adaption doesn't mean that its recreated, but the audience has seen good examples of adaption, like potter or Disney movies and is finding it lacking. Okay Disney films are notrious for happy endings but they work for the audience because its little kids who are seeing it and they would not be able to handel death and dismemberment to a catchy toon. Its just the Sci-fi audience comes with a large portion who mostly likely have already read the books. Personally, I am sick of an "okay" adaption. Why do we have to settle for something that sucks? We don't - we can stop watching. And then dicuss with friends/community the ten millions why it doesn't pertain to one's taste.

On a different note, most of scifi's series are (seemingly so)have like a two hour pilot(which according to the wiki isn't going to be shown to its full length). A device in which I like, its like reading a graphic novel and being forced to then read the individual comics as they come out. Without having that pilot episode, people didn't get a chance to see what the series was about so that they cannot understand the episodes in context. This formula has worked for Farscape and Invisible Man and a few others. So the series is all out of wack to the viewers and they are like, whats going on, why is this not here or why that changed, kinda like with Firefly. It doesn't matter whether you read the books or not, it just made mess of understanding the imagery culture if you will of the show.

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

if it wasn't supposed to be based on a series I liked and felt it had...screwed over.

And it actually didn't come out the way I had meant--sorry for the poorly wordedness, but I was heading off to bed and really tired. I knew what I meant, and didn't check to see how it would come out.

So what exactly did I mean? Not that the show was demeaning the books in any way.

When Sci-Fi shows commercials for The Dresden Files I expect to see a show based on the series. No, it doesn't have to be a slavish recreation; I'm not about to sit in front of the TV with a book and say "Those bitches juxtaposed two words in that dialogue; I'm going to call and complain." However, I do expect the show to have more in common with the books than just names of people and places. As I said somewhere before, this show is not The Dresden Files; it's a magical detective show with Harry Dresden window dressing. I feel like I ordered a plate of spaghetti and was given a plate of elbows covered in ketchup. It might bear some similarity to what I wanted, but it isn't spaghetti by any stretch of the imagination.

When I say 'screwing over the books' I don't mean that it's having a negative impact on them at all. I mean, it's taking what's in the books, discarding almost everything save the names and places, and then presenting it to the watchers as a credible adaptation. Perhaps I should have said 'with' instead of 'over.' I'm expecting something, and I feel what they are providing is a base imitation at best. Do you understand what I meant, as opposed to what I had said? And I am sorry for the confusion there.

I believe this was touched on already above...

[ladyscience.livejournal.com]

but yeah, Dexter. Dexter, which was based on only two books, is good show, faithful to the canon, and was still able to stretch within that canon. In my opinion, I think the show was better than the books, especially in terms of character development.

As for the Dresden files... I only read one of the books, so my emotional investment isn't quite as much as for people who have read all of the books. That being said, if I hadn't read that one book, and then watched the show, I still would have said what the hell? The premier didn't make any sense, and was rather on the cheesy side. The characters didn't do anything for me. I could not have cared less if the kid had bought it in the end, and Bob sobbed into his tea.

But, I'm not surprised at this offering from a channel that also makes Yet Another Snake Movie, Part 400 in a Continuing Series of Snake Movies. ;-)