#A modern retelling of a classic

[shesamreads]

Ooo, Helen is vying for Ares' position. This will be interesting.

I thought this story was going to be between just Achilles and Patroclus, but Katee is throwing Helen into the mix.

You know, it's funny. I didn't plan on using this for the PopSugar Reading Challenge, I was just finishing the series. But it's funny how many prompts it fits! That happened a lot last year, too.

[starlitvick]

The respect I have for people who have actually been able to read The Odyssey and The Iliad is insane.

I was at the bookstore today buying the newest pjo book and I went to the classics section like “hm maybe I can buy The Iliad and The Odyssey so I can finally read them instead of getting all my information on the plot from video summaries, spark notes, and tumblr” then I grabbed both of them and decided to yk sift through to see if I could actually even read it. I in fact, could NOT read those things. Like the style of English and speaking hurt my brain, I thought the spark notes summaries were brain melting but oh lord the book itself hurt more.

So yeah I did not buy either one and only both wrath of the triple goddess lmao, but I did leave with a lot of respect for the people who have been able to actually read the book because I just can’t

But also if anyone has like a translation of either one that’s easier to read please do recommend and I’ll see if I can get it because I would really like to actually have a copy I can refer to when I need it (a copy I can actually understand that is)

[cannibalistic-vampirefag]

romeo and juliet modern retelling where instead of poison juliet jumps off a cliff and then romeo follows her but she actually had a hidden parachute so there's the split second where they're looking at each other and then she opens the parachute while he keeps falling. and post.

[swordsandflowercrowns]

there are two wolves inside of me. one is yelling that authors have a duty to accurately depict classical cultures in their retellings and not impose modern expectations onto the stories. the other is yelling for them to completely twist the focus and narratives and morals to better convey the current cultural zeitgeist because reception of myths is not only fascinating but actively creating material for me to study. both wolves are historians.

[wuntrum]

bro last night was a sims 2 machinima

[linddzz]

hello, here for your opinion on odysseus! have you read madeline miller’s “circe”? if so, what did you think of odysseus?

Ooooohhhhhhhh you're nudging at a pandoras box asking me my opinions of Madeline Miller 🙃

To answer while holding the full ranting instinct back on a leash (partially bc I legit don't have much time for much typing rn AND I know lots of people like MM and idk I generally don't enjoy making people feel like they shouldn't like a thing, but I also love being salty and this is my constant internal struggle):

With a lot of her characterizations I feel like M.M. either goes too hard making them sympathetic (Circe and Patrocles being the top contenders who come to mind) or she swings too hard the other way. Odysseus is like....fine? He's not outright terrible? But he does fall into her "they are either sympathetic (cougboringcough) beauties with maayybe a couple Tragic Flaws (that are barely flaws, goD why couldn't she just let Circe have full agency and purposely curse Scylla why can't maybe Penelope be as much of a scheming suspicious fucker as her husband GOD these "feminist retelling" authors are too cowardly to touch Medea-nonono the rant is leashed I'm staying on target!) or they are horrible awful people." But she's made so many comments that make me baffled about her academic background in classics (why would you say all the gods are sociopaths Madeline??? that is an actual ancient cultures religion you're trashing??? do you not get how gods are used narratively in stories is not the same as they're worshipped esp in a religion without strict canon??? You know how we all understand that Paradise Lost isnt Christian canon what the F-Not ranting not ranting I'm good!!) lmao. She seems to fall into the common take I see where modern Anglo morality is projected on the characters divorced of the time/culture/narrative they are set in, and then go "omg how did people think this was a hero?"

Anyway I just don't see how people can look at Odysseus being a scheming ratfuck compulsive liar (who is also a great warrior in violent times bc it...was a warrior society who told his story) and go "um he's terrible why would anyone like him as he is originally????" while MCU Loki was so popular they kept bringing him back from the dead to continue being A Scheming Little Bastard.

(EDIT: uh tldr is I read Circe. The entire experience was me going "oooo it's about to get good" and then realizing that Circe is just boring the whole time. Came out the other end with more feelings about how M.M. writes women than Odysseus, but her Odysseus is part of a trend of doing a lot of black and white morality shenanigans)

[pink-inthenights-blog]

I could only wish that modern retellings of greek or classic literature of feminism doesn't center around the stereotypical girlboss mentality, being quirky for the sake of being different, and always complaining rather than embracing.

I understand the message, really I do but I'm so sick of reading stories with female protags either passing up a perfectly good opportunity for them just for some guy or acting as if a parrot, a puppet of the author to voice their frustration rather than building the character.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

i have a note in my phone that was meant to be for keeping track of my opinions about various retellings so i could eventually do a round up and recommend them but is PURELY just me bitching about them at this point

it's fun to see the common threads in my bitchiness tho. "why the fuck is merlin ENGLISH" being one that shows up a few times

[samglyph]

Hadestown… good

[shesamreads]

Is Rupert a vampire that turns into a mosquito? Is someone going to die in the bread oven?

I lost my dad to cancer. I know that everyone grieves differently, and losing a spouse is different that losing a parent, but Rupert is being absolutely awful. Even using that as an "explanation, not an excuse" is bullshit.

Also, this is how I'm picturing Rupert

(Colin Robinson from What We Do in the Shadows) (I'm woefully behind on this show)

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OH DAMN. GET FUCKED, RUPERT

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Ok, but you haven't bought the house and you haven't paid for the house and you have even PUT AN OFFER IN ON THE HOUSE. How do you figure it's yours, Rupert?

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oh shit

OH SHIT

did Michael kill Rupert? Is he going to cook Rupert in the bread oven? Will anyone miss him, since he works for himself and he's a widower and he "wants to leave the UK"?

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Ok, Michael. Make your lies believable.

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This novella has a lot of Lamb to the Slaughter vibes.

[francesderwent]

I can’t take it anymore.

you realize, don’t you, that they haven’t made a good muppet retelling since 1996? I understand that Jim Henson had already died at that point, but a lot of the old guard was still deeply involved. and his son directed both A Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, and he hasn’t been involved in anything since, except in an executive producer role.

the Muppets themselves--the characters, the puppets--have a kind of magic. sure. but the fact that I haven’t seen anyone on here mention Muppets Most Wanted ever, let alone the NBC series or the Disney+ “improv” show, means that their magic has a limit. the story has to be told by somebody who gets it. the Muppet properties that we all know and love were made by a group of friends, many of whom had been working together for literal decades. you can’t just expect whoever’s calling the shots at Disney to throw Kermit and Gonzo into your favorite classic novel and create something of the same caliber, let alone with the same heart.

[eoneill18]

I want a modern retelling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, where Dr Jekyll is just a chill dude, with some issues. And Mr Hyde is a snobby, Victorian era Gentleman, who struggles to keep his disgust in check.

basically,

Jekyll: Sup

Hyde: Unhand me you peasant!

[virginwithasthma]

First off, this post was mainly about the Dorian Gray Netflix situation (and other unfortunate instances).

Secondly a retelling, while being a new version of a story that can be different in one or two ways, still has a duty to be faithful to the original. If you change the central tenets of the story, that's a whole different story . Creatives are allowed to be inspired by and create new stories that draw from already existing work. The problem comes when people brand completely different stories as retellings.

"Modern retelling" and it's a blatant misinterpretation of the original text

[aidenwaites]

The tragedy of watching two very good video essays only to discover its the only two video essays the creator has made so far

[thebaronmunchausen]

will file under "beacon of hope for Philippine cinema"

[thoodleoo]

>looking for a new retelling of ancient myth

>ask the reviewers if the book is classical reception or modern tropification

>they don't understand

>i pull out a diagram explaining the difference between what engages with ancient sources and depictions of the story and what relies on reduction of the story to its most marketable aspects

>they laugh and say "it's a good retelling"

>read the book

>its tropification