Spartacus and friends, err, enemies
Aug. 19th, 2012 01:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakEncouraged by certain people of my friendly aquaintance and the fact Lucy Lawless plays a prominent role in it, I finally got around to marathoning Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (the prequel). What I knew before going in: Steven de Knight, aka he who wrote two of my favourite BTVS and AtS episodes (Dead Things and Deep Down respectively), was the show runner, Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi, the enterprising duo which gave us Xena and Hercules, were the producers, Lucy Lawless was in it, and it was supposedly incredibly trashy yet oddly compelling.
What I know now: it is indeed very trashy and oddly compelling. Imagine the most over the top Slave AU story in any of your fandoms, then maximise by ten. There is no dismemberment the show hasn't thought of and liked, the constant non-con sex is a given considering two thirds of the regular characters are slaves, and the general aesthetic owes something to 300 (going byluminosity's legendary vid, since I never watched 300 myself). What makes the end result the anti-Frank Miller, however, is that when an episode is titled Whore, this refers to the main character (that Spartacus guy you may have heard of) getting pimped out by his owners, not to one of the female characters. (Also some of the gladiators are gay, which I doubt Miller, F. would have gone for even in his better days.) Speaking of the female characters, I was promised much Lucy Lawless (in a meaty role, no pun intended), and lo, I got her. She's Lucretia, the wife of Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (aka the owner of the gladiator school Spartacus got trained in and broke out of). Lucretia and Batiatus (played by John Hannah, whom last I saw many years ago reciting W.H. Auden in Four Weddings and a Funeral) are two really well done villains, despicable enough in their actions that you yearn for their comeuppance yet also three dimensional, capable of more than one emotion (Lucy Lawless does that thing again where she can be terrifying, vicious and deeply vulnerable and tender in turn) and passionately devoted to each other. This is where the show departs from fanfic ground; in fanfic, villains capable of romantic love are usually presented as on the road to redemption, but this show in all its trashy guts and gore glory actually sees a difference between being capable to deeply love your partner (and both of them are shown as capable of giving up everything for each other when needs must while otherwise being the most greedy pair of social climbers you can imagine), and being aware the rest of humanity isn't there to be exploited to further your personal well being.
But if it had been only Lucretia and Batiatus who held my attention, I doubt I'd have managed to finish a season, let alone two. (See also: Camelot by the same network where the only character I found interesting was Morgana, which wasn't enough to keep me watching beyond two episodes.) The various gladiators and slave girls (displayed with equal opportunity frontal nudity by the show, and the perfect shapes are actually sort of justified by the plot as far as the gladiators are concerned, because that's how they make their living) make for an ensemble that grows on you (no, not like fungus), and for thematic reasons, one cliché that's utterly avoided is the devoted slave who is unthinkingly loyal to their master(s). (My favourite among the gladiators, Onaemaeus aka Doctore, played by Peter Mensah, is loyal to the school for a long time but competletely capable of having his less than respectful opinions about its owners.) While the tropes and clichés you expect from the genre (chiefest among them and indispensable in any gladiator film: ye gods, now I have to fight my dear friend!) are duly served up, there are some surprising twists (such as the widow of such a cliché who does a couple of very surprising things).
Historical veracity: err. Let me put it this way. The nastiness of what slavery (whether you were a member of the household or a gladiator) and the degradation that came with having no ownership of your own body and sexuality at all meant, strikes me as plausible enough. And Batiatus' obsession with raising his status and the Roman aristocracy's disdain do, too. But everything else, from minimal clothing in snowy Thrace to the gigantic arena in Capua which looks like something of the late Empire, not the Republic, to the bikini friendly shaved pubic hair is... questionable. Never mind, compared with the Stanley Kubrick/Kirk Douglas Spartacus, which pulls such stunts as letting an almost a century late member of the Gracchi show up in the form of Charles Laughton and gives the impression bisexuality only exists as part of Roman decadence (the infamous originally cut "snails and oysters" scene), it's downright authentic. And it avoids the hypocrisy of, say, Gladiator with its chastizing the audience for getting their kicks out of brutal violence while simultanously trying to entertain the audience by brutal violence. I'll be interested in how it will do in its third season which by plot necessity can't have any arena scenes anymore (except as flashbacks); battle scenes are someting different.
In conclusion: unabashed pulp fiction. Not a must, but if you're in the mood for extremely violent entertainment which manages to include some interesting characters, it might be the thing for you.
What I know now: it is indeed very trashy and oddly compelling. Imagine the most over the top Slave AU story in any of your fandoms, then maximise by ten. There is no dismemberment the show hasn't thought of and liked, the constant non-con sex is a given considering two thirds of the regular characters are slaves, and the general aesthetic owes something to 300 (going by
luminosity's legendary vid, since I never watched 300 myself). What makes the end result the anti-Frank Miller, however, is that when an episode is titled Whore, this refers to the main character (that Spartacus guy you may have heard of) getting pimped out by his owners, not to one of the female characters. (Also some of the gladiators are gay, which I doubt Miller, F. would have gone for even in his better days.) Speaking of the female characters, I was promised much Lucy Lawless (in a meaty role, no pun intended), and lo, I got her. She's Lucretia, the wife of Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (aka the owner of the gladiator school Spartacus got trained in and broke out of). Lucretia and Batiatus (played by John Hannah, whom last I saw many years ago reciting W.H. Auden in Four Weddings and a Funeral) are two really well done villains, despicable enough in their actions that you yearn for their comeuppance yet also three dimensional, capable of more than one emotion (Lucy Lawless does that thing again where she can be terrifying, vicious and deeply vulnerable and tender in turn) and passionately devoted to each other. This is where the show departs from fanfic ground; in fanfic, villains capable of romantic love are usually presented as on the road to redemption, but this show in all its trashy guts and gore glory actually sees a difference between being capable to deeply love your partner (and both of them are shown as capable of giving up everything for each other when needs must while otherwise being the most greedy pair of social climbers you can imagine), and being aware the rest of humanity isn't there to be exploited to further your personal well being. But if it had been only Lucretia and Batiatus who held my attention, I doubt I'd have managed to finish a season, let alone two. (See also: Camelot by the same network where the only character I found interesting was Morgana, which wasn't enough to keep me watching beyond two episodes.) The various gladiators and slave girls (displayed with equal opportunity frontal nudity by the show, and the perfect shapes are actually sort of justified by the plot as far as the gladiators are concerned, because that's how they make their living) make for an ensemble that grows on you (no, not like fungus), and for thematic reasons, one cliché that's utterly avoided is the devoted slave who is unthinkingly loyal to their master(s). (My favourite among the gladiators, Onaemaeus aka Doctore, played by Peter Mensah, is loyal to the school for a long time but competletely capable of having his less than respectful opinions about its owners.) While the tropes and clichés you expect from the genre (chiefest among them and indispensable in any gladiator film: ye gods, now I have to fight my dear friend!) are duly served up, there are some surprising twists (such as the widow of such a cliché who does a couple of very surprising things).
Historical veracity: err. Let me put it this way. The nastiness of what slavery (whether you were a member of the household or a gladiator) and the degradation that came with having no ownership of your own body and sexuality at all meant, strikes me as plausible enough. And Batiatus' obsession with raising his status and the Roman aristocracy's disdain do, too. But everything else, from minimal clothing in snowy Thrace to the gigantic arena in Capua which looks like something of the late Empire, not the Republic, to the bikini friendly shaved pubic hair is... questionable. Never mind, compared with the Stanley Kubrick/Kirk Douglas Spartacus, which pulls such stunts as letting an almost a century late member of the Gracchi show up in the form of Charles Laughton and gives the impression bisexuality only exists as part of Roman decadence (the infamous originally cut "snails and oysters" scene), it's downright authentic. And it avoids the hypocrisy of, say, Gladiator with its chastizing the audience for getting their kicks out of brutal violence while simultanously trying to entertain the audience by brutal violence. I'll be interested in how it will do in its third season which by plot necessity can't have any arena scenes anymore (except as flashbacks); battle scenes are someting different.
In conclusion: unabashed pulp fiction. Not a must, but if you're in the mood for extremely violent entertainment which manages to include some interesting characters, it might be the thing for you.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-21 04:22 am (UTC)I mention this because I ended up really enjoying the show and meant to watch more of it, but it reminded me oddly of porn in the setting and I haven't been able to get back to it for that reason.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 06:28 am (UTC)This being said: it's pulp. And open about using both violence and sex to attract viewers. Definitely preferable to arguments with 70s wealthy Republicans, but not a must to watch in other conditions. :)
no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 06:59 am (UTC)I did recently bite down and start watching Breaking Bad. (As I just finished s2e2, I rather doubt I'll catch up in time to read current postings on it, but I read a few before under the illusion it wasn't my thing.)
I love it, however: while I don't think Skyler is some hideous monster beast of suburbia - that position clearly belongs to her sister - I do find myself tuning out during her scenes. She feels like she comes from some other, slightly less worthy but still A-class television drama. I imagine this feeling is what other people feel about Betty on Mad Men.