fannish5: Name five historical characters whose lives you'd like to see adapted into movies or TV series.

1.) Hatshepsut, pharao of Egypt, one of the few female ones. (Yes, there were more than two.) (Though not many.) Now I'm admittedly biased in favour of Pauline Gedge's novel about her, so my ideal would be for that novel to be the basis of a film or miniseries, but I'd be fine with an original script as well, as long as it's good.

2.) The Dumas Family, consisting of Marie-Cesette Dumas (slave in Saint-Domingue, aka Haiti; had four children by a white French aristocrat, one of which he took with him to France; the other were sold to cover for debts, and Marie-Cesette died of dystentry) , Thomas-Alexandre, who upon reaching adulthood fell out with his white father, enlisted under his mother's name in the revolutionary army, served in an all-black unit in same, reached the rank of general, fell out with Napoleon and died when his son the author was only three years old; Alexandre père, entertaining novelist extraordinaire (aka he of the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte-Christo), Alexandre fils (that's the one who wrote the Lady of the Camellias, which La Traviata is based on). A century of history via a family epic that could put Roots to shame; I'm surprised has filmed it yet (the whole family saga, I mean, not just Alexandre père's life).

3.) Frederick II (the emperor, not the king of Prussia with the same name who lived centuries later). Stupor Mundi, his contemporaries called him, the amazement of the world; Frederick was a religious sceptic, spoke seven languages, conducted the only crusade without bloodshed, entirely via negotiations, while he himself was excommunicated, and succeeded to the intense annoyance of the pope who had excommunicated him; had a great scientific mind, a terrible temper, was probably the first ruler to declare rape of prostitutes a crime (when it would take most societies a few centuries more to acknowledge there was such a thing) and unquestionably a tyrant in the modern sense of the word (ask anyone who rebelled), and co-founded poetry in the Italian, instead of Latin, language. Also he's one of those once and future rulers whom legend has returning in the hour of greatest need, etc., although the legend in question was transferred to his grandfather later. In short, someone with a gift for renaissance people in a medieval context should make the biopic or miniseries already!

4) Theophanu, a Byzantine princess who was nearly sent back to Constantinople because she was the niece, not the daughter of the Byzantine emperor and the German emperor who had wanted her for his son felt cheated. Lucky for the empire, he reconsidered, because Theophanu after her husband's early death became one hell of a regent, kept the various German princes in line (not an easy thing to do), introduced the fork to Europe and shocked everyone by bathing regularly. Despite an uneasy relatonship with her mother-in-law Adelheid these two women basically ruled the largest realm on the continent and disillusioned any ambitious wannabe who thought women couldn't and that there was time for a new dynasty.

5) Samuel Ibn Naghrela: also known as Samuel Ha-Nagid. Jewish scholar, poet and statesman, originally from Cordoba, eventually ending up as vizier and top general of Granada, the second most powerful man of that Muslim kingdom, a job he held until his death and passed on to his son (who lived a shorter and much more tragic life). Samuel's life is a fascinating part of Jewish-Muslim-Spanish history, and made for a cinematic treatment.


On a related note, about contemporary RPF and politics this time, after reading this review of Fair Game, about Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, I definitely want to watch it. I remember reading that Op-Ed article in the NY Times, and the explosion that followed. Down to an interview with Cheney a year ago in which he's still sulking Bush didn't pardon Libby.

Lastly, skywaterblue, this one's for you. Sean Lennon, after being adorable at age 5, seems to be still incredibly sweet at age 35. Last month he said about older brother Julian that "Julian is the reason I started playing music actually" and "the truth is Julian was like my hero. He is still is". Today there's an article in which he praises and defends his mother and which contains a wonderful Yoko anecdote involving Lady Gaga as told by Sean's girlfriend: 'Gaga was killing it as always and everyone was standing on their feet and screaming. And Yoko was looking at this and she was like, “Hmm…” She was not to be outdone! So she climbed all over the piano – and she’s 77! And Gaga climbed up after her. They both started rolling around and singing upside down on top of the piano. It was amazing.' Just to round off the collection of adorable quotes, in that same article Sean says about Paul McCartney: 'I’m just so excited when I’m around him. It’s like when you see a white buffalo and you just hold your breath – you’re just hoping that it’s not going to end. Becaus it’s the closest I can come to hanging out with my dad. Every second I’ve ever spent with Paul has been really meaningful to me. He was my dad’s best mate for a long time. And my dad didn’t have many friends, you know?’

Awwwwwwwwwww.