 |
| Knight Life has aged about as well as these graphics from the PS2 game tie-in for the 2006 KIng Arthur movie |
Part of the charm of the Arthurian mythos is the timeless nature of the characters. It is (relatively) easy to drop these established characters into medieval chicanery and have it come out enjoyable. More difficult is transposing the characters into the modern world, either through reincarnation or the literal fulfillment of Arthur's prophesied return, as is the case in
Knight Life. The primary danger here is that the book is a product of it's time. While I'm sure the idea of a businessman politician who spoke frankly, off the cuff, trusted his gut, and refused to back down or change course once he made a decision sounded appealing in the 1980s, the political realities of today make that description uncomfortable to say the least. Good thing Arthur is, well Arthur, and not a violent egomaniac...... right?
This is one of the challenging things about ANY update, right? Is there REALLY such a thing as a "timeless" story? Or is it just that certain stories, because they get regularly updated and remixed to suit the tastes of a particular time and place, are kept alive and keep changing and so thus FEEL "timeless"?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dr. MB that the stories may feel like they are timeless because they are always being switched to fit that time period. Different messages have come out from the stories depending on the time period that they were written. I think for a story to actually be timeless is for the same message or theme to come out from same stories.
ReplyDeleteI think that even though some of the characters in different time act the same, I agree that they fit the time period and I think that could be for many reason. One of them could be so they can feel "normal" or accepted into that time period.
DeleteYa know I wouldn't necessarily call the stories timeless, but I think that the characters are. I think that these characters have been established in a way that is well known and that they can be placed within any story and tend to act the same. For example, Arthur is a known leader and in this story he is doing what he does best, running to become a leader.
ReplyDeleteI can see what you mean. I think they tend to act the same on purpose and maybe its that way so readers can be familiar with Arthur in whatever time he is placed.
Delete