Witches Abroad Discussion Group

[chris.ph]

errol flynn, david niven and david essex (young david) with a good dose of blackbeard and spray with pheromones. and thats a hetrosexual view , it just doesnt look like one

[Jan Van Quirm]

Sorry - I have a LOT to say about Greebo as a man but have got snarled up with this new site I've built - will hopefully be back soon with my take...

David Niven Are you sure that's a hetero viewpoint there?

[Jan Van Quirm]

Niven was very different off-screen of course so I'll stop teasing Chris - it's just that on-screen he seemed mostly a gent or a caddish one at best (or worst ) and 'genteely' naughty/rascally rather than out and out drop dead Alpha Male

I do agree Blackbeard's the gold standard here for Greebo - even Flynn's borderline (and with him off-screen at times he seemed like he'd have had more in commonwith David Bowie during his bi-curious phase...)

Let's see... who's got the Greebo 'get stuffed and gimme some milk pronto afterwards' attitude off pat. I'd say Jack Sparrow but he's much too pretty and not that ruthless in the end. I'd say more hell-raiser action hero style. So Richard Harris, Richard Burton (not Peter O'Toole so much - he's too tall and soulful looking) or even Oliver Reed in the earlier phases of his career as a professional alcoholic (he was a bloody good-looking and charming guy and mostly good-humoured when he was on a bender).

Or the more physical type? Russell Crowe's got the bloody-mindedness right. Bruce Willis maybe? Certainly looks filthy and sweaty enough and the lack of fur... hair I mean isn't necessarily out of place... But I think the (fit) De Nero in Raging Bull's pretty much there though - all male and not too much 'time-wasting' machismo...

If I say I want my bloke rough and tough I really do mean it! PMSL

[chris.ph]

read david nivens biography jan(the moons a balloon) he and errol flynn were very good friends and complete and utter tarts

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

We have a cat who is the Female personification of Greebo. She is named TigerLily and until I came along and finally had her fixed, she was THE BOSS of all our barn cats. ( a fluctuating number anywhere between 10 and 30 at any given time ) We kept her indoors for her last litter of kittens, and we lived in fear of her the whole winter. She is EVIL Incarnate.

We were not allowed to leave the kitchen without dropping a tidbit, Even if we only got coffee, or she would swipe at our legs and remove a good bit of meat anyway.

She rubs yer legs as though she is a good kitty, but after her "I have been petted, coddled enough" (an indeterminate time) meter goes off, Here comes the Gore. She is still kicking although it has been three years since we were forced to banish her outdoors again and she wanders about the farm now. The other cats sort of told her to Push Off, so she frequents the habitation of the Paintball field eating her daily ration of dry food and all the baby animals, birds, badgers, wolverines, and occasional Grizzly Bear

I have to warn people every weekend that she Will want to be petted, and Will try to kill you while you are doing it. She is still the Undisputed Queen of this 51 acre chunk of land and lets Everyone know it... unless they have a hot dog or a roast chicken on them and they are safe until it hits the ground and heaven help them if they dont back off.

I see her as the Xena Warrior Princess style of Leather Corset dress with the appropriate scars, but only in complimetary places.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Chris - I did! & Bring on the Empty Horses? too. He was a remarkable man was Mr. Niven and far more of a Real Man than Flynn (his war record was sheer courage) but his screen persona was always very much the gentleman so he's not really 'feral' enough for Greebo Man IMO.

Flynn would certainly fit the 'feral' side sexually in some areas most likely (although he did have a camp side I believe ) but he was rather a wuss on the 'hero' side of things, certainly in the real world... which is of course vital for Greebo Man

[swreader]

I'm inclined to think that while Greebo as a man fits with the reality/illusion theme, Pratchett uses him primarily to add some humor to the ball scene where there are some rather intense things going on. I think it's kind of a try-on, to see if it works. And it fits, in some ways, with the Frog Prince, who is really not funny at all. Nice contrast.

Actually Greebo as human is much better in Maskerade, I think. He's far more cat than human in this book, but he got the hang of it much better later. I did, however, love the scene where he takes on the guards attacking the escaping witches after Saturday has gotten them out of the prison. That description sounds much like your cat, Tina.

[Tonyblack]

Does anyone think it a bit odd that Granny is disgusted at Lilith for changing animals into people - the scene with the wolf is really rather touching - yet she doesn't (apparently) have a problem with doing the same thing to Greebo?

[chris.ph]

its called being a hypocrite

[bookworm 303]

greebo isn't an animal, it's devil!

[mspanners]

No, Granny is doing it for all the right reasons but Lilith for all the wrong ones.... and long term it did no harm to Greebo ( infact it gave Him an extra option in emergences as per the escapes in the book Maskerade ) but the creatures created by Lilith are permanently stuck halfway between Human and Animal.
And I got the feeling that Greebo had some fun as a Human... unlike the terrible things created by Lilith.....

[chris.ph]

sorry mspanner whats good for the goose is good for the gander

[Jan Van Quirm]

Greebo's a cat - cats have egos even if they don't live with Witches and so they are a different case in point as they have sufficient self-awareness to make excellent amoral human beings.

Having been lavished with Nanny's mummying all these years he's pretty close to being human anyway and his cat life is pure Alpha Maleness so in fact he's been given a body and personality to match his cat nature and not just negligently given a half-baked patch job like Lilith did with the poor old wolf.

I think Granny, with her masterly skill for Borrowing is extremely sympathetic to how animals think (the sharp silver arrowheads of awareness of predators etc which is a tie-in that Terry was using from the outset in Equal Rites (when Esk gets tangled up in the eagle's head in a kind of mind donor organ rejection) so her choice of his body and human personality is in fact a bespoke tailoring so Greebo's almost there - if a little surprised at first...

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

I think Granny, with her masterly skill for Borrowing is extremely sympathetic to how animals think (the sharp silver arrowheads of awareness of predators etc which is a tie-in that Terry was using from the outset in Equal Rites (when Esk gets tangled up in the eagle's head in a kind of mind donor organ rejection) so her choice of his body and human personality is in fact a bespoke tailoring so Greebo's almost there - if a little surprised at first...

In fact, Granny thinks to herself, after Nanny Ogg makes sure that it IS her, after being in the wolf's mind that it will be weeks/months before she gets rid of the urge to chase wagons.

[poohbcarrot]

My favourite bit is when Granny plays cards on the boat after Nanny and Magrat have lost everything, including their broomsticks.