The Colour of Magic Movie

[Jarmara]

McSweeney

[chris.ph]

thats the family cheers jarmara

[Jason]

I think that is part of the beauty of the way Terry writes and also part of the problem. The user becomes part of the creative process by filling in the blanks that Terry leaves out.

But this allows us the readers to fill in the information any way we like. It is only when we come to adaptations we see this filled in information from somebody else's viewpoint. When this doesn't match our own we dismiss it.

I guess I don't really have a problem with the casting of The Colour of Magic because I've never really worried about race (in either the real world or on the Discworld) it just never really occurs to me. I can understand the counterweight continent is based on oriental themes but just populated it with people (not Asian people, not Oriental people, just people). Terry doesn't distinguish between races and I feel no need to either.

[Tonyblack]

McSweeney

I always thought that was Terry referencing the Tai Pan novels by James Clavell. One of the founding families in Hong Kong (in the books) is the 'Struan' family. So alongside all these Hong Kong busnessmen with Oriental names you have this Scottish family name as well.

Jason is absolutely right - we all 'cast' a book in our minds and a film maker can never please everyone. In the same way you can never truly have a perfect film or TV adaptation of a book - because they are two different types of media.

Take the Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell. For most people the casting of Sean Bean is perfect as Richard Sharpe, but not if you read the books he isn't. I love the books and have accepted Sean Bean as Sharpe - even though he doesn't fit the description.

[Jarmara]

McSweeney

I always thought that was Terry referencing the Tai Pan novels by James Clavell. One of the founding families in Hong Kong (in the books) is the 'Struan' family. So alongside all these Hong Kong busnessmen with Oriental names you have this Scottish family name as well.

Really? Don't know the books, but it's only possible if Terry also thinks McSweeney is Scottish, when it's actually Irish

[mspanners]

Lord Hong,Red Army,Four Big Sandal,Three Maximum Luck,Pretty Butterfly,Lotus Blossom,Two Fire Three Yoked Oxen,Herb,One Favourite Pearl.............Hongs ,Sungs ,Tangs ,Fangs and McSweeneys ,Imperial Guard ,Captain Three High Trees, District Commissioner Kee ,Disembowel-Me self-Honourably Dibha ,Tongs District Commissioner of Bes Pelargic , Two Little Wang the Emperor's Master of Protocol ,Six Beneficent Winds Deputy District Administrator and Collector of Revenues for the Langtang district ,One Big River ,Four Big Horns who is promoted to Lord Chamberlain

Not many Western Names among these peoples...........Oriental surly.


http://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Book:Interesting_Times

http://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Agatean_Empire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh

Take a look at the Annotations, its not just Me that thinks its Oriental.

[Jason]

I think you are purposely missing the point we are trying to make. We can all agree that the description sounds very much like our orient. But just because on Earth the people look a certain way it doesn't mean they do on the disc.

Why if the people look oriental doesn't Rincewind stand out as unusual? How can he travel amongst the populous without raising suspicions?

Names, designs and histories don't describe how the populous look just how it acts.

[Tonyblack]

No one has said that the things happening on the Counterweight Continent aren't Oriental - in fact we said they were. It's quite obviously a parody of the Orient. We just said that it's Discworld not Earth and therefore the people there could look like anything.

I really don't see the problem. Why can't the people who live on the Counterweight Continent look like Sean Astin? They can still act Oriental if you like.

Seriously - Terry is very protective of his characters and he's been known to turn down big budget film makers who want to change things too much. From what I've heard, Terry was involved with MOB Films in both projects and I'm sure that if he'd said 'no' to Sean Astin then MOB would have found someone else.

That suggests to me that Terry is happy with Sean in the role of Twoflower and who's to argue with that?

[Dotsie]

I also agree that the actor playing Twoflower didn't need to be Chinese. But not having seen COM, can anyone tell me if there were any black actors in it? There doesn't seem to be any fuss about this, and you wouldn't expect there to be, even if half the cast were black. It would be completely normal.

Because it's Discworld, of course, we have all sorts of colours - just like Roundworld

[Tonyblack]

I don't recall seeing any black actors in there. But I could be wrong.

[Tonyblack]

I just checked and Karen Shenaz David, who played Liessa, Dragonlady, was born in India.

[Jason]

Karen David is indeed a very lovely lady. I had lunch with her at Pinewood once.

When Rincewind and Twoflower get to Krull there is a black lady who says "Welcome to Krull".

See

[Tonyblack]

By gum, you're right. I'd forgotten about the lovely Krullian lady.

[mspanners]

Did terry have any artistic input into the audio readings of His books?

If so then why, in the Unabridged versions, were the Counter Weight characters Voiced quite clearly with Oriental accents?

The cartoon of Soul Music had the Bard as a Welsh man,the accent was welsh and He was Caucasian.....

So a president has been set, in the book Soul Music The Bard was cast as a White Welsh Man.He may have lived in Llamedos but the character was Welsh.

I also remember seeing an interview in which Terry said the characterisation in the TV cartoons was exactly as He wanted them, he was happy with the way they cartoons were made.

So if Twoflower was not meant to be of Oriental stock then why was His home a near copy of pre communist China....

I think Twoflower was Americanised for the TV show to appeal to the market place,the US is one of the biggest markets and by making Twoflower More American than Oriental the show would attract a bigger audience.

Well that my opinion, make of it what you will.

[chris.ph]

sorry mspanner but a boy i was in the navy with was a very black and an exceptionally proud welsh speaking welshman