Blog Post
Staying Upbeat Amid the Muck
One clue: You can't spend too much time there
Have we all read Agatha Christie mysteries? Probably. And if not, we've watched one of the many screen adaptations of her famous sleuths, which include Hericule Poirot. One of the best, if not the very best to play Poirot on the screen, is David Suchet. He managed to bring the little Belgian to life just as Christie portrayed him, and the PBS presentations done for a number of years with an excellent supporting cast were great fun. They also stuck pretty close to the written stories. The later movies begin to put a spin to the plot I personally didn't care for as much, but they do not mess with Poirot's classic personality.
Fast forward to last week, my living room on a relaxing evening before going to bed, as we consider a recent adaptation of the well known ABC Murders, a famous Poirot mystery that was available on Amazon Prime. My husband and I agreed we would set aside our preconceived image of Poirot to enjoy a new actor and another producer's presentation of this imaginative plot.
Within twenty minutes we couldn't take anymore. Sure the acting was good, and so was the presentation of the 1930's British background. But the screenwriter decided it would be much more interesting to put a very modern take on Christie's wonderful story and Hericule Poirot's declining years. Now he is lonely and forgotten and generally considered pathetic. Except for retired Inspector Japp, virtually every character presented is rude, dark, unpleasant, twisted - except for Poirot himself. So much so it is totally out of character for what would have been the norm of the time.
When the frivolous and free with her sexual favors Betty actually spews forth lewd sexual insinuations in a respectable English tea room it just got to be too much. In reality Betty would have never been allowed to linger so long at a customer's table, that alone would have earned her censure, and anyone overhearing what she said would have gotten her fired. The average unmarried young woman of the day wouldn't have even know how to express herself that way unless she made her living on the street.
This is supposed to be art, the talent of the current successful writer, director, and producer these days? And there is plenty of it out there. In fact we are very skeptical to watch any recent movies put forth by Amazon or Netflix anymore. If there is an adult theme you can be sure you'll have to endure a whole lot of profanity including frequent use of the 'f' bomb. The main characters are sure to have dark secrets in their past, troubled loners prone to tragedy and sadly lacking in a sense of humor. Okay.... but why must a person with a wholesome lifestyle or one who is prone to good decisions be relegated to a very minor spot in the story, if you can find one at all? There's no room in drama for healthy psyches anymore? And does getting you recognized in artistic circles mean you have to put some current politically correct slant on everything you touch? (Have you watched Netflix's adaptation of Anne of Green Gables?)
The same is true of literature. Do talented authors need to spew forth filthy language like a salt shaker liberally sprinkled over their entire creation? Not in my book. It is detracting, cheapening. Let's face it; we've lowered our standards and we're calling it art.
Well I'm not buying into it. How about you? As said before, to some extent you are what you read, and whatever you focus your mind on for a long period of time is going to affect the way you think and what your mind dwells on. What we find entertaining is a very individual preference, but it disturbs me so many people aren't bothered by a constant diet of darkness.
When reading or watching something horrific it has to be for the purpose of learning a lesson that ultimately teaches me a truth that matures me as a person, not to depress me or to linger on the depravities of life. Recently I finished reading A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa. It was one of the saddest stories ever because from beginning to end it is tragic and lacking in hope for the author's own hopes. But it gave me some great reminders about how much I have to be grateful for - among a few other lessons in the reality of life on the planet for a whole lot of people.
If you feel the same way I do, watch one of Christie's sleuths on the screen presented in a manner she very likely would have approved of. Go to the PBS movies of the 1970's featuring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, or do a search on Poirot featuring David Suchet.
I agree! That's what I like about your books--no unpleasant surprises. Will you be writing more Sally Nimitz mysteries?
ReplyDeleteOne is in the long process of editing right now. Thanks for asking!
DeleteMy views on said topic are well know to you. You have stated it brilliantly.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant?? Aw..... Since messing with literature's favorite characters makes
Deleteme hot under the collar, my sentiments probably do come across loud and clear. :)
"Darkness" seems to pervade everything these days. A negative view of our country, our air, our food, the weather. We are guilty of air pollution, destroying the ocean, the livelihood and even existence of water logged countries, clothing waste, food waste, besides eating bad food, resource waste. What do we do right?
ReplyDeleteIs it any wonder that recent stories reflect this damning view of ourselves. We don't need the Catholics to make us feel guilty or the Jews or the down trodden - LOL. We seem to feed on this. I asked a friend why she watched the shows that were so dark - so upsetting - she said that there was a fascination to try to understand . . . The Dali Lama mentioned that such stories could be viewed as picturing what can be if one does not have higher values.
I, for one, am sick of not only dark movies, but the pervading negativity. Where is the optimist club when we need it?
It's there, right in front of us. That's why we don't want a diet of the negative, so we
Deletecan see it. Reality, yes, but not that continual attitude of negativity. The flowers, the sunshine, the spring, good food we have the privilege of eating, the smiles of the
little ones.
In literature and viewing entertainment it's out there too, but sadly not so much of it
in the more recently put forth. But it's there. That must be why old movies are still so
much in demand! One recent good movie though is with Tom Hanks about Fred Rodgers.
Have you seen it? There was a man who refused to be sucked in!
I've no idea what happened to yesterday's comments . . . lost in the ether. But, all to the good as it gives me a do-over.
ReplyDeleteThe professor who probably taught me the most about writing often told our class that bad language equated bad writing, and often lazy writing. He challenged us to find creative ways to express the emotion or idea for which such language was a substitute.
Here's how novelist Susan Howatch put it in "The Wonder Worker" in a speech attributed to the character of an Anglo-Catholic priest: "Language matters. Filthy language reflects a polluted consciousness, and how can God communicate with us if the channel of communication is clogged with the psychic equivalent of mud?"
I'm a firm believer that what we put in our minds matters. I was appalled to read, early in the pandemic, of binge reading and binge viewing of apocalyptic fiction about rogue viruses, bio-terrorist attacks and other fright-inducing fare. If (and I'm not) I were frightened, I'd want to read reassuring things. For years, I've escaped from hot, humid summers by reading tales of winters in Alaska and expeditions to Mount Everest. I don't compound my misery by reading about travelers lost in deserts. My virtual friend Tara, who lives in rural southeast Alaska, endures the isolated winters by reading novels set in the tropics and subtropics.
First of all, Carole, my apologies for the disappearance of your comments yesterday.
DeleteIt was not my imagination; when opening my g-mail yesterday I thought your name was there, but when scrolling down through the comments, I couldn't find it. Forever a mystery?
The comment Anonymous above made about her friend finding a fascination with trying to understand "the dark side" keeps coming back to me.... it is my firm belief that in that fascination lurks a very real danger of being trapped. We have plenty examples of the
truth of that. Study something dangerous from a healthy distance if at all possible, and heed the warnings of those who got too close.
And as aside (from the missing post): Poor Agatha Christie suffered through an appalling portrayal of "Ordeal by Innocence," filmed in either the late '60s or early '70s with a version that portrayed two of the victim's adopted children in bed together indulging in an incestuous affair. The novel, of course, has no such scene nor any hint of a romantic affair between brother and sister.
ReplyDelete