|
|
|
March 11th, 2009
 | 11:46 am - two thoughts that nobody but me cares about
1. In Andre Norton's novel Beastmaster, the main character was Navajo. It's spelled out very clearly in the text. When this was made into a movie, he was played by Marc Singer, who is tall and blond. Andre Norton was not credited in the movie as having created the character [or the story, or the book. Or anything. She wasn't mentioned, either as Andre Norton or as Alice Norton. ::headshake and loud muttering::] The movie is an interesting (for some values of interesting) mixture of typecasting for appearance vs. capable acting by good actors. Tanya Roberts is the female lead (she may have learned acting since this movie but she didn't do any of it here); John Amos is doing a creditable job as an ally and Rip Torn is the villain. The animals include a tiger (wearing black food coloring to hide his stripes as he was supposed to be a black jaguar), two ferrets (playing meercats) and a golden eagle (playing an eagle.) They are awesome.
2. There is talk about Wiscon attendance among people discussing racism and SF in the RaceFail links on rydra-wong's LJ. Wiscon, like most other SF cons, is run by fans from local science fiction organizations/clubs/associations/gatherings that meet once or twice a month. (I said nearly to separate it from the pro-run show-related cons that cost much more, where it costs money to get autographs from guests of honor, instead of being places where anyone attending can go talk to a GOA for free.) There are science fiction fan clubs in nearly every major city and many minor cities. If the discussions take place only at the major conventions -- or online -- I doubt much will change overall in SF. If discussions take place within local SF fan communities -- or if more chromatic folk who enjoy SF decide to attend local meetings -- there may be more of a chance for greater change to occur and for it to happen sooner.
|
Comments:
1: The ferrets completely stole the show in that movie. They were better actors than either of the leads. (Gods, that movie was bad. I'm glad to hear the book was one of Norton's, and presumably, much better than the movie.)
The book was wonderful. I was so disappointed when the movie came out.
In that case I'll have to dig out the book. I didn't know they were related. The movie was definitely in the genre my father called "thud and blunder" -- lots of badly choreographed sword fights and wooden actors.
You may find you recognize the animals and not much else.
The animals were the best part. Especially the meer-ferrets. Too cute!
I loved Beastmaster in all it's cheesy, craptastic glory, and yet I had no idea until a couple of years ago that it was based on something by Andre Norton. D:
Like the mess with Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea adaptation, another case where the characters were so changed they bear little resemblance to the written ones. Andre Norton's novel is far better than the movie.
I must find it and read it, then!
| From: | (Anonymous) |
|---|
| Date: | March 11th, 2009 11:38 am (UTC) |
|---|
| | | (Link) |
|
I saw the movie as a teen, long before I knew it was one of her books (I may not have read any of hers before than, I don't recall).
The ferrets/meercats were the best part, by far! I do remember really enjoying the movie though, in all its cheesiness. Of course -- teenage girls were no doubt the target audience....
Serenya/Loredena
I read every one of Andre's books that I could get my hands on when I was in high school; this was one of my favorites.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
|---|
| Date: | March 11th, 2009 01:42 pm (UTC) |
|---|
| | | (Link) |
|
I think I found Witch World in college. Before that -- the only one I can think of was the kids with the knife, the spoon, and the fork to battle their fears. And I mostly remember the spiders! in that one. That was definitely a YA book. I was a prolific reader of just about anything, but I was limited to whatever I found in our local libraries, which could be rather random.
Loredena
The first two Andre Norton novels I read were Beastmaster and Moon of Three Rings. It was years before I found out there were sequels to the second one.
Oh dear - I loved Andre Norton but had no idea that Beastmaster was based on one of her novels. Unfortunately, I also love cheezy Sci Fi and I enjoyed the movie. Marc Singer was tall and good looking and Tanya Roberts was tall and curvy and good looking. Really, I didn't ask for more in my youth. However, what was done with Ursula Le Guin's trilogy was just horrible. By the time that aired on TV, I was old enough to understand what a travesty it was.
It's not surprising that you missed it being one of hers. Andre Norton was one of very few authors who wrote her way through the alphabet -- twice. So there was a lot out there, and this was the second of her published novels.
![[User Picture]](http://www.insanejournal.com/userpic/179266/47643) | | From: | ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dine |
|---|
| Date: | March 11th, 2009 03:33 pm (UTC) |
|---|
| | | (Link) |
|
I remember reading (and rereading) Beast Master and its sequel(s)? - I discovered her writing in early teens (early 70s) and devoured everything I could lay my hands on. I never did see the movie adaptation, and reading your description makes me damn happy about that.
now I want to go back and reread the books again! |
|
