Discussion

[applea.livejournal.com]

While watching Blackadder over the weekend, I began to wonder- what would have happened if Rowan Atkinson had been asked to play Jeeves instead of Stephen Fry. I mean, Laurie's character is much the same (yet, dare I say it- smarter? in Plum's version) and both Blackadder and Jeeves share the similarities of serving the Prince/Wooster (henceforth shortened to Prince Wooster), rescuing him from the soup, being the cleverest one in the room, coming out ahead in every situation, and being darker to Prince Wooster's light.
Now, the characters are similar, but obviously different, so if Atkinson had gotten the role he'd be playing it slightly differently than he would his Blackadder role.

But it still stands Jeeves would probably sound much more blackadderish/malicious if he had gotten the role. How much do you think that would impact the message and interpretation of Plum's stories? And as a theoretical, which would you prefer/ think is more true to the stories?


For reference, here's a bit of Blackadder:
http://youtu.be/3iHPOabGtXs

Comments

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting question. I agree with Hazeltea that Rowan doesn't quite exude the suavity and grace that I would look for in a good Jeeves (although that's not to say he wouldn't be capable of it). His Blackadder is not only more malicious than Jeeves, but generally cruder -- he's more tactless and easily riled.

I do think that Stephen Fry's Jeeves is considerably more gentle and indulgent than book!canon Jeeves. Plum's Jeeves always struck me as much more devilish and dry. Martin Jarvis in this version of By Jeeves (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PL6FEA0D00900A2BCD) is actually a bit closer to what I always imagined when reading the books.

[applea.livejournal.com]

Oh that was delightful! :D Thanks for showing it old bean! But I'm interested to know with a Jeeves like that in mind, how slashable are the pair really? The age difference seems a pretty big bridge, as well as Jeeves' natural machinational habit (but we joyfully deal with that in every incarnation actually.)

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it! :) As depicted in the play, they would definitely be a tad less slashable than the Fry and Laurie versions. But I think a somewhat younger Jeeves with a similar personality to the Jarvis!Jeeves could work. In my headcanon these days Jeeves is about 10 years older than Bertie.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I've been in relationships with people 10 years older than me before, and in the gay community it's not actually all that uncommon for older men to be interested in younger ones. I could see it, though I wouldn't like the vibe if Jeeves were too much older than Bertie. Of course, the older you get, the less those few extra years would matter -- 17 and 27 seems a huge gap, where 37 and 47 isn't all that much, really. I do tend to go for them being no more than about 7-8 years apart, though, and preferably really only about 5.

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would not want them to be much more than 10 years apart (for slashing purposes), but I don't think that's an insurmountable gap at all.

[derien.livejournal.com]

in the gay community it's not actually all that uncommon for older men to be interested in younger ones.

My stepsister's ex husband is involved with a guy barely older than his own (adopted) son, which is a little creepy. It the straight community it's not all that unusual for older guys to be interested in younger women. I'm not saying it's always bad, but... well. 10 years, though, is not all that bad. As I was assured by a guy 10 years younger than me who was at least sort of hitting on me at the time, and who is now, to the best of my knowledge, involved with a woman almost exactly my age.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree there's a thin line sometimes between okay and creepy. The key is finding ways to keep it from being creepy if you're writing an older Jeeves and you want it to work. In that sort of a case, I think I'd find it easier to swallow (so to speak) if Bertie were the one to approach Jeeves, given the usual dynamic of their relationship.