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ineffably-human:
feoplepeel:
ultraballantine:
I wonder if some of the bigger differences in the characterization of Aziraphale and Crowley from the books to the series are due to the shift from a late Cold War era to the current shitshow. So we go from jaded operatives dealing with the bankrupt ideologies and goals of their respective side to discontented employees dealing with extremely powerful employers colluding to bring about disaster.
This is an incredibly good take, especially bringing in the expanded role of Gabriel who was, initially, “that stuffy, posh Brit who can’t get out of his own way.” and then re-imagined as an American, “the guy from head office who is like, ‘Hey, what are you doing? Go to work! ‘” We’ve had so much pop culture material (Office Space was released in 1999, Glengarry Glen Ross in 92, the list could go on) to fill in the space for a character like him, and a fundamental shift of what the current idea of a ‘representative’, someone in the corporate wheelhouse looks like to take the place of what Aziraphale and Crowley need to be to accommodate. Horrible bosses and their underlings vs a more le Carre inspired scenario.
I absolutely love this and hope you don’t mind me dogpiling on for a slightly adjacent thing, because yes! The book was written as everyone’s pulling out of the Cold War because they realized mutual destruction was the only result. Everyone took a collective look around and said ‘nope, there’s no winning here, we’d just eat ourselves faster that way’, and that was it. That’s what the Johnsonite gang is, that’s why Crowley and Aziraphale are shamed a little by Adam for trying to influence human nature in the first place. They’re not needed and that’s the point.
Right now we’re in a time of open hostility and aggression. Everyone feels very divided into specific echo-chamber loyalties (sometimes for good reason, but often to fuel paranoia or discontent), and the powers that be are only stoking those fires harder because it serves them and their egos. The show’s got a much bigger emphasis on the marriage (literal and figurative) of differences and embracing friendship and basic kindness in order to bring about change.
It wouldn’t narratively work at this time in our lives to say “leave people alone to thrive without dogma.” So instead our heroes are told they’re weak or traitorous for not wanting to continue on a self-destructive road. And their world-changing act (aside from choosing to love each other to start with) is to give humanity-as-Adam a moment outside the noise to make a decision, to remind him that power is in his hands to say no to this. And to say he’s cared for no matter what he does.
(Your picture was not posted)
ineffably-human:
feoplepeel:
ultraballantine:
I wonder if some of the bigger differences in the characterization of Aziraphale and Crowley from the books to the series are due to the shift from a late Cold War era to the current shitshow. So we go from jaded operatives dealing with the bankrupt ideologies and goals of their respective side to discontented employees dealing with extremely powerful employers colluding to bring about disaster.
This is an incredibly good take, especially bringing in the expanded role of Gabriel who was, initially, “that stuffy, posh Brit who can’t get out of his own way.” and then re-imagined as an American, “the guy from head office who is like, ‘Hey, what are you doing? Go to work! ‘” We’ve had so much pop culture material (Office Space was released in 1999, Glengarry Glen Ross in 92, the list could go on) to fill in the space for a character like him, and a fundamental shift of what the current idea of a ‘representative’, someone in the corporate wheelhouse looks like to take the place of what Aziraphale and Crowley need to be to accommodate. Horrible bosses and their underlings vs a more le Carre inspired scenario.
I absolutely love this and hope you don’t mind me dogpiling on for a slightly adjacent thing, because yes! The book was written as everyone’s pulling out of the Cold War because they realized mutual destruction was the only result. Everyone took a collective look around and said ‘nope, there’s no winning here, we’d just eat ourselves faster that way’, and that was it. That’s what the Johnsonite gang is, that’s why Crowley and Aziraphale are shamed a little by Adam for trying to influence human nature in the first place. They’re not needed and that’s the point.
Right now we’re in a time of open hostility and aggression. Everyone feels very divided into specific echo-chamber loyalties (sometimes for good reason, but often to fuel paranoia or discontent), and the powers that be are only stoking those fires harder because it serves them and their egos. The show’s got a much bigger emphasis on the marriage (literal and figurative) of differences and embracing friendship and basic kindness in order to bring about change.
It wouldn’t narratively work at this time in our lives to say “leave people alone to thrive without dogma.” So instead our heroes are told they’re weak or traitorous for not wanting to continue on a self-destructive road. And their world-changing act (aside from choosing to love each other to start with) is to give humanity-as-Adam a moment outside the noise to make a decision, to remind him that power is in his hands to say no to this. And to say he’s cared for no matter what he does.
(Your picture was not posted)
