Robin Hood
October 7th, 2006 at 21:22
I thought I’d blog about this as it is practically the only TV programme I’ve watched in full this week (aside from the Daily Politics- which it turns out is a hot topic of conversation at work).
Its BBC One’s attempt to emulate the success of Doctor Who by recycling yet another character who in previous incarnations has had a contradictory backstory.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect- old-timey things tend to bore me, or confuse me with old-timey talk and ridiculous names. And yes, this is completely at odds with my interest in history and the fact I’m studying for a degree in which history is a rather major factor (politics).
I mean, Lord of the Rings was good- but I couldn’t give you a concise summary of the plot. Of Mice and Men and The Crucible (literally) bored me to (figurative) tears. Talk like normal people do, you cretins! Use modern words like “zeitgeist”, “chav” and “interoperability” and I might begin to understand whatever bollocks you’re trying to tell me about Witches and Communists, or mental health issues, or Goblins, or whatever.
Luckily, the new Robin Hood series seems to have done away with that- its a family drama afterall, and is surprisingly alright. Certainly not as good as Doctor Who- in Who, I didn’t have to spend a few minutes trying to figure out whether it was the main character or the sidekick on screen, as Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper don’t look too similar.
The backstory was quite confusing: I was under the impression that Robin Hood was some sort of cartoon fox who did the decent socialist thing and robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, yet when Robin confronted the Sheriff of Nottingham he seemed to be arguing in favour of Thatcherite principles of lowering taxes to allow the working classes to trade, and let the free market sort things out.
Maybe I’m reading into this too much?
And at risk of pointing out something that every blogger everywhere will be pointing out: the writers included a satire of modern British foreign policy, with the Sheriff of Nottingham claiming that the king stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Pope Gregory in the war in the Holy Land. Quite clever, if not a bit obvious- I’d have preferred the writers include some excellent references to Foundation Hospitals in the context of a feudal system.
That was another aspect of the programme that got to me a bit – Robin, as it turns out, was some sort of baron in this feudal system, and despite being set in 1192, seemed to have to values and morals of someone living in 2006. Rather than (again, figuratively) fucking the serfs for all that they’re worth he seems to have some sort of social concious- arguing for proper judicial proceedings and that. And despite being this lovable rogue, he actually started out as one of the people in power, remaining a part of this rigid system of control that keeps the poor people poor and the rich people rich. He only quit this regime when they did something he disagrees with- and before was quite happy with the maintenance of the satus-quo and the absolute power of unelected rulers. He was a medieval George Galloway, basically.
And then there’s a load of issues relating to whether Robin Hood is really a good role model… is he really going to make it through a thirteen part series without mercilessly stabbing someone up good? I can see the Daily Mail headlines now: “BBC DRAMA ENCOURAGES KNIFE CRIME”. He’s really a very grey-area character, which makes for a better plot- but when the baddies are (so far), also not entirely 100% pure evil, its hard to sympathise with his character. At least the baddies in Doctor Who always wanted to destroy the universe or something- all the Sheriff of Nottingham wants to do is collect some taxes and hang some crooks. And this is nothing to do with my vested interest in the collection of taxes.
On the plus side, historically speaking, if I can even get away with discussing history in a post about an urban legend (erm… rural legend?), the show seems pretty on the mark. King Richard, Pope Gregory, The Third Crusade were all real and happening in 1192. I hope we get some knowing foreshadowing, like how in the police series set in 1973, Life on Mars, the characters would say things like “video recorders? don’t be ridiculous”. It’d be good if Robin could say something like, “Just think Marion, one day this town could have the highest rate of gun crime in the country”, or “London is so vast it will never burn down in some sort of Great Fire“, before winking at the camera.
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