I really dislike that movie as a whole, but I know many ppl enjoy it for what it is and/or find it nostalgic, so I try to keep my negative opinions about it to myself.
(by textsfromthevampire ^This meme actually works in reference to Lestat and Stuart Townsend AS Lestat.)
The long answer is:
I didn’t hate Townsend. I don’t like to throw hate on actors for their acting. I’d say ST did the best he could with what he was given. His failure as Lestat was a group effort (makeup, costume, script writer, dialogue coach, director, editor, sfx, etc. all had a hand in what we got on the screen) much as Cruise’s success was a group effort (wherein all those things previously mentioned came together so perfectly).
The actor is one part of the machine in creating that character. The failure or success of the character can ultimately be placed on the director since s/he’s the one who coordinates and makes all the aesthetic choices for the entire film.
But again, some ppl really enjoyed him as Lestat, maybe for the same reasons I /disliked/ his performance! Everyone has their own taste, ppl frequently disagree with the Academy Awards (why hasn’t Tom Cruise gotten one yet???!!), it’s all very subjective.
On a little further reflection, you can skip: *possible spoilers under the cut*
Pandora – Is mostly about Pandora, and Marius, and their relationship. Pandora’s not really in PL much and their relationship doesn’t have much to do with how Marius is in PL.
Vittorio – This is technically not a VC book, and he has a different origin story and is not part of the VC vampire group.
Blackwood Farm – This is mostly a story told to Lestat and he’s not very invested in it, I don’t think many (any?) of the new characters introduced in this book make any more than a mention or brief appearance in PL. It is also fairly cracky.
Blood Canticle – AR said that PL deviates from canon in that it does not include the hybrid VC/Mayfair Witches stuff, but I think she meant this book specifically, which has Rowan Mayfair, who does not appear at all in PL. It is also very cracky.
I think you should read #4 before PL. It’s got a lot of David Talbot, who you only know a teeny bit at the end of #3. He’s… different in PL.
I feel like skipping to PL, you miss other adventures and character development, amusing lines… pages about how beautiful Louis is, lol… I just feel like reading them in order is a richer experience.
At least you have more of an appreciation for the other main characters since you know their background.
Prince Lestat CAN be considered a stand alone, AR said herself it can be treated like that. It’s just so stand alone that I consider it very Alternate Universe. You’ll see what I mean.
*sigh* It’s so strange that ppl want to rush to PL, but I guess it’s bc it’s the currently newest VC and the upcoming book is a sequel to it.
Also, almost 2 yrs since its release, I still refuse to accept PL as canon. It’s AU to me.
You don’t have to get groomed before you’re turned, AR doesn’t always specify if ppl do. I doubt Frida Kahlo would have! To pluck or not, to cut one’s hair or not, depends partly on the culture you’re from and what you personally consider beautiful.
Me, I’d LOVE to never have to bother with it again, but I’d probably let it be somewhat natural under the brow, like Brooke Shields had in the 80′s, so that I’d have that option if I wanted it, bc I am a child of the ‘80′s and this is still beautiful to me:
It’s part of the package. The women who were turned before shaving one’s legs was expected (presumably it was a sneaky way to sell more razors :P) probably have natural legs. Louis doesn’t mention shaving his face before he was turned, we don’t know if Lestat has scruff.
“I could hear Lestat in his room, the sound of water splashing from his pitcher. The faint smell of his cologne came and went like the sound of music from the cafe two doors down from us.” – IWTV
^Is he shaving? Is he brushing his fangs? Maybe he does have some scruff! He didn’t mention being freshly shaven before Magnus turns him.
It definitely creeped Jesse out in QOTD, but partly bc she didn’t really know what was going on did they shave her legs, too?:
“…Was this a funeral parlor?
It came again, the fear that she was dead, locked in the flesh yet disconnected. She
heard a curious sound; what was it? A scissors cutting. It was trimming the edges of
her hair; the feel of it traveled to her scalp. She felt it even in her intestines.
A tiny vagrant hair was plucked suddenly from her face; one of those annoying hairs,
quite out of place, which women so hate. She was being groomed for the coffin,
wasn’t she? Who else would take such care, lifting her hand now, and inspecting her
fingernails so carefully.”
Ya gotta realize that I love getting Asks, no matter who they’re from (well I don’t like trolly asks but that goes w/o sayin’), when it’s from someone who seems like they’re not necessarily in our fandom, that’s fine, too. Not everyone has to be as obsessed with this to the level that I am ;} Any interest is good interest!
^fanart by@garama, who must have seen it live or the video of it, and has drawn fanart based on the musical, so he must have liked it! This is one of my all-time fave fanarts of the little family ❤ i just want to buy a whole graphic novel in this beautiful heartfelt style is that so much to ask *cries*
Re: Lestat the Musical, I am so sorry to say that I didn’t like it and I can’t even enjoy the videos of it *sobs* I vaguely remember one funny joke Gabrielle made about childbirth, something like that was the first of many bellyaches Lestat caused her… ? I don’t remember 😛
Some ppl loved Lestat the Musical, and more power to them! I am jealous of you. IDK if you saw the SF version or NYC version, live or video of it, but I saw the NYC version live and I partially blame the NYC producers for how bad it was for me, bc they apparently stripped out alot of the flair and gay stuff, maybe they were afraid it was pushing the envelope too far? But isn’t that what theatre is supposed to do? *sigh*
You can find ppl who enjoyed it, and other stuff about it, in my #Lestat the Musical tag.
Sadly, I mostly feel second-hand embarrassment for Lestat the Musical bc I made the mistake of inviting my cousin to go w/ me. She was not in the fandom, and she was uncomfortable the whole time *facepalm* Idk I thought she’d be into it, but the NYC version we saw was stripped so bare, and there was little to engage with. I can’t even listen to the soundtrack! It just brings me back to how disappointed I was in the bareness of the production, at the whole audience’s lack of enthusiasm… much cry, very sad.
So I have to be cautiously optimistic about the adaptation in the works and hope that they considered Lestat the Musical and can avoid its pitfalls.
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise did a magnificent job portraying Louis and Lestat. They were so canon and so on point, they embodied them perfectly. I don’t think that any two other actors could do a better job. Let’s just hope that it will be decent.
You are preaching to the choir *u*
We have the unique opportunity now to cast ppl who are closer to the ages they were meant to be in canon. Brad and Tom were 30 and the characters were 20-21 (Lestat) and 25 (Louis). In the 90s, it was hard to accurately portray a homosexual relationship, and the world has become more accepting of it in film, so hopefully we can have more of their relationship chemistry actually on screen, too ❤
*Although I may have acted somewhat excited about it a few months ago (and I don’t want to edit the post bc that’s a time capsule as to how I felt then), currently I don’t want a Leto!Lestat bc of the accusations against Leto, which you can google yourself bc I’m NOT going there. True or false, we don’t need that kind of baggage in our fandom, and there are PILES of younger actors out there who can play Lestat bc Boone wants this to be a trilogy w/ TV spinoffs and we need someone who can play 20 or 21 yrs old for a long time, and Leto altho he does not look like it is 44 yrs old.
Some ppl definitely ARE excited for the new book! There was alot of excitement and cautious optimism for Prince Lestat.
I feel like I have a good perspective on this bc I have been in this fandom for 20+ years even tho book!IWTV came out before I was born, too. I’d have to ask a more veteran fandom person what it was like when they got the sequel(s) to IWTV! I got into the fandom right before the movie came out in ‘94, when we only had the first 4 books, so I looked forward to every new book with some level of excitement and that’s hard to shake even now *u*
New titles and storylines have often sounded more than a bit iffy and there has often been resistance to each new VC book. Alot of ppl didn’t think they would like TOBT or MtD, and some read those and still refuse to accept either as canon.
[X] Ppl have their own ideas of the characters in their minds. As AR continues delve into their perspectives on previous events and give them new stories in each new book, some ppl choose to “get off the bus” along the way, bc they don’t necessarily trust her vision and they don’t want to see their fave character(s) in characterization they feel is off, or forced into plots that make no sense, etc. And we can’t blame AR for this but the trainwreck that was movie!QOTD, so much was off that it was offensive, and yet, surprisingly, some ppl find that movie nostalgic! ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Some ppl actually trust the fanfic writers and/or fanartists more than the author at this point, bc many of our awesome fanfic writers and fanartists learned the voices and attitudes of the characters and try to keep them in the style that drew us to them in the first place ❤
So I don’t know how new you are, and what you’ve seen and/or read, but unlike many other fandoms: We do not all accept all of the books (and the 2 movies) in our series as CANON.
[^Louis doesn’t really approve of the series as a whole.]
All of us are into VC for our own reasons, and there are some ppl who are into it specifically for certain characters, time periods, cosplay ideas, etc. Ppl whose interests are similar tend to find eachother and make closer friendships within the larger fandom. Anything that you do not accept as canon can be considered AU or written off as being told by an unreliable narrator, bc all of our characters are unreliable narrators! They all know someone in the coven will read their account of things and they may *~embellish~* the truth if they want to do so ;] Scenes are often retread from different characters’ POVs. You can choose which version you want to trust. Maybe there are elements of both that you find acceptable.
Even AR doesn’t accept all of the books as canon: she said that
Prince Lestat does not follow the VC/Mayfair hybrid books (Blood Canticle was intended to be the last VC). She wrote PL almost as a stand alone book and lots of ppl seem to be coming into the fandom from that book without reading IWTV which is fine, and more power to them! You don’t need to read the books that lead up to it but you’ll get a deeper appreciation of some of the main characters if you at least read the first 3 books in the series before you read PL.
Hit the jump for more, cut for length.
Re: differing headcanons: We still have disagreements about what Louis’ hair really looks like, bc some ppl were influenced by movie!IWTV, the official graphic novels, and the fanart which interprets it in different ways. We still disagree over whether Lestat was 20 or 21 when he was turned, and AR herself doesn’t always answer these canon questions explicitly herself (maybe bc she left it ambiguous on purpose, or she forgot, or whatever other reasons).
Re: PL: There are parts of PLI can accept, just not the whole thing. There are alot of new characters introduced who I personally did not find as engaging as the old set, and the old set did not always behave in ways that seemed true to their own previously established characterizations throughout the book. Other ppl have different opinions. We have RPers who chose the new characters to RP, so they probably accept these new characters as canon.
I probably won’t accept Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis as anything more than AU either, bc it follows PL.
Reasons why fandom won’t accept PLROA as canon:
The main reason would be that AR herself has told us to disregard the Mayfair crossover books. In terms of her own headcanon, she didn’t want to tie these in with the events that follow in PL. So her own books diverge from her own timeline.
A secondary reason would be the earlier books in the series are generally accepted as the stronger stories with the characters best written.
I-want-my-IWTV 