Which is better, book or movie? Princess and Tessa attempt to answer the question in this week's episode all about book adaptations. They cover The Gray Man, Persuasion, and many other fan favorite (and not-so-favorite) adaptations of years past. Let the bookish battles begin!
Netflix Geeked - Ep12 - Book Adaptations_MIX_V4.mp3
CLIP: [00:00:01] Geeked.
PRINCESS: [00:00:05] What's good? My lovely geek babies it is me. Her Royal Majesty Princess Weekes.
TESSA: [00:00:12] And it is I. Your King Tessa Netting.
PRINCESS: [00:00:15] Amazing. And you are listening to, I guess, the Royal Geeked Podcast, your one stop shop for fandom convo, pop culture, media, all the things that you love. And of course, two awesome broads talking about broad nerd shit.
TESSA: [00:00:31] Yeah. Each week we skim the surface of what's popular in geek culture. Then Deep dive into a Netflix world bigger than our Own.
PRINCESS: [00:00:38] Today's world is well, more like worlds. It's the land of literature. I am so excited because I have two degrees in English. So,.
TESSA: [00:00:48] Princess, this is your time.
PRINCESS: [00:00:51] This is my time. We're talking about book adaptations.
TESSA: [00:00:56] Yes. We're going to talk about persuasion. The Gray Man, like Netflix, is kind of known for their book adaptations.
PRINCESS: [00:01:05] To all the boys I ever loved. Yeah, it's a lot.
TESSA: [00:01:08] Yeah. There's so many, like, shadow and bone. Like, it goes on and on and on. And sometimes I'll even look something up on Netflix and I'll be like, Is this from a book? And then I look it up and it is. So, you know, what Netflix, God bless, because I don't have enough time in my life to read all these books. And so at least I still get a part of the story. So I'm very excited to talk about this. But First Princess, I got to know what has got you geeked this week?
PRINCESS: [00:01:40] Well, I got a little bit of sand in my eye because I've been listening to the sleep cast with Neil Gaiman. And I believe that we have a little bit of a taste of that that our lovely producer is going to play for us and we're going to react to and let you know what we think. Let's see who's sleeping already.
NEIL: [00:02:05] Hello, my name is Neil.
TESSA: [00:02:07] Hi, Neal.
NEIL: [00:02:08] I want to welcome you to the Sandman dreamcast. Dream. Lord Morpheus. He's here with us now. Just ahead. Do you see him? That tall, dark figure. Notice his jet black hair. His alabaster skin. And his long black robe. If you look closely. You might see flames flickering.
PRINCESS: [00:03:09] I really am goinig to fall asleep.
TESSA: [00:03:12] I Know.
NEIL: [00:03:12] See how his eyes burn and shine.
PRINCESS: [00:03:18] Not Tessa's King right now.
TESSA: [00:03:20] I know. This is not good. This is turning into something that's going to give me sex dreams about Morpheus.
NEIL: [00:03:28] For us always.
PRINCESS: [00:03:32] He flickers his hand on her.
TESSA: [00:03:35] See his overly large hands coming towards you, stroking your skin.
PRINCESS: [00:03:43] Cups you. Hot. Well, now I'm tired and aroused.
TESSA: [00:04:20] Oh, my goodness. Wow. Okay. That was a whole experience, and I love that. I'm going to definitely be listening to that before I go to bed. Especially if Joe's not around, Sorry, Joe.
PRINCESS: [00:04:38] Well. Well, the funny thing is that, like, I was listening to one of Neil Gaiman's his Norse mythology audiobook, so his voice is very soothing. I've had to rewind and be like, Oh, I, I both want to hear this, but I want to fall asleep to your voice.
TESSA: [00:04:52] Oh, I love his voice. His voice is amazing. That was that whole experience was incredible because at first I was like, Oh, this is like so magical. And it's feels like I'm on this journey. And then Morpheus shows up and I'm like, Stop Describing how hot he is to me, okay.
PRINCESS: [00:05:07] Like, you're like. You're like tall, check. Pale, check. Not entirely good. Check, check, check.
TESSA: [00:05:14] Oh, it was. But, hey, this sleep cast can help me lucid dream into, like, meeting Morpheus and us going on adventures together. Hell, yeah. Into it.
PRINCESS: [00:05:29] All right, everyone. So because we are going to be talking in part about.
CLIP: [00:05:33] The Gray Man.
PRINCESS: [00:05:33] Which is a spy action thriller, a.k.a. your dad's favorite thing. I decided to play a little game called Spy versus Spy. Old heads might know about this. So I am going to pick two characters, and I'm going to ask my lovely companion, Miss Tessa, if she who she thinks would win and if she doesn't know who they are, I will give her a nice little pop culture media lesson. So for the first round, we have a basic one. We have James Bond 007 himself versus Mr. Jason, Matt Damon, Bourne.
TESSA: [00:06:09] Okay. So James Bond, I know. Like I he's cool. I like him. I have no idea who Jason Bourne is.
PRINCESS: [00:06:20] Jason, ask your dad. So Jason Bourne is so the Bourne Identity. Does that mean anything to you?
TESSA: [00:06:28] It sounds familiar. And I've probably watched this. This is the problem. So Joe likes these movies and I've definitely watched these with him and he's going to listen to this and be like Tessa!,.
PRINCESS: [00:06:38] Joe's dying on the inside. He's liike, you've brought shame to the family! Dishonor.
TESSA: [00:06:44] But this is this is the problem to me. All these spy things are the same. Like, I can't even sometimes like I'm like, is this mission impossible or James Bond or what? Because to me, I'm like, there's a man, and then he got to be a spy. I got to be sneaky about it. And then he's got to have his guns. And then there's like a hot lady in there, and then he's got, like, the cars and, like, it's so hard for me. What's good about Jason Bourne that's better than Bond because to me Bond is like the ultimate.
PRINCESS: [00:07:16] Well, I Don't think that- I would vote for Bond because I'm a Bond girl from from the cradle. My mom is a huge Bond fan. So to give you the skinny on Jason Bourne. So Jason Bourne is Matt Damon. This is his mission impossible. There was, I think, four movies. He was in three of them. Basically, he's playing as former CIA agent who like loses all his memories, assumes identity of Jason Bourne. So it's he's a CIA agent, but he doesn't know and like the entire series is him just like finding out clues about his past while also running from the CIA and being Matt Damon. It's pretty good, but I would say not better than Bond.
TESSA: [00:07:57] James Bond is the best.
PRINCESS: [00:07:59] I think the one thing that Jason Bourne might have to his advantage is that James Bond is a alcoholic and and that, you know, if he's a little bit if he's a little too shaken, not stirred, it can it can get a little dangerous. But I would also root for a James Bond. And again, to any of our listeners, let us know who you would pick to win in the ats. I almost said in the comments or in the comments.
TESSA: [00:08:27] Jason Bourne is not on the same level as Bond. Like I listen, I'm a person that doesn't know spies, but I know who James Bond is. Like, I know 007, I know Charlie's Angels. I know you know, I know a couple. And he's one of the ones I know.
PRINCESS: [00:08:43] My second, my token woman spy versus spy is Black Widow Natasha Romanoff.
TESSA: [00:08:48] Yes.
PRINCESS: [00:08:49] Versus Sydney Bristow from Alias. Did you ever watch Alias?
TESSA: [00:08:53] No, I don't know that is.
PRINCESS: [00:08:55] Okay. So Alias, it was basically like every episode was like Captain America, Civil War. We're going to new countries, wearing a different wig and we're engaging. We're investigating l.
TESSA: [00:09:07] I do love a good wig.
PRINCESS: [00:09:09] We're fightinig.Yeah. So I'm going to say because I know that you probably might be more familiar with Black Widow.
TESSA: [00:09:13] I do.
PRINCESS: [00:09:14] Do you like that character?
TESSA: [00:09:18] No. I like Florence Pugh's character. What was her name?
PRINCESS: [00:09:22] Well, there you go. So if you had to choose between Natasha or Yelena.
TESSA: [00:09:26] Yelena all day, listen, there's no contest. Natasha is boring as hell. I never liked her. She was boring. I didn't understand, like, all the drama, although I was just like, ah, baggage that you hold on, my girl. Just talk about it or don't like. I'm bored, so I don't have time for that.
PRINCESS: [00:09:47] I mean, I agree. I feel like she was done so dirty that it's like that. I was so offended when she died, even though I cared so little. It was like it was like, wow, this is sexist, but I also don't care.
TESSA: [00:10:00] Well, I mean, compared to Jeremy Renner, it's like. I would want Her to live as well. Princess, you forgot about Spy Kids.
PRINCESS: [00:10:09] Oh, versus who?
TESSA: [00:10:11] I just remember that Spy Kids was just such a huge movie in my childhood.
PRINCESS: [00:10:17] Oh, I had the poster.
TESSA: [00:10:19] Yeah, I had the poster.
PRINCESS: [00:10:20] I wanted to be Alexis. Alexa Vega. I was like, this is an icon.
TESSA: [00:10:24] Those thumbs that, like, haunted my nightmares.
PRINCESS: [00:10:31] The thumbs! Oh, wait. No, Kim Possible's not a spy.
TESSA: [00:10:32] Yes,she is! Hell yeah.
PRINCESS: [00:10:34] If Kim Possible's a spy is she like a secret agent.
TESSA: [00:10:39] Yeah, I would say she's a spy.
PRINCESS: [00:10:41] Okay,.
PRINCESS: [00:10:42] Because she's kind of, like, undercover a little bit.
PRINCESS: [00:10:45] She can just do everything she can. I'm always going to root for Kim Possible.
TESSA: [00:10:50] That's hard. That's a hard decision.
PRINCESS: [00:10:52] Or wait, I forgot. No, totally spies.
TESSA: [00:10:55] Oh, that as well.
PRINCESS: [00:10:57] There's so many ladies spies. You know. What?
TESSA: [00:10:59] We're just not thinking.
PRINCESS: [00:11:01] We weren't thinking hard enough, you know? It's The Gray Man. We got mansplain. We got we got put into a corner of masculinity, and we forgot all of our female spy. You know what? They would even fight. They would just cause- they would just start a great agency with health care that recognizes trans rights and great maternity leave and paternity leave. So we're just going to say all the lady spies are doing it for themselves and we're very proud of them.
TESSA: [00:11:29] We love lady spies. So I think this will be a good way for us to kick off our convo here about adaptations. The reason why this movie was so good had absolutely nothing to do with like the plot.
CLIP: [00:11:54] And have something they really want.
TESSA: [00:11:55] Whatsoever. So it's like it had nothing to do with the book that it was based on because like, I didn't really care about the characters themselves that much.
CLIP: [00:12:04] My ego's a little bruised.
TESSA: [00:12:05] I didn't really care about the plot that much. Like, to me, most spy movies are the same. Like I get confused about which plot is which. So what mattered the most to me was like the chemistry between the actors and the the shots, how they, how they were seen and how the fights were choreographed and how just like the beautiful way that the music and the the noises, not even just like the music, but the sounds that were used like during the fighting, during the things like it made me just like it gave me like, reactions. So to me, that's all the Russos like that's all their stylized portrayal of this story and them elevating it and making it so much better than any like anything that you can read. Because, like, there's only so much that a plot can give you. And that's what's so beautiful about seeing something on screen, especially seeing something spy related on a big screen like that. So to me, I feel like this is a good adaptation. There's no way that a book could even come close to this because you're getting the full experience and you're getting like the chemistry between humans. So.
PRINCESS: [00:13:28] I think that's a great point because as someone who has read some spy novels, they can be very dry. And I think that it's very easy to sort of get lost. And this is the most perfect skilled person of all time. And, like I remember reading the James Bond books and they're not bad per say, but they're just so repetitive. There's only so much of that same stuff you can do. And I think that with an action film, you're able to understand the scope of the mission more. You're able to sort of like make certain connections. The character just is inherently more human because you get to learn like personal lives by the actor. And I think that the best spy thriller movies are the one that like use star power and great action sequences in tandem. And that's really The Great Man. Like it uses its stars really well. It uses all of its setting designs. And like the Russos, not a direct action.
[00:14:22] Mm hmm.
[00:14:22] So, like, that's what they're good at, and it all really comes across. It's very interesting because I think, like, the genre to me, like spy thrillers and what we would call chick lit are two sides of the same coin. Like it's the same thing. And I think in both cases it really needs someone who really appreciates the genre to direct it. And I think that watching it, it's like, Oh yeah, the Russos are nerds about spy thrillers, right? That totally comes across in this adaptation, which is why people like it, because I think people outside of dads may not love to read spy thrillers, but I think people like just an action movie and just. Sure, cool people kick ass. Yes. Well, my mom is my mom raised me on Clint Eastwood and James Bond movies just for that reason alone.
TESSA: [00:15:08] Okay. So, Princess, let's let's move on to just talking about more book adaptations like to you what makes like a good book adaptation? Like, what are you looking for in that?
PRINCESS: [00:15:20] I mean, it really varies in a lot of ways, but I think the core thing is that they understand the themes of the novel. I don't mind changes. Changes need to happen. I just want the changes to be making it a better film experience and not making it a worse narrative experience. You know what I mean? Like we both came out of the world of Harry Potter growing up. And so like to me, the reason why I love the third movie so much is like even though it's not exactly by the book, the changes just make for a very interesting, tight narrative because a book is supposed to be extraneous, it's supposed to have side quests and little things that you sort of can enjoy that are different for a movie, you want it to feel more contained. And while that has lost us many a Quidditch match that I really did want to see, I respect when they make those changes. I just want I want every choice to make the movie watch experience better not make me hate the book more if that makes sense.
TESSA: [00:16:22] Right. No, that that does make sense. Like to me, I think something if it can stand on its own as a TV show or a movie, like if you don't have to have read the book in order for you to still enjoy it. Like that's sort of what I'm looking for. And then they bring in like a couple of Easter eggs for like the super fans to enjoy. But it's not just like, here's every detail of all of these. Like it's too much most of the time. And then a lot of times, like, if it's good, if I'm interested, like, and now I want more, like it intrigues me, then I want to read the book. Like that's the ultimate. That's like what I want from any book adaptation. It's like, oh, I, I watched this thing. I really liked it. Oh, shit. There's a book. Hell yeah. Let's read the book and see either, like, you know, go into a deeper dive or see what the story is like in this way, because I already kind of like it.
PRINCESS: [00:17:21] I agree. And I think what's interesting so at the time that we're recording tomorrow, the Netflix adaptation of Persuasion is coming out. And it's been interesting because when the trailer was released, people were like, this doesn't seem like Persuasion. And as I was watching it, it definitely feels like it is a Bridget Jones type adaptation of the book. But that makes sense because I literally went to reread my copy of Persuasion, and the first thing it says in the annotated version is like, this is known to be one of Jane Austen's less humorous works. And it's like, you know, like people go to Jane Austen for her humor. People go to Jane Austen for like the romance. And it's like if those things are still intact, then it's okay to make it a little bit more. Breaking the fourth wall, talking to the audience, making it more engaging like they did it before with like the like an older version of Mansfield Park. And also part of the reason why Persuasion is so under adapted is because it is kind of dry. Not to say it's not enjoyable, but it is kind of a dry book. So they're trying to like skip to the themes, keep to the story, but like make it more engrossing for our audience.
TESSA: [00:18:37] Right.
PRINCESS: [00:18:38] Which is what Jane Austen was doing like a lot of times these classic authors were writing for their audience. Their audience just happened to exist a couple hundred years ago. And so I think when you're updating a book, especially like an older text to get on my little nerd brigade, it's like, you should want to think if this author were writing this today, what would it be like? And I think that's what this adaptation really does well.
CLIP: [00:19:02] Now I'm single and thriving. I spend my time drinking fine wines.
TESSA: [00:19:07] Yeah, I... So when it comes to like, for example, like Little Women or like Pride and Prejudice, I like I like the movies better. I like it better than the book. So it's like sometimes I have certain opinions that a lot of nerds would especially book nerds would crucify me for. But sometimes to me, like, books can be too much. Like sometimes it's too overwhelming. The Freaking Lord of the Rings novels, the Game of Thrones novels. To me, those are too intense. So sometimes for me to have things streamlined a little bit more is so, so helpful because a lot of times, especially with these like intense hardcore fantasy or sci fi novels, it is dense. That shit is dense. And I'm like, this is, this is too much I need help, actually, I want to like give Netflix props because they're pretty good at adapting books. I'm surprised at how good they are at it because I like like for example, Shadow and Bone, like that was a book that I tried to get into but just could not because I don't know, I tried multiple times. But then the show, like immediately I was like, Oh, I get it. I understand you're showing it to me. And now like, I can live in this world now because sometimes for me it's hard because of my lack of focus to get into the world. So if I see it, if I can, and I'll also I'm a visual fucking person, so I'm a visual person if I can see it, I live it and then I'll go back and read it and then I'll be like, Hell yeah. So God bless.
PRINCESS: [00:20:53] Oh - I got the visuals now. No, I'm not. I'm the same way. Like I knew the book series I had read actually of The Six for Crows one. But when I watched the show, I was like, okay, now I actually want to go and read the book. And then I was like, Oh, this is interesting. And like, that's one of the adaptations where I was like, I got really into both. I was like, oh, this is an interesting choice because I only actually had one issue with it. But like, other than that, I was like, Oh, this is a really thoughtful adaptation. Like, even with the two, all the boys I've always loved, you know, they are really they took that cute tone of it. They really found a way to, like, really bring this series to life in a fun, engaging way. And I'm really enjoying that like I think of all. The adaptations that they've done. There's only one I haven't liked so far, but everything else I've really enjoyed.
TESSA: [00:21:43] I mean, Bridgerton is a good one. Like, that's what I mean. You.
PRINCESS: [00:21:46] Definitely Improved. Yeah, definitely.
TESSA: [00:21:49] Like, I could go on and on. It's, it's. And those are my favorite when you just can enjoy both. When you really enjoy a show or really love a movie and you love it so much that you want to like. You're like, Oh, I wish there was more. Like, that's literally why I read fan fiction, because it's like, I love this world so much. I want to live in it more. So for me, if there's like a book series or something, I'm like, Oh, this is beautiful. Let's see. And then if it's good, I'm like, Oh, God, this is the ultimate.
PRINCESS: [00:22:24] It makes it just really fun. And I just I'm very excited about the way in which that we get to consume multiple kinds of media. And because we're getting overall better adaptations, because, like, it used to be hard up in these streets, I tell you what, like Eragon? And I even like those books. But if I did, I would have been very agita.
TESSA: [00:22:48] Yeah, no, I agree. It's. It's only gotten better, I feel. And I think it's because the authors are involved a lot more. I feel like just because we I mean, this can be a curse as well, but because they can also kind of see the public discourse on it a little bit, I feel like that can be helpful sometimes. I don't think that a show or a movie should ever fully like listen to the public over their own creative vision. That's never a good idea, but just sometimes in knowing what's most important to them can be helped more so that they know that they can hit that one specific thing. And then if they hit that, then they're good. Then they can play along with other things or change other things as long as they get the one thing right. So I think that's been helpful. Like because Twilight happened, that's why Hunger Games happened and that's why like, you know, Netflix started adapting film. Like this is the reason because of the success of that, YA book like, you know, turned into a movie because it was so successful. Like, that's why we're getting more content like that, more book adaptations, because people want to see the stories in their head brought to life. And it's a beautiful thing.
PRINCESS: [00:23:59] I mean, as someone who just like, you know, The Witcher show on Netflix got me into The Witcher books because I love The Witcher. I think I think it's great to me. It's like, this is epic fantasy. This is culture. So, like, I, I love it, you know, the Sandman graphic novels are books. I did a whole video about it on PBS. I just love it. And as an as someone who eventually wants to finish their book and have it adapted, I'm very glad for all these trailblazers for making room for me.
TESSA: [00:24:26] I have a question, Princess. For you.
PRINCESS: [00:24:29] Yes, my love.
TESSA: [00:24:29] So when you know. So if if you know that a certain adaptation is coming out and you haven't read that book yet, are you the type of person that wants to read it before you see it, or would you rather see it. And then if you like it then read it.
PRINCESS: [00:24:46] Mhm. Good question. Good question. I think that the lesson I have learned is to do the the show first and have an opinion on that and then go back to the book. Like I did that with Outlander, I did it with Game of Thrones and sometimes it don't work out for the show. But I do think it's important to, for me at least, because I'm a such a book person to at least give the thing a fair shot. I have to like just watch it and see how I feel about it and then we'll see what happens. If it's like a classic that it's kind of like or something that has been adapted a bunch of times. I'll read the book to see like, Oh, what's going to be different about that? But if it's like a thing I haven't done before, I'll be like, let's just, you know, give it a chance.
TESSA: [00:25:34] Yeah. Because I feel like a lot of times the problem that a lot of people do with reading it right before is because it's so fresh in their brain because they like try to read it right before it comes out. Then they like have such a specific thing that they want or such a specific thing that they're looking for. And then if the movie doesn't give them that, then it's almost like, okay, they better do this thing perfectly that I want. And then if they don't, then they're like, Oh man, they like this movie sucks. Whereas like if you go in and you watch the show or the movie and you're like, Hey, that was pretty good. I'm always, let's watch the thing and then read it after, because if the book is better, then I'm just happier all around. There's all, there's, yeah, good feelings. There's not like, Oh, I love this thing. There's better this better be as good as I hope it is better have this one specific thing that I really like because everyone likes different things.
PRINCESS: [00:26:30] Exactly. And I also just think that like, you know yourself and you know, like, I know my myself. So I know that if I go and I watch this whole thing and like I don't want to be disappointed that I should just, like, you know, make it brief, like I but I also now I'm grown and I no longer care which one people prefer. I will, I have grown because I used to be, I used to be that person who would be like my - the book is better. And even though six out of ten times it is, sometimes.
TESSA: [00:27:04] Really?
PRINCESS: [00:27:04] I think most of the time for me and that includes with manga that I have read. I've enjoyed the book more.
TESSA: [00:27:10] See, I disagree. I usually like the movie better.
PRINCESS: [00:27:14] And I think that's totally fine. And look at us and we're both here.
TESSA: [00:27:19] Look at us. I mean, I like books and I enjoy them. I don't have enough time to read to get into the world that I that I want to be in. And so, to me, a movie or a TV show just kind of like gives me all the good stuff, all the goods that I want. And, and then I can add on to that. But sometimes. I don't know. Okay. This is another question for you. Do you like World Building better or do you like plot better? Like, what do you prefer? Because that's a huge thing, too.
PRINCESS: [00:27:56] For me. I'm a big character driven person.
TESSA: [00:27:58] Okay.
PRINCESS: [00:27:59] Like if I'm into the characters. I'll be like to me.
TESSA: [00:28:01] Okay.
PRINCESS: [00:28:02] It's Interesting. I like well-done worldbuilding, but added to me doesn't translate to it. Needing to be long. You know, like, I love a long fantasy novel, but not just because it's long doesn't mean it's good. I really like character driven stories, and I think for me, I think the reason why sometimes for me the book ends up being better is that a lot of times the books that I read especially have heroines who are very quiet and don't have a lot of you need the personality trait.
TESSA: [00:28:29] Got it.
PRINCESS: [00:28:30] And so it's hard to adapt that they ended it. Right. You know, like, I think like I loved Sansa in Game of Thrones and like in the book you get to spend time in her head.
TESSA: [00:28:38] That's a good point.
PRINCESS: [00:28:39] And you can't do that on the show. And so like you get the so like you get two different images of this character. And I find that on things that are, that are like quieter or like more introspective, they tend to not be able to adapt that as well as I would like.
TESSA: [00:28:55] Are you a person that likes adapting dialog? Like, exactly. Like if there's a certain scene in the book that or that you really like or that you remember, or if there's a specific scene and they do change it, like, are you a person that really likes to see it word for word, or do you kind of like to see something different?
PRINCESS: [00:29:17] Well, you know, I think the perfect example. All right. So my favorite book of all time is A Little Princess. And my favorite movie of all time is also a Little Princess by Alfonso Cuaron. They are the if I like her on adaptation is like totally different from the book, different location. The female character looks different, but it's also a perfect movie. It takes everything that I love about that book and it's also its own thing. And I think because I saw that movie first, I always loved it, and then I read the book and I love it for totally different reasons.
TESSA: [00:29:56] Yeah,.
PRINCESS: [00:29:56] And I think it's rare to have an adaptation that does it like that, you know, like that changes it to the degree- like The Shining, like The Shining the movie.
TESSA: [00:30:04] That's a good point.
PRINCESS: [00:30:05] Is so different from the book, but it's got its own great energy that it has. It's the core of the book. It's very different. Even who dies is different, but the movie is excellent. It's like to me, it's like if you are giving me excellent filmography, if you're giving me like an elevated story that took the core of the book but made it better for film, I totally can appreciate that and still love the book.
TESSA: [00:30:28] I also think that some stories are better told on film versus being told like as a book.
PRINCESS: [00:30:36] I would say like The Hunger Games books. Definitely better movies than books.
TESSA: [00:30:40] I agree.
PRINCESS: [00:30:40] Like the Books are fine, but I just they're so like boom, boom, boom, boom, action, pace, pace, pace, pace. Like they're to me, like spy novels. Like, they're, they're made to be observed that way. I think most Y.A. is really just writing to be a movie or like a mini series, like a teen mini series, and that's fine. I think for me, what it comes down to is that like, I love both things and like sometimes I just prefer one to the other, but I think they're both good. I think it just depends on who you are. Like, I think if you're someone who has, you know, ADHD, you can't focus, then like I'm going to be like, but you have to read the book. You have to - like that's annoying.
TESSA: [00:31:18] I try!
PRINCESS: [00:31:19] Yeah. It's like if you try to get into it, you're not into it. So I guess what whatever. Like I love to read, I still haven't finished reading The Lord of the Rings books.
TESSA: [00:31:24] Also, books needs to like, They just need to be sexier. Books aren't sexy enough.
PRINCESS: [00:31:30] Unit reading the right books. I must tell you some things. I got some good romance novels.
TESSA: [00:31:34] Okay, you better. You better send me some good ones because, like I. I'm bored by. That's the problem. I just get bored in books a lot because a lot of times it like ramps. It takes a while to ramp up. And I'm not even just talking about romance. I'm just talking about anything in general likes. That's a book can lose me pretty quickly if I'm not. It's sometimes better if I've seen something because then I can at least latch on to something. Or I know that something good is coming because. So I can look forward to that when. When reading or when listening, because I do love audiobooks, but sometimes there's just a level of like it's hard because there's a level of detail that you're never going to get, like in a movie or even like a mini series. Like you're never going to get like all the details. It's just impossible. But then also with movies and TV shows, you have a chance to elevate the story, elevate the characters, make make it even better than it was, or make it be seen in a new way, or have it be introduced to a new audience. One of my favorite things, and this is like this is one of my best beefs with the Harry Potter fandom is that a lot of them didn't treat fans that didn't read the books as like actual fans. It's like, Oh, but you're not really a fan unless you read the books. And I was like, That is bull shit. I hate that. Like if you, if you just like or watched one Harry Potter like video or if you just like played a little Harry Potter game on your phone and you want to be a Harry Potter fan, you can be a Harry Potter fan. That's Harry Potter. You like it like you don't. I don't like all these rules that you have to do in order to be a certain fan. So it's like if I love the Shadow and Bone series and I never if I never read the books and don't want to read the books, I should be able to be a fan. Like I don't like the gate, the gatekeeping,.
PRINCESS: [00:33:30] The Gatekeeping.
TESSA: [00:33:30] I hate it. I hate it so much.
PRINCESS: [00:33:32] I've out grown that and I and I think that's the thing about book attention that I think can be so hard is because people feel precious about the material. And I think like for me because I've talked about this before, like the reason why I hated Twilight so much besides like a logical reason because there are valid reasons. But for me my invalid reason was because I was the nerdy girl who was like walking around with my giant Anne Rice books and like reading all these Nosferatu and stuff, and everyone's like, Wow, that's weird. And then all of a sudden, vampires are sexy and all you are reading is Twilight sparkle thing. And I was here, but like. But when I did it.
TESSA: [00:34:13] But Princess, you're still better than us.
PRINCESS: [00:34:14] I think that's the thing that happens with adaptation is that, like, you become so precious about what it means for you, especially when it comes to, like, a nerd stuff. I mean, that's.
TESSA: [00:34:23] It's Personal.
PRINCESS: [00:34:23] Nerds gatekeep.
TESSA: [00:34:23] Yeah.
PRINCESS: [00:34:24] Because you felt like this thing made me and other and now you want to just enjoy this thing. And it's like, why do you get to enjoy it to be mainstream when you enjoy it? But when I was enjoying it, I was getting called a dork. You know, like it's one thing to be reading a giant Harry Potter novel in these streets as another thing to be like, Oh, I'm going to go watch hot Daniel Radcliffe and hot Emma Watson and hot Rupert Grint run around, you know? And I think that isn't a rational response, but it is sort of the thing that's make people feel like they're gatekeeping.
TESSA: [00:34:57] We should push past, that we should ask those feelings. No more gatekeeping, no more.
PRINCESS: [00:35:06] That's the great thing about getting older is that you realize none of this matters. What really matters is subscribing to the Geeked podcast.
TESSA: [00:35:16] God bless.
PRINCESS: [00:35:21] That's what really matters. But before we head out, one more thing to honor what Tessa said. You are allowed to call yourself a fan of something once you have gone through what I call the nerd hole, which is when you spend, it's when you go to look up one thing and next thing you know, you've been there for way longer than you expected and you have seven different tabs open because you're like, Oh, what does that mean? What does that mean? Once you've done that, I think you can call yourself a fan of something. I think that's the only rule.
TESSA: [00:36:02] Hey, I love that. Okay. Hey, about Gray Man. One more thing. Make Chris Evans evil more. I love it. He's great at being evil. Every time he's been evil, I've laughed my ass off. I hate, okay, look, this is. This is a hot, hot take. I hate him as Captain America. I absolutely hate Captain America. No, it's because I hate the character. Listen, he's great.
PRINCESS: [00:36:25] Because you hate goody two shoes.
TESSA: [00:36:26] Yes! Correct. It's like, literally, Captain America. I would, like, drop something, and he'd be like, You're littering. And I'd be like, Leave me alone you're a pain in my ass. Like, he would piss me off.
PRINCESS: [00:36:36] You shouldn't litter, though.
TESSA: [00:36:38] No but that's what I mean, it would be an accident, and then he would get after me and he'd be like, You're arrested. And I'd be like No. Like what? So, like.
PRINCESS: [00:36:45] You're like, soldier boy, come and help me.
TESSA: [00:36:48] He would not, like, listen, I'm a villain, girl. I don't vibe with the Goodie Boys. So, like, Captain America was never for me buds. Well, that's what I'm sayin. I saw Chris Evans in Knives out seeing Chris Evans in this. He is great when he is evil. He is hilarious. He is joking. He is like living, feeling himself. I'm like, yes, correct. More of this. He has an amazing mustachein this, he looks gay as hell, but also is like, I don't know, just everything about him. Amazing. More of that. All right. Yeah. Well, you know the drill. Like Princess said, you got to follow us. Okay? So find the geeked podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and you should leave us a five star review and also leave us a comment. I'm going to be asking people for comments pretty soon on other social medias. So you should leave us some nice comments because we would really appreciate it and we could read some maybe like you should do it. Okay.
PRINCESS: [00:37:50] No pressure, but do it.
TESSA: [00:37:52] Yeah, do it. Or else. No pressure. But you have to. But anyway, the Geeks podcast is hosted by me, Tessa Netting.
PRINCESS: [00:38:01] And, Me, Princess Weekes.
TESSA: [00:38:03] You can find me on Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, all of the internet places at Tessa Netting.
PRINCESS: [00:38:09] And I can't use Tik Tok, but you can find me on Instagram, on YouTube as Princess Weekes and on Twitter as WeekesPrincess, and next week I finally get to use all my post-its for good. So many trees died for this. We are going to enter The Sandman.
TESSA: [00:38:26] Yes. And speaking of adaptations, this is an interesting way that we're going to do this. So Princess is going into this, having read The Sandman, I am going to go into this blind. So we're going to come at this from two different fan perspective, one that knows, one that doesn't, see how both of us like it, how we respond to it. Our favorite parts are- I am so excited. I can't wait.
PRINCESS: [00:38:51] Anyway, this is a Netflix geeked and Spoke Media production.
TESSA: [00:38:54] All our executive producers are Keisha TK Dutes has Brigam Mosley, Alia Tavakolian and Keith Reynolds.
PRINCESS: [00:39:00] Kelly Kolff is our producer. Reyes Mendoza is our associate producer and DaLaura Patton is our coordinating producer. Special thanks to Carson McCain.
TESSA: [00:39:09] Sound Design and Engineering by Evan Arnett, who also composed and performed our original theme.
PRINCESS: [00:39:15] To stay updated on all things Geeked be sure to follow at Netflix Geeked on Twitter, Instagram and Le Tik Tok. Thank you so much for listening. We love you. Bye.
CLIP: [00:39:32] Geeked.