Wheel of Time - No Spoilers

[payn]

The too modern clothes thing I dont get. Its an entirely different world where people can do magic. I remember the only episode ive seen of Big Bang theory had the Sheldon character mad about the renaissance festival having inappropriate for the era clothing and corn dogs. The other characters convinced him to dress as Spock and pretend its an alternate world to explore. He was able to enjoy it then. I think folks could enjoy thing smore if they dont expect things to be exact copies of things they are not exact copies of.

 

[Parmandur]

That's an interesting way to put it, and you may be right. We do know that Tolkien was interested in creating a cohesive mythology for Britain, that embodies its archetypal spirit. While he wasn't trying to offer it as actual history, I do find it intriguing when he relates it to our world - he has said that we are either at the end of the Sixth Age or the beginning of the Seventh (if he were alive today, I would think he'd consider us definitely in the Seventh Age).

To be fair, that was the dominant style in Fantasy at the time, fairly universal even.

 

[Umbran]

Costume in Wheel of Time.

Jordan was famously a writer who was meticulously, famously, often tediously very detailed about what everyone was wearing.

Although I'm not hugely bothered by faithfulness to the books - my main impression is that a lot of the clothing in the show, by it's design, doesn't take into account a lack of sewing machines - and is thus, as I said, 'too modern'.

That, and the fact that clothing that too closely resembles current fashions, doesn't really help the work of worlbuilding which the show seems otherwise interested in (and which is the only way it's going to work).

One - the vast and overwhelming majority of viewers won't know the difference between a skilled hand-sewn work from a sewing machine work at more than 5 feet away. Indeed, the Dunning-Kreuger Effect suggest to us that most of the duffers who claim this is important probably won't know the difference either.

Two - suggesting that adherence to the most famously tedious element of his work as essential to the worldbuilding seems... questionable.

 

[Demetrios1453]

One - the vast and overwhelming majority of viewers won't know the difference between a skilled hand-sewn work from a sewing machine work at more than 5 feet away. Indeed, the Dunning-Kreuger Effect suggest to us that most of the duffers who claim this is important probably won't know the difference either.

Two - suggesting that adherence to the most famously tedious element of his work as essential to the worldbuilding seems... questionable.

But... but... I was so looking forward to the episode where we do nothing but spend an hour with Elayne picking out a dress from her huge walk-in closet, with long, lingering shots on the fabric and embroidery as she describes everything in minute detail! It's how Jordan wrote it, and how he would have wanted it!

/s

 

[Mordhau]

One - the vast and overwhelming majority of viewers won't know the difference between a skilled hand-sewn work from a sewing machine work at more than 5 feet away. Indeed, the Dunning-Kreuger Effect suggest to us that most of the duffers who claim this is important probably won't know the difference either.

Two - suggesting that adherence to the most famously tedious element of his work as essential to the worldbuilding seems... questionable.

This is what you intitially responded to. (I didn't say it was essential to the worldbuilding - I said it "didn't help" the worldbuilding - but the series is already better than we had any real right to expect so...)

The clothes are far too modern, post apocalypse or not, but it's modern fantasy, it's not really trying seriously to be historical, just to have a historical veneer.

It's no different than D&D characters wandering around with 20th century rucksacks, really.

You seem to be arguing that I should hold the position that I started with. If you agree with my initial position what are you arguing with?

Most of the reviews I've have read have commented on the clothing - . Other people already commented on the clothing in this thread. People are noticing. So please drop the implication that I'm some kind of incredibly anal nerd for noticing as well - it's distateful.

 

[Parmandur]

But... but... I was so looking forward to the episode where we do nothing but spend an hour with Elayne picking out a dress from her huge walk-in closet, with long, lingering shots on the fabric and embroidery as she describes everything in minute detail! It's how Jordan wrote it, and how he would have wanted it!

/s

I unironically would be fine with that.

I recall reading the Princess Bride novel for the first time, and getting to the short chapter that briefly summarized the "longest chapter" in the "original" being exactly that...and immediately thinking of Robert Jordan.

 

[Demetrios1453]

By the way, for those who are wondering when the wider world is going to open up, I'm going to say almost certainly next episode. Given the group who showed up in the last few moments of Episode 3, I'm thinking we're going to get some serious discussions on the magic system of the world, Aes Sedai politics, and some of the politics of the world at large as we go through Episode 4.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Ha ha yes. I did make a fairly robust Aes Sedai as either Community Druid or a Divine Soul Sorcerer.

If you want other examples of gratuitous magic use in live action, this comes to mind:

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But... but... I was so looking forward to the episode where we do nothing but spend an hour with Elayne picking out a dress from her huge walk-in closet, with long, lingering shots on the fabric and embroidery as she describes everything in minute detail! It's how Jordan wrote it, and how he would have wanted it!

/s

Lando Calrissian TV show, coming to Disney+.

 

[Mordhau]

By the way, for those who are wondering when the wider world is going to open up, I'm going to say almost certainly next episode. Given the group who showed up in the last few moments of Episode 3, I'm thinking we're going to get some serious discussions on the magic system of the world, Aes Sedai politics, and some of the politics of the world at large as we go through Episode 4.

I think the test of a wider world will be how they present a city.