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Post by MisterM on Jul 17, 2018 14:49:09 GMT -5
Was Olaf in any way a successful guardian of the Baudelaire's? Well, no. But, if (as I'm thinking of doing), we looked at each of the Guardians in comparison to one another, at least you can argue that Olaf never really put the children in physical danger (like Sir), or tried to burn them at the stake (like VFD)....
Also, It's interesting to think how, when one starts to read the series, you could potentially see it as a series about three orphans with their awful guardian Olaf. I'd like to imagine an alternate world where Olaf is the Guardian for 13 books... It could, potentially, have legs.
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Post by Dante on Jul 17, 2018 16:18:23 GMT -5
I think putting Sunny in a cage and hanging it from a high tower window qualifies as putting one of the children in physical danger. But I do find it interesting to conceive of alternative versions of the series, though; Olaf coming up with a different scheme each book in the framework of his role as a guardian, which he only just manages to hang onto each time, I agree could work. I also sometimes think it's possible to envisage a version of the series that's more about hypnotism, too.
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Post by MisterM on Jul 18, 2018 0:48:22 GMT -5
Mr. Poe would need to be even more useless for him to continue to keep the baud's in Olaf's care, however.
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Post by Foxy on Jul 18, 2018 9:18:52 GMT -5
I would also make this case - striking Klaus across the face and lifting the infant Sunny up very high in front of his friends when the children failed to make what he deemed to be the appropriate dinner were forms of physical danger.
I think it would be hard to pull off such a series where Olaf is the children's guardian in all thirteen books and still maintain a substantial following. The only positives I can draw from Olaf's guardianship are 1)he provided a roof over the children's heads and 2)the children had food to eat. Otherwise they lived in terror, which is no way to live. I think it would be hard to read a series in which you were always scared for someone else. But I acknowledge some people may feel differently and even enjoy feeling afraid for entertainment purposes. I think the biggest positive about the other guardians, despite the fact of Olaf always finding the children, was, apart from Uncle Monty, the children did not have to live with Olaf. They got to get away from him, even just for a little bit.
One thing this topic makes me think of, though, is how when I read the series as a child, I blindly accepted how inadequate all the guardians were, perceiving their actions as acceptable (Hector being too skittish to speak up for the children, for example.) Now I look at them through the lens of an adult, and I find their actions neglectful and deplorable. It is interesting how children's literature or television displays adults in such a manner.
And it is hard to imagine Mr. Poe being even more of an imbecile than he is, but yes, if he allowed Count Olaf to continue being the children's guardian, he would indeed be even more useless than he already is.
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tonyvfd
Catastrophic Captain
Posts: 80
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Post by tonyvfd on Feb 25, 2019 21:40:29 GMT -5
Olaf being their guardian in all 13, or at least 7 books would be a good idea for a reboot. Perhaps, this could work if is reveled in the last book of an hypothetical reboot that Olaf and Poe were working together all the time (this in fact crossed my mind while watching the series). or just have Olaf arrive earlier than the children,and kill their new guardian and assume his identity of course the children will try to alert Poe, but he won't listen.
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Post by Dante on Feb 26, 2019 4:17:12 GMT -5
Thinking about it, ATWQ might be a good point of comparison for a series with a consistent guardian and setting, but varying plots and schemes. The series would feel very different, without the constant rattling through new people and completely fresh destinations.
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Post by Foxy on Mar 6, 2019 8:06:07 GMT -5
Thinking about it, ATWQ might be a good point of comparison for a series with a consistent guardian and setting, but varying plots and schemes. The series would feel very different, without the constant rattling through new people and completely fresh destinations. I think it would be interesting if Lemony had had different chaperones throughout the different books, if only because STM is so terrible. Surely they can't all be that bad! |
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Post by Dante on Mar 6, 2019 15:37:50 GMT -5
I could see that working; he keeps on being sent a new chaperone each book after the previous one turns out to be too incompetent, too corrupt, etc. But it would be a very firmly different series, again; ATWQ is built on its common cast.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Mar 20, 2019 15:51:24 GMT -5
I like to think that Olaf is at war with VFD, and so he acts against VFD. He killed some people because they were VFD. He wants to withdraw money from VFD to destroy the organization. He faces is not a sadistic person. Only a person determined to do what he believes to be necessary to end one of the ills of the world, which is VFD. Even Lemony fears that his enemies are right.
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