Book Vs Adaptation: Esmè

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Lucy Punch was really remarkable. Although, the Esmé in the book actually wore a lettuce bikini...

[Glittery666]

Lucy Punch was probably my favourite part of the Netflix series, although I miss the lettuce bikini. The scene with her in the Library of Records was terrifying in both show and book.

[MisterM]

Of the Series 2 episodes I've seen, Esme is proably my fvourite thing in the Netflix show.
I'm dissapointed to hear about the bikini.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

Sept 14, 2022 20:01:07 GMT -5 Semblance said:

At one point, it seemed Mr. Snicket described her as "Count Olaf's treacherous girl friend" than her actual name. 

The actual line was "the villainous girlfriend" which I always thought was a bit problematic. Esme isn't just defined by her relationship with Olaf! But I never thought she was a particularly interesting character in the original, and Show!Esme was- well, it's clear a lot of people liked her but- not very funny. She just said random lines that were meant to be funny but weren't. Probably some of the best jokes with her were the troupe's reaction, because it represented how I felt. I remember HoIG saying something like "I liked this so much better before Yoko showed up" which was one of very few HoIG lines that I laughed at.

[tricky]

you can just TELL SHE’S A SLAY through the page…

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I'm still waiting for comments on Esmé's morals from her fan club head. However, I remain in my opinion that Esmé is the kind of person I would be scared of if she existed in real life. I think in the books Esmé is greedy, sadistic, likes to humiliate others and doesn't have even a speck of good motivation, not even a good but twisted motivation. I can see good distorted motivation in the man with a beard but no hair, and in the woman with hair but no beard. I can see a good twisted motivation even in Olaf. But I can't see anything good in Esmé, as even her relationship with Carmelita is based only on massaging her own ego and not actually helping Carmelita in any way. I think Olaf became a seemingly cruel and greedy villain because of Esmé's bad influence associated with his evil tendencies. But I think if Olaf and Esme hadn't teamed up at the time of the play "One Last Warning to Those Who Try to Stand in My Way" he wouldn't have been such a problem for so many people.

That being said, I think Lucy Punch made Esmé a more likable person to me. I could be wrong, but I think a good part of R.'s affection for her is due to the fact that she read the books when she was at a stage in her life where not so many people gave her reason to be feared for having a greedy personality and sadistic. Lucy Punch's performance may have later contributed to reinforcing the "good side of Esmé" which in my view is nothing more than deliberate pretense.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

Sept 15, 2022 10:11:56 GMT -5 Optimism is my Phil-osophy said:

I can see good distorted motivation in the man with a beard but no hair, and in the woman with hair but no beard.

I wanted to use those to in a fanfic, so I'm really curious what you think their motivation is that's good. You could say that Esme is out for revenge, but the Sinister Duo just seem evil.

[R.]

I think one of the most vital things about Esmé’s morality is how little we know about her. Her motivations are very much obscured, but what we can see is that she evidently has very personal motives against VFD. The theft of the sugar bowl is an obvious motive, but whether that centres around the bowl itself or its clearly vital contents is a mystery. I disagree with Optimism is my Phil-osophy about her and Carmelita, as I can see a genuine caring relationship between them. Esmé was very much in no position to look after a child, and took in Carmelita nonetheless. It’s worth mentioning that Carmelita would have been subjected to the same treatment as the other Snow Scouts if Esmé hadn’t taken her in.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I think it's a similar situation to a breeder of chickens for slaughter choosing one as a pet.

[Uncle Algernon]

I think a discussion of the show's Esmé, particularly of her morality relative to the books', does have to address the role she is given in the Netflix-verse iteration of the opera darts murder. 

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I had erased that from my memory. On the Netflix show, we know what was on SB. And that doesn't make any internal sense. Esmé tastes bittersweet, one moment she's calm, another moment she's mad, another moment Beatrice tries to commit an impromptu public murder that ends up killing someone else. I think Esmé in the books is a better character because her motivations are totally selfish, self-centered, sadistic, ambitious and she is the very incarnation of evil in the form of a woman. I don't want to have her as a friend, but I think she's a good character. The reverse happens in the show.

[Skelly Craig]

I just remember that the scene where Esmé blows up at Olaf in one of the last episodes of the show was probably the best piece of acting in the two seasons. I don't think there was such a scene in the books, so I think that was a fine addition.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

Sept 14, 2022 20:01:07 GMT -5 Semblance said:

I decided to start a new genre of threads called "Books Vs Adaptation". Here is where we can go in depth about characters across the Averse and share what we think each one did better and worst.

If this is a genre, when will the next one be?