I know it's not even trying to be a realistic medieval society, but I still find myself constantly trying to work out how it functions. And it's just so cleancut and cheery!
You've never watched Xena, have you? ;) We haven't seen peasants wearing fine gauze to show how poor they are, so it's doing pretty well in my book. The key is standards -- specifically, not having them. Didn't Smallville teach you that?
I like what they're doing as far as class is concerned. They're presenting a society where the social classes are of fairly recent vintage (c.f. the explanation in the Lancelot episode), so people individually relate on a fairly equal level, as long as the lowborn don't start expecting to have a say when Real People are conferring. It helps, of course, that any instance of Merlin's uppitiness being tolerated by Arthur gets whisked away, labeled and indexed, and stored carefully in the slash cabinet for future reference in proof that their relationship is Special. ;)
but Morgana could fight! And then they DID allow women to fight, totally undermining their own universe construction
YES! God, that annoys me. Most of my problems with Morgana revolve around how her behaviour and attitudes just don't make sense for who and what she is. Her and Gwen wearing trousers and fighting -- hot, but ...bzuh??
they're the same thing.
They aren't, at all. Chloe was the ordinary girl. She was distinctly not sweet or angelic. Lana's the one who fits that role in Smallville.
The only real complaint I have with Merlin's intelligence (above and beyond that of the entire cast) is why he's listening to the goddamn dragon. Why would anyone trust its knowledge, let alone its intentions? (Isn't anyone even afraid it will eat them?)
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You've never watched Xena, have you? ;) We haven't seen peasants wearing fine gauze to show how poor they are, so it's doing pretty well in my book. The key is standards -- specifically, not having them. Didn't Smallville teach you that?
I like what they're doing as far as class is concerned. They're presenting a society where the social classes are of fairly recent vintage (c.f. the explanation in the Lancelot episode), so people individually relate on a fairly equal level, as long as the lowborn don't start expecting to have a say when Real People are conferring. It helps, of course, that any instance of Merlin's uppitiness being tolerated by Arthur gets whisked away, labeled and indexed, and stored carefully in the slash cabinet for future reference in proof that their relationship is Special. ;)
but Morgana could fight! And then they DID allow women to fight, totally undermining their own universe construction
YES! God, that annoys me. Most of my problems with Morgana revolve around how her behaviour and attitudes just don't make sense for who and what she is. Her and Gwen wearing trousers and fighting -- hot, but ...bzuh??
they're the same thing.
They aren't, at all. Chloe was the ordinary girl. She was distinctly not sweet or angelic. Lana's the one who fits that role in Smallville.
The only real complaint I have with Merlin's intelligence (above and beyond that of the entire cast) is why he's listening to the goddamn dragon. Why would anyone trust its knowledge, let alone its intentions? (Isn't anyone even afraid it will eat them?)