{"id":3592,"date":"2020-01-22T03:04:06","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T03:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/?p=3592"},"modified":"2020-01-23T00:17:29","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T00:17:29","slug":"new-dark-age-january-2020-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/?p=3592","title":{"rendered":"New Dark Age January 2020 (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dracula 2020 \u2013 the BBC and Netflix Series<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The BBC miniseries \u2013 actually trilogy \u2013 that debuted on Netflix this January is a worthy retelling of the classic Bram Stoker gothic novel for a myriad of reasons. Without going into actual spoilers, it is possible \u2013 and my intention \u2013 to examine this \u201cnth\u201d reiteration of one of the best loved and most disturbing stories that set the standard for gothic tales, looking for unique contributions it makes to the vast output of Dracula cinema.<\/p>\n

Like all movie versions of Bram Stoker\u2019s gothic novel, from the 1931 Bela Lugosi Universal Studios classic to the nearly one hundred motion picture versions, it derives its story from the original novel, while taking liberties to satisfy the filmmakers\u2019 urge for creativity or to express poetic license or merely to lay a claim to some elements of originality. The trick has been \u2013 and many have succeeded at it \u2013 to stay true to the core elements of Bram Stoker\u2019s book while paying respect to the character that Bela Lugosi created without being imitative to the point of caricature. To do otherwise \u2013 and some have done so \u2013 is to invite scorn, ridicule and failure. This involves walking a tightrope between the book\u2019s portrayal of a demonic cadaver dwelling in a coffin in Transylvania and Lugosi\u2019s suave, Central European aristocrat. The Netflix series succeeds at this.<\/p>\n

A praiseworthy feature of this trilogy is that it honors Bram Stoker\u2019s format of retelling the story in \u201cepistolary\u201d form, i.e. in broken-up narratives derived from diaries, letters, ship\u2018s log, memoranda and the like, but it does so in cinematic form.
\n The first episode \u201cRules of the Beast\u201d provides an utterly dismal yet fascinating narrative of poor Jonathan Harker\u2019s encounter, imprisonment, victimization and eventual destruction by Dracula. A sort of connecting thread, or recurring character introduced is that of a fly, whose unpleasant presence appears again and again \u2013 on window panes, on people, and \u2013 most disturbingly \u2013 on Harker\u2019s eye as he is being interviewed by a Catholic nun named Van Helsing, who will prove to be Dracula\u2019s nemesis and situational companion. Elements of Catholicism have always been a part of the Dracula story, and this trilogy is true to the tradition. Also introduced is Harker\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Mina, who \u2013 as in the book and the countless retellings \u2013 becomes a particular target for Dracula\u2019s bloodlust. Harker\u2019s character \u2013 an undead victim of Dracula\u2019s contagion- lays out the prototype for the state of being undead in a way that is uniquely explicit in this series.<\/p>\n

This first episode goes a long way to creating an expansion of the Dracula world by way of introducing a whole population of box-contained \u201cundead\u201d in varying degrees of decomposition \u2013 begging for release. Thus the zombie trope is added to the vampire story, while intersecting with the terrible predicament of premature burial, popularized in writings of Poe. In so doing, the series has contributed another dimension to the lore of vampirism.<\/p>\n

Yet another contribution that this series makes is to expound the effecting in which Dracula\u2019s drinking of blood results in his absorbing the knowledge, experience and \u2013 if he chooses \u2013 personal qualities of his victims, something not included in other Dracula tales. I.e. he learns to act like a fine Englishman by drinking Harker\u2019s blood. Thus, the subtitle \u201cBlood is Lives.\u201d
\nThe second episode, \u201cBlood Vessel,\u201d tells a previously unexplored story of Dracula\u2019s voyage on the sailing ship the Demeter to be transported from Transylvania to England along with a coffin containing his native soil, an essential ingredient in the folklore of vampires. Most other stories have skipped over this period, simply reporting the mysterious deaths of the crew at the end of the ship\u2019s passage. In this second entry in the trilogy, the ending of the passage is quite different and unique. No spoilers will be disclosed here.<\/p>\n

Without apologies or detailed explanation, it can be reported that the third episode, \u201cDark Compass,\u201d brings Dracula \u2013 and a niece of Sister Van Helsing \u2013 into the 21st Century. There and then he pursues the fearless-of-death Lucy Westenra, as in previous retellings. As disconcerting as it might seem to purists, the 21st Century action works to expound much about the icon that may have been overlooked. He is explained to be a hedonist \u2013 whose pursuit of immortality has been in order to prolong his pleasures and epicurean delights is expressed and explained quite explicitly. He longs to see the sun after centuries of avoiding it. He has (irrational?) fears of the cross and of light and \u2013 above all \u2013 death, an obsessive fear he shares with most of mankind. And he has been \u2013 ironically and paradoxically \u00ac\u2013 shackled, for ages, by the superstitious peasant folklore which he has imbibed from countless Transylvanian victims, at least some of which proves to be totally false.<\/p>\n

The series succeeds because it meets fans\u2019 desires to see consistency and continuity with the essential features contained in the book and the classic cinema, elaborating them creatively and adding interesting tangential elements without detracting from the traditional and venerated story.<\/p>\n

Peter Murphy<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jan 20, 2020
\nLe Poisson Rouge<\/p>\n

Goth rock icon Peter Murphy reprised his famed residency at Manhattan\u2019s Le Poisson Rouge on Monday, January 20, picking up the thread with a \u201cGreatest Hits\u201d night that ran a little over an hour and half, performing 17 songs from his vast repertoire.
\n

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Peter Murphy on stage at Le Poisson Rouge<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

First up was a torch singer, Vinsantos, \"\"<\/a>
\nself-described “New Orleans-based
\nDrag Musician, Performance Artist and Queer Witch,” with a remarkable voice, a creative keyboard style and over-the-top drag-queen costume and make-up. <\/p>\n

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\nPeter Murphy came on around 9 p.m. and opened with an extended, electronically-enhanced and slightly discordant version of \u201cCascade\u201d off the album of the same name \u2013 his fifth studio album and thus legitimately considered to be the epochal mid-point of his solo career. He then went on to \u201cAll Night Long,\u201d with its unmistakable introductory, persistent wooden xylophone riff, from his second album, \u201cLove Hysteria.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued with \u201cMarlene Dietrich\u2019s Favorite Poem\u201d and then a funky, almost unrecognizable version of \u201cDeep Ocean Vast Sea\u201d both from the third album Deep (1989). Then it was on into the Holy Smoke (1992) album for \u201cThe Sweetest Drop.\u201d
\n \u201cLion,\u201d from his last album of the same name isn\u2019t heard very often. That album was the only one passed over during the August residency. It was followed by the much more popular \u201cSocrates the Python,\u201d with its undulant, leisurely pace and mysterious mantra, \u201cBennett, Gurdjieff, Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eight song \u2013 the halfway point in the set \u2013 \u201cGaslit\u201d is from the Secret Bees, an EP that was a spin-off of \u2013 but not included in \u2013 the Ninth album (2011). Next came the much loved \u201dThe Prince and Old Lady Shade\u201d which was, however, included in Ninth.
\n Peter continued his well-established practice of joshing with the audience during several noteworthy exchanges. Early on he assured the crowd that he was \u201cdefinitely NOT an icon,\u201d while implicitly assuming the role of icon. There\u2019s common and frequent speculation regarding just how big this \u201cicon\u2019s\u201d ego is, and he teased a bit when he expressed the opinion that \u201cthese lyrics are brilliant\u201d in reference to, I believe it was \u201cDeep Oceans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it was intentional or thoughtless, Peter let the microphone stand far away from his mouth during talks with the audience, rendering much of the patter inaudible to all but the front two or three rows of spectators. When heckled about it by farther away audience members \u2013 those unable to hear what he was saying \u2013 he continued speaking in low, intimate tones that perhaps only the closest five or ten people could hear. The heckling continued but to no avail. <\/p>\n

\u201cSubway\u201d from Cascade was a most welcome return to Peter\u2019s beloved, melodious oeuvre and was sung in a faithful-to-the-original style.This was followed by \u201cDisappearing\u201d from he same album and \u201cA Strange Kind of Love\u201d from Deep. \u201cHis Circle Meets Hers\u201d and the raucous \u201cLow Room\u201d drew up to the final song of the main set, his all-time favorite and most requested song, \u201cCuts You Up.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a short break he returned with the lullaby, \u201cHuuvola,\u201d accompanied by his silver-voiced daughter, Hurihan. The concluding song of the night was \u201cHangup\u201d from Lion, during which he repeatedly implored the listener to \u201chang up the phone! \u201d while echoing the name of Turkey\u2019s most famous ancient edifice, the magnificent cathedral-museum \u201cHagia Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n

This night was billed a night of \u201cGreatest Hits,\u201d but I would prefer to see it as Peter Murphy\u2019s own personal favorites. Entries from Lion and \u201cSecret Bees of the Ninth\u201d hardly qualify as having \u201cGreatest Hits\u201d status among fans in terms of sales or requests. But they might have special meaning to Peter himself. For those fans who love the melodious, rhythmic selections like \u201cIndigo Eyes\u201d and \u201cHit Song\u201d this set was a disappointment, since the emphasis was on funky, discordant, Bauhaus-like dissonance \u2013 not only the songs chosen, but in the manner of delivery \u00ac\u2013 of even the most romantic selections in the set. A
\nHe had a cold to start off with, and all the chatter in which he engaged revealed that his voice had become quite hoarse and gravelly. His singing however, suffered little if at all, and his commitment to putting maximum effort into every note continues to be fulfilled, even after having suffered a heart attack late last year during the residency that he is now completing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dracula 2020 \u2013 the BBC and Netflix Series The BBC miniseries \u2013 actually trilogy \u2013 that debuted on Netflix this January is a worthy retelling of the classic Bram Stoker gothic novel for a myriad of reasons. Without going into actual spoilers, it is possible \u2013 and my intention \u2013 to examine this \u201cnth\u201d reiteration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,13,18,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3592"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3612,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592\/revisions\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doktorjohn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}