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First off, read this. It's an article by Ursula K. Le Guin, where she bemoans the fact that her crucial race themes in EarthSea were removed by SciFi.
Now, I've not read EarthSea. I'm certain the "wrecking" of her vision is extremely traumatic for her. But that is not the point.
Anyone who has watched TV ever knows that TV is no art form, nor is it at all politically correct. There are white shows and black shows. It's the way it is, and it is despicable. However, people keep watching, and stereotypes keep getting perpetrated. This is also not the point.
The point is that Le Guin is complaining about something that is her own fault. It is her own fault her work was bastardized, because she sold the rights and provided no protection for herself. She complains about how the bad people at SciFi changed everything to make a profit. While I am not trying to downplay her art, she is trying to act like what she is doing is valuable charity work. It is not. Le Guin writes, "When I sold the rights to Earthsea a few years ago, my contract gave me the standard status of 'consultant'—which means whatever the producers want it to mean, almost always little or nothing. My agency could not improve this clause." If she was so very concerned about her work, she could, would, and should have held out for a better deal or not sold the rights.
She says that she really thought that the producers were sincere. She is acting as if she is a babe in the woods. Le Guin has sold millions of books. She is not some poor innocent who was taken advantage of. Any more than casual observer of television can see that nothing survives TV unadulterated. Books don't even make it to movie without massive alterations. Philippa Boyens, of whom Le Guin seems so fond, allowed the entire Scouring of the Shire to be cut out of the script of the Return of the King. This is an important theme in Tolkien's work. What makes her think that Boyens would leave her work untouched, when she didn't leave Tolkien's? And what makes her believe that the decision would be left up to the writers and not the casting directors?
Le Guin made a bad business deal, and she paid for it. She has no right to complain, for she knew what she was getting into; and if she didn't, it was her responsibility to find out. It ultimately falls to the author to protect his or her works.
Now, I've not read EarthSea. I'm certain the "wrecking" of her vision is extremely traumatic for her. But that is not the point.
Anyone who has watched TV ever knows that TV is no art form, nor is it at all politically correct. There are white shows and black shows. It's the way it is, and it is despicable. However, people keep watching, and stereotypes keep getting perpetrated. This is also not the point.
The point is that Le Guin is complaining about something that is her own fault. It is her own fault her work was bastardized, because she sold the rights and provided no protection for herself. She complains about how the bad people at SciFi changed everything to make a profit. While I am not trying to downplay her art, she is trying to act like what she is doing is valuable charity work. It is not. Le Guin writes, "When I sold the rights to Earthsea a few years ago, my contract gave me the standard status of 'consultant'—which means whatever the producers want it to mean, almost always little or nothing. My agency could not improve this clause." If she was so very concerned about her work, she could, would, and should have held out for a better deal or not sold the rights.
She says that she really thought that the producers were sincere. She is acting as if she is a babe in the woods. Le Guin has sold millions of books. She is not some poor innocent who was taken advantage of. Any more than casual observer of television can see that nothing survives TV unadulterated. Books don't even make it to movie without massive alterations. Philippa Boyens, of whom Le Guin seems so fond, allowed the entire Scouring of the Shire to be cut out of the script of the Return of the King. This is an important theme in Tolkien's work. What makes her think that Boyens would leave her work untouched, when she didn't leave Tolkien's? And what makes her believe that the decision would be left up to the writers and not the casting directors?
Le Guin made a bad business deal, and she paid for it. She has no right to complain, for she knew what she was getting into; and if she didn't, it was her responsibility to find out. It ultimately falls to the author to protect his or her works.
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