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  3. The Queen's Gambit on Netflix

The Queen's Gambit on Netflix

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  • A Aqua Letifer
    26 Nov 2020, 04:09

    @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

    Anybody else watch it?

    It's SJW as fuck.

    D Online
    D Online
    Doctor Phibes
    wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 12:58 last edited by Doctor Phibes
    #7

    @Aqua-Letifer said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

    @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

    Anybody else watch it?

    It's SJW as fuck.

    So is chess.

    Are you honestly complaining about having strong female leads in TV shows?

    I was only joking

    C A 2 Replies Last reply 26 Nov 2020, 13:57
    • D Doctor Phibes
      26 Nov 2020, 12:58

      @Aqua-Letifer said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

      @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

      Anybody else watch it?

      It's SJW as fuck.

      So is chess.

      Are you honestly complaining about having strong female leads in TV shows?

      C Offline
      C Offline
      Copper
      wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 13:57 last edited by Copper
      #8

      @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

      @Aqua-Letifer said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

      @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

      Anybody else watch it?

      It's SJW as fuck.

      So is chess.

      Are you honestly complaining about having strong female leads in TV shows?

      Look at me! I'm a female lead!

      That became dated several decades ago.

      For example, OK for Ms. Ferraro, not so much for Ms. Palin.

      You have your own cigarette now baby!

      1 Reply Last reply
      • D Doctor Phibes
        26 Nov 2020, 12:58

        @Aqua-Letifer said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

        @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

        Anybody else watch it?

        It's SJW as fuck.

        So is chess.

        Are you honestly complaining about having strong female leads in TV shows?

        A Offline
        A Offline
        Aqua Letifer
        wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 16:29 last edited by Aqua Letifer
        #9

        @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

        Are you honestly complaining about having strong female leads in TV shows?

        Yeah, Cathy Newman, that's obviously my beef.

        The characters, broken down by gender:

        WOMEN
        Beth Harmon - protagonist. Notice that all her issues are imposed on her by the world. Society (in her case, male-dominated society) is to blame for most of her inner demons.
        Alice Harmon - eh, she had schizophrenia but she meant well. You're supposed to feel sorry for her.
        Miss Lonsdale - she means well.
        Helen Deardorff - she means well.
        Jolene - well she's female and black, so of course she's got to be the well-meaning street-wise badass.

        MEN
        Harry Beltik - White guy. Dick.
        The entire high school chess club - All white guys. All dicks.
        Mr. Wheatley - White guy. Dick.
        Matt and Mike - White guys. Dicks (initially).
        Mr. Shaibel - White guy dick with a heart o' gold! (Due to the last name, maybe?)
        Townes - White guy, not a dick. What gives? Ah, okay, ambiguous sexuality. Got it.
        Mr. Fergusson - Black guy, so, less of a dick. Also let's have him quote some King Lear stuff to elevate black folks a little. (The actor's so good that this came off as normal, but in light of the rest of this list, I absolutely wonder about the writers' motivations. No other side character has an endearing quirk that implies they're more than they seem.)

        The show gets a bit of a pass because at times it does break the formula, and in all fairness I don't know how much of this is due to chess in the 60s, and how much is due to TV scriptwriting in 2020.

        But I mean come on. By going by race and gender alone, you can guess whether a character's an ally or a stumbling block and be right far more often than not.

        Please love yourself.

        1 Reply Last reply
        • D Online
          D Online
          Doctor Phibes
          wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 17:05 last edited by Doctor Phibes
          #10

          You haven't spent much time at chess clubs, clearly 🙂

          I was only joking

          A 1 Reply Last reply 26 Nov 2020, 17:09
          • D Doctor Phibes
            26 Nov 2020, 17:05

            You haven't spent much time at chess clubs, clearly 🙂

            A Offline
            A Offline
            Aqua Letifer
            wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 17:09 last edited by
            #11

            @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

            You haven't spent much time at chess clubs, clearly.

            Entirely fair. But I have spent time around housewives, janitors, and businessmen who travel. In the real world, good people and bad people don't fit so nicely into racial boxes.

            Please love yourself.

            1 Reply Last reply
            • D Online
              D Online
              Doctor Phibes
              wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 17:12 last edited by Doctor Phibes
              #12

              My semi-joking point was that chess clubs are pretty much filled with white guys acting like dicks.

              It's a funny game. When I played at the weekend tournaments there could be literally no females, out of a population of a couple of hundred players. That's changed a bit, now, but it's still a weird game.

              The idea of a really strong female chess player was an odd one back in the early 80's when the book was written. People have said the character was based a little on Judit Polgar, but the book actually predates her.

              I was only joking

              A 1 Reply Last reply 26 Nov 2020, 17:19
              • D Doctor Phibes
                26 Nov 2020, 17:12

                My semi-joking point was that chess clubs are pretty much filled with white guys acting like dicks.

                It's a funny game. When I played at the weekend tournaments there could be literally no females, out of a population of a couple of hundred players. That's changed a bit, now, but it's still a weird game.

                The idea of a really strong female chess player was an odd one back in the early 80's when the book was written. People have said the character was based a little on Judit Polgar, but the book actually predates her.

                A Offline
                A Offline
                Aqua Letifer
                wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 17:19 last edited by
                #13

                @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

                The idea of a really strong female chess player was an odd one back in the early 80's when the book was written. People have said the character was based a little on Judit Polgar, but the book actually predates her.

                I'm absolutely down with the premise. As you said, it'd be a rarity. My issue's not with that but rather every other plot decision that seems to be motivated by politics more than good storytelling. Is the book like that, too? I'm guessing it isn't.

                Please love yourself.

                D 1 Reply Last reply 26 Nov 2020, 17:48
                • A Aqua Letifer
                  26 Nov 2020, 17:19

                  @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

                  The idea of a really strong female chess player was an odd one back in the early 80's when the book was written. People have said the character was based a little on Judit Polgar, but the book actually predates her.

                  I'm absolutely down with the premise. As you said, it'd be a rarity. My issue's not with that but rather every other plot decision that seems to be motivated by politics more than good storytelling. Is the book like that, too? I'm guessing it isn't.

                  D Online
                  D Online
                  Doctor Phibes
                  wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 17:48 last edited by
                  #14

                  @Aqua-Letifer said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

                  @Doctor-Phibes said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

                  The idea of a really strong female chess player was an odd one back in the early 80's when the book was written. People have said the character was based a little on Judit Polgar, but the book actually predates her.

                  I'm absolutely down with the premise. As you said, it'd be a rarity. My issue's not with that but rather every other plot decision that seems to be motivated by politics more than good storytelling. Is the book like that, too? I'm guessing it isn't.

                  It's over 30 years since I read it, but I don't remember it being like that. What I remember about the book is that it stood out due to its more realistic depiction of chess than is common.

                  I was only joking

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • A Offline
                    A Offline
                    Aqua Letifer
                    wrote on 26 Nov 2020, 17:49 last edited by
                    #15

                    That's what I heard, too. Put it on my list as I hadn't heard of it until after the show came out.

                    Please love yourself.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • George KG Offline
                      George KG Offline
                      George K
                      wrote on 12 Mar 2021, 22:33 last edited by
                      #16

                      Binged through it in the last few day.

                      It was great from a cinematographic standpoint. Costumes and sets were wonderful. I didn't find it all that preachy. I did find it, at times, a bit too soapy, starting with the premise: Orphaned girl whose mother kills herself grows up to be chess grandmaster after defeating multiple (male) opponents.

                      Fun to watch, but I won't revisit it.

                      "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                      The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                      D 1 Reply Last reply 13 Mar 2021, 02:29
                      • George KG George K
                        12 Mar 2021, 22:33

                        Binged through it in the last few day.

                        It was great from a cinematographic standpoint. Costumes and sets were wonderful. I didn't find it all that preachy. I did find it, at times, a bit too soapy, starting with the premise: Orphaned girl whose mother kills herself grows up to be chess grandmaster after defeating multiple (male) opponents.

                        Fun to watch, but I won't revisit it.

                        D Online
                        D Online
                        Doctor Phibes
                        wrote on 13 Mar 2021, 02:29 last edited by
                        #17

                        @george-k said in The Queen's Gambit on Netflix:

                        It was great from a cinematographic standpoint. Costumes and sets were wonderful. I didn't find it all that preachy. I did find it, at times, a bit too soapy, starting with the premise: Orphaned girl whose mother kills herself grows up to be chess grandmaster after defeating multiple (male) opponents.

                        Oddly enough, a number of real chess grandmasters had quite strange childhoods. Not quite growing up in an orphanage stuff, but both Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov had no father growing up, for different reasons, and both had mothers with exceptionally strong personalities.

                        Also, as you might expect, the number of top chess players with mental health conditions isn't exactly vanishingly small.

                        I was only joking

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • bachophileB Offline
                          bachophileB Offline
                          bachophile
                          wrote on 13 Mar 2021, 05:25 last edited by
                          #18

                          Book was better. I saw it before the series.

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