Altered Carbon: Understanding Narrative Structure (an unnecessary analysis)
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2018
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My Video on Harry Potter and The Time Turner: • Harry Potter and The T...
My video on set up and pay off: • Guardians of The Galax...
Chekhov, and characters speaking, rather than the audience being told what they are thinking and feeling: www.inquiriesjournal.com/artic...
Pretty shabby explanation of show vs. tell that seems to imply length and specificity are the thing - they are not, but it’s a good place to start: thewritepractice.com/show-don...
matthewomara.com/2014/11/24/p...
www.nownovel.com/blog/use-che...
www.neondystopia.com/what-is-...
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I loved the backstory. Backstory is always great. The backstory of Kovacs was needed and I’m glad they included it.
"You're just left with a really handsome guy with a gun and a big coat" (which btw never hurts)... Because he isn't all mysterious anymore ? That's bs, the advantage of having revealed his past is that now we can live turning points that will make him evolve with him. He isn't a fixated character anymore. Don't you get that all these past elements are said just right in time for us to live with him probably his most traumatising and defining moment in his life since he killed his father ? Well that's a poor vision of a character.
I'm sorry but I really don't think you got it, any of it. When you talk about the show it's like you and I didn't actually see the same thing.
Say an example
@@Nattybumco
5:34 "... to make himself immortal he has his stack backed up remotely every 48 hours to a satellite. At the time of his murder, someone tried to hack his satellite effectively allowing them to try and actually kill him if they'd succeeded. Doesn't make sense if you think about it for too long but it's a really cool, interesting setup"
That's where I stopped watching. That comment he made is just an empty criticism. What about that premise doesn't make sense? It's clear and direct. Someone tried to kill this ungodly rich man by disabling his backups, that's it. But he refers to it as if it's a plot hole or something. It's clear to me he didn't actually try to understand the material he just paid attention to what he thought he could criticize.
@@thetastyfish What does not make sense is he is backed up. You can not ever actually kill him unless you destroy where his backup is and his main self. So killing the main body and hacking him to stop the backup process will only ever kill the main person. Plus he is essentially killing himself everytime he loads into a new body it just copies the info in his backup it does not send his consciousness to a new body.
The only flaw I see with this show is that the writers always thought that Kovacs was the star, when it was really Kinnaman. The idea that we would follow any actor playing kovacs was wrong. We only cared about Kovacs because of Joel.
“The Hendrix estate doesn’t license his image for anything that they consider to be violent,” says Kalogridis. “And our show definitely, as does the book, has some violence.”
After being rejected by the Hendrix estate, Kalogridis and the writers soon after settled on a new historical figure around whom to base the hotel’s visual aesthetic and personality: Edgar Allan Poe, who among other things, is father of the modern detective story.
He's in the public domain, too ;)
@@squamish4244 just quoting, not my opinion. Take it up with the showrunners
@@MrCorrino I was just quoting too, no harm intended. Edgar Allen Poe is in the public domain so anyone can use his name or likeness for free.
Honestly, I found the plot satisfying and made sense. By contrast, I could barely follow your train of thought in this video.
There's a lot of nuance to this show and subtle clues. A lot of people never really get it. I've seen a few odd reviews like this
Honestly, I thought the show did an amazing job with its backstory. One of the best I've seen for a story so complex. And the episode that covers it all is a welcome break from the physical environment of the rest of the show as well as its own self-contained story.
I am a few years tardy, but I welcome anyone's willingness to open themselves up to robust science fiction. Good science fiction tends toward being difficult. I offer the following in the hope some of you may appreciate it as I do.
To analyze and appreciate a hardcore science fiction like Altered Carbon, one needs to first look past the fantastic and focus on the modern issue it is dealing with. It will be an idea or dilemma that we cannot comfortably examine within easier settings. Science fiction's setting is a device that allows philosophical musing of extremely hard subjects approached abstractly to make palatable.
The path to Altered Carbon's crux starts with the question, "What would life be if we become immortal?" As the series progresses, even a disillusioned, sociopathic, mass murderer Kovacs is horrified (to the point of devolving into an "insane and unstable crybaby") by how destructive self indulgence becomes when we cease being subject to consequences.
Although the first season includes elements from other familiar settings, it isn't about the murder, the intrigue, the technology, or anyone's past. All of that is to frame the crux of the story in a way that is relatable yet distant enough from us to be safe.
I suspect spoiling Kovacs's backstory is intended to rapidly move us away from the easy elements and towards dealing with the hard issue. The episode, if intended as a transition, is unsuccessful and a waste.
Once Altered Carbon's underlying subject matter is understood, many of the harder to believe actions become understandable as consequences of the difficult position the powerless masses face or the unresolvable conflict that occurs between the privileged few. It becomes eerily reminiscent of the Greek's view on the fate of mortals and surviving the whims of imperfect gods.
love your explanation
Youre reaching fam your looking far into irrelevant subjective elements of the show when everything is explained smack dabbed in ya face. This show has real deep philosophy and life lessons along with a compelling story lean back a lil my guy and just watch and pay attention
They use swords because they are both Envoys and highly trained avoiding shots. A sword is an Extension of their bodys and so a better advantage for them. Because of this they also use knives so often in the serie.
This video is written and delivered like an in-depth analysis but fails to construct a coherent and internally consistent point.
Your main issue with the story seems to be that it answers the questions it asks. There is so many petty complaints dressed up like academic assessment.
A lot of your points ring with projection and snide dismissal for its own sake. There's such effort put into appearing to pay attention and engage with the material but ultimately presents as CinemaSins level snark.
"They just have a sword fight."
There's no guns on the ship, the electric batons would cause stack damage or be ineffective, the livestock gun is out of reach and Kovacs doesn't ultimately want to just blow her stack out. He wants to stop her, and then save her. So he's willing to take hits and be stabbed and try and contain her.
It's ok if a story doesn't hit for you, but your take doesn't even stay consistent to itself and just saying things like "cliche" and "lazy storytelling" doesn't make them true.
Maybe your work has improved since this video, but this one falls completely flat imo.
I love your videos, they're very well written and interesting ! Thank you very much for your work !
It’s kovach by the way
Yeah it's pronounced that way but the spelling is "Kovacs".
Okay but Ortega is fucking hot
I binged watched all of the few videos you have, please don't stop
Interesting review, helped me understand some of the show's shortcomings. It had a lot of wasted potential, and the second season left what made it good behind.
sounds like _Kovatch,_ not _Kovacks_
I found you by pure chance when looking up videos that explained the dilemma of writing a prequel for a book/movie and how it makes certain narrative choices difficult. Enjoyed your SW Prequel vids, but Altered Carbon is also great. Keep it up! These are very high quality and worth sharing to my friends!
Well explained although I couldn't seem to find a moral or meaning to the story despite being immensely entertained by Kovacs' world. In his books RK Morgan is very poetic and metaphoric, something impossible to bring out in film and even then despite excellent character behaviors and nuance his stories can be quite confusing qs to "why did they do that?"
0:34 Star Wars isn't science fiction. It's fantasy in space.
I like Ortega in the book over the show. Sometimes their scenes feel forced and out of place
I just watched this series's first season and you just mentioned everything I didn't like about it.
I love what it could have been, and that's why I didn't just stop watching, but it was just trying to do way to much way too quickly.
I didn't believe Kovacs's and Ortega's relationship at all and the pacing and character building overall was just super lacking.
The music is distracting.
oh that’s not…
at 4:16 that super secret man is trying to stop ortega from finding out what happen to the girl that jump(mary loe,blonde,whore) and died (his sister killed her, not good if she is spun back up with 653(thats why that is important to the plot, 653 is the thing stopping bancraft and rei from going to jail and )). Or its the same motive to kill ortega as it was falconer. Love the episodes up to 4 in season 1 they make the rest of the season fit and they are enjoyable, the twists and turns are badly executed imo.
I got it first run lol and season 2
The best way I can describe this show is convoluted emptiness. First season felt like it was 20 hours long and yet we never really get anywhere. It would have been so much better if they just stuck with the original murder mystery aspect and left all the incestuous sister and Quell crap out of it.
They should have just followed the book, way more interesting backstory, Kovacs is more interesting, quell is an historical figure and not his fucking gf, etc. But i guess the book is way to subversive for Netflix.
How did it not get anywhere? And where is there incest in this series??
Please continue making more content.
Found this video after finally getting around to reading the books.
I find it hard to take your opinions seriously if you laud a totally broken narrative, with a cartoonishly simple twist at its heart, like 2049, but are brutally critical of something like Altered Carbon.
Altered Carbon had something real to say about classism and how the ultra-wealthy are driven insane by their very real removal from the human condition. About as relevant as sci-fi can get in the 21st century.
Meanwhile, 2049 was nothing but psuedo-philosophical nonsense with shallow, under-developed themes. The whole concept of a replicant revolt felt tacked on and cringe inducing the way it was portrayed. Wallace was portrayed as a mustache twirling comic book villain with no real character development or reasoning behind his actions. These kinds of elements left the movie all style and little substance. Fitting for cyberpunk, but any genre still requires the basics like character development and a meaningful narrative.
When you're done with Altered Carbon, you're smacking your forehead at the revelation of why people like Elon Musk are psychopaths.
After 2049, you're left with what? Slavery is bad? I didn't need a two hour movie to tell me something so blatantly obvious.
Phenomenal analysis
Excellent video. Look forward to watching more of your videos
A guy with a gun, a big coat AND a extraordinary nice backpack
I hated the voiceover and narration. Some of the acting and dialogue was bad or corny especially for Rei who'd probably be a great villain if she just stopped talking.
I really enjoyed the show though and funnily enough episode 4 and 7 were my favourite.
Also Poe was the best character and Kinnaman is a great actor shame we won't see either of them next season.
Poe is back, but the show went down the shitter. Season 2 is a lousy adaptation of Broken Angels and Woken Furies, that plays more like a CW superhero show than Altered Carbon.
ALtered Carbon resleeved is pretty great tho.
It triggers me so much that he is pronouncing it "Kovax"
This vid is very biased, it’s as if you watched the show with the intent to hate on it, like some average videogame critic…lol
Your mispronunciation of the name Kovacs is worrying regarding your credibility
Ortega, and Quell's backstory ruined this show. Seriously, in the beginning, Quell seemed like some cynical mind controller, someone who have conditioned Kovacs to a heavy training and drills somehow. She's like some mentor, Kovacs saw everything through her eyes, her vision. You really felt like Kovacs belonged to some mysterious organization, capable of bringing armageddon if they were not stopped somehow.
But then, we saw that it was just a bunch of riff raff, lead by a woman who feels weird and her supreriority is unjustified, she was an inventor, an engineer who wanted to see the worlds but then became a superfighter, with some self help book nonsense. How the hell she became that powerful? And how did the Envoys got that much recognition? All they had was a shitty cave in Harlan's World. And they undertook a few misions and that's it. We didn't even see any of those properly.
And their whole goal was to make everybody mortal? As if that would solve the inequality? Why weren't they trying to destroy the very foundation of the settled worlds, making it impossible for Meths to live like they live while grounders are suffering? Would that be too interesting or something?
Then it all turned to some fucking love story, and boy it's bloody bad. Everything fell apart after the Ryker issue came up, I know it all got resolved in the end, but neither Rei's motivations, nor the fiction added up. She was trying to bring her brother back? After destroying everything they fought for? And casually expecting him to come to an agreement? I know she was too powerful and lost and had no understanding of passion anymore, but boy it's still weird and hollow.
Kovacs' story became too personal, he turned out to be a romantic, passionate man trying to find his love and family. Instead of a relic of a bygone army, a ruthless killer who can do pretty much anything but has no interest in being anybody's tool. He could've just ''taken what was offered'' and started to exist in the world he spawned in. Because that was what envoys do. But no? None of that...
I mean, Dexter had a similar situation, they managed to make Dexter move on, no matter how inconvenient the situation is, Dexter had a singular condition in his mind. ''Don't get caught'', that whole training was the sole reason of his existence and Harry Morgan was like his god.
But this show, although it had even more potential, failed to do it. Because fucking cheesy Hollywood writers have to make everything about love! A completely ruined potential.
And Netflix always does this in most of it's shows.
I actually loved every single aspect you hated.XD
They just ruined the fucking book changing everything for no reason.
I loved the first season and nothing you call bullshit, is bullshit to me.
His sister was obssesed with him because he was the only emotional connection she ever had, you know beeing trained to kill as little girl by criminals and evil dad. It makes perfect sense, she had no other thinf to hold unto. And her big brother to her was the ancor to the little inoccent girl she was. The little girl she was robbed of way to young and had not chance to live out.
She didnt care about the envoys in the first place, she joined to stay with her brother whose inrest slowely shifted to another woman, she was really possesive and jeaolus of that. Then when they anounced the mission of making eveeybody mortal, she wasnt unboard since she had been robed of so much time already, she didnt see it as fair. Also she wanted quell out of the way anyways out of jealousy. Thats why she did what she did. And she thought since she would forgive anything of him he would too, love you know. For her its them against the world, in her childhood expirience people arround were evil and heartless towards her, all but big brother. Her bad expiriences as child made her not beeing empatic towards other people ans treating them as tools just like she was treated from the yakuza, blabla i could go on about her but you get the point. (I think the love for her brother might have been romanticly even. Beeing jeaulose about the girls he fucks and decpicing them )
Next.
Making everybody mortal would change everything. The grounders would have a chance which in that society is impossible for them. They have no way of becoming closely as smart, strong or skilled as the meths . How could they ? Those motherfuckers are hundreds of years old and immortal. Not even by force they could overcome them. Imagine if in our world, the 1 percent suddendly had a resource to make them immortal gatekeeping it by making the price unpayeble by 99% of humans (like jeff bezos space shuttle, like he isnt rich enough already). We would be completly fucked, they wouldnor care about public opinions or any world issues.
So yes making people mortal again would change alot.
You complain about kovac beeing human instead your ruthless killer with no personality fantasie. You want a robot not a human. Who would care about a protagonist completly 2dementional. That critique is sensless to me. In general your critiques seem to come from a personal issue with human emotiones. Especially love and maybe also female in general.
Which i find really sad.
Just read the books, they are AMAZING. Don't bother watching the show, it's mediocre. Read the books