Vampire Diaries TV Show
I honestly didn’t realize how fast this would take when LJ Smith mentioned the possibility on her website. I’ve said before that The Vampire Diaries aren’t my favorite books by her, but the CW is cashing in on the post-Twilight craze and you can’t look a gift favorite-author-TV-show in the mouth.
Well, okay, maybe you can.
The Vampire Diaries books are about attractive young people falling in love and having drama and sometimes sucking blood. And the TV show is about the exact same thing, but they completely changed how everyone looks except for the two vampires (and Vicki, but who cares about her?). For example, the main character (Elena) was originally a sparkling blonde with “lapis lazuli” blue eyes. She is now completely dark, though at least she’s still Caucasian unlike her best friend Bonnie — the short and bubbly redhead is now tall and ethnic, like Elena’s other best friend, Meredith (who was my favorite and isn’t in the TV show, which makes me full of sad).
Among the less important characters, the girl playing Caroline, who is supposed to be a statuesque redhead, looks more like the Elena of the books, and the bald middle-aged teacher that everyone hates (Mr. Tanner) is now young and hot.
Oh, and Elena’s charming porcelain-doll baby sister (Margaret) looks remarkably like a teenage boy. I don’t know where they decided that would be a good idea, but I guess snarky teenage brothers are better for TV and easier to deal with than little child actresses.
Sweetheart vampire Stefan (who is similar to Twilight’s Edward but not nearly as cool) is played by a guy with a face like a pancake and nothing that screams “I was born in renaissance Italy.” Even if Stefan was a doofus, he had class. This guy looks like Generic Boy Who Happens to Be a Vampire.
Not-so-sweet big brother Damon is played by the one actor on Lost everyone among my husband’s friends made fun of ruthlessly. Boone. Props to the creators for getting someone non-pancake-faced. Damon is supposed to be the sexy dangerous one, and a lot of fans like him, so I think he’ll manage, but I already read an article that makes fun of his acting in a trailer, so… Good luck with that.
My conclusion is that it looks cheesy as hell and they made it to draw in Twilight fans, but I’m still watching it in the hopes they’ll make more of her stuff (particularly the books I like better).
I think trying to make the show too much like Twilight is a mistake. The original story is a good solid tale, and I hate the thought of LJ Smith’s work being considered a ripoff of something more popular. She wrote her books well before Twilight, but she can’t stop the TV folks from making it into something more blatant and cliche (authors have no control over TV shows or movies unless the people doing them want them involved). LJ has always had a good grasp of color and staging — the visuals of how a scene is framed — and I dislike that they seem to ignore her vision in favor of Twilightesque shots and music.
Please understand that I’m not trying to be a purist here. I don’t mind if they mix things up a little. I love both the book and movie versions of Howl’s Moving Castle, which are very different but still equally good. So I know different doesn’t always equal bad.
But as a fan, I’m weirded out by the changes they’ve made to characters (I love her characters) and very disappointed that they’ll make something with her name on it a laughingstock if they keep pushing the “Watch us, we’re like Twilight!” thing. If “Vampire Diaries” is going to stand on its own two feet, it needs its own identity, and I’m not sure they’re going to give it one.
Show Details
Original Book Quartet
- Vampire Diaries I: The Awakening
- Vampire Diaries II: The Struggle
- Vampire Diaries III: The Fury
- Vampire Diaries IV: Dark Reunion
Followup Trilogy
- Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall
- Vampire Diaries: The Return: Shadow Souls
- Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight
