Weekly Geekly Rundown for July 29, 2023 Sent on August 1.

From Jane Austen to Jane Austen

Jane Austen as Game Theorist.

This week’s rundown is a little weirder than most. It is almost entirely Jane Austen themed. The only exception is in the Luke Y Thompson and Courtney Howard reviews I am sharing this week.

Those of you who know me, and that’s a couple I hope, might know that I consider Jane Austen to be the greatest novelist in the English Language. You can have your obscure and challenging adaptations of Homer in a new setting and your angst ridden tales with undertones of wanting to retain/maintain the innocence of youth. I can appreciate them, to be sure, but the first is more like work and the second kind of annoys me. I enjoy Twain, Fenimore Cooper (I know you’re supposed to pick sides between those two), Poe, Dickens, Collins (we share a birthday after all), and a long list of other “literary” authors. I did have a dual major in English Literature for a reason and that reason is that I love to read. It is, one might say, my jam.

As much as I love to read literature, ranging from the hacky pastiches of Lin Carter to the skilled craft of Faulkner, there is no author who engages me in the way Jane Austen does. Her writing combines almost everything I love about storytelling. She is able to convey compelling drama in what others might overlook as mundane situations. I also think that if she were alive today, she’d have her own actual play live stream and it would be bigger than Critical Role. Ever since I first read Northanger Abbey as an undergraduate, I’ve been convinced that she should be included in the inspirations for what we consider the role playing game hobby.

There is a scene in Northanger Abbey where Henry Tilney (the worthy romantic interest) and Catherine Morland are riding a carriage towards the eponymous Abbey. Catherine is a young woman obsessed with Gothic fiction. Since nothing is more Gothic than a mysterious Abbey, Henry takes it upon himself to begin a role playing session with Catherine to pass the time. He will establish the scenario and she is to react. In my opinion, it is one of the most romantic scenes in all of Austen’s work. The scene begins with Henry affirming that Catherine’s obsession with the writings of Ann Radcliffe are not the waste of time that others have dismissively stated and continues with the role playing session. He begins the session in a manner that fledging game masters should absolutely follow:

“And are you prepared to encounter all the horrors that a building such as ‘what one reads about’ may produce? Have you a stout heart? Nerves fit for sliding panels and tapestry?” — Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey

It is with this magical statement that Henry not only begins a story, but elevates it from the mere telling of a tale to a role playing session. The series of questions has a two fold purpose. First, to set the tone of the shared narrative. It is a dark and Gothic tone to be sure. Secondly, it is designed to give Catherine agency. She will be shaping the story. His statement also reminds me of the opening of the video tutorial for the 1990s TSR board game Dragon*Strike which was designed to introduce new gamers to the hobby. In that introduction, the Dragon Master states:

“Feeling brave tonight? How Brave? Brave enough to do battle with hideous monsters? Hmm? Brave enough to sneak around dead castles in the dark with chances being the next victim?” — Dragon Master, TSR Hobbies Dragon*Strike

Note the similarities? I find them striking. I wonder if Flint Dille, the author of the script for Dragon*Strike, had Northanger Abbey lurking somewhere in the recesses of his mind when he wrote those words. One difference between the two, is the establishment of agency that I asserted Henry offers Catherine. The Dragon Master is setting only the narrative tone, but Henry is adding the element of choice.

Which brings me to the whole point of this introduction, that one of the things that makes Austen’s fiction so vibrant and alive is that Austen has an amazing capacity to analyze the choices characters have and to see the costs and benefits of those choices. It’s a skill set that was written about a decade ago by Michael Chwe, a Professor of Political Science at UCLA, in his excellent book Jane Austen, Game Theorist. In the book, Chwe discusses the history of game theory and how Austen applies the principles of game theory to represent the complex interactions of the characters in her books. No, she didn’t write valuated decision trees, but she did write extensively about choice and alternatives. I highly recommend Chwe’s book and if you want to get a taste for how detailed his analysis was, you might want to take a look at this conversation between him and Dr. Anne Mellor.

Weekly Luke Y Thompson and Courtney Howard Film Article Cavalcade

Stepping away from Austenpolooza for a moment, Luke Y Thompson had one heck of a productive week on the review and news front. In addition to reviewing a couple of films and television shows, he did a run down of some of the exciting stuff at San Diego Comic Con.

1. His review of Good Omens 2 suggests that it’s hard to follow up a story about stopping the apocalypse.

2. Luke also gives us his opinion of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, an IP that like Luke, I have a particular affection for. Luke was not as impressed as he would have liked to be as a fan.

3. I’m a big fan of Nicolas Cage, and so is Luke, so I naturally was interested in his thoughts regarding Cage’s new film Sympathy for the Devil. How “Nicolas Cagey” is the film? Where does it lie on the Cage-ometer that ranges from Leaving Las Vegas to Vampire’s Kiss? You’ll have to read Luke’s review to find out.

4. In his review of the new Disney’s Haunted Mansion film, Luke makes me wish that the writer and director had spent more time reading Shirley Jackson and less time trying to force moments from the ride into the movie. I’m of two minds about adapting the ride. I think that they should either largely ignore the ride and create a good film based on classics of the genre like The Haunting or The House on Haunted Hill, which are surprisingly unrelated. Or to keep it Austen related, add a dash of Northanger Abbey? The other way I’d go would be to tell the tale of the three ghosts who follow you home when you ride the ride. What is their story? I don’t mean give a snippet, I mean a full length feature about them aimed at children. Kid Friendly horror is hard, but if you want to do it that might be the way to go.

5. Speaking of incorporating Easter eggs into Haunted Mansion. Luke examines the best Easter eggs in the film and to be fair, there are some pretty cool ones.

6. As you know, Luke covers more than movies in his reviews. He’s a big collector of action figures and was at San Diego Comic Con last week where he got to check out some of the offerings there. He covered the “shared Nacelleverse” which ranges from Sectaurs to Biker Mice as well as the upcoming offerings from NECA. I’m particularly excited about the NECA entries as they are releasing modern versions of the classic LJN D&D action figures (more about those later).

Courtney Howard’s week in reviews wasn’t as jammed as Luke’s, but you really should be following her Twitter (X-ter? X? Ugh?) feed because it was filled with excellent micro-reviews and general commentary on film and pop culture. The big item from her this week was her participation in a podcast discussion of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle with Phillip Iscove (Sleepy Hollow) and his collaborators. Speaking of Sleepy Hollow, now there is a show that updated a classic horror property while staying true to the original and without feeling staid and derivative.

Geekerati Roleplaying Game Recommendation

I strongly stand behind my recommendations from last week’s Independent RPG Month post, but since this is late and Jane Austen themed, what better than to point you towards a game inspired by (if not actually based on) the writings of Jane Austen.

Good Society: A Jane Austen RPG is a relatively recent role playing game that has a lot of interesting elements. It’s a combination of party game and role playing game mechanically, in that it focuses very strictly on the ROLE playing and not at all on the ROLL playing aspect if the hobby. Picture if you will the “Murder” episode of The Office or a How to Host a Murder, but far more open ended and with player agency mechanics and you’ve got Good Society.

Given the breadth of options, I personally think the game is better described as a Regency Era role playing game, but that’s just a quibble. The game has some interesting mechanics that are similar to mechanics in FATE and Cypher based games that allow players to influence/prompt other player’s actions. It’s a mechanic I’m not particularly fond of because of how it has the potential to spiral out of control and create a negative experience unless players create a good set of norms at the onset. This is one of those cases where Huizinga’s description of play space as a magic circle that requires and enforces norms that can bleed over to the real world is very apt. None of which is to say the game isn’t a very good game, rather than you need to make sure to establish the right norms and that those norms might be different from your typical game session.

I highly recommend giving Professor Dungeon Master’s channel a watch as it provides a fantastic review.

Geekerati Blog/Newsletter Recommendation

Okay, this isn’t Jane Austen related either, but since this Newsletter has contributed to Geekerati receiving 7 new subscribers this past week I’m going to allow an exception. If you are interested in discussion of older role playing games and the wide variety of products that were licensed back in the day (like British style Dungeons & Dragons annuals for example), then I highly recommend Rediscovered Realms. It’s a celebration of older role playing games rather than a didactic declaration demanding a particular style of play. It really hit my nostalgia sweet spot lately.

Geekerati Music Recommendation

While the only played piece of music specifically named by Jane Austen in her novels is the Irish Folk Song “Robin Adair” which Jane Fairfax plays in Emma, the pianoforte is an instrument that looms large in her fiction as a symbol of status and advancement. The pianoforte is a stringed percussion instrument that can play both piano (soft) and forte (loud), one often broken by Beethoven due to its wooden design, that is the forerunner to the modern piano and an instrument that is capable of producing wondrous beauty. In his excellent series of lectures on How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, Robert Greenberg discusses how one of the innovations of the Classical Era (approximately the mid-1700s to 1820) of music was that much of it was written to be played at home and playing at home happens often in Austen’s work as the young women of her works demonstrate their skill at the pianoforte. So it is natural to include a recommendation from that period as this week’s musical piece, one that could be played on a pianoforte and was intended for that instrument. That means I cannot recommend Bach’s Goldberg Variations, as those were written for the harpsicord.

One of my favorite Classical pieces, and one that a very skilled pianist might have played in Austen’s period, is Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. I really enjoy how Valentina Lisitsa performs the piece (and if you haven’t seen her Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2 you are missing out) and you might too. I’m also including her performance of Für Elise as that is probably more likely to have been played in the social settings Austen writes about, though without the orchestra gathered around the piano.

Classic Film Recommendation

There are so many great adaptations of Austen’s work from the 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet to the Gwyneth Paltrow’s delightful portrayal of Emma where she played opposite Jeremy Northam as an equally delightful Mr. Knightley. There have also been some less than stellar adaptations that tend to fail as they wander away from the source material as was the case with Robert Z. Leonard’s Pride & Prejudice starring Lawrence Olivier as Mr. Darcy (avoid it) or the bizarre nose bleed scene in Autumn de Wilde’s well acted and stunningly shot Emma that was too metacognitive for its own good. It wasn’t as bad as the Olivier vehicle’s betrayal of the author, but it had enough moments to make it fall shorter than it should given the skill demonstrated in other areas. Let Austen be Austen or tell your own Regency Era tale. There is nothing wrong with that and it’s a booming genre.

My own recommendation is the 1995 BBC adaptation of Persuasion starring Ciarán Hinds as Captain Wentworth and Amanda Root as Anne Elliot. It may leave a couple of moments behind, but it is a very good version of my favorite Jane Austen novel. This particular adaptation coincides with the BBC increasing their production values to match the quality of stories they were producing.

As a final recommendation, and this isn’t a film recommendation by any means, I’d like to recommend a couple of audio versions of Jane Austen’s work as well. Yes, you should read all of Austen’s work every year, but having books read to you is another wonderful way to experience literature and Rosamund Pike’s readings of Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility available on Audible are delightful.