[TV] Neil Gaiman's The Sandman

[chrisisvacant]

Am i the only one wh thinks Tom Sturridge looks like a young Robert Smith?

It's literally only the hair and the b/w photo.

[Koriani]

No its not just you - from the first episode I thought the guy was very much "Robert Smith" looking.

In fact, earlier in the thread when someone mentioned they'd read where the producers/show runners/whomever heads had decided that making the character even more pale with black eyes all the time was something along the lines of 'too unrealistic' or basically too goofy (is how I read it).

And all I could think was, "I guess none of these guys ever heard of Robert Smith?" =D Because yeah, you can go totally pale/black eyes 100% of the time - its an over 30 year old "goth" look at this point. Nothing "weird" about it.

Just found that decision making logic amusing.

[Endus]

No its not just you - from the first episode I thought the guy was very much "Robert Smith" looking.

In fact, earlier in the thread when someone mentioned they'd read where the producers/show runners/whomever heads had decided that making the character even more pale with black eyes all the time was something along the lines of 'too unrealistic' or basically too goofy (is how I read it).

And all I could think was, "I guess none of these guys ever heard of Robert Smith?" =D Because yeah, you can go totally pale/black eyes 100% of the time - its an over 30 year old "goth" look at this point. Nothing "weird" about it.

Just found that decision making logic amusing.

The black eyes in the comic isn't just eyeshadow or shadows in general, though; in the comics Morpheus is usually depicted with eyes that are literally black; no white sclera at all, and pupils that are pinpoints of light in that darkness. That's what they deemed too "goofy". It's way beyond gothy makeup.

And it's not even an expectation for the Endless; the rest have eyes that look human enough (well, we never see Destiny's eyes because of the bandage, but the rest). Easier to just go with a more human look for the show, and it makes Dream himself more accessible. Which is a good thing, because the Sandman series is, if it's about anything, it's about Morpheus being a giant asshole for time immemorial and now, finally, coming to terms with that and realizing he doesn't much like himself. Leading eventually to setting up his own death. It's a very human center for a very inhuman character, and I think the change actually works in the show's favor.

[Koriani]

The black eyes in the comic isn't just eyeshadow or shadows in general, though; in the comics Morpheus is usually depicted with eyes that are literally black; no white sclera at all, and pupils that are pinpoints of light in that darkness. That's what they deemed too "goofy". It's way beyond gothy makeup.

And it's not even an expectation for the Endless; the rest have eyes that look human enough (well, we never see Destiny's eyes because of the bandage, but the rest). Easier to just go with a more human look for the show, and it makes Dream himself more accessible. Which is a good thing, because the Sandman series is, if it's about anything, it's about Morpheus being a giant asshole for time immemorial and now, finally, coming to terms with that and realizing he doesn't much like himself. Leading eventually to setting up his own death. It's a very human center for a very inhuman character, and I think the change actually works in the show's favor.

Ok, well I get that definite distinction you're saying in what they meant by "black eye" vs. Goth 'black eyeliner all over'. So that point at least makes more sense - as it was very confusing to me that 30 years after The Cure we couldn't have a character with 24/7 goth eye-makeup! YES WE CAN! =D

I do think they still could have made him even more pale and had more goth-eye-makeup to help with the "character doesn't even really have eyes in the comic" parallel. It would have worked fine, IMO, and still made him relatable as a "human" and not just a creature.

But we have no loss either - the show, and the character, are working great .