In Class Film

The movie in class portrayed the story of Arthur much like that in the mallory version of the text. It was strange however to see Merlin as such a prominent character in this telling of the legend. The T.H. White novel gives Merlin quite an impactful role in the story, but while he is a key character we see him portrayed almost as a old man riddled with alzheimers, constantly forgetting things and talking over himself. The movie(short tv series) we viewed in class showed Merlin as a strong and powerful magician who was constantly manipulating or guiding Arthur in the correct direction. The comparisons between the film and novel we have read just don't seem to add up in this case. If viewing the film and comparing it to the character of Arthur however we see much more correlation between the two characters and more overlap on personalities portrayed on and off screen. Arthur in both seem to have an innocence and less domineering position in society, he's more of a figurehead like the Mallory novel. To me this means that the film we saw in class was combining elements from both authors and letting a new spin come to it by allowing the vision to be seen through merlins eyes.