This post is for all of you who have recently been introduced to Richard Armitage, the actor, via some poll or celebrity site where he popped up as perhaps the number two or even the number one contender in a contest. But you have never seen him animated and are completely perplexed by his fans’ love. Somewhere, sometime, some of you have uttered that question. I used to ask it myself! Hopefully when you are done with this post, you will begin to understand what his fans see. I’m not going to waste time trotting out his bio. You can read that on IMDb.
I want to gush and draw you the perfect picture of him with my words. To somehow convince you that he deserves the respect his fans give him. But I know it is probably wasted because I’ve been where you are, and no words were going to do it for me. I had seen stills of Richard Armitage before I saw him act, and I was profoundly unmoved and even put off. He just can’t be appreciated from a few pictures. The chameleon quality he brings to his acting helps to make him one of the finest actors, but it sometimes puts him at odds with stills. Seeing him moving and speaking is the key to understanding. If you have never done that, then you don't get it. But you’re in for a treat if you watch him. Not only is he extremely masculine, he is sensitive as well, and the superb mingling of these makes him an utterly beautiful man to behold. As gushy as I am, this post has been very difficult to write. I want to gush a lot more, but I’ll refrain and let him speak for himself.
A few days ago I stumbled on a web page that I cannot believe I’ve never seen! It’s on one of Elvira’s sites, and as much as I’ve combed over read her sites, somehow I never saw this, and I would have remembered it! It’s really good, and actually, I’m glad I didn’t see it before I started this blog or I might not have started this blog, and you wouldn’t have had the pleasure of reading my musings, rantings and just general bs*. Wait. Let me rephrase that. “I” would not have had the pleasure of musing, ranting and just generally putting out a bunch of bs. Sadly, most of us look down on bs, but sometimes it feels good. Just sayin’. ;-)
Okay, so here’s what I’m talking about, and just to make it crystal, HCMO=Handsome Cotton Mill Owner:
Red Queen, a treasured member of C19, wrote these whimsical diary entries, which follow her struggles as a North and South addict. Originally posted on C19, republished here with permission.
Diary of an Addict by Red Queen
13 January 2005 12:32
0700: Alarm goes off. First thought of the day definitely not about a handsome cotton mill owner nor what it might be like to kiss said HCMO awake. No indeed: chez Red Queen there is a highly disciplined regime of breakfast eating, teeth cleaning and general getting ready for work.
0830-0930: Journey to work on train. Unfavourable comparisons made between train journeys taken by highly fortunate young women named Margaret and train journeys taken by self. When alighting from train, have a quick peek around platform in case there are any HCMOs lurking. There aren’t. Complete journey to work on foot wondering if investing in frisbee style hat might improve chances of meeting HCMO. Decide not.
0930-1300: oh God – work is here. Spend morning exuding calm efficiency and effortless concentration. Thoughts of HCMO do not break concentration nor do visits to a messageboard cause strange squeaks of delight and/or laughter which have to be concealed from increasingly bemused colleagues.
1300-1400: lunch with friend. Actually manage not to think about HCMO for a while. Although when friend asks why she’s been having difficulty reaching me by telephone in the evening, feign ignorance. Cannot face dear friend’s look of incredulity when she hears scale of problem.
Read the rest here and then click the image again to enlarge.
I don’t know Red Queen, but all I can say is great minds think alike.
Uh, maybe her mind is a little better than mine. LOL!
By the way, Red Queen also wrote a a conversation between Darcy and Thornton, which I love too and had seen a long time ago on someone’ s Facebook page but didn’t realize she wrote it. Clever, clever Red Queen! Yeah, her mind is definitely better than mine. :D
*For those not familiar with the term, bs=nonsense. Yeah, that’s what it means or something like that.
edit: the site FoolishPassion.com no longer exists, so the links have been updated to direct to a cached copy of the pages at Archive.Org. If those links rot as well, I also have screencaps for future use. Also, please note that the page may take a moment to load.
For a while now I’ve wanted to get inside the head of someone in particular. No, it’s not Richard Armitage. Heck, I’m trying to stay out of his head. But it’s someone whose influence on his fans (especially in America) is untold in my opinion, and the effect on me personally has been, well, this blog wouldn’t exist without it. For over three years her creations have given me countless hours of pleasure, and there’s an energy that comes with them that’s had me often wondering about their creator. Her name is Heather. Some of you know her as Heathra or Heathdances from YouTube. I think of her as The Big Kahuna, and I’m honored to be the first to interview her.
Heather, I guess you know by now you’re responsible for introducing me to Richard Armitage, and of course all that’s ensued. What I’ve wanted to know for a long time, and perhaps have missed in everything I’ve read, is how you were introduced to him and did you become an instant fan or did that take awhile to build?
That is great! I love to hear the fact that I am partly responsible for someone else’s RA addiction! LOL Me getting introduced to RA? It’s actually probably similar to a lot of people. I have been and still am a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice and as I was looking on Amazon, it recommended North & South, probably because I liked Pride & Prejudice. ;-) I read the reviews and everyone was saying how much they loved it and if you like P&P, you will love this, so I took a chance and bought it. This was probably back around April 2006. About two days later I got it and because it was 4 hours I thought I would watch the first half that night and then the second half the next night, since I started watching it at 10pm. LOL Well, let’s just say I stayed up until 2am because after the first half I couldn’t leave it there! Then I watched the kissing scene at the end about 10 times before going to bed! ha ha ha! I was hooked! I think I watched it almost everyday for about two weeks. I pretty much became an instant fan. I was making fan videos of P&P at the time, and then I made my first fan video of N&S and it got me even more into Richard. Then kept doing more videos! LOL Someone asked if they could share my N&S “How To Save a Life” video on C19, and I thought what is that? So I told her she could, and then I joined because I was curious and noticed all these people who were just as curious about Richard as I was! I wanted to watch everything this man was in! I joined when Robin Hood Season 1 came out and Vicar of Dibley, and I was in absolute heaven after that and could not get enough. LOL!
I’ve often said there should be a warning label on that movie, but maybe your videos also need a warning label! They are highly addictive. I’ve enjoyed them as much or more than some movies or tv shows. Never knew I could get that much out of a 3-5 minute video. Maybe this could be chalked up to simple synergy that almost always occurs when visuals and music are combined. But hey, there are lots of fan videos on YouTube within the RA fandom that have good visuals and good music yet don’t capture my imagination as yours have. So I am very curious how you create these videos. Would you share how you conceive a video and bring it to completion?
You want me to reveal my secrets??! ha ha Only kidding! It really isn’t a huge secret, and I am sure many others do the same thing I do when it comes to making a video. It really all starts with a song. Every time I listen to a song on the radio or YouTube or my iPod my brain seems to go into video mode where clips start flashing in my mind if the song I am listening to gives me an idea for a video. So for me it starts with the song, and then I visualize the video in my head and what fandom I want to vid to. A lot of the time I will write down my ideas. I had to do storyboards in art school; it’s the same thing. Usually the video is something RA has done whether it be North & South, Robin Hood, or something else. He has definitely been my muse the last 4 years, but I do want to try and branch out to other fandoms. Although my mind keeps wanting to vid to something RA related for some reason! LOL
Once I get an idea in my head and start working on the video I go into what I call “video mode” where you won’t hear or see me for a few days. I get started and just can’t stop until it is done! My videos seem to take longer these days, because I think they seem to get more detailed than they used to be. I started out vidding with Windows Movie Maker, and then I used Ulead Video Studio for videos like Sexy Back (the first one). I felt limited after awhile so I started using Adobe Premiere Pro and used that for about two years. I recently got an iMac, which I have been wanting to get for FOREVER, and being a Graphic Designer I have always wanted a Mac but could never afford it while I was in college. I got my iMac back in October 2009, and then switched to Final Cut Pro for my video editing. Which is what I currently use. My last two videos were made in Final Cut Pro, and I took a huge step in my video editing since I started using it. I feel there are no limits to what I am able to do with it!
I usually start by setting markers where I want my transitions or switching of my clips to be to the beat of the music. Sometimes though it is just to give me a general idea at first of where the beats are. A lot of the time I can’t hit the mouse fast enough to set the marker! LOL But sometimes it is to the lyrics. I like to switch it up because I don’t want to hit EVERY beat. That can get repetitive, and you lose the emotion in the video. I am also really particular in selecting my clips. I try to match the lyrics to the song, and I love showing clips with a lot of emotion. I think showing the emotion in the clips is really important, and the audience can feel more connected to the video when there is an emotional connection. That is part of the reason why I am very picky when it comes to which clips to use, and I try not to over-do the effects in the video. When you have so many effects, you cannot tell what is going on in the video, and you lose the emotional connection. So I think the effects should help get the story or idea across and add or enhance the video not just be thrown in because it looks cool. I hope I am making sense here! LOL
Making total sense.
So the emotion in a video is one of the most important things I try to achieve. I want the viewer to feel happy, or laugh, or be sad, or even cry when watching one of my videos. I hope I have succeeded in doing that with some viewers. :-) That’s part of the reason I love making videos with Richard in them. He is so emotional and the expression and look in his eyes tells so much. He is a great actor, and I love making videos about him because he conveys so much depth. There is just something about him. I don’t think I will ever get tired of making videos of him. ha ha I hope I am not rambling too much or boring you! LOL
NOPE, not boring me at all.
Sometimes when I have finished a video and watch it all the way through, I have cried. I feel very emotionally involved in my videos. I am pouring out my heart and soul and putting it out there for everyone to see. My videos are a part of me and who I am, and I am an emotional, caring and sensitive person who wears her heart on her sleeve. I think I show a lot of that in my videos. “Fix You” is one of my videos that is really special to me for various reasons. It was a time in my life that I was going through that was really hard for me and I was deeply depressed. It was my therapy video. It is probably my favorite video to this day.
I’m fascinated by what you’ve done. I’m so glad you’ve been willing to put yourself out there. Just like RA is willing to put himself out there to meticulously convey the passion and emotions of a character, you’ve done that with these videos, and it’s produced something wonderful that continues to resonate. And that limitless feel is becoming more and more obvious in your videos. By the way “Fix You” is my favorite video of yours, and I intentionally kept it from my top ten fanvids so I could highlight it here. Now I know why.
Would you tell us about some other videos you really enjoy? Are you inspired by any videos?
If they are really well done, I enjoy any fandom of videos. I have to admit I can’t watch Anime. It just isn’t my cup of tea, and I don’t feel the emotional connection with it. I like connecting with real people in a video. Those are the ones that affect me emotionally and I enjoy the most. They don’t have to be these super fast edited videos or the ones with a thousand effects. If it is a beautiful video that tells a beautiful story and makes me feel something for it, then I can watch it over and over again.
I think I was one of the few first vidders on YouTube, but there were a few Pride & Prejudice fan videos that inspired me and made me want to see if I could make one myself. It really all started with my inspiration of Pride & Prejudice. One vidder who inspired me to make my own was darcywil. She was one of the first P&P vidders, and she did one of the first North & South videos I saw too. Elvira also inspires me in a lot of her videos. She isn’t afraid to be different and her uniqueness is what makes her stand out to me from other vidders, and I love her “arty” videos.
Oh, I love Elvira too. I’ll be getting around to her. :D I have to laugh about darcywil because her My Confession video is the first one I ever downloaded. Love it! and love her detailed explanation of it. Wonder how many people she’s inspired. If we include you and all the people you have inspired, the number must be enormous. Do you have any advice for others who may want to make fan videos?
Hmm… It is a very addicting hobby! LOL I would say experiment around. Don’t do what everyone else is doing just because it is “cool” and make videos for yourself first and foremost. Make what you want to make and use songs you enjoy because part of the enjoyment of making a video is because YOU enjoy it. That is sooooo important!
Great advice for a lot of life!
One last thing. I’ve said a time or two how much you’ve done to promote Richard Armitage’s work, and obviously, I‘m thankful. But I have to ask you: are you sure you don’t work for him? ;-)
Thank you! I am happy to promote Richard and he deserves it. It’s really lovely to know that my videos have helped do that!
LOLOL!! I WISH I worked for him! Although I wouldn’t get much done if I did work for him because I would want to stare at him all day long and try and flirt with him. LOL! Hey, can you blame me? I am thirty and flirty!
I know some of you get alerts when the words ‘Richard Armitage’ are entered somewhere on the web, and perhaps you get them when ‘John Thornton’ or ‘North and South’ are entered or maybe the ubiquitous ‘girlfriend.’ Might make your heart speed up a little bit when you get one, and blast! sometimes it’s a false alarm. Whatever the case, I know some of us spend time looking at what others have written about our favorite guy. In fact, if someone needs their hit count boosted for a few days, they have only to add the name Richard Armitage somewhere on the page, and they’ll get it. LOL!
What I love is reading the comments of people who have just discovered him or who dismissed him and then finally watched something, and almost needless to say were converted. I just read one of those. :D
Before I actually saw ”NORTH AND SOUTH”, I had read a great deal about the John Thornton character and actor Richard Armitage, who had portrayed him. Granted, the man possessed unusual looks, but I never gave him much thought . . . until I saw a clip of his performance in the miniseries’ marriage proposal scene. But once I saw the miniseries in its entirety, I could see why Armitage’s performance had generated a slew of fans. His John Thornton blew me away. Literally.
Read here for the rest of the comments on RA’s performance. It’s the 13th paragraph down. At least I think it’s the 13th.
Then there are the posts where I learn something “important”:
“North and South” went through a sad process of editing when BBC America aired it in July 2005. A full hour was cut from the miniseries to make room for commercials.
See Diary Part 12 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a couple of years ago shy a couple of months and a few days:
I’m over being hacked at the ending of Robin Hood Season 2. Well, I think I am. But if I ponder it long enough, I get irritated again. I just need something really good to watch, and I’m mad at myself for caring so much about something as lame as Robin Hood, which I didn’t even like to begin with! I just want to get lost in a character. I need to get lost in a really good story, but I’m too numb to read. Need something passive.
Right now I get up early in the morning, fix Mom and myself some coffee and toast or whatever she is able to eat, and then we head out for the bowels of the hospital. Usually we get there by 7:45am, and she is prepped for her radiation treatment by 8:00am. All told we’re there about an hour and a half each weekday morning. This is our third week of six weeks, and I feel that I’m getting to really know some of the people who come in for treatments. It’s a wonderful and terrible experience. I have never been a great crier, but I’ve had to forestall tears on several occasions. One day last week I couldn’t keep from it and had to retreat to a restroom to sob when a young child was wheeled in. The mother of the child was in a daze. The child is terminal and yet they are giving treatment to ease some pain. I have nothing to say. I can only cry.
The upside is that I have now spent a month of uninterrupted time with Mom, and that has not happened since I was a kid living at home. We have laughed and cried and made big plans. She’s dreaming of the day we can travel together. She wants to go to England and has begged me to go with her. I don’t know if I can do that, but I dare not tell her. I can’t ruin the dream. It’s something for her to hang onto. I did tell her that if she were feeling better in a year, we would do it! Not sure how I’m going to pull that off. But she got carried away after we watched North and South, and I got caught up in it and said, “We can be like Val and Gil in ‘The World of Henry Orient’ and stalk Richard Armitage!” She belly laughed and said she would be sure to wear one of her capes, and take a good collection of her hats or acquire more there. I would love it if I could arrange for her to meet him. She would be like a kid about that and get so much out of it. But really, he would love meeting her!
I was dreading this trip, but the truth is I love reverting to childhood with Mom. She was always able to be a child with me to the point of lying in the floor and coloring with me when I was little. She sang songs with me and had the uncanny ability to know the lyrics to every song whether old or new. Then there were the “shows” we put on. I remember one summer she had all the neighborhood kids in a backyard show that ran once a week for almost the whole summer. To cap it off Mom made the best treats. People loved coming to the “shows” just to consume her latest creation. And the costumes! which she made on a treadle sewing machine. Oh, there was nothing she couldn’t do. Truly an amazing person. I’m blessed.
And her dramatic flair that parenthood was never going to dim. A country could never contain her much less a mere room. My flair on the other hand was not nearly as pronounced, and I did let parenthood and life in general almost snuff it out! This time with her is reviving that and SO considers it an answer to his prayers. He had been mourning the loss of it and blaming himself. It wasn’t him. It was me. I put too much on myself. I’ve always put too much on myself because I’ve given myself too much credit for how things go down. I’m not that in control — only of my reactions. I’ve just deceived myself into thinking I am and let my joy be completely taken by the cares of the world. But I don’t want to come to the end and realize I have not let myself really live.
For now Mom and I are loving this time of watching movies together, and she is such a fiend for drama that it’s a joy to watch her in her element. It’s no wonder she loved being a trial lawyer. That’s half the job — the dramatics. How many conversations in my lifetime have we had about dramatics — the pacing of a movie, dialogue, camera angles, close-ups, an actor’s diction and demeanor? I have no clue. It’s been a blast to revisit that, and North and South is perfect for mining details. It really is a little gem of a piece.
In a few weeks I have to go back to my reality, to SO and the little SOs. Hopefully, it won’t be that dismal world I’d created for myself, and maybe Mom and I will make it to England.
One of the commenters on my Top Ten Fanvids indirectly highlighted what I look for in the fan videos and to a larger degree why I’m a fan of Richard Armitage. I only have one montage video of RA, and that one is listed because of its comic brilliance. Mostly I’m drawn to the videos that are about the characters he portrays and more importantly, their part in telling their stories rather than the videos that are just RA eye candy. The fact RA can portray so many different characters so well does make me curious about him, but initially and ultimately, it’s about his characters and their stories. The videos enhance that, and it’s nice indeed that the videos can redeem a poorly written script or a script I just don’t like. LOL! But I would be lying if I said I don’t watch some of the eye candy montages.
What it always boils down to for me is curiosity about someone who is very adept at portraying characters whether by writing them or dramatizing them. I want to know their story and how exactly they came to understand someone else’s story. So it’s impossible for me to refrain from examining RA the person as well as his characters. But I’d rather hear from him about his approach to characters and stories instead of watching montage videos. As much as they are fun to watch, they don’t usually highlight anything further about a character’s story or about RA. Again, that doesn’t mean I don’t watch some eye candy montages. Far from it. If you remember, I did say the 4 minutes video inspired this blog. Oh, yeah, I’ve watched it a time or two, and Sexy Back and some others, and yes, yes, his ass looks good when he walks. LOL!
But back to the story. One of the earliest North and South videos I watched and still consider a great favorite was posted by a commenter on that same blog entry. This one:
PoleStar00 is a great vidder, and I adore the music. I already liked Mike Oldfield, but this piece is one of my favorites. Too bad I didn’t buy it several years ago when it wasn’t considered collector’s item. The piece has all the elements that we find in North and South — contemplative introduction, a plaintiff tone, a slow building to the crescendo to the point it almost hurts physically, and finally a soothing coda. Now that I’m thinking about this, I wonder how much Martin Phipps may have been influenced by Mike Oldfield. No, I’m not going to chase that rabbit, but I do wonder.
I have several more North and South videos I love. Some I’ve put below, and the others I’m saving for a future post or two. These can border on the prosaic, but hey, I’m a prosaic kind of gal:
These last two are kind of quirky and aren’t for everyone, but I love ’em! See if you can spot an interesting manipulation in one of them.
Unfortunately, my all-time favorite North and South video is no longer on YouTube nor is it anywhere else I’m aware of. Dang it! It was a video to the Coldplay tune X & Y. That song is far from prosaic. I’m not sure much of what Coldplay has done could ever be considered prosaic. Chris Martin is a poet, and his background definitely shows in his writing. Yep, count me as another one who loves Coldplay! By the way, if anyone remembers who did that video, I would love to know. Maybe they’ll put up a download link if asked. ;-) Oh, and if I were ever to make a fanvid, I would definitely do it to a Coldplay song, and there is one in particular I would do. May have to break down and do that sometime soon.
For anyone who’s been following this blog, you already know I lamented the difficulty of making this post and mainly because there are so many RA videos out there. But I had such a good time trying to watch as many as I could to be fair. These things are almost like my children. I didn’t realize I had it in me to love so many. All the more to make it difficult to highlight only ten. But what a great problem to have! And I scrapped my in-depth criteria. The post would have been too long, and it may be already! Quite simply the ones selected are the videos I find myself going back to again and again.
I put them in an order, but hey, this order could change tomorrow or maybe later today. LOL!
I’ve embedded all of them below which shouldn’t be a problem, but if enough people experience problems, I may change how I’ve configured this post.
#10 — the ethereal quality of the song and the editing make me accept this AU (Alternate Universe) story as canon! Very soothing on a lot of levels. LOL!
#9 — considering it’s Thornton’s longing we mostly see in North and South, I love this take on Margaret pining.
edit: this video is no longer on YouTube, so the creator of the video, ATFrancis, has given me permission to upload here, and if you would like your own copy, you can download at FoolishPassion, one of Elvira’s sites.
#8 — this was one of my first Guy videos, and it captures his angst over Marian perfectly. At one point it disappeared from YouTube, but then it came back. Yea! I’ve never gotten tired of watching it. I love the editing, and it was my introduction to Shinedown.
#7 — too much to write about why I love this one; maybe it should move up. No, I’ve got to stop somewhere. Thank you, DB for editing MJ’s song. It was way too long. Your timing is perfect.
#6 — this is a masterpiece and probably should be #1. It’s the shortest video on the list, but the impact of it is enormous. I’ll stop there or this post will be so long it won’t load.
#5 — the quality of this video is stunning. Please, please, please if you like it, download it in the 1080 format. It’s RA like you’ve never seen him. Oh, and it’s Shinedown again. Love it!
#4 — whatever “it” is, Nat has it. I’ll sum up this video in a word: brilliant. Also, great thanks to Heather for her wonderful inspiration!
#3 — this is one slick video. DB just gets better and better and she’s already great. Oh, I would love to go back and completely rewrite the post I did on this one!
#2 — it’s scary how many times I’ve watched this and not just at the normal speed but slowed down as well. I notice something new every time, so I can’t seem to stop analyzing it. The video is a feast.
#1 This video may be a 10.
Most of these are available for download. Check their YouTube descriptions to find out how.
Previously, I said RA’s performance in the tea scene was like a maestro conducting the perfect symphony. I’m not sure what symphony that would be. Too many great ones to narrow it to one. But the symphony I was thinking of when I wrote that was The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky. It’s not too bold a statement to say that Stravinsky has probably influenced almost every modern composer in the last fifty years. When I first heard Martin Phipps’ score for “North and South,” I thought he might be influenced by Stravinsky. His use of chord progressions and his distinct use of rhythms was the giveaway. Oh, and how cool that I thought of a Russian but didn’t know at the time that RA seems to have an affinity for some things Russian — Crime and Punishment, vodka, brooding.
I was bummed to realize I couldn’t buy the “North and South” soundtrack. I’ve also noticed that if it’s put on any sites, it’s scrubbed in a fairly short period. Not sure if this is Martin Phipps or his producers. Whatever the case, they are quite thorough, and even if there is something I could embed at the moment, I don’t want to mess with putting up one of his pieces only to have the link go bad very quickly. However, there is plenty of Stravinsky up, so for your pleasure, the old master conducting The Firebird:
and another one of his pieces. This one forever changed music for me:
See Diary Part 5 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a few years ago minus about four months:
I told the ladies I was fascinated with the tea scene, and the truth is that I couldn’t quit thinking about it for weeks. For some reason I haven’t fully discovered, I kept hearing lines from a T.S. Eliot poem when I watched it. It seems John Thornton albeit an important man in Milton doesn’t see himself that way, and the tea scene was the first time I got the sense he feels like an observer standing outside a window looking into a house he doesn’t believe he can ever really enter.
Hmmm. Have to watch again to see what else makes me think of that poem. I wish I were better versed in literature. I just always hated literature in school. It seemed like undue examination of the navel, and it ruined a piece of writing to examine it in almost a clinical way. But maybe I was wrong, and now I’m a little mad at myself for not slowing down and listening more to something that probably would have brought a richness to my reading.
A little while later:
John Thornton, who seems so decisive and sure of himself, stops and really ponders for the first time in the tea scene, and you can almost see the gears of his thoughts and the awkwardness of being in limbo with Margaret and how it fairly radiates from his eyes and the turn of his head, and then his tentative gesture at a handshake as the scene concludes. Oh, he gets on his high horse a bit with her, but that’s almost a relief for him. It’s a fight he understands, and so it’s a refuge from the uncertainty of not knowing how to proceed with her, how to enter the house, so that no one throws him out. That part of the scene is not what lends it such depth although it’s very necessary to show how he’s used to fighting for what he wants, and if it had just been his impassioned speech about his life’s experiences, then I doubt I would have thought about it for weeks. No this is more. It was the seemingly little things he did to convey being in over his head that have hung with me. It’s also very clear that he is the impetus of this scene and his demeanor changes the rhythm of the piece in a way that almost seems like a maestro conducting the perfect symphony, and the beauty of it continues to resonate in my head.
See Diary Part 4 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a few years ago minus 2-3 months.
I started lurking the North and South board on IMDb the other day. I had to do something! Can’t keep watching this movie over and over. I need to hear about others’ reactions to it. Still not quite ready to weigh in myself because I feel like a fool watching it over and over. I’ve always laughed at people who said they watched a movie 17 times, and now I’ve watched North and South 20+ times. Don’t really know how many times.
I was also hoping maybe I could find out some other pieces that the cast has been in. I love Daniela Denby-Ashe. Nix everything I said about her character. Margaret seems like an old friend, and Richard Armitage is wonderful as John Thornton. I can even stand his opening scene now — cause I know how it ends!! :D I’ll have to check out his IMDb page while I’m at it. But I’m saving that one so I can really indulge myself. Going to check out some of the other cast first. Love the guy who plays Higgins. I must be nuts, but he’s sexy, and I know he’s not really supposed to be in this role. But hey, I’m human, and the man has a lot of appeal. Love his voice too.
About the only characters I don’t like in this piece are Margaret’s parents. Can’t quite figure out if they’re supposed to be annoying. If they are, then they’re doing a superb job with their characters. I’ve started skipping over some of their scenes; they are that annoying.
There are some really lovely people on the N&S board. Someone named Genie knows a lot about North and South, and there is a poster named Osoguante who could be a professional comic. Very clever. Forget N&S, I just love reading her comments. I really do LOL when I read them. LOL! See just thinking about some of the things she’s said makes me laugh.
There are some others there who are very thoughtful and fairly educated. It’s a real treat to read some of their comments, and everyone is very polite. I haven’t spent too much time on IMDb, but if the other boards are like this one, I might spend more time there. Still not ready to give my two cents though. I’m just enjoying the reading.
Oh, oh, and they also write stories about N&S. It’s called fan fiction. Whatever it is, I’m enjoying it. These ladies are really clever and are having a good time, and it’s a pleasure to be an observer. Thank you, ladies, even though you have no clue about me.
A few weeks later:
I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to SAY SOMETHING. The ladies were talking about the first scenes that hooked them, and I had to jump in with mine. It felt good! And now they know I’m another rabid fan of this movie. I told them the tea scene was the first one to reel me in. The movie is going along at a steady clip, and then the rhythm changes. It slows down and focuses on all the things that are heightened when you’re falling in love. Sigh. Did I actually write the word sigh? What’s happening to me? Oh, I’ve always been a terrible romantic, but I’ve kept that so buried no one would know it. It’s hard to keep tamped down these days. Why I try to I don’t know. Always have, but maybe I shouldn’t.
Diary of an Addict by Red Queen
RAFrenzy 
