First of all, I must say that I think it extremely unlikely that Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow will ever actually make this movie. But if they do, here are somethings I'd like to see change.

A. Problems with Division
Somebody suggested that AG be a trilogy. That would be unfortunate. But if it were to happen, I would have to say that Neil Gaiman's choices for where the three parts end and begin are poor. I would propose that Part One end when Shadow walks inside his Lakeside apartment. Part Two would conclude with the end of Shadow's Weighing of the Heart Ceremony. And the three chapters would have better names. But I much prefer the idea of a 210-minute movie to a trilogy or any such thing.

B. Problems with Sex
Most of the sex in AG is unneccesary. Bilquis' scene had no need to be as explicit as it is. Even in an R-rated cut of the film, I would say that the less explicit the sex, the better. As for Bast and Shadow having sex, well, that was pretty much pointless and dumb. I also feel that the whole part with Salim and the ifrit was just plain ridiculous. Who the hell cares? Which leads me to my next point:

C. Problems with Immigration
If it's time they're concerned with, the "Coming to America" bits are the ones to be done away with. Who cares that some Middle Eastern guys checked in and had dreamy sex all night long? It did nothing for my appreciation of the story. As for the other parts on the ships, and with Thoth, well, that was boring too.

My dream rating for this movie:
R for strong violence/gore, pervasive language, and some sexuality and nudity.

Another note:
The Shadow=Jesus theory is one I support. Why else would he be stabbed in the side with a pointed stick?

That is all. Buhbye.

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Another note:
The Shadow=Jesus theory is one I support. Why else would he be stabbed in the side with a pointed stick?

That's a reference to Odin and not to Jesus.

Didn't one of the Roman soldiers stab Jesus in the side on the cross just to make sure he was dead?

I agree it's unlikely to be made into a movie, but I think that's because Shadow is so damn passive for most of the book. Which works for me in the context of the novel, but I'm not sure a passive mythic hero -- espeically a big male mythic hero - would translate. Plus, he's a dupe for almost the entire book.

His heroic triumph, while it moves me to tears, doesn't come at the end of a fist fight or light saber fight or after killing a whole lot of Reavers; it comes after he understands his relationship with his father. Kinda wussy for Hollywood.

I think the sex isn't a problem. The Bilquis thing could be lost. It added richness to the universe, not the core story. But I'd be sorry to see the Bast experience go. It is a turning point for me; Shadow's initiation into the realm of the goddess. He comes back because another face of the goddess intervenes, and it makes more mythic sense to me because he's been welcomed into the womb of the Queen of Heaven once before.

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Originally posted by Maat:
Didn't one of the Roman soldiers stab Jesus in the side on the cross just to make sure he was dead?

Yes, but the Odin/Wotan story predates Christ, according to some.

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Originally posted by Dweller in Darkness:

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Originally posted by Maat:
Didn't one of the Roman soldiers stab Jesus in the side on the cross just to make sure he was dead?

Yes, but the Odin/Wotan story predates Christ, according to some.

it isnt about "according" to anybody, its historical timelines.

Anyway, the christian religion stole from other religions and its likely they took from Odins story as well.

I disagree with almost all three of the points mentioned in the first post.

The seperations in the book are pretty understandable, and I think if they made a series of movies itd be the best way to go.

I dont think the sex scenes were with out their own flare and I rather enjoyed the homosexual reletionship as much as I did Bast and Shadow, and bilquis was so damned fun to read.

The immigration MAKES the story. The stories about how all these gods end up in america and then strive for the slightest bit of belief is so wonderful, it shows how fragile and weak they are even though they are gods.

Shadow is definetly not jesus. Its fairly obvious. The rumor that he was jesus just doesn't really make any sense since they admittedly say that Jesus is the most powerful of all the gods at this time in america and that he wouldnt bother with their war, but that in the middle east he cant even get a cab.

Shadow is not jesus.

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Originally posted by IWannaBeADecemberist:
The Shadow=Jesus theory is one I support.

What's the rationale behind this?

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Originally posted by Eldi:

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Originally posted by Dweller in Darkness:

quote:

Originally posted by Maat:
Didn't one of the Roman soldiers stab Jesus in the side on the cross just to make sure he was dead?

Yes, but the Odin/Wotan story predates Christ, according to some.

it isnt about "according" to anybody, its historical timelines.

Well, the idea of a Messiah dying on a tree, complete with hole in the side, dates back to early Jewish mysticism, so the Christ story either comes from Jewish mysticism or from the Odin myth. And whether Jewish mysticism came up with the idea after the Odin myth is, at least from what I've read, open for debate.

Random fun fact: Odin hung on the tree with his spear in his side for nine days, Jesus died at the ninth hour on his first day of crucifixion.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dweller in Darrkness,

quote:

Originally posted by Eldi:
The immigration MAKES the story. The stories about how all these gods end up in america and then strive for the slightest bit of belief is so wonderful, it shows how fragile and weak they are even though they are gods.

I heartily agree. There's a reason why this book is called "American Gods" and not "Gods in America." The gods are immigrants to the United States as much as its people are, and it's a central theme of every part of the book.

Now some individual scenes can certainly be removed, and I agree that some of the "gods on the boat" scenes ran rather long and were too talky for moviedom, but as a theme, it needs to stay.

It was really just food for thouht, the Shadow/Jesus thing....I'm not even Christian. But I am not very well-versed in Norse myth, so I apologize.

The Bast thing might be necessary, but trimming could be done. And, yes, Bilquis was fun to read, but fun to watch? Also, the "Coming to America" sequences are integral - but one, possibly 5-15 (depending on length) would do, over the alternative.

I think it's a given that Hollywood will try to retain as much sex as possible.

An HBO mini series would stay more true to the book and would allow all the Coming to America scenes still play out.