![]() When the former lovers meet, he isn’t distant, but kind. Here, though, Morpheus saves (most of) his coldness for Madoc. The graphic novel showcases a colder Dream, but a Dream incensed by Calliope’s imprisonment all the same. While Dream’s darker days are only highlighted by Nada’s cell in hell, such as his treatment of Lucienne and his disregard for Gault’s wishes as a living creature in the series, we learn quickly by her responses to both the Fates and Dream that she is expecting the more cruel version of her ex-husband when she calls to him. Former lover, and, perhaps more importantly in the current context - former grade-A asshole with a penchant for cruelty. At her most powerless, the decision was made not to exploit her vulnerability and defilation for the sake of realism, but rather to highlight her singular act of defiance.Įnter Morpheus (Tom Sturridge). There are no screams, no begging for mercy, simply a singular gash to show what he stole and that she fought. Madoc rapes her and returns to his computer to churn out his second novel, but here’s where the art of implication comes in: Rather than showcase the act ala the graphic novel, the team behind Netflix’s The Sandman elected to distill everything down to a knock on the door, a blinking cursor and one single, gut wrenching, smear of blood on Madoc’s cheek. One who can be used and taken from at his will. Calliope implies that she will give him what he wants if he frees her, but despite Madoc’s insistence otherwise, she is seen as a possession. This is a tool used not to glorify his actions but to show that even the nicest men can do the most unspeakable things and jump through infinite moral hoops to justify what they’re willing to take from women. He tries to woo her with words and gifts before his will devolves day after day and he tells himself that she is not a person and steals her gift. “Not all of us,” Madoc tells Calliope when she tells him that writers are liars. But in Netflix’s The Sandman, we see him slowly devolve into his desperation. In the graphic novel, Madoc is already a desperate man willing to take what he wants from the muse with force. The first of these changes doesn't rest with Calliope (Melissanthi Mahut), but with Richard Madoc (Arthur Darvill). Smyth-McMullen had the responsibility to change the tale accordingly, and they rose to the occasion with the help of director Louise Hooper. As time progresses, we learn and adapt and we change our perspectives based on new information given. Not only would such a story not fly 30 years later, but Gaiman is a wholly different person than he was those decades ago. She shows mercy to Richard Madoc in the same way she does in the episode, but that is essentially the end of the chapter. (In a graphic novel, it’s easy to have a single frame clearly depicting rape while also technically showing nothing.) The muse is little more than a victim to be saved by Morpheus to showcase the Dream Lord’s growth after his own capture. The ends (the revenge, whether it be taken by victim or savior) are used to justify the means (the exploitation of female bodies with no consideration for the subject), but very rarely does it actually add to the story in question.Ĭalliope’s tale in the comic is told explicitly, but at a different time and in a different medium. Graphic rape scenes have been used as justification for revenge without an ounce of consideration for how powerful the art of implication can be for decades. Stories centered on rape are very frequently more about exploiting than exploring. ![]() ![]() ![]() Goyer, and "Calliope" writer Catherine Smyth-McMullen made some very important key changes when it comes to the Muse’s arc while also somehow barely changing it at all. Neither is Netflix’s newest chapter to their The Sandman adaptation, but creator Neil Gaiman, showrunners Allan Heinberg and David S. Calliope’s - the youngest muse, former wife to Morpheus and mother to Orpheus - original story is not kind to the goddess. Later adaptations, however, are beholden to whatever new tone the creator sees fit in the current time. ![]() Past art cannot - or at least should not - be judged on current cultural standards. ![]()
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