Adapting The Queen's Gambit Shouldn't Have Worked

[@sapphothorne6645]

My take on this show is that its not really about genius or chess, its about trauma and escapism. For Beth, alcohol, drugs and sex are all means to cope with the loss and mistreatment she experienced from an early age. Chess is certainly another means of escapism for Beth, but its an avenue to more productive ways of coping with truama-forming friendships, establishing a strong sense of self, etc. When Beth spirals, she's cut off from those more healthy means of coping.

[@WhizPill]

also it's about autism representation

[@R-zg4zg]

I think this is what makes the show great, yes it's grounded in actual chess, but you are as gripped by the personal journey as well as the plot

[@mayhit]

Oh, I love this description! You've articulated the core of the story in a way I'd always felt, but hadn't articulated for myself before.

[@jurgnobs1308]

yea, it's more like a frame to put up the actual story

[@Amelia-vk4jt]

Same I always thought that the show was about trauma and coping mechanisms, chess is one in the orphanage and so is her addiction, they're not all good but it's the only way she can cope with her trauma and internal struggles

[@nostalgicsapphic8450]

kinda obsessed with how you set this up as a conversation like u ate this video up

[@HeyitsBri_]

No crumbs. Compliments to the chef

[@aud9931]

Finding out that the symbol that separates sections of prose is called a “dinkus” is almost as bad as finding out that the animated loading circle’s proper name is an “annular throbber”

[@littlewyzard]

HUH

[@spawel1]

i can never forget this knowledge short of brain damage

[@arionthedeer7372]

I’ll show you my annular throbber

[@cee_ves]

I know you just performed all the scenes in one outfit together, and then performed all scenes in the other next, but i like to think you’re frantically putting up and letting down your hair every 2 seconds while changing out of a suit

[@JamesWoodall]

It may please you to know this is exactly how I filmed the opening shot 😅 To be able to splice each side together, so the moves overlapped, I needed all the pieces to be in exactly the same position, so reflections and shadows wouldn't be cut off. Easiest way to do that is to film the moves in the correct order, running behind the camera and changing costume between them and cutting out the time between moves. I only had to change costume on one arm, though.

[@icedcxffee2159]

@@JamesWoodall ​it is so refreshing to see that you care this much about the continuity of such small details, you've 100% earned my sub (i have binged like so many of your vids

[@Let_Toons]

​@@JamesWoodallThis reminds me of one of the oldests Pixar animations, wich is an old man playing both sides in a game of chess. Walking back and forth, until the camera stop showing the walking and just does harsh cuts between each side giving the ilusion of two people.

[@JamesWoodall]

@@Let_Toons Geri's Game. There's a brief clip of it in the video. 22:09

[@user-garnet]

Damn, I keep thinking this is a channel with at least 700k subscribers, and getting jumpscared by the actual subscriber count

[@CadetRedShirt]

Barely 55K is a travesty

[@idontneedaname318]

WHAT I JUST NOTICED

[@user-garnet]

@@CadetRedShirtjust finished watching the video and IT IS VERY MUCH A TRAVESTY. The video absolutely blew my mind in its thoughtfulness and nuance and I need KZbin *to recognise that*

[@WhizPill]

i know right

[@R-zg4zg]

It's actually insane! It's so well done!!

[@MariaVosa]

I have no quibble with most of the points raised in this socratic tour de force - except the one about Jolene. I really don't think the White male author created a more compelling and "true" depiction of racial issues by having a Black girl pressure a White girl into a sexual act, harassing her, and then being impressed said White girl hits back with the worst word anyone could use. This seems like a lot of awful tropes piled on top of each other and I'm glad they changed it.

[@marm4851]

Same, I think there could be an arguement that racism in the series is sanitised, I can definitely see that- however I think the unconsenual stuff would require a lot of story changes and might feel out of place. I also think it perpatuates the sort of dangerous black person trope, where black people are presented as dangerous deviants, especially if they are queer- and a scene where a black girl assualts a small white girl rings alarm bells in my mind of the way white women are seen as innocent victims and black people are seen as perpatrators- think of in pitch perfect where one of the only poc and queer characters- a black lesbian- forces a lot of unwanted advances on the rest of the mainly white cast. I think in media there should be a diverse range of characters and experiances shown, this means bad/morally grey queer and black people as well as good ones- however I think it is difficult when the bad people are some of the only representation of those groups in your work, and this racist and queerphobic stereotype is so prevalent in media STILL. In order for this part of the story to fit into an adaptation you'd need to change a lot of the storyline and bring up a lot of diffucult stuff that I don't know if the story has room for. It would take a lot of skill and tact to adapt this part of the book, and I don't know if a white man is the most suited to do it without help from people who have been through that type of thing.

[@Kagomai15]

I was thinking this too when he read that. I was like, "I mean I know I'm white but to me that seems kinda racist that this white author would have her react to being called the N word with respect?" Seems like a very white guy thing to write lol

[@MariaVosa]

@@Kagomai15 Yeah, it is seriously bad and I'm glad the people making the series dropped that completely

[@darlingdannid]

yeah... as a black girl, i'm perfectly fine with the singular black character not being a predator, and not gaining respect for someone who calls her slurs. sounds absolutely terrible to me, thank god they left it out

[@blossomi.2824]

I think the inciting incident should definitely be changed but the alternative of just wiping Jolene relationship with Beth off the map wasn’t a good one either. Because she just ends up falling into another stereotype. I would be fine with a more antagonistic relationship between the two but with the context changed.

[@Odd_Designz]

I have to say.. I’m not mad they left out the explicit assault/racism.. I think they could have done something more pg and showed how racism effected her, but I have to say I’m tired of white actors saying the n word in Hollywood

[@jordanmurphy4308]

Plus it's the predatory lesbian trope which is also tired

[@Odd_Designz]

@@jordanmurphy4308 true- I don’t think you should introduce a predatory queer plotline unless you have the time and commitment to also show proper queer love too

[@rusi6219]

​@@Odd_Designzthey're all predatory

[@v2-ek2vl]

@@rusi6219 ok karen

[@peterthomas5792]

> but I have to say I’m tired of white actors saying the n word. And until we have the balls to talk transparently, you are as much to blame as anyone for not speaking the truth. There are thousands of "n-words". The one you're referring to is "nigger". Yes, I'm aware it's offensive, but people need to be able to say it & discuss the issues with it openly. Likewise F-word, C-word or any other offensive word you may choose to shrink from. Grow up, discuss openly, it's the only way to solve problems.

[@lauramcastro4897]

I think you could put it better by saying the series is about "how genius interacts with trauma". Because yeah, Beth's issues are not CAUSED by her genius. Her troubles are not the "cost" of it. They are caused by compounding traumas; the death of her mother (twice), addiction, social isolation. But her genius definitely affects how she navigates and reacts to her trauma.

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

Here’s the thing: Chess is actually really good as a crowd sport because it’s surprisingly well paced move to move. For every move there’s this phase of analysis where the commentators and audience try to find the right move along with the player. And they don’t always do. So you have a natural buildup of tension that is released when a move is finally done. Which is how 15 minutes of nothing happening can be nail-biting television.

[@literallyjustgrass]

Also why the commentators and audience members reacting among themselves never felt like a cheap way of explaining the game, because that is in fact exactly how most spectators experience real chess games

[@spammus1]

Honestly I don't think chess is a good crowd sport at all, if you don't actively play and study chess you will not understand anything of what's going on and you'll lose interest quickly because watching something you don't understand anything about for hours at a time is extremely boring. It's only engaging if you are already into it. That said the show portrayed really well how the crowd reacts to an actual game of chess, even if it might have been for necessity.

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

@@spammus1 This was entirely about technical narrative. If there's no interesting emotional narrative, people don't care about any sport event. And for people not understanding, that's what the 3rd commentator is for, to make sure the 2 experts actually explain the game for people that doesn’t know it.

[@alex2005z]

Rapid chess? Maybe. Classical? Way to slow. Waiting 30 minutes for a single move is to boring

[@stormwatcheagle5448]

I did not know how badly I needed a Queen's Gambit anime until now.

[@hughcaldwell1034]

Closest I can think of is Hikaru No Go, which I'm yet to watch. It's about a guy who finds an old Go set and is possessed by the ghost of an old master who lives inside it.

[@tabsi2436]

It would be so epic. Like death Note. Please I need that.

[@alex2005z]

​@@hughcaldwell1034the chess itself isnt what makes queen gambits itself. Its the drugs, sex and everything else Beth uses to escape from reality. Its the caracther more than the game itself. Its really good that they showed actual chess instead of what most anime shows, but its not the only reason it works

[@alexjames7144]

I think the 'Cost of genius' is the ability it gives her to succeed in a self destructive way. Most people couldn't get to that level alone, couldn't abuse substances to get by and skip some of the more structured learning. Being able to do that is a curse because it's easier and also far more self destructive. Beth overcomes the challenge by ultimately accepting her limits and crawling back from hubris, she accepts help, stops abusing substances and works hard with more traditional methods. It's not a single change, like addiction she has progress and relapse throughout the show. The cost is the act of giving in to the cult of your own genius, to believe in your own exceptionalism. And in a way, the cost is being forced to accept that regardless of genius, you aren't any different to those around you. You still need to work hard, to accept help and to kick your addictions. The cost is clipping your own wings before you fly too close to the sun, because being given the ability doesn't mean you should throw your life away to reach the apex momentarily. Anyone can use self destructive behaviour to cope and push themselves too far to achieve things that take a huge toll on them, it's just more tempting the closer you are to greatness.

[@dopaminedrought395]

The way you phrased all of this is how I related to Beth as well

[@alexjames7144]

@@dopaminedrought395 How dare you correctly recognise my massive projection

[@audrey7673]

this is really really well put

[@alexjames7144]

@@audrey7673 Yeah I relate a bit too hard but unfortunately I got the "it's difficult to motivate myself when it comes easily to me" variety instead of the "massive overachieving then burnout" variety which just looks less cool

[@nathansabo9821]

@@alexjames7144 Unquestionably real, I relate to one nearly every level lol

[@alexathegator]

about the "autistic savant" trope - I think it's a consequence of how neurotypicals see neurodivergents, specifically the black and white perception of people with autism. autistic people are often reduced to their abilities, especially in workplaces or abusive/power imbalanced relationships. special interests and hyperfocus are only perceived as "superpowers", as long as they're useful or impressive. I've often felt used by NTs for my abilities - I'd be praised for my talents and coerced into favors, but as soon as I struggled with something an NT person sees as easy, I'd get ignored, abandoned or even called names. for the longest time, I didn't realize how cruel people even were to me, I just wanted to be useful and felt awful when I couldn't do well. this trope highlights how our culture says it's okay to "use" NDs, because they're only as good as what they contribute, and coercing those contributions isn't abuse, but something morally just and necessary for society. it's gaslighting people with disabilities and abusing their need to be wanted and belong. edit: also, just calling special interests "superpowers" feels so disgusting to me. imo, it's dehumanizing language, akin to lovebombing. it serves to make an ND person believe they're both superhuman (and therefore capable of taking on more than they're comfortable with) and inhuman (therefore deserving social exclusion). you'll never catch an autistic person use that word to describe their interests and abilities. it's just like that puzzle piece bullshit, a degrading label thrown on by NTs.

[@alexjames7144]

I feel like what it comes down to for me is the assumption that any talent must be related to our neurodivergence. A lot of neurodivergent people just happen to be talented. It's as simple as that. Neurodivergence isn't the reason I'm clever, and I'm not clever in spite of being neurodivergent. I just happen to be both. People are a huge collection of random traits, they're not all related. It feels like people expect that it must be a weird quirk of being autistic because they believe an autistic person couldn't just naturally be intelligent in the same way that anyone else can be.

[@gooseazul]

Child of the 90s here. My mom did her absolute best to train the autistic traits out of me. My friend who works in CPS told me that some of her behaviors absolutely would have gotten me removed from the home had anyone known about them. I am wicked smart in some ways and the year I accepted that I simply wouldn't have some of my favorite personality traits and skills without the hardships of growing up in an autistic brain was the year I started actually liking myself and seeing myself as different rather than broken. I do hyper focus and can complete absurd amounts of repetitive work to a high degree of accuracy without losing my mind and that's earned me respect and admiration at work. Used to when I went on vacation it took 3 people to replace my output making IVs. The ability to hyper focus is autistic. The work ethic is all me and honestly a trauma response/survival skill. I've got a lot of examples of that where I pair an inborn autistic trait with a trauma response I only have because my mom tried to teach me to pass for allistic and you do have, not a special interest because it's not life affirming, but what does appear to be a super power from the outside. I was raised to pass as allistic at great personal cost. I call it emotional foot binding. My mom "sanded down my sharp edges" well into my 20s and honed traits employers can exploit to gleaming sharpness. She did her best to make my autistic brain MY burden rather than the world's. And by that measure, her methods were blue ribbon. You ever notice how the allistics categorize the autistics based on how burdensome their traits are to others? The world doesn't know what untraumatized autistic people look like because growing up this way is inherently traumatic. Our parents used exposure therapy and desensitization techniques, but for reducing outward pain responses. All this did was numb us out. "Super powers" are the results of a specific traumatic upbringing.

[@barbarafisher4915]

@@gooseazul I think we had the same Mom. Though I grew up in the 1970s.

[@Nariasan]

I have the misfortune of being autistic and bipolar with no talents whatsoever. My special interests are writing and TTRPGs, but I can't say I'm good at either. As a result, neurotypicals see me as lazy and useless, because I spend a lot of time hyperfixated on my interests, but nothing comes of it. Being autistic without the "superpowers" of being a "genius" in my interests is absolutely soul crushing because I'm seen as useless to society in every facet of my existence. (Except maybe paying taxes.)

[@toolatetothestory]

@@Nariasan Same dude. Same. I am only really interested in games and KZbin essays. All other hobbies I wish I could have are too expensive or just not realistic and I'm not allowed to have pets either. I have nothing, therefore I Am nothing

[@tonichan89]

It didn't make sense to me to "solve Townes" by making him gay. He was blatantly flirting with her and making moves on her, and just because he's hooking up with or dating a guy doesn't automatically mean he's not interested in people who aren't men; bi and pan people exist too. I find it annoying when the default reason for the Main Character being rejected is "oh he's gay", as if that's the only possible reason someone wouldn't want to be with the MC. It just comes off like a cheap red herring to me, one that doesn't work imo. I get there's such a factor as Beth overly reading into things cus she's got a crush, but if you look at what he says and does on paper, like touching her cheek while gazing into her eyes... that was just to mislead the viewer, and it's obvious; just to then kinda gaslight us with the bait and switch, as if that didn't happen and we imagined him doing those things. Let's remember Beth was only a teenager when she met Townes, I think she was 15? And he was a grown ass adult, by the looks of it in his mid to late 20s, maybe even into his 30s when they meet in Vegas and she's 17. A perfect reason for him to reject her would've been her age. It's fine for her to have a crush on him and want to sleep with him - teens commonly have crushes on adults - but it wouldn't be cool for him to get with her. The solution was right there. He was old enough to be her high school teacher when they met. He could still be LGBT, that's whatever, but it annoys me that that's the reason he doesn't hook up with her, as if the inapproproate age-gap wasn't reason enough; hell, it's not even brought up. When he was making moves on her, I jokingly said "jail" to the screen 😅 That all being said, I do love the show lmao. This is just one of my few gripes with it.

[@mchjsosde]

I get that part of the rejection was his attraction to men, but also he was *with* that man. He could have been a random hookup or fling but they booked the room together. I got the impression that they were committed to each other and Townes was "taken". His partner makes light of their intimate moment which I interpreted as him witnessing Townes flirting with a woman as if it happened often but wasn't an actual threat to their commitment. Obviously this is just a personal interpretation, but I just wanted to express it because there are multiple ways to interpret the scene.

[@Freezient]

He was obviously with someone, after we were shown that he’s taken, his interaction stops being flirtatious, in fact personally I never saw it as flirting, he’s a photographer, he’s looking at his model

[@Aelffwynn]

Was she actually 17 there, or was she "17" (because the Methuen school told the adoptive parents she was younger than she really was)? Granted, she was still lacking in life experience so it still would have been inappropriate, and if he thought she was 17 then he shouldn't have flirted.

[@Freezient]

@@Aelffwynn Beth is smart girl she knows how old she is, the methuen principal only told her to lie about her age so she’ll get adopted

[@Aelffwynn]

@@Freezient yeah I know she knows how old she is.... The question is whether HE knew that. It's unclear if she ever told people her real age

[@Pumpkin.Crowz_]

I love the idea that Beth is autistic. I am an autistic person. my special interest is biology. I've always been extremely good at biology. Where I relate to Beth most is how she feels after losing a game. Like her only talent isn't good enough. the thing she prides herself on most, she's not the best at. I feel like that whenever I don't do well on a bio test. The fear that the only thing you are good at, you aren't truly good at. I grew up as a 'gifted kid' I thought that I needed to be the best at everything. I relate to Beth so much because of the way she copes with this idea that she isn't good enough at chess. She is amazing reputation of autistic people who aren't geniuses, but are above average.

[@amandalee535]

I don’t believe in the whole, “you have to deviate from the source material to adapt it” because the light novel to manga to animation to live action to stage play pipeline exists all over Asia and tends to stay pretty faithful to the source

[@lizzzylavender]

I’d say that that’s not 100% a fair comparison. LNs/manga/anime are entirely different mediums to western text and visual media. What a medium needs is not simply a matter of the constraints of the actual medium itself, but also the cultural expectations around it. Converting LN to manga to anime nearly wholesale works BECAUSE it is common practice . And the conventions in anime, like a lot of voiceover and overly exaggerated reactions etc, are usually not valid options in western adaptations. Not because they are bad, but just because the medium is not usually very tolerant of that. Sure, you can definitely play with the expectations of a medium, and that is in fact how you get changes over time. Like how the laugh track has largely dies out it sitcoms. But the fact remains that media is part of a cultural conversation with its audience, and the fact is that western TV and anime have very different languages in that conversation. So even if it works for LNs to anime, that doesn’t mean it’s as easy with western lit to screen. Because the eastern pipeline is intentionally more suited to that process. The languages of LNs and anime are far more similar than the languages of western novels and movies, in general.

[@axololtl9970]

yeah but the jump from one media to another requires some alteration of the source material. it's rare for an anime to have the same exact plot as its manga did. it's a common complaint that some parts that are present in the original material are altered or outright cut when being adapted.

[@KawaiiStars]

​@@axololtl9970like full metal alchemist for example

[@lilac.mascara]

Animation is a different enough medium to film that it translates differently imo Edit: so are manga to books and I feel like Mangas lend themselves easier to animation than books would to film

[@nahuel3433]

​@@lilac.mascaraLNs are books

[@HopeRock425]

My mother is a Neftlix subtitle translator. And she got to do the Russian subtitles for the movie before a few month before it was out. It was worth a lot which was important during the pandemic. Also she loved before it was out despite not being a chess player. This was the first show she actually wanted to share with me by showing some scenes (not spoilers) and telling me why she loved it, probably cause I play chess. She read the book and made me read it too and I thought it was okay. When I finally got to see the show my mom was very exited to wqtch it with us again. It's still one pf her favorite works.

[@lordrefaiv]

FWIW, I found this to be one of the best representations of autism in media. That we and other ND folks suffer so much from substance abuse felt like it was a very nice detail where we were not presented as perfect angelic creatures. Seeing an autistic character with flaws, but ultimately succeeds was amazing. I still feel incredibly seen by the show.

[@NotD-kp3by]

I am honestly glad they wrote Beth and Jolene's relationship. Yes they do play into the black best friend trope but would be even worse if they played into the black predator trope instead (not to mention young Jolene and adult Jolene have the same Actor while Beth is played by a child im sure that was also a motivation to cut that out) Also writing about race isn't always a good thing if it isnt written well, yes it may be more "authentic" but an awful alway to set up a life long friendship plus it gives power to Beth in a relationship that is supposed to be equal. I think in a show like this, when it comes to black characters if you dont have anything good to say, dont say anything all

[@brookejohnson9914]

A dinkus! I have been wondering for YEARS what that thing is called. I used to read fanfic that used them very frequently.

[@lauramcastro4897]

LOL, my first thought was this! "So the author used abundant dinkus to break the narration in scenes, in a more cinematic manner? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... like fifteen hundred fanfics I've read?"

[@Jaxrocable]

That was fantastic, excellent framing and discussion. I wasn't sure through which side was supposed to represent your 'actual thoughts' versus the 'devils advocat' before realising that they were both entirely you and I'm just so used to creators only creating an opposition character just to knock it down. Shocked that something so well thought out and tidy is coming from such a small channel. Truly a hidden gem. I'm now going to waste my day watching the rest of your backlog

[@Sarah.H5]

Maybe he can have thoughts on both sides?

[@ilyas863]

@@Sarah.H5that’s what op said in their comment?

[@Lil_Bonzai]

I love the chess framing device, genuinely blown away by the editing and filming!!

[@peccantis]

NGL I could totally see a Queen's Gambit anime with that specific OP shot, just spiced up a bit with some overlapping parallax effects and swipey movements with the chess pieces, with her standing there and staring in eerie determined silence in the middle.

[@Jimboy8023]

On your point that Beth ultimately rises through the ranks of chess through dedication rather through any savant ability. I think this explanation for Beth's skill actually serves to explain why autistic people are more represented in academic fields. Hear me out as someone who is autistic and part of said community there is a common habit of us developing hyper-fixations, getting obsessed with certain subjects like politics, certain tv shows or certain old timey fashion trends. This will result in us spending a lot of time looking into those subjects and as a result gaining insights that most people don't have. It's not that we are inherently super-geniuses it's just that we spend more time on these subjects and thus those of us who have hyper-fixations on academic subjects tend to rise up the ranks. I think it also explains why it's unrealistic to expect autistic people to be ultra big brained because hyper-fixations can be something profitable like law or medicine, but it could also be an obsession with paintings of horses or the kind of shoes people use for tap-dancing.

[@seyebye]

the fact that autistic folks spend so much time and dedication to their interests also factors into their ostracization - nuerotypicals think that it's useless for an autistic person to spend their time on their hyperfixations when they could be using that time to take care of themselves and do necessary tasks that nuerodivergents might abandon because it's not satisfying our need for stimulation and satisfaction. you can say that no one likes doing chores, when thats not true, some people have specific chores they like to do, and will even do other people's chores for them if the other person likes it less than they do. i haven't been diagnosed with anything other than bipolar and ADHD, but i relate to the autistic experience of NTs determining that my time and energy spent on doing something that feels satisfying is "wasted" because it's not seen as productive as doing something that is necessary to maintain a human lifestyle, or protifable. i know i could and should be doing my laundry or brushing my teeth, but my brain says that those activities suck balls and "hey we'd be much happier and fulfilled if we spend 16 hours straight of studying the mathematics of really complex and challenging origami forms" and who am i to ignore what my body says i need?

[@branddransnothing]

A DINKUS. OMG I JUST SIMPLY WANTED TO SEPARATE MY WRITING INTO DIFFERENT SCENES AND NOW I KNOW WHAT IT IS CALLED.

[@mtea3596]

OMG… It suddenly hit me that you’re not only filming this video as a conversation between 2 men but 2 chess players, black and white

[@garrylarry890]

Bro 😅

[@thorakvideos2495]

Still baffled by the fact this channel hasn't exploded yet. As always the quality of the whole production is incredible!

[@tahoemike5828]

This was an interesting deep dive. The show doesn't portray the tranquilizers as performance enhancing, it portrays Beth, an addict as believing that they are; while they are wrecking her life.

[@violetlavi2207]

YES this! That's the whole reason the ending is so impactful - she assumed the drugs made her successful, but she discovered that no, it was HER own skill that made her successful

[@LifeTheorist]

If you can't find someone to debate, debate yourself. This is one of the best, most intriguing video essays I've seen by far.

[@hikikomori6005]

its like, 4am, im having a famous depression meal, and oh my god, i absolutely loved this video. the way you made it into a conversation is so entertaining, while poiting out pros and cons with the two different characters. also, the irony of pointing out that most chess scenes in media aren't the focus but the conversation is, while doing exactly that, AND talking about chess is just gold. i will now binge all your videos for the next week, thanks

[@Critic115]

"Addiction is caused by addiction", yeah, that's a real thing. It doesn't matter what drives your first time, addiction becomes the drive to fulfill itself.

[@bye1551]

There's a reason we have an "addiction" gene. No addiction is less severe than another, save chemical addiction like nicotine. It's the mentality of "this fixes my problems". For a lot of autistic people, hyper fixations can become addictions. Escapism from the daily struggle of being disabled, because it's the tantalising promise of that superpower media promised us. The joy of learning drowns out the pain of inadequacy everywhere else and we just succumb to the mentality of "just 1 more." 1 more pill, 1 more game, 1 more book. The brain really doesn't know the difference.

[@alex2005z]

Thats why its called addiction.

[@Let_Toons]

1:13 Oooh _loove_ the visual of the black pieces player and white pieces player representing different perspectives on the subject

[@earthlingphilosophy3531]

I would like to say as an autistic female that there is a high rate of co-morbidity among especially autists who were not diagnosed young in life. Which tends to be porportionally more women because we are diagnosed in 1/16 the rate of males. These are illnesses or states such as social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety, major depressive disorder, PTSD/CPTSD, agoraphobia, persistent avoidance disorder. Alcoholism, self harm, suicide, drug abuse is also especially high in "high functioning autistics" as a form of self medication and coping. I myself have experienced some of these things. I personally do not think the autistic population connection to Beth because she is "gifted". We connect to her because we see our own struggle in life reflected back to us. We see the yearning, the need to be good at something. We see how Beth takes personal issue with her failures. We see he form problematic attachments to men. We see her struggle to form lasting friendships and not know how to maintain those friendships. We see her find drugs and alcohol and realize how they seem to calm her. I think it is true Beth is gifted with chess but she is also obsessed and possessed by chess. I personally think have a special interest one is so possessed by is a good thing, it gives meaning. As long as one doesn't attach their entire self worth to it as Beth does.

[@splendidfairywren9997]

i really appreciate the critic vs defender presentation of your videos. it's a very interesting way to explore different interpretations of a work and the context behind creative decisions, even ones that didn't work

[@missbeans]

I am not an orphan, not nuero-divergent, not especially smart or naturally gifted at anything, have never been addicted, have never read the novel, only know a handful of basic chess rules, and am completely ambivalent towards the game. But I was completely riveted by the adaptation and loved it immensely. It is an absolutely stunning work of art.

[@lizziele5212]

i was listening to this in the background until i heard that the queen’s gambit was supposed to be a sports anime. picked up my phone so fast to see a sick intro. i wonder if they’ll be open to making an animation for this book, it’ll be interesting to see since there are things that you can only do in animation and i wonder what will change

[@fernandohernandezqu8984]

Commenting for the algorithm, may this work of high quality not go unnoticed

[@magyesproductions]

the way I LMFAO-d at the Queen’s Gambit sports anime opening 😂 this was very well made, I’m surprised you don’t have more subscribers! adding to the list as we speak

[@lauramcastro4897]

Now, on the "cost of genius", sick anime and chess... James, I implore you to check out Sangatsu no Lion. It's a manga/anime incredibly reminiscent of The Queen's Gambit, about an young shogi prodigy trust into a professional player's life by the death of his parents. It's an incredibly delicate and sensitive manga about trauma, bullying, isolation, and also the power of shogi (and friendship. because of course.) And there are also cats. I bet you'd love it.

[@paigehansen8944]

This was surprisingly excellent!! The framing (both of the shots and of the narrative), the script & line delivery, the cuts to story beats and narration of the original text, everything You nailed it I think KZbin has rotted my brain a bit, I almost didn’t click because of the view count but you proved me wrong! Liked & subbed 👍🏻

[@gooseazul]

Excellent video. I appreciate the format of you debating yourself. The cost of genius. I really, really like that topic, and yeah, very high intelligence in women is costly. Not all autistic people have traded that intrensic social wisdom for a "super power" but I'm autistic and tested in the 99th percentile academically as a child and actively would have traded my brain away for some friends. I really, really enjoyed Beth as female autistic representation. She Did succeed. She Did form a few real social bonds. She Did master her craft. And she had to learn to navigate her trauma. I didn't meet someone who loved me without trying to modify me until I was 27 and it was profoundly impactful. I'll be forever grateful to him, despite the logistics i couldn't fix for him, for showing me I'm a whole person rather than a poor substitute. Brilliant autistic women, especially raised by women who refuse to acknowledge their own neurodivergence and try to figuratively and literally beat it out of us because they hate seeing that rejected aspect of themstin us... Those women usually struggle with self acceptance all their lives. We were raised that with our potential and our god given big beautiful brains we're obligated to go far. And not to is akin to stealing. Or sloth. Autistic, intelligent women often battle depression, imposter syndrome, and unrealistic expectations. The focus moves from what we do very well to what we do very poorly. Beth struggles with addiction and there but for the grace of God go I. I love when adaptations play with the cost of genius in ways that don't just feel fake.

[@k-onlegacy]

If only my mom was on the path of healing, we'd be the best of friends

[@vestofholding]

7:56 You deserve so many more subscribers just the commitment to this joke alone, lol. This is my first video of yours and I already knew I was subscribing for the inventive style you brought this video, and this proved I was right.

[@mariamatedei]

Amazing video, it's crazy this quality doesn't come from a bigger channel. Particularly I personally love the visual aspects that are used for editing!!

[@starsong3]

the framing of this discussion was so fun and i loved what you had to say!

[@js66613]

You CAN counter that. The SA and the verbal bullying for Beth standing up for herself, effectively justisfies her snapping at Jolene, especially considering she too used a racially-charged name for her, AFTER she SA'd her, and it also plays into the hypersexual black person stereotype and the black rap---. Just because something existed in the time period you're depicting doesn't *actually* mean you *have* to show it, that it has a point in showing it, that it'll improve the quality of the tale or the characters, or their relationship. All it does is confuse the relationship - WTF would Beth want to stick around her SA-er. People that get SA'd, once they realise it, tend to want little to do with them, and ESPECIALLY if their rejection to their advances is met with nastiness as if the abuser is in the right. All it does is imply "just stick it to your SA-er and everything will be fine.

[@violetlavi2207]

YEP this!! I kept waiting for him to bring that up, but he never did. Cutting the SA from Jolene and the slur from Beth would just play into the black predator trope...and also the fact that Jolene would "gain respect" for Beth after Beth uses the n-word against her is pretty icky too

[@Eldriitch]

As someone who was a child prodigy and in a similar kind of way (and i think for similar kind of reasons) as beth, I have to say I think they did a very good job of depicting neurodivergence, brilliance, and indeed "personality problems". The show works because it does not present any as cause for the other, they all go together and influence each other and feed into each other and they are all a part of who beth harmon is. Autism, anxiety, escapism, and so on all influenced why i got into math and why i put so much time into it as to become so strong at such a young age. And that brought its own problems, alienation and isolation for me primarily. The same things that drew me to math drew me to easier and more available and more destructive coping mechanisms later. Beth works as a character because she rings completely true, even more so in the show than the book for me. It does almost feel like the show was written about me to an extent, though I hope to never reach the same extreme lows or the same implied fame.

[@seniorss_1]

This is such a detailed and perfectly crafted video, you deserve more bro

[@madmanhimes]

That joke about it becoming a sports anime immediatly made me remember hikaru no go, the anime about go.

[@connerblank5069]

Anyone who doesn't think chess would make good tv _clearly_ hasn't watched 75 episodes of Hikaru no Go. Man, I should watch that show again.

[@paulinedunne3481]

It's been a while since I watched, and I never read it, but learning about some of these changes is insightful. Like I remember one of my biggest issues with the series as a viewer was the kind of... shounen? way Beth would defeat men who then all turned around to be her close good friends despite treating her with a lot of contempt when they first met or being in active opposition to her. To me it was a nineties-esque sort of feminist television messaging where women have to earn men's respect by being better than them. Learning that a lot of this was added in adaptation, that the characters they choose to expand were mostly men (instead of her having a friendship with Annette Packer, for instance, if they were developing minor characters) and that her significant complicated relationship with Jolene was sanitised, and that Cleo was basically invented wholecloth to be a destructive force in her life changes the way that I think about the series a lot actually! A lot of these changes erase/weaken the complicated political background of the setting, and again, I haven't read it, but either Tevis set the book he published in 1983 in the 50's-60's on purpose or Frank Scott the director decided to. It is not set in the this time period accidentally by either of them.

[@danielcarens-nedelsky742]

Another banger video! I really appreciate that you discussed Beth's neurodivergence/neurodivergent coding. I would love to see you do a similar analysis of Poor Things' Bella. I feel another good companion peice of media is Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. On my reading Frieren is autistic, but rather than focus on her genuis the story is about her connecting with other people, and other people learning how to connect with and understand her. It's just so gentle and lovely, while still being a great character study.

[@itspinebro]

Two things : Autistic people often have drug problems. It (alcohol, weed, etc) can help us be more social, feel like we either can unmask or mask better depending on the person, or helps reduce stress or overthinking. Neurodivergency is not a scientific term, it's an umbrella term that often includes mental illness too. Funnily enough, personality disorders included. That varies depending on who you ask, but at least from my experience, it's often included. Other than that, great video. And thank you for mentioning Jolene's role, queer relationships and autism. I was definitely not expecting it when I clicked.

[@ChantalM3]

That's true about what the term neurodivergence covers. In fact, there's a lot of overlap between autistic traits and the effects of complex-PTSD on a person, to the point that it can be very difficult to distinguish between them.

[@Kinochai]

Great video! I am curious whether the video's somewhat abrupt ending was a stylistic choice for a reason I'm not gleaning, or if it was done because there wasn't really much more to be said that would make it worthwhile to have a proper conclusion section. I liked that the video ended with the two characters conceding to the major points of the other, hammering home that they are both right in some aspects and not in others, but I am also curious as to the lack of a 3rd, semi-omniscient character, essentially just you really, to bring it to a close. Sorry for the ramble, these are just some immediate thoughts.

[@gucctea4169]

idk i think faithful adaptation works in some cases, like the hunger games series, sure it's slightly tweaked but for the most part it's very faithful to the books. i think real mastery in screenplay is having a great story in a different medium and being able to translate it in an enjoyable yet faithful way that captures its essence. most of the time a story written will be perfectly fine on its own. i don't think changing too much about the source material makes a movie/show particularly good and i don't think a completely faithful adaptation makes the movie/show necessarily bad. sometimes it just works.

[@justine4581]

Absolutely obsessed with the chess match format of this video!! Cannot believe how few subs you have!! You remind me a ton of Dominic Noble!! Very glad to have found your channel and excited to see more from you :D

[@sachter6947]

I gave you a like at the begging and wanted to give another at the end, but i forgor i already liked it and felt sad. Great video mate, Hope you blow up and get the rewards you deserve for making such high quality videos!

[@juliestevens6931]

I found this presentation format fascinating. Thank you.

[@thisrandomdude_]

this has gotta be one of my favourite video essays about a show ever. so frickin' creative, to the point, and substanceful. god bless man

[@lorettabes4553]

I find it funny that people can use google any time, but they are still happy to learn about a Dinkus

[@HereForTheComments990]

People don’t always know that they don’t know something. I’ve called the dinkus a section break my whole life. Never occurred to me that it would have an actual name. So why would I search? It’s why interacting with people is so important. You get surprised with little nuggets of knowledge from others that you would never have known without them - despite Google.

[@Scoob.be.doo_]

I can’t believe this video has so little views. The amount of work in effort put into this video really shows. I hope that this video finds so much success. It is amazing.

[@matildalee4301]

All of the work you out into this video is so clear! This is an amazing analysis of this idea! Subscribed

[@calebarsenault382]

If Monopoly is out, then it's Ticket to Ride, Catan, or Betrayal - take your pick

[@R-zg4zg]

Such a great video! I seem to be on a bit of a media analysis binge at the moment and I really liked the conversation aspect. Can't wait to see what else you create this year.

[@damdamfino]

Almost didn’t click because ngl I saw the channel profile pic and the word “James” and my knee jerk reaction was James Somerton ☠️

[@PeakeABoo]

The standing that Beth NEEDS to be racist because in the 60's every white person was racist does not hold water at all, top it all off with the fact that being the only queer rep in the book into the show would reinforce 2 bad tropes that would have damaged the show, predatory queer and violent poc. Mr. Suit really wants the focus to be on the pain and trauma and evils of the era like that's all there was and still is. the "devils advocate" should just be called lazy anger. When it comes to the realm of adaptations there is the issue of perfect translation while fixing the flaws of the book, that people demand while not caring that it's not possible because nothing is perfect.

[@waymire01]

The concept of “you have to deviate from the source material to adapt it” is why there are so many horrible adaptations. We don't want your superior concept of what you think the story should be, or your creative/artistic license. We want to see the book. If the book were terrible it wouldn't have sold so many copies or have a fan base interested in an adaptation in the first place. Don't f@#$ with it, just film it.

[@louimmature]

i aint never seen a video essay like this; keep up the good work pookie

[@chillin5703]

On Jolene: not all "conversations" about race are worth having.

[@Zvox]

8:25 i've said for many many years that we need to almost completely end the practice of doing movie adaptations of books, for the sole reason of the fact that the vast majority of book adaptations includes massively important plotlines being scrapped or they rush through all the major plot sequences and the point of these events in the story completely lose meaning, and then none of the characters get fleshed out or feel like people. the only way to adapt a book to a movie WELL is to, as mentioned in the beginning of the video, get the general gist of the plot and themes, and then completely throw the book out the window and rewrite it from the beginning. when i was in middle school, my favorite book was Ender's Game. i remember hearing they were making a movie adaptation and being so excited, but then i knew the moment the trailer came out that the movie had no idea what made that book great. it wasn't these action sequences that the movie seemed to focus on, though the book definitely did have action, it certainly wasn't orson scott card because fuck that guy. it was the characters. it was ender's sensitivity and strong sense of guilt. his morality. his tactical creativity and genius. his anger and resentment toward the people that ran battle school and kept putting him in these fucked up and traumatic situations. his relationship to bean and his other friends in spite of the battle school constantly working to isolate him. the movie successfully shows absolutely none of that, because they're trying to sell a sci-fi blockbuster about child soldiers with a 120 minute runtime which just...isn't what ender's game even is. it's awful and doesn't really work narratively on any level. however, ender's game is almost perfectly paced to be adapted into a 10-12 episode miniseries. there are so many chunks of the book that can be perfectly segmented into an episode of television, and do a wonderful job of developing character and emotion. another excellent example, compare the film "the golden compass" to the first season of "his dark materials". one is an adaptation that was so bad that the other two books didn't even get film adaptations, the other is a fantastic series that did a wonderful job of adapting one of my all time favorite book trilogies to a visual medium over 3 seasons, and even makes pacing and story structure improvements to the books. almost every single time i've seen a film adaptation of a book ever since i saw that dogshit ender's game movie, i've had the thought "this would work so much better as a series" and i think that's true 90% of the time, except in the cases that the filmmaker read the book and got something specific out of it that they wanted to say. anyway sorry for yapping, good video.

[@Critic115]

With the dialogue, that just shows how brilliantly the book was written; that it can be taken nearly word for word and put on screen.

[@30084]

I never saw Queens Gambit or had any intention but you definitely made this video engaging enough that made me wish i did

[@oddsockfreya]

i watched my first video of yours, on the rules of comedy, last night before falling asleep, and am so happy that it wasn't, as so many are, a flash in the pan video essay hidden on an otherwise empty channel. love these!

[@andrewhallock2548]

This just appeared in my feed and was brilliantly done. I haven't seen the entirety of the show. I watched the first three episodes, however. Interesting take and I love the ending of this video.

[@RebekahDianneLove]

Amazing video!!! Love how you constructed the opposing arguments

[@Sarah.H5]

Firstly, I love the smokey eye look 😍 Secondly, I think the format of expressing arguments as two opponents across the chess board is inspired. I think this allows you to present nuance, and raise thought provoking questions without the viewer thinking you're just offering the "correct" viewpoint. Sadly, I think that's how media criticism is consumed now - as though it's the marketplace of ideas. Well done, there's some excellent ideas and arguments in this essay.

[@cupofoats]

This is my absolute favourite video about the Queens Gambit. Thank you.

[@lyli_leu2]

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the pun at 1:22 is really clever!

[@littlemonztergaming8665]

The idea and execution of this video is really impressive and inspiring, being able to express all your thoughts in a compelling manner similar to the show- Drawing many parrels to the show and asking hard questions that you don't have quite good answers to. It was really fascinating to see where you'd go next and what your two personas represented, a lot of assumed meta-commentary was going through my head through out it. Then you addressed very fair criticisms with their full merit, truly coming to your own opinion based on all these thoughts. Many will strawman at most, but exploring this was very fun.

[@miloformiles]

Insanely high quality video dude!

[@Robynhoodlum]

As someone who is neurodivergent (though not autistic) and was considered “Gifted” growing up. I can’t agree more with the point that the cost of genius is anxiety and social isolation. It wasn’t until I gave up trying to live up to expectations (others and my own) that I finally stopped being anxious. I loved the scene at the end where Beth is walking in Russia and you can see the relief and the freedom from all her anxieties. She’s at peace with herself finally. It’s easy to assume that’s because she won the tournament, or is finally sober, but it’s just as much the support of her friends and the verification that she isn’t alone and unwanted. I agree that the drug addiction distracts from the fact that all her anxieties are in her own head, but I also know anxiety, depression, and PTSD can all be very self-destructive on their own. I feel like the director leaned on the addiction as a visual for the internal turmoil and didn’t trust that the audience would pick up on Beth’s mental state if she didn’t have a visual cue as well.

[@IHaveAName1824]

38:42 in the interview he was commenting on anxiety and expecially on obsession, how chess can consume you via escapism

[@connerblank5069]

It's all in the vibes, man. It's all in the vibes.

[@nathankeel6667]

Love this good cop bad cop style of critque of this show and different agnles and arguments for interpretations of the show wail it being over a chess game super cool.

[@MSSProductions1]

i love the way you presented this, thank you

[@elislevander297]

38:34 when youre neurodivergent like this and are a genius and knowing that you are just THAT good at one thing you kinda tend to form your personality around that one thing cus its a reason to be proud of yourself and so sometimes it starts to look like there's nothing else to you you cant be like others you cant start socializing like kids you have to play smarter but then is there even a point if at the end of the day there's barely anyone to match your genius your interest (and relationships must be built on sharing interests right?) so you do distance yourself from people and besides this connections can slow you down on your path to greatness what I'm trying to say is neurodivergence can be a personality problem in a way that you're torn between pursuing your "destiny" or being a part of society

[@Darwin-dr8jr]

Dude, the quality of this video is insane. Props to you 👏

[@ragingbirdgod]

this is an amazingly made video. incredibly engaging and well done. i hope you get all your flowers 💐

[@stephcannon2106]

I Really love the format you did! Great job!

[@blossomi.2824]

Haven’t finished the video but the part about Jolene was so good and necessary. I loved the show and thought it was a masterpiece but as a black woman it bothered me so much. And the dialogue about not being there to save her but that they were family (despite not being in contact at all) just made it glaringly obvious. I didn’t even know the Queen’s Gambit was an adaptation so I didn’t know Jolene was more complex in the book. I understand cutting the inciting scene because they were children but they should have replaced it with some other incident causing their antagonist relationship and kept everything else. I think I would be more satisfied with Jolene’s character that way especially as the only black character in the entire show.

[@c1975stark]

I am obsessed with the clip you added during the Harry Potter chess scene because I instantly thought of the same reference. XD

[@andrethevirgin]

If this story made you realize how much you love not understanding Chess, then March Comes in Like a Lion will really help you not understand Shogi!

[@JeffiesLife]

Also, can’t believe you don’t have more subs this was a phenomenal presentation

[@milkbox103]

I love how you dress your videos up to fit the theme of what you're covering!

[@chrussublah4264]

as a black queer person im going to strongly disagree about Jolene. I personally dont think leaving out 4 very pervasive stereotypes (predatory lesbian, the jezebel, the angry black girl and the magical negro) makes the story or the friendship less compelling. You could achieve an antagonistic relationship without the inclusion of attempted SA imo. This whole idea of "it has something to say about race" but what did it actually try to say in the book? It doesnt add any value to me. There are ways it could be written that still show the racism in the 60s without slapping multiple offensive stereotypes on Jolene. The idea that Beth saying one of the worst slurs you could say to a black person gains that black persons respect is WILD to me. It's painfully obvious that a white person wrote it, who was yet to evaluate their own biases and question WHY they wrote a black girl the way they did. Them leaving that whole disaster out, counts as a point in the adaptations favor in my book. And again, I just want to ask, what exactly did this add to the story? What exactly did it have to say about racism in the 60s? And yeah no, the stereotype of a predatory lesbian trying to force themselves on another isnt really what I would catergorize as a "queer moment" It shouldnt be cut because it's more explicit to watch than read, it should be cut because it's a regurgitation of an old and pervasive stereotype about gay people being predatory that persists to this day. A stereotype that leads to a "hide your kids" sentiment in the present day, when it comes to queer people. I feel kind of split on cleo, because she is still in the position to be bad and a corrupting force in beths story. Like you said yourself. its not groundbreaking. I'd argue it's just not that good. Every reference we get to queer people in the story is in a sort of negative light. Townes being gay to explain away why he didnt make a move is a bit silly, when it's implied through the story, that Beth herself if Bi\ Bi-curious with Cleos inclusion in the story. There is other ways to explain why he didnt, like her being underage or just not being into her like that.

[@ArthurGiantCat]

This is still one of my favorite shows and this great video essay (in what's become such an oversaturated market imo). Really excited to check out the rest of the channel :)

[@CadetRedShirt]

Great video! I did really love the series, and i feel like the cast chosen really helped the strong story

[@michaelabojan4172]

Fantastic work on this video! I really admire the amount of work and thoughtfulness going into these shots and editing. Hope your channel continues to grow!

[@lorettabes4553]

25:38 This is a strength of adaptations. Stories that are short enough can get more time for other characters (I'm thinking Heartstopper). It's awesome.

[@Veronensis]

Best tv/film analyses I've seen on youtube in quite some time!

[@dichotomae]

The games in the queen's gambit are depicted in enough detail that they can be analyzed mostly all the way through, which GothamChess did in a video that i like so much, I watched the whole show again so I could watch each game analysis right after the episode the games were from. I think this is mostly due to the big boards at the tournaments for spectators that show the position every once in a while, and the moves that led to that position can mostly be inferred.

[@241Cookies__]

I want you to know this video essay inspired me to pick up the novel, both as a study for my own writing and for enjoyment. Thank you.