Dorian Gray: Netflix’s Adaptation (don’t be shallow about it)

[@FashionableCrow]

As another thing! Dorian gray’s immortality is also him being literally incapable of change! He’s not pressured to go into a different life stage because the sands of time doth run in a loop, and like also his position doesn’t require change or self reflection for him to exist. Ok. Done. Maybe Edit: ALSO I briefly reference the queer subtext but didn’t dive deep because I lumped that element together with Dorian’s general “sins.” Basil’s crush and Henry’s comp-het are also playing into that self denial and guilt element. Anyway. Blah. No more

[@devkergirl2025]

Siblings? I mean the man died in exile after being convicted of sodomy. Its a slap in the face.

[@foxesofautumn]

This is giving Patroclus and Achilles are cousins.

[@devkergirl2025]

@@foxesofautumn LITERALLY

[@beckykubick]

Gay incest could be the driving force.

[@julius-ceasar]

@@foxesofautumnnot like that would bother the greeks lmao

[@octaviablackthorn9]

@@foxesofautumnto be fair, them being cousins wouldn’t have mattered any to the story. I can think of them both as cousins and lovers.

[@therealGibralter]

I have a dreadful feeling that they will make the portrait her social media profile. Then something something mean tweets and internet stalkers.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@therealGibralter i feel of two minds on that. Because I can feel the opportunity for creativity. I remember seeing the movie Cam where it’s an only fans worker basically and her coveted image got stolen and it was a really interesting take on that angle. Like the MC’s image wasn’t destroyed in front of the public, but it was no longer hers. It feels like there’d be interesting room for exploration if it didn’t just go the route of “something something mean tweats and internet stalkers.” Like…something a bit more engaging. Maybe? I feel like if the social media profile was preserved not destroyed, I’d feel it more?

[@EALoArt]

I hear what you're saying and it also annoys me bc I think you're right. But also, and I'm crediting you here, there's such opportunity for making the opposite - there's so many famous people on KZbin and otherwise that are massively popular and when you look them up all you see is all the charity and good publicity on them... Until. I think I basically said what FashoonableCrow said but less elegantly, on reflection. My b.

[@TheJeannag]

@@FashionableCrow "I feel like if the social media profile was preserved not destroyed, I’d feel it more?" This immediately got me thinking about how FaceBook would turn the profiles of people who died into online "memorials" and as someone who has lost people and watched their profiles freeze in time that way, it's certainly unsettling and could genuinely work well in a story lie this, if used right.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@TheJeannagoh that feels a bit ghoulish by default. Kind of like it

[@damdamfino]

But imagine if the portrait in the attic was actually an old abandoned MySpace page 💀

[@ourladyofperpetualskepticism]

As a gay, I'm pissed that they're making them siblings. The Picture of Dorian Gray was literally used as evidence to convict Wilde. It would be one thing if they were just taking the premise, but by naming the characters the same names as in the book it feels like erasure. If you want to change a crucial relationship dynamic that badly, just make them new characters. We have so few characters and stories already, can they not? Also, extremely agree with everything you said here. That said, have you heard that Sarah Snook's Olivier winning, one-woman, performance of The Picture of Dorian Gray got picked up for a run on Broadway? I desperately want to see it.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@ourladyofperpetualskepticism I agonized for a bit for how deep to go into the queer elements and decided to leave a more in-depth run through of that on the cutting room floor with Wolfe’s relationship to decadence, Dorian’s listed sins and Victorian society at large, but the admiration of another individual to the point of frightful embarrassment feels so odd if it’s a family member admitting their admiration. The siblings angle rings of “any they were such good friends” energy, yeah. And I have not heard of this one woman show, but you bet I’m gonna jump on that ASAP! TY

[@lalas181]

Same. It's really giving "They're both girls, and cousins too!" at the moment

[@dorian__folsom]

Agreed. It is most definitely queer erasure changing Dorian to a women with a beauty industry backdrop. I had never seen such accurate portrayal of the existential crisis that comes from being an aging twink in the modern gay community than when I read a book written 100 yrs ago. The book was used as evidence in court against Wilde’s queernessfor f**** sake. It’s a slap in the face not to include queerness in the main premise. I WILL support (and encourage) it being a lesbian main character and spotlighting an even more underrepresented community. Great video and recap of the book ❤

[@FashionableCrow]

@@dorian__folsom I love all this up here. I would def prefer that if they made Dorian a woman that Basil and Henry were made women as well, like you said.

[@alorapendrak9752]

@@dorian__folsom Honestly they do kinda have an adaptation where they're both women. Headshot an episode of RL Stines' The Haunting Hour. Is basically an adaptation of the story with modern teenage girls. Their not outwardly queer cause early-mid two thousand kid show. But there's subtext and the episode keeps the dark elements and lack of redemption for the Dorian character. Way better then most adaptations for adults even.

[@eastlynburkholder3559]

A smaller theme in this book is that there is a big difference and space between remorse and repentance. Dorian cares enough to be temporarily discomforted by his choices and their effects (cause and effect is real) and he momentarily and perhaps quite sincerely wants to change, but he never gets to repentance.

[@d.rabbitwhite]

I never thought of this as a smaller theme. It seemed major to me. He doesn't get to repentance because he doesn't have to, and that is uncomfortable at first but is a seemingly a price worth the ability to skirt repentance. My memory of reading this book was that it was pointedly looking at privilege accusingly, as so many a privileged person would be willing to suffer a bit of guilt or discomfort (even if they really did feel sincere about it- ---- in the beginning) in order to hide their ugliness on a canvas and maintain their illusion of perfection.

[@eastlynburkholder3559]

@d.rabbitwhite agree, as a person of privilege due ti his being born into a family with w ealth and a good name, he escapes social censure and loss of opportunities that a sleazy lower class person would seek. I would only say this is is a smaller theme, better wording would be a small point to focus in on is the distance between regret and repentance, and thise moment when Dorian ponders his actions and their effects on himself and others and then seems to say (my over simplifi ation-->) nH it will be find to homself.

[@gashinadiamond3146]

i feel like what they want to make has already been made. helter skelter (2012). a woman in the beauty industry with idealized beauty who does whatever she wants and she can get away with it simply because of her beauty and popularity. it's not exactly dorian gray but (without any other information, to be fair) it seems like what they're going for is this. which... like you said, a lot of the reason for dorian not facing consequences is not just youth and beauty but also lack of expectations and his class and gender. which to me feels harder to rationalize for a woman in the public eye since we know they're treated much more harshly than men. and making them siblings and erasing that portion of the queer aspect of the story isn't just questionable but kind of just feels disrespectful idk. like this is a seminal work of queer fiction.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@gashinadiamond3146 It’s especially odd when Oscar Wilde commented a lot on his own persona and how people saw him and a lot of Dorian’s “sins” have to do with gathering knowledge and being introspective, and other fairly mundane acts that don’t hurt anyone else but would speak more to a queer experience when ruining reputation can come from simply not living a default life vs an extraordinary one like celebrity offers

[@FashionableCrow]

Also the bit you said on women is so on point. 👏

[@ivanav.3136]

ah! ik that helter skelter from the manga. if you like that you should check out okazaki kyoko's other manga

[@fiercearmadillo6850]

Penny Dreadful's Dorian was the best!! He looks young, fresh, and trustworthy. His life is stagnant, repetitive, and unfulfilling.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@fiercearmadillo6850 one day I wanna do a thing on him but he was such a 10/10 adaptation in that series

[@laliclaudesol2350]

​@@FashionableCrowomg omg OMG YES! I love Penny Dreadful and its take on classic horror characters. Dorian was immediately recognisable from the moment I saw a glimpse just of his ROOM.

[@marichristian]

Dorian in Penny Dreadful was perfect. He was bisexual and the series flaunted it in thrilling detail!

[@joywagner979]

​@@FashionableCrow he was supposed to be even better, too, but the series ended. I forget where I read it, but the showrunner's plans for the character are out there somewhere. Apparently this Dorian was meant to be a former Roman slave boy who somehow had the chance to sell his soul, and I really want to know all about that. It's genuinely unfortunate we did not get the chance.

[@foxesofautumn]

I feel like if they make Dorian a woman, and centre it on the beauty industry, they're really going to lean into the more shallow aspects of vanity and less into the moral destruction that comes from arrested development. (Anne Rice has already done this well. I'm sceptical this setting can lead to a more profound story, or even an equally profound story. Also it SOUNDS like the queer themes are being scrubbed? I need more info but... nothing so far suggests they'll be in there.

[@mailill]

"The sins of Dorian Gray" (1983)

[@ThisLateHistoricalHour]

The set? Incredible. Your analysis? On point. Me? Yelling at the sun for rising right there with you.

[@FashionableCrow]

Gotta put the cosmos in its place at times

[@Armazillo]

I love that you connected this to American Psycho. That's the first thing I thought of when you started talking about his inability to be seen, and how allowing the world to dictate your identity to you fundamentally shows a lack of one at all. Frankly I think American Psycho is already a modern adaptation.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@Armazillo it makes me wonder what a 2020 lens would do vs a late 80s one

[@Armazillo]

@FashionableCrow I'm returning to this comment after watching The Substance; I'll just say, you should watch it and then talk about it because I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

[@daninervo5717]

I think an interesting way to explore the sibling thing could be something like, they are twins and Basil wants to protect "Doran"'s innocence so badly that he becomes the "portrait". But idk, then there is the question of, how much can you "reimagine" a story before calling it that just becomes clickbait? lol

[@luthor24127]

Yeah that seems interesting but a different story. Incestual/dissociative vibe too, would like it depending on how it was done.

[@rowanjoy419]

Is not an obsession with being young and pretty is the privilege it comes with it, nobody would suspected Dorian kills someone because beside being rich, he has a nice face and you can see this even with serial killers today how people say "he is too handsome to be a murderer" 😅

[@goodmorrowllc]

The deevolution of Rickety Cricket in "Always Sunny" can easily be read as modern-day Portrait of Dorian Gray! The moral failings of the gang are reflected in this once- innocent character who becomes more and more hideous as the seasons progress.

[@m_martha_e]

That’s a really thoughtful take on that character! I really enjoy that show. It would be interesting to see how others read or interpret the characters.

[@laurenm3148]

YES!!! I've thought this for years and they've done it PERFECTLY.

[@jasminv8653]

Dorian Gray of the beauty industry already exists and it's James Charles.

[@PaulSmith-is2tt]

I love Dorian Gray because it works on three levels: a horror story (man stays young forever as his picture grows older), a psychological tale (the portrait represents Dorian's soul and someone can look beautiful on the outside but rotten on the inside), and a love story (the portrait is Basil's love for Dorian and the first impression is so beautiful it can never last; the longer you know someone the more your image of them changes). The first two have been done and I would like to have a version that emphasizes the third.

[@reallyeasy100]

I like the book Dorian Gray, but tbh, I've never found the characters relatable. Funny, interesting and Highly Dramatic in the Best Ways... but relatable? Which is why I loved your analysis going into a dive into their personalities, and explaining them in strokes of modern psychology. Im going to re-read the book, and see what kind of delight I get from it from this new perspective now. Thank you.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@reallyeasy100 I’d be excited to know your takeaways. The moment that clicked for me was Henry being a wonderful mess and insisting on going out without Basil, bulldozing over Basil’s clear signals that he wanted to keep Dorian from hanging out with him. So toxic. I loved it

[@frankmccormick5499]

One thing to keep in mind is Lord Henry is Wilde's Mary Sue in the novel. He often includes himself as a character in his works. In "The Importance of Being Earnest" ALL of the characters are as witty as Wilde, some of them less charmingly so than others. As to whether Wilde was REALLY that witty in casual conversation, I think Monty Python has a good response... kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6m7iGmqm9Flj5I

[@zaramiller703]

This is legit one of the best analysis of Dorian Gray I've seen, thanks for this Crow!!

[@egmorox13]

The beauty industry version you’re talking about is basically what The Substance is about!

[@cervidae3291]

on the brothers thing, netflix keeps doing this i swear to god. their other major offense was with the Haunting of Hill House. its a great series *on its own*, but looking at it through the context of the original story is. bleak. to say the least. all the show does is reinforce what the original was trying to tell you was horrific, like what was explicitly part of the horror. the POV character wasnt Steven in the story, it was actually Nell (Eleanor), and SHE WAS QUEER. WITH ANOTHER WOMAN!!! they spent the ENTIRE STORY trying to break themselves away from the house and the horror of the nuclear family that the house dialed up to 11 by brainwashing strangers and coworkers into patriarchal gender/social roles. and what did netflix do? reinforce the nuclear family and patriarchal social roles by making everyone actual blood family, and swapping the main character from Eleanor (fucking *rip*) to whatshisname. yes, even Nell and her explicitly sappic love interest were made sisters who barely interacted with each other. yknow, cause Nell is now relegated to haunting her own story. and its so frustrating cause the netflix series is REALLY REALLY GOOD. its beautifully shot, the story on its own is great, the acting hits its mark, its tense as shit but not too scary that you wanna walk away from it. it ties itself together really nicely. its got a twist i cant stop thinking about. its got this gorgeous long continual shot that makes me crazy. and yet its a complete bastardization of what Shirley Jackson was trying to say. the complete opposite actually, if im gonna be honest. at least the directors other series is inarguably queer, but jesus christ did he make a mess of Hill House. idk what to call it, i mean its obviously erasure of queer texts, even if the texts themselves couldnt be overtly queer like Dorian Gray, but this is a weird pattern. familywashing, or something. the book was VERY VERY OBVIOUSLY talking about sexual repression and Eleanor and Theodora were explicitly romantic with eachother. the book was published in 1959, for *fucks* sake netflix. im getting sick of their 'fresh twists' on queer art history. im nervous about what this next 'fresh twist on a classic' is gonna actually look like

[@ale_lingua]

I haven’t seen that one and have no comment on adaptation itself, but I do want to say that an LGBT director or any other creative does not make a piece of media queer by default. Like it’a certainly something to consider in our critiques, but people who hold identities we might consider queer are very much capable of churning out bland sexist and heterosexist tripe.

[@leonis5664]

I agree with you about Netflix Hill House, it's a good show, and I enjoyed as it's own thing. The novel is amazing and the queer subtext could be examined to a modern audience but the show decided to pull the family thing...such a waste imo. Bly Manor kinda goes for the opposite , in a way, the original novel is ambiguous in dealing with themes like child abuse and SA, and the show decides to focus on a gay couple...as an original show, it's great, but as an adaptation, idk if it's as interesting as, the movie Innocents from the 60s.

[@sc6658]

Basil is gay because he loves men. Henry is gay because he hates women. They are not the same. No but you’re so real. Dorian Gray has so much room for interesting interpretations but I do not trust people to not be dumb about it that easily.

[@lindseystein9676]

My jaw dropped when I saw the article say, “siblings.”

[@Huanke_0h]

i haven't read it in a long time, so thanks for the sparks notes! you are so right about this being better adapted as a influencer dorian than a guy obsessed with his beauty. it would be even better if he wasn't even a youtuber or a singer, but a straight up instagram influencer with nothing going for him except his travels and expensive clothes and cars that he can afford bc of generational wealth. Here his picture could be either an edit made by an obsessive fan, a literal picture (but more like fanart), or maybe to get out of the fan-idol/parasocial relationship, it could be a filmmaker or photographer friend that idolizes him, and you will get the same topics.

[@tosweetdelight]

If you want a film that's a bit Dorian Gray, watch The Substance. Part Dorian Gray (if the painting was alive), part Jekyll and Hyde, with some Cronenbergian body-horror and a style reminiscent of Requiem for a Dream.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@tosweetdelight you had me at Cronenberg 🤩

[@marianaavilal]

I was looking for a comment on The Substance and you nailed the description! It's not easy on the stomach but I loved it and haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

[@CatHasOpinions734]

Honestly, it would be a very loose adaptation, but I'd love to see a version that leans a little more psychological horror. Like, every now and then we and Dorian himself see him as he is in the portrait, but there's also the idealized version out in the world, being benign and beloved, and it starts out strange but convenient but after a while the performance becomes stifling and horrifying but he doesn't know how to stop it because he doesn't know how to stop himself. It's not a subtle metaphor, but for these themes and adapting them to a modern setting and a visual medium, I think it'd work.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@CatHasOpinions734 I think it’s still pretty good as a pitch. The idea of being unable to grow combined with that maintained public perception stays the focus. I think a bit about how Perfect Blue was about changing yourself to become that ideal. It’d be interesting to see the preservation of that ideal through being benign, selectively silent or just following a set image script with no room for an authentic self

[@CatHasOpinions734]

@@FashionableCrow Right? It could be kind of similar to the Goldbug episode from Flanagan's Fall of the House of Usher, but where the idealized version is less of a usurper and more of a mask you keep failing to take off, a lack of sincerity and authenticity that you're unwilling to deal with because seeing yourself as you are is too daunting.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@CatHasOpinions734 House of Usher itself was interesting for that because it was disloyal but kept to the themes of the works it was pulling from

[@CatHasOpinions734]

@@FashionableCrow yeah, it's definitely not a faithful adaptation (or series of adaptations, I guess?), but I loved it!

[@TKZells16]

Personally i would have loved for them to kep it is as is. Make it a comentary on how the rich and young can get away with anything. We have numerous examples of young men doing heinous things and getting away with it, because the concern would be that their reputation would be ruined or that it would ruin their promising careers. Perhaps a have Dorian be in a fraternity with Henry being an alumni, with Basil as a young art student with a crush. Dorian does something awful and the reputation of the frat protects, leaving him withiut consequences.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@TKZells16 I love this. It’s a complete reframing of the setting but preserves their relative social positions

[@Carolina57685]

I don't think either Basil or Henry should be young. Both of them have an interest in Dorian thanks to his youth and what that provides for him. Henry gets to have someone else live out his fantasies and tell him about it, and Basil falls for this ideal of youth and beauty and purity. If they're both young that doesn't work, because they won't have any reason to project onto Dorian.

[@NatHolmeaa]

I love the Picture of Dorian Gray and I kinda want to make a comic adaptaion, where Dorian gets to live his best Shoujo anime boy life.

[@FashionableCrow]

I’d read that so fast 😂

[@NatHolmeaa]

@@FashionableCrow Hell yeah! I think there is a market for it

[@yensid4294]

I always thought Portrait of Dorian Gray was about stagnation? If you never have to suffer the consequences of life, you do not grow as a person. Edit: yes there is gay subtext because Oscar Wilde was gay, same for social critique of class & Victorian morals/social ettiquette. But that is all part of the theme of stagnation since the upper classes were too stuck in tradition & fought against modernization since it could upend social heirarchies that they were at the top of

[@FashionableCrow]

@@yensid4294 very much this as well. Yes

[@falconeshield]

You make me want to write a script where Oscar wins his case with that defence.

[@annag8448]

I need Netflix to fire their current writers and hire you to write the script- you get it! You completely understand the source material but also how to update it and make it 'relevant' to modern audiences (though I'd argue that the book is and will forever remain timelessly relevant) and oh my gosh now I'm mad that we're (probably) going to get a shoddy version instead of the masterpiece that you just described!

[@amberheath9268]

"this is yelling at the sun for rising" is an amazing line btw

[@Desaki65]

"If you've ever had an older aunt..." I feel seen, and attacked. 🤣 💗

[@masodemic4509]

I haven't read this book for a long time and it completely slipped my mind how similar the story is to American Psycho. Thanks for this very thorough retelling ❤

[@FashionableCrow]

@@masodemic4509 glad you liked! The comparison was def not the first thing to cross my mind. It took time 😅

[@TKZells16]

What a weird way for the crew of The Grays to admit thatcthey didnt read the book

[@nattmazzoni]

I am dreading this adaptation. And also as for a contemporary adaptation of Dorian Gray in the beauty industry, we literally just got The Substance, netflix is just not gonna do better than that

[@FashionableCrow]

I just watched that movie actually since everyone was bringing it up. I really loved it and was prob gonna do a little vid on here about it. Watching it with Dorian gray in mind was a fascinating watch.

[@conrad4852]

This was a wonderful summary of the book & thematic analysis of it.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@conrad4852 thank you 😊 I’m glad you liked

[@bluebilbo3559]

11:40 saying this whilst having a copy of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo which were written originally in French.

[@FashionableCrow]

👀 THEY KNOW TOO MUCH!!

[@bluebilbo3559]

@@FashionableCrow Ok.

[@vainpiers]

Tbh it seems like a trend at the moment to genderbend dorian. I feel like we're more comfortable with women protecting their youth, beauty and innocence.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@vainpiers which is kind of a shame since it’s not like the idea doesn’t apply to everyone, but, like you said…

[@laurenm3148]

Bingo

[@sawyerk641]

As you were building your case throughout, I started to think the "other institution" you were talking about was going to be the police. I'm glad that it wasn't (that would be far too political as a serious suggestion) but I can still imagine an odd cop version of Dorian Gray getting away with casual drug use, sexual misconduct, and at least one hate crime/murder😂

[@FashionableCrow]

@@sawyerk641 tried not to jump that deep into the pool. My existential crisis can only take so many things at once.

[@laurenm3148]

I would love to see that and it's an actually different take for sure

[@astrinymris9953]

My impression (and I was pretty young when I read it) was that it was about the corrupting effect of being able to duck all consequences for your actions. The "not being seen for who you really are" was too subtle for me. The conceit of every single "sin" you commit negatively changing your looks struck me as heavy-handed. 'Highlights for Children' was more subtle in its moralizing. Now, it strikes me that Oscar Wilde had some serious self-hate issues going on about his sexuality.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@astrinymris9953 its odd because the text couldn’t be explicitly queer, and in fact the explicit idea of it was removed until 2011, but the feeling it evokes of hiding one’s self rings so clear when reading under that queer lens which is not a crime like murder, but is still bringing up these ideas of guilt and corruption in the 1800s context.

[@Carolina57685]

The funniest thing to me about Dorian Gray is that he legit gets bored from whatever he is doing super quickly (even though he's only 30 something by the end of the book??) but he kills himself before the 20th century rolls around or really takes off... like bruh.... wait for the Hidenburg.... There's so much in the 20th century that would be new and diffferent ALL THE TIME but he got bored so quickly. I don't really like the Penny Dreadful adaptation because they imply he's been alive for centuries... and yet has a portrait of himself, of that size, without being royalty (the nouveau rich didn't get portraits like that till the regency era)... and because he acts like book Dorian but just slightly more bored BUT I do like that something as mundane as TABLE TENNIS (LMAO) sparked his interest! At one point book Dorian is flipping through hobby after hobby and none keep his focus anymore, so it was a nice touch to have him be excited for something that we would find mundane, but to them was brand new. Bro is bored. I agree with someone's comment about how that Dorian is about stagnation, but I just think it lacks the punch of the book's plot cuz he's just.... there. There's nothing really to cause any waves for him and he doesn't have many connections so he's as static as a portrait in the attic. The most impactful bit is when Lily leaves him because she wants to live and move on (thought wow they don't ever focus on how he just let's her be kidnapped so she will become Victor's mindless fuck doll...like girl....don't kiss him goodbye???) and you see how truly alone he is. Without any connections there's nothing in his life, and it becomes a bit boring when put side by side with everyone else who is going through so much change. It also gets rid of all the original conflict with his book connections and that's meh to me. Oh and for the LOVE OF GOD will ANYONE adapt Allan right?? Dorian blackmails him because he knows Allan is gay. They either had a thing or he knows and has proof of Allan being with men. Allan kills himself because he can't handle what he did and because he is too scared of the truth coming out. Every major adaptation either ignores him or makes it about his wife or something.

[@joywagner979]

I guess Penny Dreadful's Dorian was supposed to have been an enslaved Roman boy whose master somehow gave him the opportunity to sell his soul. Which makes the painting make even less sense, but I had already suspended enough of my disbelief for that show by the time I read about his intended backstory, and would have been very willing to roll with it onscreen if we'd had the chance to see it. Regardless, I do find compelling the idea that someone else, presumably a very wealthy person, idolized him and that's how the painting came about. Maybe they shouldn't have made him a literal Roman aristocrat, but a minor nobleman from slightly more contemporary times could have worked! Perhaps the nobleman also suffered from the same curse and Dorian usurped him ... ? There were endless possibilities.

[@NovelFindsByKassi]

I think it's interesting that your "obvious" angle on it was also obvious to me as well. Love your commentary on a two line blurb!

[@FashionableCrow]

@@NovelFindsByKassi we’ll see what they do, but it’s nice to yell at the sun now and then 😅 I’m glad we were on the same page here and you went on this journey with me!

[@KaelynRowk]

I don't like the idea of Basil being a woman. The underline of Dorian Gray is a tragedy of being gay in a society that deems is as sinister, disgusting, etc. It's like the new version is taking it from Oscar Wilde, "Sorry, dude, not woke enough, cope" feeling

[@aeh2435]

As I interpreted Dorian Grey, I think Basil is gay and he is in love with Dorian. That's why Basil gets nervous when the pantning finished because he's afraid it will reveal his feelings. I didn't interpret Dorian and Henry as gay. Henry seemed to be lonely needed a friend.

[@danielmathers4595]

I've just discovered your channel. Well done. Great analysis, and very interesting. You'd make a great university lecturer.

[@Dani_sister4peace]

Yes the one in penny dreadful was my absolute favorite as well.

[@elenacamposmarin9312]

I've always felt that Lord Henry Wooton is the epythome of an envious narcissist who can only break everything he comes into contact with... zero empathy

[@travisstoll3582]

Great analysis. Edit: subscribed

[@FashionableCrow]

Oh yay! Pull up a chair and all that 🎉❤

[@aeonlicious]

I stumbled in your video through the algorithm, and had to comment: Great Video! About the modern take of Dorian Gray, imo maybe it would work with a more adult approach but kind same vibe of Cruel Intentions if they're going to be brothers, but Reeve Carney's Dorian still hard to beat for me!

[@uri4263]

Another take that has been done already is an episode from Del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities on Netflix, about a taxidermist woman who buys a miracle cream

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

"THE LEAGUE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN" HAS A DORIAN GRAY. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@falconeshield]

That was a bad movie lol

[@spiceupyourafterlife]

You know, when you bring up social media, it makes me think that making Dorian a social media star would be more relevant to the true meaning of the story than the beauty industry.

[@marcellearyel8429]

Everything Netflix does needs to be modernized to the point that it’s obvious the producers don’t believe their audience is capable of digesting historical content. After the terrible adaptation of Persuasion, if the thing is “modernized something” I don’t even bother

[@eastlynburkholder3559]

In times 20 and 40 years ago and even now but less so, persons were too rich it was thought to be too rich to be a swindler, no financial incentive. That should be part of an updated movie based upon the book.

[@NelsonStJames]

We've already had an adaptation where Dorian Gray was gender-swapped. 'The Sins of Dorian Gray" 1983. Amazed Hammer didn't do it first, because they probably would have done it better, but of all the classics that this had been done with, Dorian Gray was a no-brainer from the get-go.

[@FashionableCrow]

Oh that’s fascinating. I’d love to see how it changed. Is it worth a watch-through?

[@marylincherie1806]

Doran the influencer is not leaving her house so no one can see her without filters. The real her becomes the "picture". She cibe bDoran the influencer is not leaving her house so no one can see her without filters. The real her becomes the "picture". She cyberbullies her ex until he dies (by himself or her followers). She then starts an only-fans account and later kills Basil for posting an unedited picture of her. 😒

[@eastlynburkholder3559]

A modern Durian Grey would have his or her online profiles showing homes and transportation he or she does not own and maybe has not even leased it rented for the weekend even maybe. Looking like a benefactor to poor persons or discriminated persons.

[@MichaelJosephRojas]

He wore a green carnation before we had pink triangles, purple handprints, or rainbows. *shakes fist at sky*

[@patriciagoncalves165]

Loved the video, one of my favorite book. I'm kinda afraid about how the will make the series work....

[@Janehaver]

I just love this book so much so I am here.

[@natik8342]

Such a great analysis!

[@FashionableCrow]

Thanks 😊

[@danielx555]

Dorian Gray and Frankenstein and Dracula were turned into plays and movies and all kinds of adaptations, so I'm never surprised when the meaning or point of those stories gets lost. Show biz people are going to be much more aware of the adaptations and the movies and the plays. I mean, I still get mad sometimes, but I try to remember that these are probably producers and directors and writers who have not studied literature in depth.

[@InKY09]

Before I see your prediction, here’s mine: instead of a painting, the other sibling becomes uglier. Otherwise, why have them? The book presents contrast in appearance using Dorian and the painting and contrast in behavior between Dorian and society; a sibling is not needed to provide contrast, so they likely replace either the painting or society, and the painting is on the same scale. Ok, let’s see where you went with it…

[@lachellerivera5624]

There are some cases in the beauty industry where influencers tried to keep up their appearance to hide their illegal activities and not just look young. Eben in the beauty industry presenting a beautiful and youthful appearance is just as much about looks as it is about trustfullness.

[@Barot8]

It's going to be stinky. Also your blanket bookshelf is falling. Ahhhh! You must fix that blanket! lol Have a good weekend.

[@claudeyaz]

That's the thing, they shoe horn so much queer baiting and 2 dimensional characters, whose entire personality is being gay, within the completely disrespect the history of Gay cinema, the celluloid closet is just filled with examples of subtext... I feel like subtext is the class used to depict gay struggles in film, because of the history attached to it.. Sure there is something impactful about 2 men kissing on screen, but the snails or oysters speech ?was way more impactful.. It just feels like representation of gay characters is getting worse, or maybe it's just writing in Hollywood that's just getting worse?

[@laotasurfs1110]

She keeps saying "heathenism." Does she mean, "hedonism"?

[@FashionableCrow]

Sometimes. Like Basil and Basil, my brain likes one over the other 🫠

[@victoriayue1402]

It's less important than your whole analysis but I think that, being an adaptation and not a series inspired by the book, by carrying the name and fame of the original material, Basil's change is like spitting in Wilde's eye. Oscar Wilde suffered a lot in his time for his homosexuality and the portrait of Dorian Gray was used as EVIDENCE against him. In a better society than the one we have, perhaps it would not be so relevant but that is not the case. Making this representation of homosexual desire invisible is insensitive.

[@TheWorstWarlock]

As much as I love the original, I prefer Will Self's re-telling of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', titled 'Dorian: An Imitation'. You might like it.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@TheWorstWarlock I’m always down for new remixes. The OG’s always there to go back to. The pitch of this looks fascinating, thanks!

[@TheWorstWarlock]

@@FashionableCrow No problem. Be warned, though; it's extremely mean-spirited.

[@laurenm3148]

Would much prefer an adaptation set in the past in a different culture that isn't as Anglo/American-centric. But that would take actual work and effort. Setting it in the modern day is lazy. The metaphors and themes are already heavy-handed in the novel; using social media and the beauty industry as substitutes will make it that much more reductive and flattened. Hooray!

[@psychedelicyeti6053]

Anyone mentioning Penny Dreadful automatically gets points! 💕

[@TheOniphoenix]

Great breakdown and video.

[@FashionableCrow]

Thanks 😊 the mind goblins were shouting

[@CosmicRay111]

I wish to the gods old and new they would just write a story and call it whatever they want to call it and leave the originals alone.

[@mailill]

"The sins of Dorian Gray" (1983) is an interesting "modern" adaptation, I think.

[@mollydooker9636]

I think a women staying young and beautiful forever at a huge psychological cost is not the same as a young gay man doing it. However much we would like them to be interchangable they are not. Gender swapping classic characters more often than not falls very very short.

[@FashionableCrow]

I think it’d changing the text drastically because it’s so different I agree. If they made that change to Dorian, I would hope they wouldn’t copy and paste his arc but make a new one from the premise of preservation of youth and social standing. The execution tho…it’d be walking over a series of pitfalls

[@ellynneg.6926]

I think there's also a big comment on pretense vs reality in Sybil. In the story, acting is pretense, it's appearance instead of reality. Sybil is a brilliant actress until she falls in love. Real love renders her incapable of presenting pretense of love. Dorian dumps her rather cruelly over this, leading to her suicide. Henry essentially convinces Dorian the death of a real person that Dorian is partly responsible for doesn't matter, that Dorian still has the image of Sybil the actress now completely freed from Sybil the real person. As a comment on society valuing appearance over substance, that is bit is brutal.

[@diddo9338]

The fact that this story is about a man who escapes consequence and it hinges on his "innocent" appearance is essential to the story, it is literally the most relevant element, e.g. that brock turner case. If you gender swap it loses all relevancy and social commentary. Like think about it, what woman is not constantly criticized (i.e. her appearance, beliefs, or other wise) and gets away with entitlement? Beauty/youth is a weapon against women to put them in a box (even the blondest/skinniest/smartest/richest woman), its not a power play. This may be more relevant if this story was about a young conservative working in the federal government, to give the image less relevancy and the theme of superficial morals more importance. I don't see Lord Henry fitting in to a social media/modeling industry, but he'd fit right in on wall street or in the senate. Also the art comes from Basil, Dorian's story has nothing to do with the art industry outside of getting his portrait done at the beginning of the book. To make Basil a sibling and Dorian a woman is also erasing the queerness and impetus of the story. When Dorian wishes to swap places, thats why he (unknowingly?) becomes lustful/hedonist because Basil represented those corruptible desires in the painting (I don't think he intentionally chose to swap places to be able to do awful things, its the fallout of an ignorant youthful decision). I haven't read the book in like twelve years but the fact that this loss of innocence happened to a young man and not the usual story of girls=innocence, is what is most intriguing to me. I also think American Psycho is probably the closest to a perfect modern remake of Dorian Gray we will get (I didn't put those two together before you, but you are so right. Batman's business cards = the portrait 🤯).

[@FashionableCrow]

@@diddo9338 thank you for your thoughts here as well. I had less to add because I was just nodding my head the entire time.

[@octaviablackthorn9]

I abhor myself for suggesting this but since homosexuality isn’t overall seen as a sin anymore could they change it so it’s Basil lusting over his own sibling? It’s Basil’s idealised version of a sibling that he can’t see the worse of. Re: Jaime and Cersei Lannister

[@TheLincolnrailsplitt]

Bloody gross.

[@lalalili2982]

Being gay isn't a controversy you can have in a modern retelling. But sibling incest is still controversial outside of ao3 and tumblr.

[@FashionableCrow]

@@lalalili2982 I have a feeling that might be where they’re going with it

[@critormiss6084]

Minus the crush, I think doing "twins separated at birth reuniting as adults" could work if you had to do the siblings angle. Lower class Basil meets her stunning influencer twin Dorian and immediately creates an idealized image of her. Maybe Basil herself even serves as the picture, or she takes advantage of their identical appearances to make fake profiles of her as Dorian. Basil really needs to be the main character in this concept, though.

[@QueenMegaera]

My favorite Dorian will always be Alexander Vlahos in the Big Finish audio series.

[@animesjogoseseriesclassica8282]

That was a thing ? I didnt knew this one. 😮

[@harrisejaz280]

great video! I gotta ask, how do you clean up your audio? its pretty good, can't believe you're just using that little mic

[@FashionableCrow]

It’s the set build. Curtain right behind the camera and a wired mic in a tiny room. I should have held it lower to avoid as many pops as it had. Anytime I tried to cancel the noise with a program, it clipped my voice audio. Also the wireless ones are tinnier by default

[@cassierolemuch]

Did you watch the new movie the substance? It sounds like a modern day dorian gray in LA/beauty industry world.

[@lilyvonshtuup]

I was where you are in 2017. Then the “modern audience” chestnut came for something I have loved and cared about since I was a kid. I too saw the 🚩 but told myself that it’s sure to be ok. It wasn’t. It’s happened again and again since 2017 and now these streaming studios get no grace from me. They subvert and distort so much to fit their idea of how a story should have been told, and in the process they loose everything about the original that made us love it and stand the test of time.

[@aeh2435]

Dorian Gray is truly a masterpiece. I have read the story in comic book form and it was really good. A modern twist on Dorian Gray could be that he is a KZbinr with a million followers but a real jerk in private

[@falconeshield]

You could literally used the Dream reveal as a twist. The man behind the avatar did not match expectations. Now replace the avatar with a portrait.

[@juljul184]

making basil a brother is simply insulting. i'm not some kind of purist and i'm okay with changes to adaptations by this specific change is demeaning. it is 2024 like why the fuck are we still doing shit like this.

[@eastlynburkholder3559]

A man in his social class based upon his breeding had to have respectability to get cooperation and benefits of his breeding. His duty was to breed more nobility humans and be charitable part of the time as persons of his class were obligated to do.

[@gummyghostxx]

So apperantly turning gothic horror classics into bad adaptation is the newest hit trend what with disney's plan to make phantom of the opera into a descendents like movie.

[@NylarThotep-gj1ng]

HOT TAKE: as a child that loved horror n graphic films. As soon as I could I got my hands on gothic novels. I was thinking hammer films when reading them and they are more tv movie. Dry n drawn out. I wanted sticky bloody explicit. The only one that stands up is Frankenstein. I love depth n subtext but I want it with the other stuff too. Modern literature is much better. Only my opinion. I know everyone thinks I’m wrong. Oh well.

[@The82cardinal]

Let’s remember Rebecca and how Netflix screwed it over

[@IAMMEEP]

Why is it not the Potrait of Dorian Grey??? I'm gaslighting myself.

[@FashionableCrow]

I THOUGHT THE SAME THING!!!

[@Lsjiwhayjjjaahhgsyy92726]

HMO- but the sibling angle could work. While it removes the obvious homoer@tic undertones of the original story, it allows the exploration of the consequences of unconditional love. There are many people who put their sibling on a pedestal: an idealized older brother/sister, both loved & admired, who can do no wrong. Turning the homicide to fratricide could be very interesting.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

THE SERIES "PENNY DREADFULL" IS A GOOD VERSION. ACTOR IS FRIEND OF MY NEPHEW. 👍🏼👍🏼

[@d.rabbitwhite]

If they are going to remake this, make it a short limited series and do it gothic like crimson peak. DO the straight story. No allegorical attempts of cleverness that we will immediately see through because we know the story. Just give it the historical goth treatment.

[@MontroseSmith]

27:49 I think its interesting to make basil and dorian siblings, because then it feeds into the idolization Basil already has and how he forigves Dorian's obvious corruption, because family is also a hot bed for forgiving toxic behaviour and personality. Not to mention if Basil is a woman, it introduces how woman are made to live under the patriarchal standards laid before them and embodied in dorian, something Wilde never mentioned in his novel (Sybil doesn't count) and compromised in the family model; and the d3ath of Basil is the allusion to how women or anyone cannot ever truly reach the standards laid out for them, how literally fatal they are to our human experience. Of course, the change will be immediately condemned as a diversity choice, but it truly makes for a compelling introduction of a new dynamic, even if she dies.

[@SebastianSeanCrow]

My name is also crow

[@missjoshemmett]

Thank you for convincing me not the read the book. I have so many others that sound far more interesting. Men are vain and do live off of their faces in the fashion industry. Notably, Lee, Felix and Hwang, Hyungin. (Felix has had a lot of plastic surgery but was very handsome to begin with, now he is pretty and wants to look unisexual. Hyungin was born that way and bullied about it. He buried himself into his lithe dancing for which he received accolades. However, after being 'discovered' by Donatella Versace, he is now not shy about selling his face and body for fashion. He does plump his lips.)

[@ElizabethMcCormick-s2n]

What?!??!?!?

[@EALoArt]

I'm loving the video but 16:42 "I put my hair up because it's getting too fluffy" Girl no. Don't do that. Your hair is so perfect. My hair strands are so thin and I stg every hair goes in a different direction. But also it does look beautiful up as well, queen.

[@FashionableCrow]

Haha. Thanks 😅

[@mosasaurusrex1815]

A modern dorian grey definitely needs to be about youth and beauty in gay male culture. I accept nothint less.

[@brownkv081]

Friends at twenty? Sounds like rich people shot.

[@toolatetothestory]

As if that is gonna stop the gay fanfic. In fact, that may just INCREASE the numbers.