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Jan. 6th, 2015 08:02 pmI reread Robin McKinley's Outlaws of Sherwood because I had a dream of writing a Yuletide treat for it, but then I grabbed two pinch-hits instead so this did not happen. However, it still meant I got to reread Outlaws of Sherwood!
Outlaws of Sherwood wasn't my formative Robin Hood story -- that was actually Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men In Tights -- but after that DEEPLY ICONIC film, it's probably my favorite variation. Robin McKinley basically sticks to the classic Robin Hood plot as outlined in Howard Pyle's Merry Adventures, but very consciously lays it onto sturdy realist bones by making her Robin a gloomy pragmatist who has zero illusions about the long-term feasibility of lurking in the forest stealing other people's money.
ROBIN: Crap, I accidentally murdered a king's forester!
MARIAN AND MUCH: OK, it's cool, it's fine, you can go live in the woods with a band of outlaws and strike a dashing political blow against the Normans!
ROBIN: .... why would you think this is a good plan. This is a terrible plan.
MARIAN AND MUCH: Well, buddy, right now it is your only plan. And hey, it'll be symbolic!
ROBIN: OK, fine, I will go live in the woods and be an outlaw, but please don't tell people to come live in the forest with me ---
MARIAN AND MUCH: Hey who wants to come live in the forest with Robin and be symbolic! Come on guys it'll be fun!
ROBIN: *FACEPALM*
(Robin McKinley is grounded in realism when it comes to the details of living in a forest but really does not care about the historical verisimilitude of the Saxon/Norman conflict. Norman oppressors are plot-conveniently oppressive and that is fine.)
Anyway, it turns out Robin is also not a very good archer -- Marian is significantly better than he is -- and is not very good at or interested in being dramatic and dashing, but he is extremely good at developing forest infrastructure! And when various oppressed persons come to seek him in the forest he is also very good at finding them other places to go and be less oppressed, unless they have really good reasons to stay. I appreciate all of this a lot.
I also appreciate how McKinley handles the women in her story. ( Some of this is spoilers. Cross-dressing spoilers! )
And then there is the ending. ( This too goes under a spoiler cut )
Outlaws of Sherwood wasn't my formative Robin Hood story -- that was actually Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men In Tights -- but after that DEEPLY ICONIC film, it's probably my favorite variation. Robin McKinley basically sticks to the classic Robin Hood plot as outlined in Howard Pyle's Merry Adventures, but very consciously lays it onto sturdy realist bones by making her Robin a gloomy pragmatist who has zero illusions about the long-term feasibility of lurking in the forest stealing other people's money.
ROBIN: Crap, I accidentally murdered a king's forester!
MARIAN AND MUCH: OK, it's cool, it's fine, you can go live in the woods with a band of outlaws and strike a dashing political blow against the Normans!
ROBIN: .... why would you think this is a good plan. This is a terrible plan.
MARIAN AND MUCH: Well, buddy, right now it is your only plan. And hey, it'll be symbolic!
ROBIN: OK, fine, I will go live in the woods and be an outlaw, but please don't tell people to come live in the forest with me ---
MARIAN AND MUCH: Hey who wants to come live in the forest with Robin and be symbolic! Come on guys it'll be fun!
ROBIN: *FACEPALM*
(Robin McKinley is grounded in realism when it comes to the details of living in a forest but really does not care about the historical verisimilitude of the Saxon/Norman conflict. Norman oppressors are plot-conveniently oppressive and that is fine.)
Anyway, it turns out Robin is also not a very good archer -- Marian is significantly better than he is -- and is not very good at or interested in being dramatic and dashing, but he is extremely good at developing forest infrastructure! And when various oppressed persons come to seek him in the forest he is also very good at finding them other places to go and be less oppressed, unless they have really good reasons to stay. I appreciate all of this a lot.
I also appreciate how McKinley handles the women in her story. ( Some of this is spoilers. Cross-dressing spoilers! )
And then there is the ending. ( This too goes under a spoiler cut )
