Geek Syndicate
SWASHBUCKLING HERO: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
As the twentieth century began, cinema really began to
take off. This marvelous new technology could take its
audience away from the real world in ways that perhaps
books and traditional plays did not. It was not long before Hollywood decided to present the tale of Robin Hood
and out bold outlaw’s first silver-screen outing in 1922
saw Douglass Fairbanks as the swashbuckling hero of the
tale. The film itself (a remastered version of which can be
found on YouTube) is an extension of the noble outlaw of
the sixteenth century.
To people of my generation, there is probably one definitive version of Robin Hood. Robin of Sherwood lasted three
seasons in the early 1980s and has left a huge mark on the
legend. During the course of filming the pilot episode, it
was decided that the villainous Baron De Belleme’s henchman, the Saracen Nasir would survive and become a part
of Robin’s gang.
Robin, the Earl of Huntigdon joins Richard on crusade.
While away, Robin’s rival – Sir Guy of Gisburne goads
Prince John into usurping the throne. Learning of this, the
Earl seeks to leave the army but is branded a coward and
deserter. Back in England, he leads the merry men against
Sir Guy and Prince John under the pseudonym Robin Hood.
A similar tale is told in the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin
Hood, starring Errol Flynn. This time, it is Sir Robin of Loxley
who adopts the mantle of outlaw hero; robbing from the
rich, giving to the poor and ensuring that the ransom for
the captured King Richard is gathered and paid rather than
going to the coffers of the Usurper, Prince John and his
henchman – Sir Guy of Gisburne. This is perhaps the most
influential Robin Hood tale of the twentieth century, not
least because of Flynn’s dazzling charisma and the glorious Technicolor presentation.
The character proved ever popular. Largely silent, wielding twin curved swords and generally looking dashing and
cool. Such was the impact of Nasir, that most filmed versions of Robin Hood have since included a middle-eastern
character. Indeed, the writers and producers of Prince of
Thieves assumed the character had always existed and had
to change the name of their version at the last minute for
legal reasons. In that film, the character was called Azeem.
The later series The New Adventures of Robin Hood, produced in New Zealand included a character named Kamal
amongst the outlaws. This series was very much of the
Xena Warrior Princess level of “historical” action show. Simple action-filled plots were the order of the day with little
or no concept of character development or historical reality. In some ways, this farcical version is perhaps more true
to the original Robin. The ballads of old didn’t attempt to
be real, they were escapist fantasy for their audience.
These films began a trend of high adventure, black and
white good versus evil presentations that really dominated the movie and television screens for the remainder of
the century. They took the later tales of Robin Hood, combined the elements that would work on the Silver Screen
and executed them brilliantly. For the film audience, Robin
really needed to have a cause. A hero without a villain to
fight is not nearly as interesting and so it makes sense that
these adventure movies looked no further back than the
tales from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for inspiration.
Even the most recent BBC series from 2006 included a
middle-eastern character. This time, Djaq was a girl well
versed in the sciences and allowed the outlaw gang to
more believably engage in A-Team style hyjinks as they
helped the common folk and thwarted the Sheriff and Sir
Guy of Gisburne’s plots.
What I think is interesting is that this new character was
introduced when issues of diversity became more pronounced. Television shows were predominantly male dominated and specifically white-male dominated. While the
validity of such characters’ inclusion is debatable from a
historical context, though there’s an argument that medieval Europe was more diverse than is often portrayed.
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