The Problem with Lyra
On BBC’s TV Adaptation of ‘His Dark Materials’
Just to be clear, I think Dafne Keen is a terrific actor. This is in no way criticising her or her abilities. It’s more to do with the direction and the way her character was put together.
Adaptations of characters change according to the actor, or the vision the writer has i.e. There are different versions of Lizzie Bennet. I don’t have a problem with a different vision of Lyra.
The problem I had was the Jack Thorne shaved away her prominent flaws — yet mentioned them at the same time. At the start, and throughout its mentioned that she’s a liar, but we don’t see it or rarely experience it. So when we do get moments where the storyline mentions that “she has to tell the truth”, it doesn’t hit as hard as it should.
The whole concept in the ‘Land of the Dead’ sequence was her telling the dead true stories, but those story beats don’t land as well because she’s already truthful.
It was like the storyline wanted it both ways with her.
For example, comments that characters make in the show like “you are insufferable” “you don’t apologise easily” or “LIAR” don’t make sense because TV!Lyra is nothing like that.
And another thing, Lyra’s dislikable qualities are important to the story. ‘His Dark Materials’ is mostly driven by characters emotions and motivations rather than the plot. So things like, her lying, her selfishness, her rudeness even her EMOTIONS being toned down effects the entire story.
Lyra is first and fourmost an EMOTIONAL and impulsive person. She wears her heart on her sleeve. She doesn’t filter herself. So her leaving Pan on the doc in the TV Show, kind of seems unnecessarily mean since we’ve never seen her do anything like that before. Which brings me to another point that I have.
Shaving away Lyra’s flaws doesn’t make her a kickass amazing character, it dehumanises her. I’ve seen this with other adaptations before. It presents a major problem that media has. “That women are just pawns to be pushed from one scene to the next. Their own agency never truly factoring in”
Lyra in the books undergoes through a massive character growth. Take her lying for example. She first lies to do wrong. She lies to save herself. She lies for good. Then she finally learns to tell the truth in the land of the dead. The whole irony of her being given the compass, is that it’s something that “tells her the truth”.
So the TV show presented all these plot points to her, but none of the development or emotions to go with it.
So her character development is..I don’t know really.
