TV Review: The Queen's Gambit (2020)

The Queen's Gambit (2020) created by Scott Frank and Allan Scott based on the novel by Walter Tevis

Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a female American chess champ in the 1960s. She has a rough beginning. Her mom wrecks their car, killing herself and forcing Beth into an orphanage as an eight-year old. She's a bit rebellious and starts hanging out with the orphanage's janitor Mr. Shaibel (Bill Camp). He teachers her chess in the off moments where they can get together in his basement work area. He's fairly good and puts up with her feistiness. It's the 1950s and, in an effort to keep the girls submissive, the orphans are given tranquilizers along with their daily vitamin. Beth becomes addicted to the pills due to the influence of a fellow orphan. 

Beth gets out when she is adopted by a local couple. The dad is a traveling salesman who is hardly home; mom stays at home and his her own addiction problems. Beth plays chess more and discovers that there's money to be had in winning tournaments. Her career takes off, leading to a jetsetting life going national and international competitions. But can she beat the Russians and her addiction?

The show starts off a little slow and Beth is both sympathetic and unlikeable. Her addiction fuels her ability and it seems like her best playing is when she is high. She relies on pills to win tough matches. She does not make friends with others in spite of many people reaching out to her. I almost gave up after the second episode but heard some good feedback and gave it another episode. She becomes more likable as the story develops. Her addiction is not portrayed positively (except for causing her victories). Her friends are more supportive than she deserves, something Beth eventually appreciates. Taylor-Joy gives a solid performance, depicting Beth's naivety, brilliance, and social ineptness. Beth's ability to see possible further moves is shown in different, visually interesting ways. The cast is uniformly good.

The production values are very good. The period fashions and locations are fun. The male chauvinism of the chess community is shown but not turned into some over-the-top feminist screed. Even the Russians are depicted with more depth than I expected. The soundtrack uses a lot of pop music from the era, giving the show an authentic, vintage feel.

Recommended, though there is a bit of rough going throughout the series.

Right now, the show is streaming on Netflix.

Book Review: Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

In the far distant future, an academic, Paul Bentley, moves to Columbia University in New York City for the summer because he'd like to teach a skill he has recently discovered--reading. The head of the University is Bob Spofforth, a Make Nine robot. Make Nines were top of the line, able to run multi-national corporations and dictate global policies. He's been around for hundreds of years, so unlike his human counterparts on the faculty, he knows what reading is. He's intrigued and has Paul come, though the robot has an ulterior motive. He wants Paul to translate title cards from early 20th century silent films, an odd project that Paul happily begins. Spofforth's mechanical brain was patterned after a human brain, though the personal memories were taken out. Spofforth has occasional dreams that he thinks are memories from that human and hopes those memories will manifest themselves if he knows more about ancient human life.

In his spare time, Paul explores New York City. The citizens are typical for the age. They have a heightened sense of privacy, so much so that they barely make eye contact, let alone have conversations with other people. Humans are constantly taking drugs to feel no pain, which may be understandable since they seem to have little meaningful work. Robots do the manual work as well as services industry jobs. The local fast food joint has a Make Two behind the counter who is rather oblivious to people who burn themselves to death in the booths. Suicide by immolation is disturbingly common.

Paul's exploration takes him to the zoo, where he discovers an odd woman. Mary Lou is there all the time--she lives there, "off the grid" as we'd say nowadays. No drugs, no smoking. Her big vice is pilfering sandwiches from a vending machine. Paul invites her back to his campus apartment where he teaches her to read. It's an awkward situation at first as it violates the social idea of privacy. If Spofforth or others find out they will be in big trouble. Of course, reading is technically a crime (though nobody else knows how to do it), so they are in constant danger from that too.

The book is a fascinating hybrid of Fahrenheit 451 and Children of Men (did I mention there are no humans under the age of thirty?), though it certainly stands on its own. The vision of hedonistic culture leading humans into a solipcistic and consumerist mess is well thought out and completely fascinating. Robots were developed as labor saving devices but have apparently taken over almost every job. Supposedly people are free to pursue more worth-while goals like personal development but 99 per cent are just wandering from meaningless pleasure to meaningless pleasure. The bleakness of the story is tempered by the ultimate resolution of of the three main character's journeys. This book is well worth hunting down (I had to get it through inter-library loan) and reading.

For deeper commentary on the book, check out A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #110.