Finally got my grimy little hands on a physical copy of Hogfather for my annual rewatch and I got to listen to that interview with Sir Terry. Cried a bit over how much he understood People and Making Things Up and How That's Important. Hearing how involved he was in the process really does put things into perspective especially since the casting was On Point.
The running joke with Albert continually failing to roll always cracks me up. Genuinely a great use of the medium that isn't used as often as it could. Not all jokes need to be audible especially when something is being filmed.
I had noticed last year as well that Susan's governess cloak is a very dark green as opposed to the black it becomes when she's Death's Granddaughter. It's such a little detail but really does ground her as a character.
Loved the little bits of Quoth and the Death of Rats being the absolute gremlins they are.
The casual mentions of different gods, personifications, and tidbits throughout the Disc is a beautiful thing to behold. The 'Oh Io!', constant mentions of Om and the Omians (the Inquisitor Torture Set is 100% something any child would enjoy), 'pardon my Klatchian', the Soul Cake Duck, etc.
Sir Terry has only done the whole 'fall in love at first sight' once as far as I can recall and it's the most awkward hilarious thing to witness. Violet is hands down the most annoying character written for the Disc (gawd I love her) and Bilious is fairly childlike in experience but also burdened by already having to be An Adult.
The underlaying theme of what makes a person, a person. I do wish that the conversation with the Auditors disappearing the Auditor that started using "I" had been included though. It does add to the context as to why they want this, although I guess the whole 'why don't we go back to making sure gravity works and atoms spin?', 'after all belief is gone' replaces it. But it does help contextualize why they're so against Imagination, Belief, and Individualism.
Hex and Death as two individuals slowly working out what makes themselves People and Hex being a crucial part of the Consistent and Reliable Belief that allows for the Hogfather to raise the Sun.
DO YOU BELIEVE?
The long pause as Hex thinks about his answer. Because Hex isn't human but that has never stopped the residents of The Disc from being PEOPLE. But also because the Question deserved Thought.
Nobby being the one to truly understand what Hogswatch is about and calling Constable Visit(s-the-Infidel-with-Explanatory-Pamphlets) out on the hypocrisy that can also be flung out on The Church and . . . other organizations (looking at you Salvation Army). Community only works when it's being passed around. The chip can't end with you, you gotta also help out where and when you can. (I wonder if Nobby was thinking of his Spoon.)
Banjo being far smarter and self-reliant than he appears. He's the only one to observe that the tavern has never had waiters, he maintains his moral code, he goes to clean up the teeth even when No One Told Him To. He just *did* that. On his own, with no guidance. I love that he is mentally disabled but is, at the end, not only employed but given a position of Authority in said employment.
It is heartbreaking that we had to lose Medium Dave for it though. He protected Banjo, negotiated an even cut, corrected Teatime when Teatime treated Banjo like a pet, and did his best to get the others to keep their damn mouths shut so that they wouldn't get killed. Didn't help that in the long run but I root for him every year because Competence should be Rewarded.
Teatime unnerves and fascinates me every time he's onscreen. The angelic look and reptilian gaze is beautifully unnerving and I swear the man doesn't blink. I properly noticed this time that his curls are Perfect up until the back of his head, where they're almost flat. My partner mentioned that it's because he has No One to fix it for him. There's no one to notice that detail for him. There's no one to back him up. Which makes Banjo an excellent counterpoint and foil.
Banjo has had a support network. People know him and his Mum (who was most definitely abusive based on Mr Brown's account of her, how Medium Dave reacted to seeing her, and 'I had a kitten but me Mum drowned it because it was dirty') did make sure to set him on The Right Path. No Playing With Girls. And, of course, 'Without a Hogfather, you can't have Hogswatch'. Banjo didn't really care about the presents themselves, he cared about the night. Which comes back to what Albert says earlier on, 'Give a man jam today he'll eat it, give a man jam tomorrow. That's hope.'
And then you have the foil of Teatime and Susan. They mirror each other but not quite. It reminds me a bit of Esme and Lily Weatherwax. They both have the white blonde curls, pale porcelain skin, conventionally attractive faces. They're pretty objectively but there is something about both that is off. Teatime has the glass eye, an unblinking stare, the deliberate slow words. He doesn't get angry or impatient (for the most part). Susan has the white hair with a black streak and a stern bearing that screams School Teacher, Governess, Babysitter.
They both are still. Hardly any tension in either body, perfectly poised, sizing each other up. But Susan wins The Bluff because she pins down everyone in the room far faster and accurately than Teatime was able because she has the piece that Teatime is missing. Empathy. She tries so hard to be normal, she works at it daily. She gets angry and frustrated and worried, all while experiencing love and longing and belonging.
She knows her place in the world because she's the one who made it so. So she knows Teatime because he's what she could of been. She acknowledges Banjo's innocence and morality. She races and rages and mourns. She made sure that the Hogfather was there to raise the Sun. She casts the poker through Death himself to end Teatime.
'It only kills monsters.'
It was the belief that Susan instilled in her charges that killed him in the end. If monsters can be people, than people can be monsters. However, that does not remove the respect Death does pay to Teatime after he dies in using the right pronunciation of his name. Because even monsters deserve Names.
