beckeis wrote:
"In 1977 there was a Dracula made for GREAT PERFORMANCES with Louie Jordan. Mina was played by Judi Bowker and I always thought her the perfect Mina. She was lovely and seemed so delicate but, inside, she was very strong and at one point she seems to know far more than Van Helsing and all the men around her, trying to save her. I just really appreciated her character and she will always be my favorite Mina."
Having read the book recently, I can attest, in the novel, Mina was the most intelligent person in the story. Professor Van Helsing's major flaw in the novel was holding back too much information. The fact that he didn't tell others what was going on led directly to Lucy's death, and later, when the entire group of vampire hunters were already weeks into their work, the decision to start leaving Mina out of things "for her own protection" almost led to HER death! Ever since I read that, I've suspected that Stoker may have written it that way as a subtle stab against that sort of sexism. A mild change in the BBC adaptation was making Van Helsing (Frank Finlay) a bit LESS culpible in what went wrong. While very close to the book, Finlay's Van Helsing was more likable as a character. (It also strikes me his version of Van Helsing was the one Mel Brooks based his later portrayal on.)
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