Stick a stake of holly through my heart, Im done.
Cause of death: one Ebenezer Scrooge.
Look, I dont want to be telling you this.
Robert Viglasky/FX
And its allGuy Pearces fault.
The Australian actor plays Scrooge in FXs new adaptation ofA Christmas Carolthat is altogether more grim and ghostly.
Dont get me wrong he still is in desperate need of a moisturizing routine and some new hair product.
Robert Viglasky/FX
But hey, its Victorian London, well work with what we got.
At least he still has all his teeth!
And look, its not just me Scrooges glow up is entirely intentional.
I didnt want to make him look like his soul, because his soul is pretty wretched.
But on the outside, hes okay.
I wanted the audience to say to themselves, Why is this person like this?
It leans hard into the Dickensian realities of the story, giving Scrooge a childhood history of sexual abuse.
Let me be clear in saying that none of this is attractive.
Because we and Scrooge both know he doesnt deserve it.
How am I supposed to resist that crooked grin?
A reminder that, to paraphrase Stephen Sondheim, nice-looking is different than good.
His attractiveness is actively and increasingly uncomfortable as we learn the full horrors of what hes done.
The bleakness feels all the more oppressive precisely because Scrooge is such a holiday snack.
For many, villainy, particularly in fiction, is attractive.
But thats not whats at play here were never supposed to find Scroogesdeedsbeguiling, just hisface.
Who and what do we desire and why?
In this instance,A Christmas Caroloffers more questions and discomfort than answers.
Hot Scrooge is a curse, but hes also kind of a gift?
So, I guess theres nothing left to say but: god bless us, every one.
