Elizabeth Banks to Star in "The Miniature Wife"

[Prof Sai]

They do make the husband look like an idiot for not recognizing that she would be afraid. So there is still a big risk that this is another man hating show written by idiots.

Given that part of the plot is that they _can't_ restore things, the claim about world hunger only makes sense if shrinking people was the goal. It would also be one hell of a terror weapon - imagine spraying that stuff over a city. I don't think transportation is the main cause of famine. Actually it is politics. Authoritarian leaders drive the tribe they don't like into the desert, or otherwise create an economic situation where it is impossible for the disliked group to buy food.

They might explain the house by saying he shrank an actual house for her. That brings up a ton of problems, but like I said about the writers...

[scidram]

They do make the husband look like an idiot for not recognizing that she would be afraid. So there is still a big risk that this is another man hating show written by idiots.

They might explain the house by saying he shrank an actual house for her. That brings up a ton of problems, but like I said about the writers...

Yes, Les is shown in the trailer at being inept and clearly so wrapped up in his work that he might have lost sight of his wife. There are so many possible metaphors for her shrinking. At one point in the trailer, she cries out, "How long until you can fix me?" which can easily be interpreted as a cry for wanting to fix their marriage. Very interesting stuff.

The practical approaches to living as or with a tiny person has always been one of my favorite things. Tape on the floor, home made tools and supplies, repurposing objects for tiny person use. I kinda wish the dollhouse looked more improvised but maybe there is an explanation as to why it was set up so well. Maybe he was planning on shrinking himself instead? I don't think he planned to do this to her, but who knows. We'll see what happens.

On another topic, I was hoping they would diverge from the short story a lot, but it doesn't look like it. Maybe the first season is the entirety of the short story and if there is a second season we'll get more story? Who knows.

The special effects are amazing and we're so lucky to have this. I just hope they nail the tone down. I tried to watch Downsizing again recently and it's just all over the place. The problem with size related content for the mainstream is that the premise is so silly (I'm honest with myself) to most viewers that it's easy for producers to fall back on comedy/dark comedy/romantic comedy and not actually stick to just telling a compelling story about people.

I'm wondering how much of the conflict is that Lindy is a control freak and has now basically lost control to someone she clearly doesn't respect, or trust. That's the kind of thing I want explored.

Downsizing sucks simply because they had the premise of shrinking and then put all the shrunken people in a shrunken community so barely anything looked shrunken. With this show and only one shrunken person--who's Les likely has to keep hidden because of all the ethical violations of human testing, accidental or not--we're going to see all these clever accommodations and adaptations for Lindy to have a life. That is exciting.

Now as for the house... I don't for one minute believe that it's a shrunken house that Les was planning on living in. I believe that it's a scaled miniature of their house. It has to be that since Lindy doesn't seem alarmed by her surroundings after she wakes up until she opens the door. I'm thinking it's something along the lines of the miniature White House in Tabitha King's Small World. Not sure exactly why they have it, but my theories include (1) They have a daughter, and it was a gift for her. (2) One or both of them are avid miniature collectors; maybe Lindy's parents were and that's what her Pulitzer-Prize winning book is about.

[Nropyub]

Downsizing sucks simply because they had the premise of shrinking and then put all the shrunken people in a shrunken community so barely anything looked shrunken. With this show and only one shrunken person--who's Les likely has to keep hidden because of all the ethical violations of human testing, accidental or not--we're going to see all these clever accommodations and adaptations for Lindy to have a life. That is exciting.

Now as for the house... I don't for one minute believe that it's a shrunken house that Les was planning on living in. I believe that it's a scaled miniature of their house. It has to be that since Lindy doesn't seem alarmed by her surroundings after she wakes up until she opens the door. I'm thinking it's something along the lines of the miniature White House in Tabitha King's Small World. Not sure exactly why they have it, but my theories include (1) They have a daughter, and it was a gift for her. (2) One or both of them are avid miniature collectors; maybe Lindy's parents were and that's what her Pulitzer-Prize winning book is about.

I think you're right that he probably didn't plan on shrinking himself. I just can't think of why he'd have such a very finely detailed miniature of the house that is so perfect that she didn't notice anything was wrong while she was asleep. It has functional utilities, even the doors, doorknobs, windows and furniture was so perfect she didn't notice anything was off when she woke up. The bedsheets alone should feel very different and wrong. I'm just hoping there is a reason for this beyond "it's a really nice dollhouse".

I'm very intrigued about the shots that look like she's in a drawer or locker of some kind. I think she may be spying? Or maybe locked somewhere. It's gonna be good for us to have, no doubt. But I'm hoping it's something that the wider audience enjoys enough that we can see more of this.

[scidram]

I'm very intrigued about the shots that look like she's in a drawer or locker of some kind. I think she may be spying? Or maybe locked somewhere. It's gonna be good for us to have, no doubt. But I'm hoping it's something that the wider audience enjoys enough that we can see more of this.

My guess is Lindy is inside Les's desk drawer at the lab. He may not be able to bring the restoration tech home, so he has to bring her to the lab. She's gonna hate it in there. The trailer shows the cell phone lighting up, startling her. There's also a scene of her running along the floor near a waste basket, and it looks more like the lab than their home. There will likely be a plot complication where they can't let anyone else in the lab know what happened to her, so she's running to hide.

This trailer has me so hopeful. I haven't seen a single episode and I love this show so much. Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen seem so perfect for these roles! The way he presents her the wedding band and the tone in her voice when she replies, "What am I supposed to do with this, wear it as a crown?" is so awesome. They're definitely showing how being shrunk indefinitely affects her emotional state, and I'm so in for that. I don't think we've really gotten anything like that from SW content.

33 more days. Not that I'm counting.

[scidram]

New photo on The Miniature Wife's IMDb page.



This shows Sofia Rosinsky, who plays Lindy & Les's daughter Lulu. Notice the look on her face while she's looking at some Post-It notes. Could she be discovering something about her mom's size?

Or maybe--just maybe--when Lulu unwraps the present, she'll find her mom inside!

[Little Sally]

(image)

This shows Sofia Rosinsky, who plays Lindy & Les's daughter Lulu. Notice the look on her face while she's looking at some Post-It notes. Could she be discovering something about her mom's size?

Or maybe--just maybe--when Lulu unwraps the present, she'll find her mom inside!

If there's a sequel, I vote you should write it Mr Durham!

Reading all this speculation, is almost as much fun as I'm sure the show will prove to be.

[scidram]

If there's a sequel, I vote you should write it Mr Durham!

Reading all this speculation, is almost as much fun as I'm sure the show will prove to be.

Aw, thanks! Most of my predictions come from understanding the SW genre from all the stories I've written:

In my novel Desperate Measures, I explored a troubled marriage (though nowhere near as passive-agressive as Lindy and Les), a technological accident that shrunk the wife Veronica (though not as small as Lindy, and it was the wife's project, not the her husband's), an inability to restore her immediately, along with having to hide her condition (though her team knew what had happened to her before her husband did).

In my ShrinkFan comic series Life Diminished, I've been exploring the long-term effects of a wife being shrunk (though a happy marriage, the shrinking not caused by either spouse, and shrinking to twice Lindy's height). Shrunken Sarah has been 12.75" tall for a few months at the end of Part 5, with Part 6 coming this summer.

In my short story (and soon to be ShrinkFan comic) Sticky Notes, I explored the wife waking up small and not remembering what happened, following a series of the titular sticky notes. That's where the comparison ends, as they're a loving couple dealing with how the wife's shrinking has affected them.

In short, I wish I was part of the creative team of The Miniature Wife, but since I'm not, I'm living vicariously by making these predictions.

[bobvan2]

Didn't realize you were Shrink fan comic cool.

[scidram]

Didn't realize you were Shrink fan comic cool.

I've written scripts for them since 2017, and I've been an editor for them for the past couple of years. It is kinda cool.

[bobvan2]

Didn't realize you were Shrink fan comic cool.

I've written scripts for them since 2017, and I've been an editor for them for the past couple of years. It is kinda cool.

Either way very cool

[Dr.Minimizer]

When is the next part of my "Question of Scale" series coming out? I delivered the script well over a year ago.

If you all aren't going to use it, I could turn the whole thing into an AI comic.

[scidram]

When is the next part of my "Question of Scale" series coming out? I delivered the script well over a year ago.

If you all aren't going to use it, I could turn the whole thing into an AI comic.

Min, check your messages.


And to everyone: Happy One-Month-until-the-Premiere day!

[rscholar]

A minor nitpick considering on the whole we're getting...y'know, *this* (*gestures at everything*) but I thought of something.

Having watched the trailer again (...and again...), I'm finding myself focused on the beginning with the freakout, specifically the part where, Les being relieved she's okay and opening the dollhouse, Lindy states as incredulously and baffled as possible: "I AM *NOT* 'O-KAAAY'!!!" (usually closeups of faces get intense and throw me off, but somehow this was not only watchable but the lighting made me appreciate Banks' amazing blue eyes). I think it's about the initial excitement of everything having changed before she starts settling into her new reality and the comedy really hits (that tracking shot as she scrambles through the house is awesome).

I mention this because I had this thought that after Les opens the house and she screams, it would somehow immediately cut to them having dinner and she's megaphoning him "Make me big again," but that doesn't make sense chronologically and I realized I really want the freakout to last a bit longer. Specifically, I want her to misunderstand the situation - "Les, why are you a giant?!" - and have some version officially come out of her mouth when Les explains and she puts it all together: "Are you....are you saying you SHRUNK ME?!" I'd of course love more of Lindy acknowledging her size at certain points instead of never explicitly mentioning again (the thing with the ring "What am I supposed to do, wear that as a crown?" is fine but not quite).

I just don't want them to rush the initial reveal and really want them to show Lindy struggling to grasp the whole thing. That would be a major win in my book.

[scidram]

A minor nitpick considering on the whole we're getting...y'know, *this* (*gestures at everything*) but I thought of something.

Having watched the trailer again (...and again...), I'm finding myself focused on the beginning with the freakout, specifically the part where, Les being relieved she's okay and opening the dollhouse, Lindy states as incredulously and baffled as possible: "I AM *NOT* 'O-KAAAY'!!!" (usually closeups of faces get intense and throw me off, but somehow this was not only watchable but the lighting made me appreciate Banks' amazing blue eyes). I think it's about the initial excitement of everything having changed before she starts settling into her new reality and the comedy really hits (that tracking shot as she scrambles through the house is awesome).

I mention this because I had this thought that after Les opens the house and she screams, it would somehow immediately cut to them having dinner and she's megaphoning him "Make me big again," but that doesn't make sense chronologically and I realized I really want the freakout to last a bit longer. Specifically, I want her to misunderstand the situation - "Les, why are you a giant?!" - and have some version officially come out of her mouth when Les explains and she puts it all together: "Are you....are you saying you SHRUNK ME?!" I'd of course love more of Lindy acknowledging her size at certain points instead of never explicitly mentioning again (the thing with the ring "What am I supposed to do, wear that as a crown?" is fine but not quite).

I just don't want them to rush the initial reveal and really want them to show Lindy struggling to grasp the whole thing. That would be a major win in my book.

The trailer is just over two minutes long, and the series is going to be about ten hours long, so I'm hoping the initial reveal is in depth. I can't imagine it being too quick. However, I also understand writing economy. The general viewer might not want as much of that as we do, and they also might not need it, as the central conflict of "she's shrunk but he doesn't know how to restore her" is clear once established. I think we'll land somewhere in the middle. We'll of course want more but it will be more than we've ever gotten from mainstream SW media.

[scidram]

Got a pair of new images from the show, none of which involve Lindy, but they help establish the other characters.

This first one seems to be Sian Clifford, playing Lindy's friend/coworker Terry. Looks like she's flipping through a manuscript, which makes sense with Lindy being an author. Interesting expression on her face. I picture her having shrunken Lindy on speakerphone and wondering why she doesn't sound right.



This second one is at Les's lab, where we see many of the folks there. The four in front from left to right are (1) Zoe Lister-Jones as Vivienne, who's clearly more corporate than scientist; (2) Les; (3) Rong Fu as Janet, now officially confirmed she works with Les; (4) O-T Fagbenle as RPW, who has Shakespearian feelings of love for Lindy. They join Aasif Mandvi as Martin Mucklow, who the trailer shows is a chief partner with Les, and Ronny Chieng as Hilton Smith, who the patent on the shrinking/restoration tech will revert to in 30 days.



Of the folks listed as main and recurring cast, the only one remaining whose specific role we don't know is Tricia Black playing Hel. With so many of them being part of Les's world, I'm guessing Hel is in Lindy's camp. Maybe another coworker?

[rscholar]

This second one is at Les's lab, where we see many of the folks there. The four in front from left to right are (1) Zoe Lister-Jones as Vivienne, who's clearly more corporate than scientist; (2) Les; (3) Rong Fu as Janet, now officially confirmed she works with Les; (4) O-T Fagbenle as RPW, who has Shakespearian feelings of love for Lindy. They join Aasif Mandvi as Martin Mucklow, who the trailer shows is a chief partner with Les, and Ronny Chieng as Hilton Smith, who the patent on the shrinking/restoration tech will revert to in 30 days.

First look at Vivienne and I thought she was pretty cute, would be awesome if she somehow got shrunk too...then I noticed her sleeves practically cover her hands. I'm not actually suggesting anything happened or ever will, but, well, it gets the imagination going.

[Schadenfreude]

One thing that I noticed while watching the trailer is that Lindy asks if she's supposed to wear what I assume is her wedding ring like a crown. That implies that her jewelry didn't shrink with her, and thus her clothes didn't shrink with her either. That would make sense, since she just got sprayed in the face, not completely drenched with the shrinking formula. That would explain why Les dressed her in her pajamas. (At least he shrunk pajamas for her, instead of making her wear doll clothes, like Leyna Shaw in Small World.)

Unless, perhaps, things were bad enough in their marriage before that moment that she had stopped wearing her wedding band.

But to your point, she's wearing earrings before the shrink and not after the shrink, so your logic does make sense.

Either way, we shall see.

I didn't notice the earrings. (Or that her hair wasn't covering her ears when she got shrunk.)

[Schadenfreude]

They do make the husband look like an idiot for not recognizing that she would be afraid. So there is still a big risk that this is another man hating show written by idiots.

I thought you were a man-hating dyke?

[Prof Sai]

I'm a man-hating dike hating dyke hating man hating dike hating dike. I thought that was obvious.

(Also, I don't like "dike" because that implies someone who goes out of their way to look ugly.)

[blackbat]

I'm a man-hating dike hating dyke hating man hating dike hating dike. I thought that was obvious.

(Also, I don't like "dike" because that implies someone who goes out of their way to look ugly.)

"implies someone who goes out of their way to look ugly." if you don't mind, can you expand on this? I have never heard dike used to describe a lesbian in this way.

Just a white, straight man here, I haven't heard the term "dike" or, as I was taught to spell it as "dyke" as a slur for many years, I was taught it as a compliment or in a positive light. Nowadays, if any of my LGBTQ friends, use the term, and still rarely use it, they use it to describe a enpowered lesbian, assertive, a leader, strong-willed, iron-clad mindset, also sometimes with strong female traits, sometimes with strong male traits or a strong combination.

I guess it will never fully get away from its slur roots, but I rarely hear it as a slur nowadays, to be honest, I cannot remember when I last did. The closest I have come use the term is the word "butch" as a compliment, but I learned a few years ago that it can be an insult or a compliment for a lesbian based on the outlook they have but like pronouns you can never know until you are told or you ask so I stopped using the word "butch," still crosses the mind though, annoyingly, (also with pronouns, a non-binary friend once told me, "just assume everyone you meet is they/them" and it works a lot IRL or online and is respectful)

[Prof Sai]

Words are weird. I haven't heard the term used recently either. I was more concerned about the "man-hating" part. I try not to hate anyone unless it is someone they specifically have done.