I've been eyeing the new Persuasion movie with both curiosity and dread, fearing it would be to Jane Austen what the new Star Wars trilogy is to the old cannon: complete and utter destruction, sadly even the worst of the old books (and there were some decidedly awful ones) was far better than any of the new movies. I have nothing against spunky, snarky heroines per se, which now seems to be the requirement for any modern remake of an old classic. Snarky heroines are not a new trend, as some might think, certainly Jane Austen herself employed them and the Bard seems undoubtedly fond of them, but my beef comes in making a classic character something other than what she is, a complete opposite to what the character is written to be. I was unhappy with a snarky, sassy, selfish Elizabeth Bennet portrayed by Kiera Knightley, the character is witty, lively, and vibrant, but she isn't unkind, impolite, uncharitable, or rude, even when enduring the horrible advances of the odious Mr. Collins (who was rather more creepy than not in that particular variation). Then there's the Fanny Price in one of the more recent Mansfield Park movies who is far more bold and intrepid than the simpering little mouse of Austen's imagining, but the actress does an excellent job making her kind, usually gentle, and only secretly possessed of a witty streak to rival Austen herself, of which only Edmund and the audience are aware. Of the two, I rather like the portrayal of Fanny (minding one of the narrator of Northanger Abbey) but rather despise that of the unfortunate Miss Bennet. I can believe Fanny secretly lively and witty far better than Elizabeth so openly rude to her mother.
But of all characters to make snarky, Anne Elliot should never be on that list! You might as well make Jane Bennet snarky! Why make a movie about a character that is nothing like the character you wish to portray? Miss Crawford or the Merry Wives of Windsor would be far more worth your time. Fanny refused to act in the play but you have no trouble thinking Anne Elliot would? Fanny has all of Anne's morals but none of her spunk, however quiet and unseen by the rest of the world. Fanny runs off weeping while Anne goes on placidly on the outside about her duty while wretched within. Fanny couldn't be bullied into participating but Anne is going to yield without a thought? Why not choose another story, if you want a snarky wino as the heroine rather than ruin one of the most complex and estimable characters of classic literature? I have no problem with snarky Austen heroines, the recent Emma and Love and Friendship are superb examples, but Emma and Lady Susan are snarky characters, Anne Elliot is not therefore the snarky, intoxicated lead of the new Persuasion cannot be our dear Miss Anne. Maybe Mrs. Clay got her desired promotion in society after all? Or perhaps Mrs. Smith actually does have a role in the movie, just with the wrong name?
There are plenty of snarky characters in classic literature and even the Bible (hello Jonah and Job!), to say nothing of recent books or even an original script, to choose from. Slapping an Austen title on a movie does not a classic make. But all detractors of the movie are going to be called racist or something worse, because apparently in our woke world, you can only have one opinion about the flotsam and jetsam turned out by our media overlords for our very particular entertainment and delight, no matter how bad it is, if it has a diverse cast, you'd better love it or else. Star Wars fans who don't like the new movies or spinoffs have already been thus accused, as have Lord of the Rings fanatics who think Amazon's new rendition looks doubtful, just wait Austen lovers, our turn too has come. Which is rather ironic because this is exactly the sort of thing Austen, Tolkien, and Lucas (those great cultural geniuses) were writing against! Austen's satire, Tolkien's beauty, and Lucas's sense of daring fun were all aimed against the institutionalized drudgery that holds creativity and human flourishing captive, shaping it into a hideous, unnatural thing, a mere means to an end wherein nobody is happy. Now the media giants have got hold of our little rebellious flirtations and diversions and have remade them in their own image and we MUST like it or we are innately bad not their product, but the very reason we such things is that it is anything but cookie-cutter propaganda vomited from an entertainment charnel house, mass produced vitriol with a classic label.
We like such things because they are rebelling against the tyranny of the Empire, Mordor, and polite Society, whatever its guise in our current age; they are the little boy telling a stupefied world that the Emperor truly doesn't have any clothes, a voice crying in the wilderness 'make straight the paths of the Lord.' We are strangely drawn to this wild-haired social outcast in his camel hair apron who dines upon locusts and honey and calls the religious leaders of the day such terrible things. Are we going to accept this modern day phariseeism like the pablum it is, like good little children whom their parents expect to eat broccoli and kale without complaint, never more to touch a cookie? Or will we ignore the media giants and their pet critics who cannot fathom that someone's opinion might be different from their own, that a work of art is not excellent just because it is woke or diverse or because some elite says it is? Will we continue to fling the pablum back in our dread 'mother's' face and demand real food, quality entertainment, determined that art means something, as does reality itself, or will we go quietly into the cloudy and endless night of dull, tedious, insipid media, cowed by big media's name calling and imperious manners? Will Amazon's billion dollar baby flop because they've strayed so far from Tolkien's vision that no one can recognize it and the would-be fans turn away in droves or will it succeed because they stayed true to the vision (no matter how terrifying the previews) and delighted a whole new generation or will it succeed because we accept it because we must (no matter how bad) for fear of being thought racist or worse? Will we allow big media to remake our own souls in their image even as they have reimagined poor Anne's?
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