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Another thing I've been meaning to do for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
month_of_meta . though it's a bit less structured than I planned!
Off-Tumblr, the question I probably get asked the most often is “have you seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries? What did you think?”
I think it’s okay. During the first half, when I liked it the most, I can’t help but notice that something I seemed to be saying quite a bit was “I really like xyz, Elizabeth’s a bit off but she always is, and these other things are so great.” Towards the end, I found myself saying, “I don’t like xyz AT ALL and Lizzie is really starting to bother me now.”
But really, it wasn’t Lizzie-as-Lizzie that bothered me. It was Lizzie-as-Elizabeth, and without getting into too much detail, it’s the same thing that bothers me about how Elizabeth is often adapted, whether in fic or adaptations or lit-crit. When Elizabeth is just another figure in the line of feisty heroines, largely or entirely undistinguished from the others, her anger and defiance become the cornerstones of her character; often they become her entire character.
And the thing is, Elizabeth’s anger - when she feels it - is very real. And her defiance of various other people, most of whom have either institutional power or personal power over her, is real. But those things are only a small part of her inner life. Here are some others that seem to get overlooked.
( Read more... )
month_of_meta . though it's a bit less structured than I planned!Off-Tumblr, the question I probably get asked the most often is “have you seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries? What did you think?”
I think it’s okay. During the first half, when I liked it the most, I can’t help but notice that something I seemed to be saying quite a bit was “I really like xyz, Elizabeth’s a bit off but she always is, and these other things are so great.” Towards the end, I found myself saying, “I don’t like xyz AT ALL and Lizzie is really starting to bother me now.”
But really, it wasn’t Lizzie-as-Lizzie that bothered me. It was Lizzie-as-Elizabeth, and without getting into too much detail, it’s the same thing that bothers me about how Elizabeth is often adapted, whether in fic or adaptations or lit-crit. When Elizabeth is just another figure in the line of feisty heroines, largely or entirely undistinguished from the others, her anger and defiance become the cornerstones of her character; often they become her entire character.
And the thing is, Elizabeth’s anger - when she feels it - is very real. And her defiance of various other people, most of whom have either institutional power or personal power over her, is real. But those things are only a small part of her inner life. Here are some others that seem to get overlooked.
( Read more... )