Emma 2009 and The Things It Gets Away With

In some recent musings about Jane Austen adaptations, I was considering the piece of delightfulness that is Emma 2009.  I LOVE IT.  It's amazing, it's adorable, and I want to call it perfect, but the fact is it ISN'T perfect... it just somehow gives the impression of being so.

It has a wide range of admirers, too.  I know several people who prefer the 2005 version of P&P (cough, COUGH) who have a very proper appreciation for Emma 2009.  And I've never yet met a Janeite who doesn't hold 2009 as her favorite, having given it a fair chance.  Even random people who are not very accustomed to period drama can even enjoy it a lot.

Anyways. Went off on a bit of a rabbit trail there--what I was going to say is: Pride and Prejudice (1995) is my favorite JA movie, and I don't even call that perfect, yet I'd say it's more accurate to its novel and JA and the Regency period than Emma is.  It's really rather amusing how much Emma09 can get away with, and its admirers still love it to pieces.

Such as what?  Allow me to tell you what, in my opinion, are The Problems With Emma 2009.  All the ones I can think of right now, that is.  And be forewarned that I'll also go into Auto Defense Mode, which clicks on when anything or anybody I love is criticized, and start explaining why it is that I put up with them all. ;)

• It's just a little too modern. Starting with the opening.  What is up with all the weird capital letters where they shouldn't be and lowercase where they should? Sorry, that just isn't Jane Austen, peoples, besides for it just being something that irks me.  Yet I can somehow never feel actually disgusted with it, even though it is annoying. The beginning is so FUN even if it isn't period authentic or grammatically correct. (Or would that be capitalization-ally correct? :P Actually, I think there is a word for what I want to say but it isn't coming to me, and probably when Amy comments she will tell me what it is. Haha.) 

• And then there is the rest of what I mean by it being too modern... they actually designed the body language, etc. to be for a modern audience, and this definitely does show... but despite that, and despite the brighter colors and such that don't give it the old-England feel that some adaptations do, it still seems old-fashioned... or at least not-modern. I'm still satisfied. And I still say that the Gwyneth Paltrow version is much more modern. 

• People complain about Emma herself acting too immature... I think this ties in with the above. They were trying to make it so a modern audience could connect... and I don't really condone that.  But I still think it was borderline acceptable, haha. Plus it gives more of a chance to show how she matures during the story, because by the end you can see a visible difference--she acts much more grown-up and graceful. And even at the beginning, she still acted more that way when in company. It was in her own home and around people she'd known all her life (like Mr. Knightley) that she was less particular. And I don't mind her being bubbly and animated--I think it goes very well with Emma. Besides, the facial expressions are just too hilarious to want to miss, and if you tell me they are overdone, I will just have to disagree with you.

• And in keeping with that general theme, there are a few historical inaccuracies... but they are usually for the sake of the story, not because they didn't care about being accurate.  One that comes to mind is when Harriet is at Hartfield for dinner the first time, and Emma is silently teaching her not to tuck her napkin into her dress (she's copying Mr. Knightley) but to put it on her lap, and that when you're eating soup, rather than scooping towards yourself as if you're shoveling, you should tilt the spoon away from yourself so that if your hand slips you can fling soup on the person sitting across from you instead of splattering all over your new evening gown.  Harriet would already have known these sorts of things--proper etiquette and manners would have been taught at the boarding school. But... it's just a hilarious scene.

• Which brings me to the subject of Harriet In General. (My, this is all tying together nicely, isn't it?)  She's just too... stupid. What other word is there.  Also silly, perhaps, but yes, stupid. Empty of Head. ;) She's never supposed to be the brightest crayon in the box, but they went a bit overboard, I think, trying to get that point across. Especially in the scene pictured above. But again... that scene is hilaaarious. "Courtship, Harriet! See, here, and... and here." And overall, I still think she's the best Harriet, too.

• That's not tying in nicely with anything else, so let's just go now and talk about my Favorite Part Of The Movie. The baaaaall scene. *pauses for a moment to indulge in a happy sigh* The whole of the ball is delightful, but my favorite scene is the one where Emma And Mr. Knightley Dance. It is the cutest, sweetest, most delightful, most romantical... I tell you, I could write an entire post gushing and squealing about why I love it so much and I'm not usually one prone to Fangirling. (As Some Of You may know, cough.)  Buuuuut, there was one teeny, weeny problem, and that is that they had to go and exclude what is one of my very favorite quotes in the book. (Just go read the last few paragraphs of chapter 38.) *narrows eyes and growls* In fact the first time I ever saw this version, I was sitting there just WAITING for the quote, and it didn't happen and I was like, but, but but... no... wait...  However, the following scene is so perfect that I cannot but say it makes up for it. Especially if you've been watching the whole movie. It's lovely by itself, but if you're "into" the store it's all the better. :D

• Now let's take this random moment to talk about Jane.  This Miss Fairfax is not my favorite. The closest to my idea of what she should be in the book was in the A&E Emma.  Laura Pyper just didn't cut it for me... her looks were wrong; her figure somehow wasn't graceful or... I dunno... willowy enough, haha, and then her voice too is not at all what I would imagine when reading the book.  I guess I only mention this because it's pretty much the only character in the movie who isn't my favorite representation. (Okay, Frank and Miss Bates sort of tie with a couple others for me, for rather different reasons, but I thought they played their characters to full potential in this one, and I didn't have any problem with their being selected, whereas neither is true for Laura Pyper.)  That said, though, she was still fine, and not unfaithful to the character. She never made me mad. ;)

• And since we're talking about Jane, let's give Frank a turn, because I have a couple bones to pick about him although they aren't in his acting, they're in the script. And this is rather an example of several similar things--they do throw extra random stuff they made up into the story here and there, like Emma and Harriet happening upon Frank before he actually comes to visit, as though he'd come very close to doing so and then turned back. And it was never really fully explained, besides what he said to Emma, but as we know, Frank isn't very honest. (Or frank. :P) Maybe he was deliberating because he thought it would be too obvious if he showed up right after Jane did?  Anyway, it made for a funny scene later, I have to say. "I have heard so much about you, it is almost as if we had already met!" Once again I forgive Sandy Welch (the scriptwriter), because it's not unfaithful to Jane Austen's Emma even if it isn't exactly what was in the book.

• But then there's this. AHEM. It's one thing I have without anything to say in its defense.  Frank would never have put his head on Emma's lap, can I hear it for HISTORICAL INACCURACY, that would be VERY inappropriate??  Emma would never have permitted it, either.  People wouldn't have behaved in that fashion, even as a joke.  And besides all that, it pretty much makes me hate Frank altogether and he's always nowhere near my favorite character, haha.

• Aaaand something the last one brought to mind... the Box Hill Scolding Scene.  Mr. Knightley wasn't quite right.  This is the only time in the entire thing I can say that, because I think Jonny Lee Miller's portrayal is pretty much perfect.  But in the book this scene is so very touching... you really get the feeling that Mr. Knightley is feeling disappointed in Emma and fearing for Frank's influence on her, and truly wanting to help her as a friend, in addition to being somewhat angry on behalf of Miss Bates.  In this scene, it was mostly just Mr. Knightley Come in a Huff to Tell Emma Off rather than, like in the book, explaining to her what she did wrong and why and it may perhaps be a bit heated, but it really ended quite tenderly and it makes you feel sorry for Emma and Mr. Knightley and Miss Bates all at the same time. And also increases your admiration for Mr. Knightley. ;)  Also, Emma is supposed to turn around after a while so that Mr. Knightley can't see the emotions she's going through (and if he did he might know that he'd already succeeded, haha)

• And lastly, most of the book-to-screen dialogue is not as accurate in a lot of spots as I would like.  Which is another one of those funny things... somehow they manage to do this without it feeling inaccurate and you can say "oh yeah, this is a really good representation of the book!" I don't know how. But they do. 

And now we come to the conclusion of my rambling. (And I am putting a picture of the conclusion of the movie. Because it's the best. I think my favorite period drama ending evah. :D)  So anyways... despite everything, it's one of my favorite Jane Austen movies, almost tied for #1, and I never seem to get tired of watching it. (I've seen it thirteen times, folks. Cough. And 1/4. :P)  It can just get away with anything... and if I was going to write a post like this only discussing what I adore about the movie... heh, if you think this is long, that would be reeeeeeeally long. It would probably have to turn into a series.

:)

Rereading Mansfield Park

I just finished Mansfield Park (for the second time) yesterday, and tomorrow I start Sanditon, so I thought I should write about it now while it is still fresh on my mind. Like I always mean to do, but rarely actually achieve. ;)

Getting into it this time was, I have to confess, a bit difficult for me.  I still like MP, but... well, it's probably on the bottom of my list of JA favorites. Which I almost hate to say, because it has a reputation it doesn't deserve of being not as good, and I still think it deserves more love.  But I was having a hard time getting into it.  One excuse, though, was that there was a lot of Distraction going on in my life at the time. (Ahem. :D)  When I read it the first time, of course, it was New and therefore more interesting (even though I'd already seen the BBC miniseries and knew the basic story--it's still different to actually read the book).

Anyway.  Whenever this does happen with JA, generally when you get further into the story you become more attached to it, and that, as well as actually determining to spend more time reading, moved things along a bit.

So, as I've already done reviews of all 6 of JA's main novels, I like to just talk about my thoughts on rereading the story--what I thought differently this time, what new I noticed, etc.  There wasn't really that much of a difference... although I have to say that this time I was *cough* a tad little bit more sympathetic with the Crawford siblings. *cough, hide*

They're still horrid villains and everything. It's just that I kind understood them a little better, even though I didn't particularly enjoy the feeling. HA.  And of course by the END it's just like... wow, you two are even worse than I thought. (Especially Henry. What a... I can't even... who could seriously think Fanny was wrong to refuse him by the end? Besides Mrs. Norris and Mary Crawford who are jerks and don't count? Goodness, even Sir Thomas admitted she'd been right!)

Okay, so I guess I didn't actually think any better of Henry this time.  It was just that he didn't drive me quite as insane the entire time. I guess it was Mary I liked a little better. She can be rather amusing, and she's not exactly the evil scheming sort.  I wasn't any less annoyed with Edmund for falling for her, though, haha... and still a little annoyed with him at the end, too, how he kept going on about that it was all owing to her upbringing and otherwise she would have been perfect. You know what... whatever. She's just not, okay? She is what she is. And though a lot is often due to upbringing/influence, some people can come through things and still turn out better... especially in stories, although of course he doesn't know he's in a story. (snicker-snort)

Well, anyway. Moving on. So, if you've read the book (and if you haven't you probably shouldn't be reading THIS), you know how towards the end it plunges into the most of the Heavy Stuff. In fact it's probably the Heaviest Stuff of any Jane Austen book ever. Which is why when I turned a page and started in with what ends up being the last chapter and saw--
Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore every body, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.
--this sort of Rush of Happiness went over me and I was like, YAY JANE! This is why I love you so much!!  Haha, obviously she was getting a little tired of it all, too.

Although I do still wish she'd have spent a little longer once everyone was restored to comfort. I should have liked to see exactly how everything happened with Fanny and Edmund, and instead she leaves most of it to supposition. Sigh. Well, she tells us the general end, but as to details, they are left to our own inferior imaginations. :P

However, I could just envision how lovely it could all be in a movie.  Honestly... why hasn't anyone done it?? There is so much New Stuff that can be done with a Mansfield adaptation, a REAL one in which everybody is portrayed like they're SUPPOSED to be... argh. Anyways.  Come oooon, BBC! I confess I was rather hoping the fact that the 200th anniversary being next year would inspire them, but alas, it would seem not...

And I really do think that it is all finished nicely even if I would want it to be longer.  I mean, Mrs. Norris is out of the picture with good riddance and everyone is happy.  Maria is ruined and deserves it. (Although maybe I would have liked to see Henry a with a bit more of a comeuppance.)  Susan Price gets to stay at Mansfield and doesn't have to live with the horrid Prices anymore.  Tom improves.  Sir Thomas is no longer an idiot about certain ideas he had concerning Fanny (namely, that she should have accepted Mr. Crawford, and that she should not marry one of his sons, haha); and it's a bit morbid of me but I found this hilarious: "...Dr. Grant had brought on apoplexy and death, by three great institutionary dinners in one week..." (cough). And of course, Edmund and Fanny live happily ever after.

One thing bugs me though, and that is this--
Could he have been satisfied with the conquest of one amiable woman's affections, could he have found sufficient exultation in overcoming the reluctance, in working himself into the esteem and tenderness of Fanny Price, there would have been every probability of success and felicity for him. His affection had already done something. Her influence over him had already given him some influence over her. Would he have deserved more, there can be no doubt that more would have been obtained, especially when that marriage had taken place, which would have given him the assistance of her conscience in subduing her first inclination, and brought them very often together. Would he have persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been his reward, and a reward very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable period from Edmund's marrying Mary.

What... no. Jane. Please. DON'T. Don't indicate that Fanny would have married Henry in the end if all that Stuff hadn't happened. How could you do that to your own Fanny??  It's rather like the indication that Marianne wasn't really in love with Col. Brandon at the time of marrying him. (My thoughts here.) I prefer to have my own opinion on these subjects. Heh.

Just the same, I finished the book with the same sentimental feeling I always get when finishing one of Miss Austen's stories... and this little sigh escaped me which then made me giggle because it wasn't at all premeditated. Haha.

Anyway. I'll stop rambling now and close with two random quotes I scribbled down. (I wasn't very good at writing down quotes this time...)

"There is not one in a hundred of either sex, who is not taken in when they marry. Look where I will, I see that it is so; and I feel that it must be so, when I consider that it is, of all transactions, the one in which people expect the most from others, and are least honest themselves."

~Mary Crawford

"I was quiet, but I was not blind."

~Fanny Price

Back to Jane Austen

My love for Jane Austen has never wavered. Yet lately, I've felt like I've been becoming a little bit detached from the fascination that once had me so enthralled. The stories, the world surrounding them, the life and times of Jane Austen herself.  I'm not any less of a Janeite than I ever was... but my thoughts have been clouded by a bunch of other things, and though other things are delightful, nothing compares with that time when everything JA was exciting and new and wonderful and marvelous.

It's time to get back into just Jane Austen.  I want some of all that back. It can't be the same as when everything really WAS new, I know, but... none of it has changed, after all. It's just that I've been neglectful or even a little desensitized. *gasp*

Even my blogging has telltale signs of this happening. I've had so little inspiration of anything to write about.

This Simply Will Not Do.  A true Janeite never leaves the realm, and I certainly never shall.  But I think there comes a time when one needs a Refresher Course.  To be reminded.

So, friends, I am going to give myself a Challenge.  Starting on Monday, I am going to Immerse myself in Jane Austen.  And to do this, I'm going to stay away from other stories and entertainment. Which means I won't read anything that is not connected in some way to Jane Austen. (Besides the Bible.) I won't listen to anything that isn't connected to Jane Austen. (I will say, though, that I am counting period-authentic Classical music to be 'kosher'. ;) ) I'm not going to watch anything non-Jane Austen.  I'm even going to try to keep my internet browsing Jane-themed, including stuff like Pinterest and of course blogging.

I know, crazy, huh? But you all knew I was crazy, right? ;)  And it will be within reason... sometimes there has to be exceptions to schemes such as that, especially when you're not a hermit, haha. But for the most part, I will be sticking to it.

*happy sigh*

And hopefully all this will give me some motivation to blog more.  I am in hopes that you fellow lovers of Jane Austen will help me by stopping by for a chat. ;)  Maybe some of you would even like to join me?  I don't mean wholly--I realize that not everyone is as rabid as I. ;)  But if you liked, you could make your own version of a Jane Austen Challenge and come along for the ride a little.  Like I said, I'm starting on Monday (the 9th) and I'll go at least until the following Monday, maybe further.

I had fun the other night putting a whole bunch of books and such on hold at the library... I'm just finishing Mansfield Park and next week I'll hopefully be starting Sanditon, the version finished by "another lady", and I've never read past a few pages of that, so it will all be New. :D  Who knows what I'll be inspired to do? I really am getting rather excited here. :) :) :)

So anyways... just thought I'd give you all this little update. You probably all think I'm a Nut now. But what can I say... I am!