Lost in Austen
The other day I caught the miniseries Lost in Austen, one of those "Austen fan gets literally sucked into the story" retellings. I'd heard mixed reviews, so when it showed up on netflix instant streaming, I figured I'd give it a shot.
The verdict? Not a fan. I mean, ok, you know going in you're basically getting this wish fulfillment fanfic. That's the whole premise. But the thing is, to get the wish fulfillment part, they had to take several characters so far out of character I started to wonder what the point was. If you have to change someone to make the wish come true, it's not really "true," is it?
I'm down with Elizabeth Bennett switching places with modern girl Amanda. There was the usual fish-out-of-water humour and awkwardness, and some really interesting ideas going on. I particularly liked the idea of trying to redeem Wickham, in the vein of "he's not bad, just misunderstood." I'm not sure I bought into it, but I do like the idea, since he's probably the most hated of Jane Austen's "villains." (I am all over the quotation marks today, apparently.) Also, Bingley's sister Caroline being gay was pretty hilarious.
To add extra conflict, though, the writers decided to mess with Jane and Bingley. Which is fine on its own, but to do so they took an awful lot of liberties. Jane ends up married to Mr. Collins (!) which results in Bingley turning into a depressed alcoholic (!!). Somehow, this turns into Bingley running off with Lydia (!!!). While it's made very clear nothing happens between the two of them, let's face it, this act would be enough to ruin her forever, and they'd both know this. More than that, he'd be forced to marry her to save appearances, regardless of their feelings for each other, but instead Mr. Bennett decides to fight Bingley and winds up with quite a serious head wound. Um, yeah.
It should be noted that while I enjoy Austen's work, I'm not hardcore or obsessive, and I do have a sense of humour about it, as I imagine the woman herself would. But when when the only resemblance your characters have to the originals is that they share the same name, well, I think there's something horribly wrong with your fanfic.
The verdict? Not a fan. I mean, ok, you know going in you're basically getting this wish fulfillment fanfic. That's the whole premise. But the thing is, to get the wish fulfillment part, they had to take several characters so far out of character I started to wonder what the point was. If you have to change someone to make the wish come true, it's not really "true," is it?
I'm down with Elizabeth Bennett switching places with modern girl Amanda. There was the usual fish-out-of-water humour and awkwardness, and some really interesting ideas going on. I particularly liked the idea of trying to redeem Wickham, in the vein of "he's not bad, just misunderstood." I'm not sure I bought into it, but I do like the idea, since he's probably the most hated of Jane Austen's "villains." (I am all over the quotation marks today, apparently.) Also, Bingley's sister Caroline being gay was pretty hilarious.
To add extra conflict, though, the writers decided to mess with Jane and Bingley. Which is fine on its own, but to do so they took an awful lot of liberties. Jane ends up married to Mr. Collins (!) which results in Bingley turning into a depressed alcoholic (!!). Somehow, this turns into Bingley running off with Lydia (!!!). While it's made very clear nothing happens between the two of them, let's face it, this act would be enough to ruin her forever, and they'd both know this. More than that, he'd be forced to marry her to save appearances, regardless of their feelings for each other, but instead Mr. Bennett decides to fight Bingley and winds up with quite a serious head wound. Um, yeah.
It should be noted that while I enjoy Austen's work, I'm not hardcore or obsessive, and I do have a sense of humour about it, as I imagine the woman herself would. But when when the only resemblance your characters have to the originals is that they share the same name, well, I think there's something horribly wrong with your fanfic.