Becoming... Jane?
So, I saw Becoming Jane on Saturday. And I really liked it.
I think, had I known nothing whatsoever about Jane Austen going in, I would probably have enjoyed it for itself, as it was. There were some really lovely performances. Anne Hathaway was okay. Her voice annoyed me a little at times (maybe she's a little more nasal than the Jane Austen in my head, I don't know; finally I just said to myself, 'Look, you don't know Jane Austen didn't sound like that, so just deal), but not so much toward the end. The movie had a few good laughs but, especially for the kind of movie it was with the subject it had, could have used a lot more. Like people keep saying, it would all be well and good if it was trying to be like Shakespeare in Love, or even remotely light-hearted throughout, but it's not.
Since I do know quite a bit about Jane Austen, I enjoyed the movie partly for the good parts that were there-- and there were some-- and partly because it was so much fun to make fun of. When it's out on DVD, Whitney and I are going to write a parody. We were probably really annoying in the theater again; we couldn't shut up. Here are some highlights:
(Mr. and Mrs. Austen talk dirty, and proceed to do dirty things) Mrs. Austen: "Mr. Austen! It's Sunday!" Me: "Somewhere, from beyond the grave, the spirit of Jane Austen is completely and utterly traumatized."
Me: "That's her brother George, who was probably epileptic and possibly deaf." Whitney: "HE'S CRAZY!" Me: "...Or he was epileptic and deaf." Whitney: "CRAZY!"
Me: "I like how Jane Austen's about a decade ahead of her time, fashion-wise. Everyone else is dressed from the 1780's and '90's, but she's already got her Regency-wear on." Evey: "It looks like she's wearing a Gap t-shirt."
(Jane burns a perfectly good piece of Juvenilia just because Tom Lefroy didn't like it.) "Wow. Way to overreact, Jane. Take a little criticism. That's why we don't have that piece anymore. And you know that about two hours later Cassandra asked her for a copy and it was awkward."
"Maggie Smith has stolen Dame Lady Catherine Dench's costumes and wig."
One of the scenes basically went like this:
Tom: (reads about bird sex; no, for real) Jane: "....!" Tom: "If you're going to write well, you have to 'widen' your 'horizons.' And by 'horizons,' I mean legs. And by 'widen,' I mean... look, I'm talking about sex. If you want to be a good writer, you have to do the sex. Preferably with me."
A Crazy Carnival! "Why aren't they chaperoned? What the hell is this? Great, just go off by yourselves. Somewhere, Lucy Lefroy is being molested by the carnival people."
Then there was the scene that basically went like this:
Jane kisses Tom. Jane: "Did I do it well?" Tom: "Yes. Very." Jane: "Just once I wanted to do it really well." Tom: "OMG I LOVE YOU WITH MY HEART AND MIND AND BODY AND SOUL AND WE MUST BE TOGETHER FOREVER AND EVER OR LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING!" Whitney: "Wow. She did it very well." Me: "Jane Austen had magic lips!" Evey: "I want magic lips!" Jane: "What do we do?" Evey: "Well, I have a few ideas. You could have sex." Me: "If you do that as well as kissing..."
"Did you know that Jane Austen invented metal pen nibs and British sign language?"
There was the scene that basically went like this:
Mrs. Austen: "IF YOU DON'T GET MARRIED YOU WILL BE POOR AND HOMELESS AND YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING!" Jane: "...I thought I could just go live with my rich brother, Edward...?" Mrs. Austen: "NO!" Jane: "Then I suppose I could make some money off the sign language..." Mrs. Austen: "NO!" Jane: "Then I suppose I could always live off my..." Mrs. Austen: "What? Your high-tech PEN? Those metal nibs you invented will never make you any money!" Jane: "Well, then I guess there's always my writing." Mrs. Austen: "NO!"
Whitney: "Jane is emo. Her soul is black, and her music is Evanescence."
"George is so confused! Ahh, I thought you said you didn't like him! Why are you kissing him?"
"Elopement? But that doesn't turn out well in any of my novels!"
"Apparently Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice all in one night."
"Jane Austen is fangirl squee-ing inside. 'Mrs. Radcliffe! Will you sign my copy of Udolpho?'"
"That is the dirtiest ornamental lake I've ever seen. There's that one guy trying to clean it, and he can never quite do it."
"That's irony, baby. Their love was dead from irony."
(In the future, Tom and Jane meet again) Evey: "Oh, he named his daughter after her. That makes everything okay." Whitney: "Yeah, and I'm sure he named her after Jane Austen. Because it wasn't like Jane was a popular name at all. No one was named Jane."
(Jane does a reading) Me: "Give it a little spirit, woman! You wrote the damn thing! Oh, look! Tom didn't fall asleep this time!" Whitney: "Well, he is standing up."
Wow, that cut title messed up, and I don't know how to fix it. Oh, well.
There were a couple of parts that I think captured something of Jane Austen: when she was writing to Cassandra about Tom and stopped and said, "too many adjectives," and when the letter got to her sister, it was practically cut to ribbons; when she kissed Tom (not the aftermath of it, but her initiation of the kiss I quite liked); yes, okay, her cricket playing, much as I realize what a contrived Device that was; her refusal of Mr. Wisley's proposal; "If his heart does not stop at the sight of you, then he does not deserve to live. And yes, I am aware of the contradiction embodied in that sentence."; the part where she snuggles up to Cassandra after Mr. Fowle dies.
There were also parts that were very un-Austenlike. This portrayal had her as generally much more inconsiderate of others than I could believe she was. When she was about to elope (I'm wincing as I'm typing this, it's so Made Up) with Tom Lefroy, she says to her sister, something like, "If you could have [your dead fiancee] 'Robert' back and this was the only way to be together, would you do it?" and that is such a low blow. It's like emotionally punching Cassandra in the face. And I typed "Robert" because his real name was Tom, but they didn't want to have two Toms in the film, so "his name shall be Robert, if you please." Really, I think that Jane should have gone for Mr. Wisley; he was the most Darcy-like of anyone. Except oh! That's right! He's fictional! Strangely, there was a real John Warren who was once a student of Mr. Austen and a friend of the family, but Mr. Wisley and Lady Gresham are completely Made Up. He at least, seems to be partly based on Harris Bigg-Wither, to whom Jane was engaged for a day ca. 1800. But, of course, he didn't have a Lady Catherine-like aunt. And neither did any of the sons of the actual local rich family of Steventon, so the two of them had to come as a Made-Up package deal. Because of course Jane Austen couldn't have come up with Lady Catherine de Bourgh on her own *eyeroll*. And then, after Tom's return, we are no longer watching anything like Jane Austen, but rather someone who is quite a bit like Marianne Dashwood. There was quite a bit about what the movie was saying about writing that went against everything Jane Austen stood for in her writing. That jarred a little.
Anna Maxwell Martin did a lovely job as Cassandra. James Cromwell stole all of his scenes as Mr. Austen-- I swear, the expression on his face when he overhears his wife essentially saying she wishes she hadn't married him could break your heart, and so could his reaction when he gets the letter saying that Tom "Robert" Fowle has died. Lucy Lefroy, at least, seems to live up to Jane Austen's actual opinion of her: that she was really silly. Although she should have been wearing her hair up. I also really liked how they used George, Jane's brother who was probably deaf. It was nice to see him and his place in the family, and I really wanted to give him big hugs. Why the other brothers, except for Henry, were not included, I don't know. They mentioned Edward, so that's fine; Frank and Charles could have been at sea; but what about James? James lived right there, he should have been included. I also didn't like that it made it seem like Henry married Eliza because of her money, since he'd had a crush on her since he was about thirteen. If "irony" is the combination of untruths to make a new truth, does that make this movie very ironic?
We laughed louder than about anybody in the theater. There was some real rollicking fun. This could be because we got all the references. ("OMG The Mysteries of Udolpho!") I liked all the little bits about irony. I think those were pretty true to Jane as well.
So, in conclusion, do I want to own this movie and see it again? Yes, I do.
And, as much as I do not approve of fandom activity surrounding this movie-- fanfics, etc., the first person who makes a Becoming Jane fanvideo to the song "Ironic" is made of win.
Here, have an extra icon.
