Emma Approved

[osprey_archer]

I have given Emma Approved four episodes. I will continue to give it more episodes, because it definitely succeeds at being entertaining (and Harriet is adorkable)...but I’m not so sure about its successfulness as an adaptation

Comments

[asakiyume]

All extremely good points. It sounds as if with this one, the creators have forgotten that whatever updating or tweaks you need to do to accommodate modern times, or to envision the story in modern times, the basic characters of the people should be the same. Knightley should still be concerned about Emma's excessive self-regard, and Emma should still have a good heart, and ability to learn, as central characteristics.

... Basically, I think Clueless did such a good updating of the Emma story that I can't imagine another version that isn't Clueless. That movie got right all the things that it sounds like this series is getting wrong--starting with the fact that they made Emma's meddling be that of a somewhat bored teenager rather than the career workings of a businesswoman. And their Harriet was so perfect.

[osprey_archer]

They got Knightley almost right, which makes the Harriet thing more frustrating. It messes up his concern about her egotism and also suggests that he can't/doesn't want to deal with her

[asakiyume]

Yeah, I love the way actual Emma manages her father. It shows the real power that a young, female person could actually wield, and how she does it. And you're right: she manages it so that everyone can have a good time.

[asakiyume]

And--and I didn't understand this in episode one, which is all I've seen--why did they make the change with Anne? I just can't see how that can enrich the story or illuminate anything, and it seems, since it's pure fabrication, to just be an area in which the series is going to wander away from the original to no purpose (well, I suppose to storytelling purpose, but...)

[osprey_archer]

I don't understand either. It makes Emma look like an incompetent bumbler from the get-go, which I think undermines her character growth.

...my cynical thought is that they were pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm for the feminist aspects of LBD, and are trying to replicate that in EA, without realizing that making the heroine an entrepreneur and calling off weddings will not, on its own, make the series feminist.

If nothing else, EA may give me a lot to write about! I'm already thinking about a post about adaptations and AUs and how to make them work.

(Your comments have been so thought-provoking that I actually went back and added more to the entry.)

[asakiyume]

Hee, excellent; I'll get out of this comment box and go read what you've added.

[asakiyume]

*nodding*

And another thing you've said here in comments that I think is right on target is that they've gotten caught up in Feminism = Career. The thing you recognized about Emma's abilities with her father, and what I was trying to get at too--that shows real skill and adeptness, such as any negotiator or business exec would be pleased to have. And sure, today young women have way more options, but to say that the only way to be a modern woman is to be an Entrepreneur!Out!Doing!Things! is not only wrong, it's completely undercut by making her (a) a bad one, and (b) bad for reasons that make us doubt her wisdom and character. Whereas Austen's Emma was vain (a "female" flaw), she was also adroit and clever. This Emma is ... well, enthusiastic and pretty. But with those as her only virtues, we haven't advanced the cause of feminism much, entrepreneur or not.

[goldenusagi]

All of this, basically. I've been putting off making a similar post, but really, I haven't found much to like in EA. So far, I have no idea how this is an 'adaptation' of Emma, as all of the beginning plot points have already been changed, so I have no idea how later plot points are supposed to follow. Not to mention Emma herself, who is highly annoying and who we have seen no good qualities from. Matchmaking was NOT the only thing Emma was about in the book. Part of me wonders if they're running into problems because Emma is a more complicated book, or if they actually think that what they're doing is just boiling down the story. Emma isn't as universally loved as P&P, as far as the person on the street goes.

She’s going to find a way to make Anne go through with a wedding Anne no longer wants! This is neither the action of a friend nor of a good businesswoman. I can't believe this, honestly. And that goes back to the 'where are we going plot wise?' point. Is fixing the Westons supposed to be something? Is that going to be

[osprey_archer]

Yeah, I don't know how they're going to get the rest of the story to follow from this very different beginning. Is it still going to take her to Harriet and Elton to realize that matchmaking might not be her calling? Because I feel like this attempt to force the Weston marriage to go through ought to be her wake-up call. And possible to tank her business, if anyone finds out about the shenanigans she's pulling.

[goldenusagi]

And possible to tank her business, if anyone finds out about the shenanigans she's pulling.

I have no idea how we're even supposed to be taking this. Are these videos being posted? I'm guessing not. They're just to 'document' her future greatness.

Another thing I don't get how we're supposed to be taking. Emma has access to their bank records? It was played as a joke, but are they actually going to address that? I'm guessing not.

[osprey_archer]

Yeah, I think this isn't a vlog, just raw footage for Emma's documentary. Possibly they should have signaled that a bit more clearly from the beginning? But given the kind of things Emma says on camera, it doesn't make any sense for the videos to be posted.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall listening to the meetings where they worked out this plot. I find so many of their choices baffling - the bank account joke, the entire approach to Annie wanting to call off the wedding.

[ext_2214975]

I'm kind of torn on EA at the moment too. Like you I am finding it mostly entertaining and I really like the actors that I've seen so far, but Emma's behaviour towards Annie by trying to make go through the wedding is troubling for all of the reasons that you mention. I suspect that the reason for their changes was because they wanted Emma to see the Taylor-Weston wedding as being a major triumph on her part, and to have be on a massive high by the time they get to the book's start point.

[osprey_archer]

We'll just have to watch and see. I could see the reasoning behind that, but it still doesn't show Emma in a very sympathetic light - it would have been better if she overcame some obstacle to the wedding other than one of the partners not wanting to get married.