I’m a massive Anne fan and had avoided this series so far as I thought I might not love it. My inner 8 year old is very loyal to Megan Follows' portrayal of Anne.*
Decided to give it a go yesterday.
Er…
Anne certainly looks very Anne-ish, skinny and pale and a bit unloved looking.
But why is she such a whiny bitch? Anne Shirley is not a whiny bitch. I realise Anne’s early childhood would have been traumatic, and it’s interesting they explore that a bit more, but they’ve changed her character too much. Bullying the hired hand (whose name they've changed from Jerry Buote)? That is not Anne!
And they’ve changed her surname to Cuthbert. Marilla would have never entertained such a sentimental gesture, certainly not in the early days. I think Geraldine James is a great actress and she makes a good Marilla, but for God’s sake she’s just joined some progressive mothers' circle. Marilla was in the Ladies’ Aid. They gossiped, and discussed preserves and pies, and made quilts!
And as for Matthew (he's no Richard Farnsworth) charging across the island on horseback to rescue Anne from child molesters and a life earning a living by reciting poems to people in a train station. That was unexpected.
Diana Barry’s parents doing some kind of panto turn as bitchy landed gentry, the other Avonlea residents bullying her at the Sunday school picnic, Anne discussing what’s involved in stroking a man’s mouse. I’m discombobulated.
I haven’t seen Gilbert yet, he’s probably a teenage beatnik. No doubt this version of 1880s PEI was an early adopter of the beatnik movement.
Do you think the producer thought the book is too ‘quiet’ to engage modern audiences, so they’ve had to beef it up a bit with more trauma and conflict?
Does this show get any better or am I likely to facepalm myself into a frenzy?
*tho I’m still shook from the final installment in the Kevin Sullivan series where a Anne dressed up as a nun and hared across to France to rescue Gilbert from a WWI pow camp.