Ammonite - Mary Anning Film

[Fossiliy]

Just seen a trailer for the new Kate Winslet film ‘Ammonite’. I went fossil hunting with my family on holiday in Lyme Regis last year for the 1st time ever and purposely got the audio book of Tracey Chevalier’s book ‘Remarkable Creatures’ to give me some insight into Mary Anning.

Admittedly I have a reaction to audio books that mean I fall asleep to them far too quickly if I’m listening in bed (must be a throwback to falling asleep during the bedtime story) so my recollection of the story might be slightly fogged. BUT I don’t remember it being a ‘love story’ about two women set amongst the sludge and windswept beaches of Dorset? The film seems to be pushing this as the main thrust of the film.

The main theme I took from the book was the huge prejudice against women and the enormous injustice of several men trying to take credit for Anning’s discoveries. Class was certainly an issue too between the two female protagonists and their relationship was at the core of the book. There was a sense of repression and suppression of women in all aspects of their lives most certainly. But I don’t recall a love-affair or even any sense of attraction on a sexual level?

I know, I know artistic license and all that but I can’t just help but imagine when they optioned the book someone saying ‘Two Victorian women right? A friendship right? Can we shoehorn some girl-on-girl action here?’

I think it’s a fascinating story and I was very ignorant about the history and importance of Mary Anning. Maybe I should hold back full judgement until I see the film but I can’t help feeling a bit cynical.

Did Tracey Chevalier gloss over a lesbian relationship? I wonder what she thinks of it? Anyone else read the book?

I don't know the Tracy Chevalier book; I've only come across Mary Anning in science books and podcasts. The angle I've heard is definitely that she made major discoveries but didn't get the money or the credit that she deserved because she was a woman and because she was working class.

I hope neither have morphed into transmen

There was no same sex attraction in the book at all. Maybe the filmmakers can't handle the thought of portraying deep female friendship complicated by class differences without throwing in some lesbianism.

It doesn't look like Ammonite is an adaptation of Remarkable Creatures. They're seperate stories based on the life of Mary Anning.

AFAIK, there's no evidence of any romantic relationship in Anning's life, and it's a shame they felt the need to sex up her story, which is fascinating in its own right. I'd much rather watch something that concentrated on her scientific discoveries and the prejudice she faced.

Maybe I'm a hypocrite because I did like The Favourite, despite there being no evidence that Queen Anne was lesbian. I'm probably cutting that film some slack because of Olivia Colman's amazing performance, and I feel less protective of monarchs than of working-class scientists.

Glad to know I didn’t sleep through a significant plot point then

Having done some digging (arf!) I realise that Mary’s ‘love interest’ in the film is supposed to be Charlotte Murchison. She met Mary Anning on a fossil-hunting trip to Lyme Regis where she accompanied her Geologist husband. They became ‘lifelong friends’ thereafter. Maybe this isn’t based on Remarkable Creatures at all? Maybe they just optioned that book to stop someone else making a film about Mary Anning when the scriptwriters has a far racier version of her life up their sleeve!

Yes you’re right DeadPirateLuna - not based on Remarkable Creatures then. Agree with you in that I’m disappointed that the film makers didn’t find Mary Anning’s story fascinating enough in its own right without throwing in the sexual angle (whether it was real or not)

I know it's OK to make a fictionalised film about someone but I agree it's depressing that someone has tried to sex up the very inspiring story of such a determined and brilliant single woman.

She may have been gay /had gay relationships and she had some close female friendships but there's no evidence - and she had close male friendships as well.

I absolutely loved Francis Lee's last film, God's Own Country, so I'm really excited about Ammonite, although as far as I know the romance is made up.

ugh its so annoying. I thought that about "The Favourite" too. Can't we just have a film about historically important women without making it about men (or if no men, lesbian sex will do)
See also: Mrs Brown, Elizabeth etc etc

I agree it's depressing that someone has tried to sex up the very inspiring story of such a determined and brilliant single woman.

Agreed. It's pathetic.

And also, didn't they realise that these days lesbian characters should be played by lesbian actresses? Tsk.

Hundreds and hundreds of historical biopics have added, invented or amalgamated straight romances to the lives of their protaganists and I don't remember seeing any threads complaining about those.

Such as?

Hundreds and hundreds of historical biopics have added, invented or amalgamated straight romances to the lives of their protaganists and I don't remember seeing any threads complaining about those.

Ok, I'll do it then. In "Elizabeth" (the one with Cate Blanchett as the titular queen), I hated the romantic plot between her and Dudley. It actually made QE1 (a famously clever and ambitious woman) look rather stupid. Of course she would have known he was married! Of course she would have weighed up the risk of having a sexual relationship in an age of little privacy and no reliable birth control!

Here was a great scientist largely denigrated by the mostly male scientific establishment for making great strides in paleontology, but instead of focusing on that, let's make up a lesbian relationship and vase the entire film around it.

I am all for representation but if the film industry cannot separate female friendship for something much deeper then I'm out. Every single woman in history wasn't a lesbian. "Oh, she was single all her life, she must have been a lesbian!" Utter bollocks.

Base not vase fucking autocorrect

Lesbians almost never get film representation that isn't pornified or for the male gaze. I don't care if it's true or fiction, I'm glad it's coming out (so to speak)

Peachgreen I know what you mean but there’s adding, amalgamating and inventing romances for the main protagonists and then there’s completely focussing on those ‘romances’ to the detriment of the main story.

I’ve seen an interview with Kate Winslet about the film and most of it was spent describing how they choreographed the sex scenes between her and Saoirse - all couched in a very empowering way but ignoring the fact that they seemingly couldn’t get through a film about Mary Anning without throwing in a sex scene. I think I would have objected if they’d made up an affair with anyone to be honest.

Lesbians almost never get film representation that isn't pornified or for the male gaze. I don't care if it's true or fiction, I'm glad it's coming out (so to speak)

The trouble is that it almost certainly will be pornified, or at least played for the titillation of men. I'd love to be wrong, but the choice of the very lovely Saiorse Ronan as the lead suggests otherwise.

I really enjoyed Remarkable Creatures and would recommend. It added a whole new dimension to visiting the National History Museum. And no extraneous same-sex relationships in to spice it up!

@Kokeshi123 I mean, every film about Elizabeth I ever? Braveheart? A Beautiful Mind? The Greatest Showman? The Theory of Everything, The Aviator, Immortal Beloved... all either heavily fictionalised or completely made up heterosexual romances (along with lots of other details, no doubt, as biopics are very rarely 100% accurate!)

More lesbian love stories in the media is not a bad thing, especially given the director's film making history which suggest it will be presented in a sensitive way.

Yes - the sex scenes in God's Own Country are very explicit, not at all pornographic, and absolutely essential to the plot and character development of the film.

I've not seen God's Own Country VirginiaWolverine but after reading a few reviews, might have to rectify that. I'll be watching Ammonite for the beautiful Dorset scenery of course. I hope they get a good thunderstorm in the film as a nod to what happened to her as a child. Hopefully people will look into Mary Anning further after watching it and appreciate what she achieved.

Why aren't we hearing outrage on behalf of asexuals? Why aren't Stonewall and Pink News outraged on behalf of this sexual minority? Surely someone should be cancelled.

Leaving aside the admittedly big issue of titillating the male gaze......I actually like the idea of suggesting that perhaps all those single ladies weren't so single. Because it is a possibility, and we know that apart from some exceptional ladies, it would have been hidden in some way. So, yeah, I like the idea that some of those women who I have always admired anyway, might also have been engaged in significant emotional, romantic and sexual relationships with other women. I'm resisting saying lesbian in the sense that our current usage of the term might not have fitted with how they saw themselves or how they organised their lives.