Warner: Am I In Hell?

Warner: Am i in hell?

Kenji: No, Warner. If you were in hell you’d be on the throne and the devils would be packing

Amen

We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men.

Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid

with persuasion (2022) grappling for the same snarky/fun/whimsy take on austen that emma (2020) had:

emma does retain crucial period-specific elements. dressing, style, social norms, language. i was thrown at first by how different it was from previous adaptations, but its charm is in how fresh it feels despite respecting the source material.

what's more, this doesn't detract from austen's characterisation of emma woodhouse. emma is lively, and bright, and often thoughtless, and that's very much captured in the adaptation. (i have my thoughts on the characterisation of isabella and mr woodhouse but that's a discussion for another day.) sure, we got scenes that were never in the book (the nosebleed one? hysterical) but i'm not against an adaptation throwing some of its own fodder into the mix.

persuasion, though, in trying to follow emma, is in danger of losing the entire spirit of the book and of anne elliot. anne does not exist to be elizabeth bennet-ed and emma woodhouse-d into becoming more palatable to audiences. it's absolutely right that anne is courageous and competent and charming, but in her own unique way. and it is precisely this that should show people that not everyone has to act like elizabeth and emma to be admired as a heroine.

you can be less lively, kind, quiet, humble, and still be as well-beloved. because that's exactly who anne elliot is. she is, and grows to become, a strong woman, despite everyone around her thinking otherwise just because of how unassuming she appears to be.

i think we've lost an incredible chance for anne to help people understand that, and i'm disappointed.

*whispers* did you know that people whose favourite trope is enemies to lovers are enticed by the idea of showing someone the worst parts of you and still having them love you