More Happy Things!

[awanderingbard]

Last year, I picked up a book from the discount rack at Chapters which was called 'The Lizzie Bennet Diaries' and I sort of knew the title as a thing that had been on YouTube, but had never seen it. But I enjoyed the book, which is standalone but also ties into the series, and ended up watching the series, and it was awesome. It's, as might be predicted, a modern take on Pride & Prejudice, told through vlog entries. The production value and acting can be a little subpar in spots, but it does a superb job of updating the story to make you feel what the original readers must have felt in the time it was written and uses a pretty diverse (and well-chosen) cast and creative storytelling.

They followed it up with an adaptation of 'Sanditon', Jane Austen's unfinished novel, which was more an experiment on their part and was a bit meh, but follows Gigi (Georgiana) Darcy on an adventure and fills in a gap until their next production, which was called 'Emma Approved' and was an adaptation of 'Emma'. I actually enjoyed it more than the first series, but Emma is my favourite Jane Austen novel. And now they're making another season of it! It just started last week, but I only spotted it last night on my YouTube recs. It looks like they are or will be folding in 'Persuasion' now. All the series take place in the same universe already, with some of the Lizzie Bennet characters appearing or being mentioned in Emma Approved.

I was very late to the party when I binged my way through the first three series, so it's exciting to be here at the beginning of this one. And they tend to be pretty short, fluffy episodes (though LBD can get a little heavy through Lydia's storyline on occasion), so it's good for my recovering self to have to enjoy. If you're interested in any of them, the playlists are below. It's best to watch via the playlists because the stories were told over multiple channels and the playlists make sure you get everything in the right order.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Welcome to Sanditon
Emma Approved

And the new Emma season can be found here. It doesn't seem to have its own playlist yet.

They've also done adaptations of 'Frankenstein' and 'Little Women', but I haven't watched either of those so I can't comment on them.

Comments

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

I’ve seen the LBD and the Frankenstein adaptation and enjoyed them both. But yes the Frankenstein one is much much darker but I liked the gender-bending they did.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

I really liked the racial diversity in the Austen ones. Lots of colourblind casting and no effect on the plot. I liked how they managed to update the plot points to make it have an impact in modern times. Like Lizzie turning down a really great job instead of a marriage proposal and Lydia being emotionally abused and manipulated instead of eloping with Wickham. For the original readers, her running off with Wickham would have been as horrifying, but to us, it seems like a lot of silly overreaction. I thought they managed to bring home why everyone was freaking out and how much Darcy did to help them out.

The Emma one is equally as good. A little sillier and just as clever. I’m glad that’s the one they’re bringing back.