The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: WoooHooo!

So I have to admit that I hadn't read Pride and Prejudice before this(nor had I ever really wanted to read it.) I, through the course of my time on this Earth as both a reader, an English major and a fan, have made the conscious decision to both seek out and avoid certain things. It's always been one of those books that I put on my "Do Not Read Ever" lists because it came with so much Pomp & Circumstance:

It's all about ball gowns and parties and rich entitled white people stewing in their wealth and privilege. "Hmm, hmm. Look at all our money. Hmm, hmm."

Just by virtue of being an English major, I've been exposed to the genre of "Rich, White People And Their Problems" and it's been one of mutual dislike. All of the things that this genre represents are all things that I have decided I don't care about personally. Taking a step back, I can read into the subtleties and complexities of everything the time offers them.

Just based on my personality, I am all about the snide comments, backhanded compliments and daggers in the back. That's the beautiful part of this for me and it should be enough to sustain me but not really.

But then came the Lizzie Bennet Diaries:

At first I was really skeptical of everything that might be happening with this:

But then I started watching it and it all made sense now. Lizzie Bennet rocks. She's so real and down-to-earth and so snarky. It's a beautiful introduction and experience to take part in even though I am still not a fan of Pride & Prejudice.

The whole time she is doing this (on behalf of Hank Green and the VlogBrothers) she's sucking us into the story (which in spirit is exactly what Austen does) but gives us the ability to put it into perspective and then take this and put it back into a spacial-temporal perspective that Austen gave us.

Austenland

I heard about this book a few years ago, but never read it. Now, there's a movie. Go figure. So, this weekend my friends and I watched Austenland. I'm going to be honest; I loved it. We laughed. We said, "this is ridiculous!" and all that good stuff. It was just a lot of fun all around. A few days later, my friend even said, "I could watch Austenland again right now."

 (I love Mr. Darcy, too!) 

The premise is that Jane (lol) is obsessed with Pride and Prejudice and unlucky in love, so she goes to Austenland, a resort of sorts where actors interact with guests and bring Jane Austen's world to life. I saw many parallels between what the actors were doing and saying and various scenes in Austen's novels. Catching those moments is always a bonus.

I still want to read the book, and I'm sure that I will. I think this is an interesting "take" on Austen in that it shows how people today still have strong reactions to her novels, because they do. Much like the Jane Austen Book Club, which I also like. It's one of those movies I can watch whenever I feel like it and not get bored. It's just so cute. I can get a bit of an Austen fix without watching or reading any of her books or their incarnations on film.

I genuinely enjoy the films that aren't modern adaptations of the novels but modern films where the books or films are incorporated. Lost in Austen is another one. The main character actually gets transported into Pride and Prejudice.

(All four episodes of Lost in Austen are available to stream for free and legally on Hulu right here; yay! -- I think I know how I'm spending my Friday night!)

The modern adaptations of the books are great fun, too: Clueless, Bridget Jones' Diary, and the good old Lizzie Bennet Diaries or the follow-up series of Emma.

Austen's novels have been interpreted in many ways and changed drastically for some of them. I will watch any Austen interpretation I can get my hands on.

I'm gonna go read some P&P fanfiction now.