![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Happy Birthday L.M. Montgomery...
Nov. 30th, 2010 01:58 pmRight. So in honor of it being Lucy Maud Montgomery's birthday today, let me tell you about how an adaptation of Emily of New Moon traumatized me last night. So thanks for that Canadian TV. Aren't you guys supposed to be the NICE country? LOL
It was, actually, a really nice bit of drama. I haven't read the book in a long time, so I'm not 100% sure, but I think they played fast and loose with the book canon ... but whether it was in the book or not, Emily's widowed father finally succumbs to his heart ailment (while trying to get Emily's cat off the roof of their house) ... and then the maternal side of the family rolls up and they start trying to boss the pants off everyone.
So far so good, but then they went and took my breath away during the funeral scene. They're doing the "ashes to ashes... sure and better hope..." bit and Emily is sobbing at the graveside. At which point the bossiest of the bossy relatives, Aunt Elizabeth, pulls her back and says "Don't make a spectacle of yourself."
Well, that punched my buttons in a way I wasn't expecting.
Yeah, I've heard that all my life. That ... "be less, for what you are is an embarrassment."
And what KIND of a message is that to tell a child?????
I mean, sure, there are inappropriate places and times to get all over emotional... but crying at your father's funeral shouldn't be one of them.
And THEN. *rolls eyes*
As if all that wasn't bad enough ... and for some reason this, in the moment, just really gutted me.
Bossy Aunt slings Emily into their carriage to cart her home with her since there's no one else to take her. Emily is discovered smuggling her beloved cat in her carpet bag, and Bossy Aunt turns around, grabs the cat by the scruff of the neck, and drop it over the side of the carriage. We're left with a shot of a lone, meowing kitty in the middle of a dark forest watching as the carriage drives away.
Well, that just did me in. There I was, sobbing on the couch thinking about that cat suddenly being all alone in the forest. Abandoned.
I'm telling you, that cat better show up at the new home in episode two, or something. If they leave that untouched... well, I'll be forced to make up my own happy ending for that cat. I mean REALLY.
I appreciated that this episode didn't shy away from death, or prejudice, or injustice, or meaness. Lots of things which don't always get included in adaptations of children's books. But I draw the line, apparently, at abandoning kitties in the forest.
Also HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY ISSUES! LOL
Anyway. It just was more of a gut sucker punch than I wanted as I looked for something to watch after rehearsal and before I went to bed. Ah, the power of stories.
This entry was originally posted at http://valancy-joy.dreamwidth.org/137648.html
It was, actually, a really nice bit of drama. I haven't read the book in a long time, so I'm not 100% sure, but I think they played fast and loose with the book canon ... but whether it was in the book or not, Emily's widowed father finally succumbs to his heart ailment (while trying to get Emily's cat off the roof of their house) ... and then the maternal side of the family rolls up and they start trying to boss the pants off everyone.
So far so good, but then they went and took my breath away during the funeral scene. They're doing the "ashes to ashes... sure and better hope..." bit and Emily is sobbing at the graveside. At which point the bossiest of the bossy relatives, Aunt Elizabeth, pulls her back and says "Don't make a spectacle of yourself."
Well, that punched my buttons in a way I wasn't expecting.
Yeah, I've heard that all my life. That ... "be less, for what you are is an embarrassment."
And what KIND of a message is that to tell a child?????
I mean, sure, there are inappropriate places and times to get all over emotional... but crying at your father's funeral shouldn't be one of them.
And THEN. *rolls eyes*
As if all that wasn't bad enough ... and for some reason this, in the moment, just really gutted me.
Bossy Aunt slings Emily into their carriage to cart her home with her since there's no one else to take her. Emily is discovered smuggling her beloved cat in her carpet bag, and Bossy Aunt turns around, grabs the cat by the scruff of the neck, and drop it over the side of the carriage. We're left with a shot of a lone, meowing kitty in the middle of a dark forest watching as the carriage drives away.
Well, that just did me in. There I was, sobbing on the couch thinking about that cat suddenly being all alone in the forest. Abandoned.
I'm telling you, that cat better show up at the new home in episode two, or something. If they leave that untouched... well, I'll be forced to make up my own happy ending for that cat. I mean REALLY.
I appreciated that this episode didn't shy away from death, or prejudice, or injustice, or meaness. Lots of things which don't always get included in adaptations of children's books. But I draw the line, apparently, at abandoning kitties in the forest.
Also HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY ISSUES! LOL
Anyway. It just was more of a gut sucker punch than I wanted as I looked for something to watch after rehearsal and before I went to bed. Ah, the power of stories.
This entry was originally posted at http://valancy-joy.dreamwidth.org/137648.html
