I completely agree with you. They paid zero regard to the story. --Marilla wasn't some lonely suburban housewife looking for friends through a book club. --Anne didn't talk about the noises the Hammonds made during sex. --And for pity sake, she didn't hit Gilbert with the slate b/c she was afraid the other girls wouldn't like her. She wasn't a slave to peer pressure. The writers shouldn't change one of the most iconic actions in the book. It's why Anne refused to become with Gilbert for YEARS. She knew she was being stubborn and she finally came around to be his friend. It's like having Romeo and Juliette live at the end. She hated her hair and it was her achilles heel--her "lifelong sorrow." Why she mouthed off to Rachel Lynde and why she hit Gilbert with the slate. |
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I'm very conflicted. I'm ok with the fleshing out of back story, I don't even mind some of the extra scenes that aren't in the books, but I hate where they have directly contradicted the books, or taken iconic scenes and turned them into something else for no apparent reason (the puffed dress buying, the slate over Gilberts head, the raspberry cordial drinking, etc). But seriously, Matthew should not have a love interest! And Gilbert's father didn't die when he was a kid. And saving Ruby Gillis's house from the fire?
One thing I will give it is that the actress looks more convincing as an awkward, skinny, and plain orphan than Megan Follows did. She embodied Anne's spirit much better, but she was always obviously pretty, even as a child. |
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Ugh, I hate what they did with Gilbert's dad in this remake.
And what is with adding Jerry the hired boy? The last few episodes deviated so much from the book they were farcical, probably starting with Anne getting her period, having period-related mood swings and temper tantrums, and this device being sustained for the entire episode. The minister telling Marilla to keep Anne at home and prepare her to be a wife, and for Marilla to do this, and for the issue to drag on through an episode was ridiculous, and completely out of the spirit of the novel. Stupid. I read all of the Anne books, as well as all of the Emily books, the Pat books, and the stand-alones, and I am confident that L.M. Montgomery would have hated this series. |
Megan Follows is Anne in my mind. I have trouble watching any other version. |
I completely agree no love interest for Matthew. However, Anne was always supposed to be pretty. LM Montgomery based Anne on a Gibson Girl model. They make reference to this in one of the Megan Follows sequels. Oddly, the model whose looks inspired Anne became infamous for being the girl on the red velvet swing: http://anneofgreengables.com/articles/evelyn-nesbit-the-real-anne-shirley/ |
| She grew up to be pretty, but the first book consistently describes her as scrawny, skinny, freckled, etc and she gets picked on for her looks. |
Rachel Lynde says that she wasn't picked for her looks and that she's homely. Skinny, scrawny yes, but not bugged eyed and buck toothed. (I'm not trying to be mean to the young actress but it seems like they cast her based on her looks b/c looks like a homely orphanan.) |
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I'm a huge fan of the the books, and find the new series too dark. In the books Anne is able to find joy in little things despite the harshness of life. Her little side stories and voices she hears in the books are shown as innocent imaginary friends, in this new series they are shown as delusions. Marilla keeps her home from the church picnic for "stealing" the pin in the book, in the show they send her back to the orphanage! Why did they make Gilbert an orphan? It's all too much.
The theme song is a Ahead by a Century by the Tragically Hip (Iconic Canadian band, not well-known at all outside Canada as far as I can tell). |
Oh, and I also hated how quickly she and Gilbert became friends, and how the slate break scene played out. Anne is extremely stubbon - she and Gilbert didn't become friends for years in the book, and didn't become romantically involved until they were much older (post-college). I feel like the show is already playing up the romance aspect. |
| Also, I'm guessing that this Gilbert is gay IRL. |
+1 Nothing can top the original Anne of Green Gables movies (1985), starring Megan Follows, Colleen Dewherst, and Richard Farnsworth (not to mention the books, of course). The story is joyous, sweet, and innocent. These new adaptations, including the 2016 version with Martin Sheen, are terrible. That one is so over-acted and tries so hard to be cutesy and "goofy." Awful. I had to turn it off after about half an hour. My twelve yr. old daughter and I still watch the 1985 trilogy - VHS tapes and all.
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PP again ^^^
Here's the link: http://anneofgreengables.com/ |
| Matthew is NOT supposed to be "hot." The Matthew played by Richard Farnsworth was the perfect, perfect portrayal. He was so sweet, kind, and gentle. Just what I pictured Matthew being like from the books. I can't believe what they've done to this beautiful story. |
| I'm a PP that hated it and I finally finished hate watching the season and my initial impression stands: TERRIBLE! |
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I don't recall the earlier version that well but I like this version ok. I think the casting was well done and the girl who plays Anne is well cast for looks.
I think it's odd to believe that her life was not dark and scary. It's obvious that Anne did a lot of dissociation to get by. That's why she has such an "imagination". It was born out of trauma. |