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ariainstars · 6 months ago

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Greta Gerwig’s 2019 “Little Women” A Slap in the Face of the Novel

My two cents on the 2019 movie version of this beloved classic by the novelist Louisa May Alcott, which was first published in 1868.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

For little tripping maids may follow God Along the ways which saintly feet have trod.

The novel is about four virtuous girls growing up while their father, a pastor, is at the American Civil War (1861 – 1865). We see them struggle with everyday life and with the particularities of growing up as well as the little or big drama that happen in their lives. Despite difficulties they always are a family. It’s their ties with other people as well as their faith that gives them strength and guideline, not any kind of ambition.

The book has strong morals, showing how good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds followed by punishment. Faith is a central theme, even when it’s not always harped on. Christian rituals and morals play a major role, beginning with the fact that the first novel both starts and ends on a Christmas day. The girls get gifted religious books, and they know The Pilgrim’s Progress so well that they make it a parlour game. Amy learns how to pray devoutly at her aunt’s house, helped by a French servant who is a Catholic.

The four sisters live by the standards of helping one another, in particular those in need. This is not a story about women pursuing their ambitions; they have „castles in the air” (chapter 13), but being good persons and always being there for one another is much more important for them than reaching personal goals. Beth carries this to the extreme when she gets ill taking care of the child of a poor family, and in the process gets so sick that though recovering at first, her health is so compromised that she dies young.

Their poverty is a major issue because it makes their sacrifice significant, e.g. when they bring their Christmas lunch to a family who is even poorer than them.

In the Gerwig movie version, the burdens they have to carry because they have so little money and must work for their living (which they rightly don’t enjoy) and because their father is at war are hardly to be noticed.

It is understandable if someone is not religious and therefore doesn’t appreciate the novel’s implications. But to take religion out of the equation in such a piece of fiction as this is like tearing its heart out.

The March sisters were supposed to be role models for girls, kind, virtuous and helpful. The book’s title is not there to belittle them because they’re female, but because it centres on four young girls, adolescents, no longer children but not adults yet; which is why their father calls them his “little women”. This movie made them „emancipated” modern girls, and that makes them detestable.

Meg

The novel told us how Meg, the oldest sister, went to a rich family to stay for a while, made a fool of herself, was disappointed by the frivolity of that life and turned her back on it. In the movie, her sister Amy accepts hypergamy after the novel had made a point of saying that family and virtue are more important than rank and wealth.

Jo(sephine)

In the novel, no one ever told Jo (or the other girls) „you can’t do this or that because you’re a girl“. Jo is a tomboy, but no one reprimands her for this. She is expected to mind her manners, yes, but not to change her nature and become more feminine. She moves to New York, works for her living, publishes her writing, founds a school, all with her family’s blessing. It’s ridiculous how this movie makes her a fighter for female independence.

Alcott’s Jo was much more a „modern woman” than Gerwig’s because she wrote novels, founded a school and also was married and had two sons. No one expected her to choose between a family of her own and a career.

Jo also said that if she was a boy, she would join her father in war. A few months in a trench would probably have changed her mind, thank you very much. Now that would have been an interesting direction to take a new movie interpretation.

Jo and professor Bhaer

In the novel, professor Bhaer’ criticism was not directed at Jo: he told her that young people should not read “such stories” without knowing that she was the author at that time. Jo had for a long time written sensational stories only to sell them, and Bhaer rightly pointed out that they did not have a good message for the readers. Jo understood that she could do better, and she did. He did not come across as offensive or mansplaining, or trying to discourage Jo from doing something she loved; he gave constructive criticism, and she was wise enough to take it. Why insert him in the movie at all in this case? Just to make Jo look better by seeming superior to him? In the 2017 BBC version, Jo accepts the criticism but also says that she writes her sensational stories because they sell and she wants to save money to take her sick sister on a vacation.

Jo’s rant „I’m sooo sick of being told this and that because I’m a girl“ is one of the many uncalled for scenes that did not appear in the novel with good reason. It’s petty and her wallowing in self-pity does the character no credit. Jo complains about feeling lonely, but it was one of the major points of the novels (there are four of them) that the March sisters are never lonely, whatever the trials they may undergo in their lives. Why did she tell Laurie that she won’t have him because she’s fine on her own then? In the novel, too, she rejected him, but she only said that they would not suit.

Jo and Laurie

Information has long since spread among readers that Alcott had to think up someone Jo would marry because apparently at the time, a heroine could not remain unmarried. She made Jo reject Laurie, disappointing many fans. In the movie, that is interpreted as Jo being „fine with being single”. Readers or moviegoers who expected them to be together in the end are called narrow-minded. Jo don’t need no man! She’s fine on her own!

But that wasn't the point. Readers didn’t expect Jo and Laurie to get married because they expected a heroine to get married to no matter whom, they expected it because the novel is very clear about how close they are. Jo and Laurie like one another from the start, share everything, Laurie compliments and encourages Jo always even when her family is not (e.g. when he tells her to have a run even if it will ruin her dress and hairdo). Laurie on one occasion kisses her, and on another occasion, Jo tells Amy that Laurie has beautiful eyes. Laurie is first depicted as being volatile and superficial, but he wises up and finishes his studies because he wants to be good enough for Jo. The two of them had the finest chemistry in all of the books. To me, it was plain that they belonged together. I was sorely disappointed when I read „Good Wives” and she rejected him.

Amy

In this movie, Amy tells Laurie that as a woman, she can’t earn her own money so she must marry well. At the same time, her sister Jo is in New York working at a boarding school to support herself, so that doesn’t make sense.

Amy is depicted as being „strong” here by „standing up” to Laurie who never had anything but kindness for her and, which is emphasized much more here than in the novel, she actually loves. She merely rejects him at first to „teach him a lesson” (an unneeded and uncalled one, but hey, he’s a guy so he must bleed for „all the wrong men do to women”). The little tirade she gives Laurie about „marriage being an economic proposition” because by law, her property and her children are his, is only spiteful. What use is it to tell that to today’s spectators, when things have changed long since?

If she wanted Amy to be a „strong woman”, why did Gerwig not make Amy a successful painter? If she did have to change major plot points, this would have been as good as another. What makes it worse is that Alcott had indeed drawn inspiration for her book from her own sisters: Amy was modelled on her sister Abigail who was a painter by trade, studied in Europe and later taught art to others, including prominent students.

Beth

If any of the March sisters was destined to remain unmarried, it was Beth; she’s content with staying with her family and never has any kind of romantic interest. All she wants is the comfort of her home, her cats and her beloved music. She would have been an excellent unmarried aunt to the March sister’s children had Alcott not decided to let her die (whatever her reasons). But of course, that can’t be. Not even in a modern movie version, no matter how you turn it upside down for the sake of „modern” messages to female viewers, can Beth survive and show that she’s fine without a husband. Because a female who doesn’t want marriage has to be a „strong, independent woman.”

~~~

Louisa May Alcott said that “I was born with a boys’ nature and always had more sympathy for and interest in them than in girls’.” Which is open to interpretation - maybe nowadays she would identify as a queer person -, however the character of Jo March is modelled after herself. It would have been more to the point to actually make a movie biography of the book author than ripping her most famous novel to shreds.

Women are better than men, I get it Greta. Some men may believe that they are better than women, but turning the tables on them doesn’t make things better, on the contrary.

I will reread the novel now to forget about this movie, thank you. P.S. Did this movie really win an award for “Best Costumes”? It’s cringe to see the girls wearing their hair open (!) in that time period, even worse when they’re at an actual ball.

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madmaxified · 1 year ago

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dc super hero girls ( 2019 ) swap au because I have no self control. it’s essentially just a role swap of the villain group and the hero’s ( and batman with the joker, mostly for narrative )

the hero ( formerly villain ) group themselves are INCREDIBLY unorthodox, mostly because none of them other than harleen and selina ever wanted to do something for other people before, they were mostly using their powers for selfish reasons ( not evil ones, just for personal gain ) so even though they’re all learning to be better people they’re not super well liked by the general public because of their destructive and frankly dangerous methods ( mostly adults hate them, other teenagers think they’re the coolest ) they’re referred to as vigilantes more rather than actual heroes

harleen swaps with babs, she still retains her canon personality she’s less apathetic, and genuinely cares deeply for a lot of her friends. she still loves playing pranks and practical jokes, but she’s less rowdy and rambunctious in the beginning, especially when she meets new people, mostly because she’s now really worried about making a good impression and not getting into too much trouble. rather than her dad taking a new job in metropolis, harleen got expelled from gotham high for playing a big prank ( it’s a running gag that no one but babs knows what it was ) and her dad was so pissed that she got kicked out of the only high school in gotham that he kicked her out. she lied about her address to her address to get into metropolis high, and she’s really trying her best to do well in school, and like diana was in canon, she was kinda just homeless for a bit. since the joker is a superhero in this universe, harley quinn ( a superhero name the others poke fun at sometimes because of how obvious it is ) is a crime fighting vigilante

selina swaps with diana, she isn’t an amazonian or anything ( that’s still diana ) but instead she’s more of a robin hood type character pre canon. she’d steal from banks or take valuables and sell them on the black market and give the money to people and families who need it, which isn’t an amazing tactic, but her intentions were good. she didn’t have any real interest or intention in starting a superhero group or actually fighting any crime before harleen brings up the idea, but she has been keeping a close eye on a couple girls ( pam, leslie, doris, carol ) at school that she thinks might have superpowers. once the group is formed she is the leader, mostly because she has the most battle iq / experience. like diana, she is the one leading the main training in the beginning, and though she’s the elected ‘leader’ she’s not really the mom of the group. she does care deeply about her team though, and she does try her best to keep them safe. she’s the least destructive member of the team because of how practiced she is at sneaking in and out of places without getting caught but she’s one of the most disliked because of catwoman’s already existing presence pre show, her intentions were good, but robbing banks is bad

the rest of the girls are less obvious swaps, it’s mostly just the villains are now heroes and the heroes are now villains

leslie is the more tech savvy one ( like karen ) she’s actually super smart which comes as shock to people based on her punk looks ( she hates when people say she doesn’t look like she’d enjoy math or science ) she’s not a bully anymore, instead, like kara she’s more sarcastic and just pokes fun at people, though it she takes it too far with people she cares about she’s very quick to apologize. she’s the one who is put under ra’s’ spell ( she’s still super punk guys OF COURSE she loved the league of shadows ) and her lighting gets all red and stuff and she looks super cool. she’s actually part of school newspaper, since she’s nicer, she doesn’t run a gossip column ( though she’s constantly BEGGING lois to let her start one ) she’s instead a field reporter, who always manages her to somehow get the inside scoop and really good pictures ( she’s hiding out the in tech guys ) also her and doris are one hundred percent going out

doris is more the mom of the group, she’s no longer a bully and instead uses her strength to defend people she cares about / beat the shit out of people she doesn’t like, she gets in trouble a lot because she’s constantly beating up kids at school who make fun of pam. her and pam are really close because their parents are both scientists and they grew up hanging out at labs together. both of them were experimented on by their parents, and have been aware of eachothers powers for a while. she’s super over protective of the others in the group, mostly pam ( because they’re basically sisters ) leslie ( cause they’re going out ) and harleen ( because harleen’s always putting herself into harms way ) she’s quite literally the type to just grab her friends and walk away with them tucked under her arms if she feels that something isn’t safe, despite their protesting. she’s the world’s biggest man hater ever, she gets pissed off so much if a guy says something misogynistic to her or her friends, her powers act ho so much it’s not even funny

carol is still the overemotional one of the group, though it’s mostly because her ring is more connected to strong emotions rather than love, but because she still not super sure how to control her ring yet ( none of the others really know what to do either so they’re all just trying their best ) so whenever her friends, or anyone else around her frankly, are feeling something really strong it effects her pretty deeply. she’s not obsessed with hal, though they are still exes, but him being a shitty boyfriend is one of the reasons she became so intune with her ring in the first place. she’s like the opposite of a therapist friend, in the sense of she’s a friend constantly trying to give therapy but also needs it more than anything. her and thaal are the definition of ‘twink and in denial lesbian’ friendship ( and she totally doesn’t dump to him about how hot she thinks lois lane is, even if she is trying to uncover the identities, they’re essentially this aus barry and babs ) she’s still a hopeless romantic, and is constantly gushing to the others about her ‘dream’ guy ( and theyr all like ‘carol you dumb lesbian my god!’ )

pam is basically the same, other than the fact that she’s less inclined to use her powers, mostly because she’s scared to. she really only goes into poison ivy form when she desperately needs to photosynthesize and when she’s either completely alone or with doris. her parents exterminated on her when she was little, and because of that fact that they literally turned her into a walking plant she’s completely incapable of eating plants ( people just think she has a weird medical condition ) though she’s still anti social, she does quite enjoy the company of a select few people. when she does finally agree to join the others in becoming a super hero, she really only does it / participates in certain crimes to try and help the environment. it isn’t until she and harley come face to face with batgirl that she finally starts using her powers to actually fight. she’s also less anti social, she still doesn’t have many friends, but it’s mostly because she’s shy and not because she doesn’t want them ( her and karen have basically swapped personalities ) she’s very much the sweetest member of the group ( leslie, doris and her are literally simon, alvin and theodore )

diana is a lot more like her aunt antiope, she spent a lot more time with her as a child and so she’s a lot more reckless and carefree. she doesn’t really care that much about her teammates, and to her they’re really just pawns she uses to achieve her goals and help her have a good time. she’s still new to metropolis, having just arrived at the time of the first episode, but rather than wanting to protect the world of man, she instead just wants to cause problems, have fun and possibly grow rich. antiope sent her the the human world willingly, because in this universe she’s the older sister and is the queen of the amazonians, rather than diana’s mom. she’s less academic and way more sporty, a trait she’s picked up from her aunt since she never really had to study when she was younger. diana is incredibly manipulative in this au, almost every member of her group was manipulated into joining by her, and it continues as long as they remain part of the group

( bonus : the episode #thewarriorandthejester plays out basically the same, including diana figuring out harleen is harley quinn. during nightmare in gotham diana is present, and when harley’s tied up on the roof she reveals to babs that harleen is harley )

babs’ dad is still commissioner gordon, but she instead idolizes batman, and since batman’s a bad guy in this universe, so is babs ( she’s just extra careful about keeping her identity a secret ) like in canon, babs is extremely hyperactive, but in this universe it’s a lot more unchecked. since harleen forced herself to learn how to tone down and not always draw attention to herself in fear of getting kicked out again, her babs’ energy doesn’t match eachother’s as well as it used to. babs lacks a filter, so she’ll often just say what she doesn’t like about someone to their face, which is one of the reasons harleen’s new friends don’t like her as much. batgirl is a lot meaner in this universe, she’s rude, and blatantly makes fun of people, particularly harley ( cough … the reason pam gets so worked up and uses her powers in a fighting sense … cough ) while out of the costume harleen still is the more overprotective one ( she still would willingly kill for babs ) babs is the one who often goes to extreme measures to make sure the other is happy

zee is somewhat of an accidental villain, she used dark magic one time on accident ( she caused the gremlins to spew out of ace of spades a lot earlier on ) and diana, who witnessed this, pressured her into jointing her villain group, claiming it would help her ‘learn to control her dark magic better’ ( spoiler alert, it doesn’t ) while zee enjoys the freedom and publicity being a villain brings her, she really doesn’t enjoy using her dark magic, because she has no idea how to control it, she avoids using it most of time, because when she does use it, things get chaotic and very out of hand. she’s still the most popular girl in school out of costume, but she’s a lot less nice ( she’s stereotypical mean girl core and I’m sorry ) she’s a lot less open and kind as she is in canon, even to her friends, she’s a total asshole to everyone but especially to her friends

karen is a little wet rat in this universe, she was tired of being called small and weak and being picked on, so she built the bumblebee suit with the intention of getting revenge, but even with the broken growth tech diana still recruited her to her team, karen being the only one she didn’t have to manipulate in some way. she used to be incredibly shy, and while she’s still anti social ( her and pam have kind of swapped personalities ) she’s just rude now, and thats why she doesn’t have many friends. she’s a little wet rat and will a hundred percent bite you. she’s still constantly fix her growth tech, but she also refuses to let any of her team mates help her. basically all of them besides diana and maybe jessica like hate her because she’s so rude to them all of time and never follows any of their plans and just does her own thing half the time, but diana won’t listen to them when the tell her to kick karen off the team

jessica doesn’t want to be a villain, she definitely doesn’t enjoy it, like zee and literally every but karen, she was manipulated by diana to joining the team. like pam in canon, most of her motives for doing literally anything villain related is when she sees or hears about social injustices that she wants to fix. she does believe in fighting in this universe, she doesn’t love it, but she thinks that the only way to deal with social injustices is to use violence to punish people. in this universe, her fears of not being good enough for the green lantern core got the best of her and she ran off, quitting and instead taking up a yellow ring ( thaal still has his green ring in this au ) she’s a lot less of a social butterfly, she still uses school as a place to voice abut problems around metropolis, but because she’s a lot more self conscious the negative response get to her a lot more. she’s no longer like “I don’t know the meaning of the words leave it alone” and more just “oh … okay I’ll stop 😞” she’s still one who tries befriend pam, and they’re still adorable and probably dating. she also needs a hug asap

kara became a villain because she was really jealous of super man ( he’s still a hero in this universe ) and diana used that against her. she started out trying to be a hero but literally no one cared and they all called her destructive so diana was like “become a villain and then you can beat up your cousin mwa ha ha” and she was like “that sounds dope I’m in” when zod shows up, she still helps defeat him, because she still wants to be a hero deep down, she wants to help people, but diana won’t let any of them leave her villain group. she does try to help people whenever she thinks diana isn’t looking, and she always tries desperately not to hurt people when they’re pulling off heights or schemes. she’s still destructive and thinks punching things is a solution to everything mostly because diana tells her that it’s a great idea to do that, and so she’s never really learned any other way to deal with problems

lena and lex swap, so he’s the little rat child and she’s the super genius billionaire asshole. people don’t love lena as much as they do lex in canon mostly because she’s still a bit of a brat. she’s still beloved and held to a super high regard but people are also like “she’s also super fucking weird and is like a rat” she also has a keytar because fuck it ricky owens reference. so when she’s fighting with the girls instead of some weird dance she’s like putting on a little concert for them. most of her robots that need to be manually controlled have a piano as the control piano, so when lex is fighting the girls in the beginning he’s just slamming his hands on random keys and hoping it works

barbi still starts out a villain, she’s jealous that harleen became captain of the gymnastics team and was like “magic is the only solution fuck it” her and selina are exes but it’s so obvious they have not gotten over eachother at all ( “why’d she break up with you selina?” “it was over something stupid - I stole from her” “that’s a really good reason to dump you” ) cheetah is still a villain until around after the girls fight when lena because she was captured and then like immediately let her out and selina like was begging her to be a good guy with them, she late becomes an honorary member of the team. while she was captured she was in the tube next to selina and the whole time selina was like “barbi I’m sorry please take me back 😭”

the joker and batman swap so babs is the one who idolizes a villain and harleen idolizes a hero. the hive five also swap with the teen titans

dexter is literally the same except selina is the one who works at the animal shelter and is the one who adopts him