#pride and prejudice: a latter day comedy

[veronicaleighauthor]

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

“Pride and Prejudice” is a timeless classic, and the basis for many of today’s romcoms. Boy meets girl, boy offends girl, girl hates boy, girl inspires boy to become a better man, boy and girl live happily ever after. There have been countless updated retellings. Countless. Most of the Hallmark Movies are reminiscent of this trope. “You Got Mail” is by far one of the more popular ones. The Mormons have their version in “Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy.” There’s “Bride & Prejudice” a Bollywood version; a version where Lizzy and Darcy take on Zombies; and the murder mystery, “Death Comes to Pemberly.” I’m not even going to mention all of the novels flooding the market are “Pride and Prejudice” inspired. I love a new spin on an old classic…but let’s not beat a dead horse. Austen is a genius and considering all of the romcoms, remakes, retellings, the recycled “Pride and Prejudice” formula can feel worn out. Or worse, cheapened.

One afternoon, I noticed my sister looking at her phone, earbuds in, laughing out loud.

            “Veronica, you have got to see this!” She insisted, when she finished watching a video. “It’s a new, updated ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on YouTube. It’s called ‘The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.’ It’s hilarious!”

I nodded, but wasn’t too enthused with the idea. As I mentioned above, I had had my fill of “Pride and Prejudice” knock offs. Often the actors fall short in their portrayals of the characters. Or the 19th century manners, customs, and plotlines don’t translate well to the 21st century. Example – Lydia running off with Wickham, living out of wedlock in London, and having to marry to save her from complete ruin. While it wasn’t fair in the book, considering they lived in Georgian/Regency England, Lydia and Wickham had to marry. However, in the 21st century, reputations aren’t “ruined” if people live together. Also, in this modern era, women have more rights, freedoms, education, and money, which doesn’t make it imperative for them to marry at all if they don’t want to.

A few weeks later, I tuned into the first episode. Then the second, third…and so on. There were a hundred episodes in all and of an evening before turning in, I watched a handful. Lizzie Bennet, a grad student who lives at home and is up to her eyeballs in debt, is intent on having a lucrative career and decides to do a vlog series for a class. The audience gradually meets the large cast of characters in Lizzie’s life…her sisters sweet Jane and wild Lydia, her bestie Charlotte Lu, new comers Bing and Caroline Lee. A few are left to our imaginations, or end up in Lizzie’s comical reenactments. The one who she mocks most in her imitations is Darcy, a friend of Bing’s, who’s snobbish and rude behavior offends her. The story (which mirrors the original in a round about way) plays out before the camera, or is reenacted. Darcy continues to be illusive, until episode sixty, when the man himself makes an impromptu cameo.

The series of misunderstandings are eventually solved, and Darcy and Lizzie surrender their pride and prejudice, and allow themselves to fall in love. Their relationship is a marriage of true minds. As much as I enjoyed this new take on an old classic, it was many of the side characters whose story arcs intrigued me.

When Bing Lee returns to reunite with Jane, rather than jump at the chance of reconciling, Jane is offered an explanation and apology. She has plans put in motion in regards to her career, and instead of forfeiting her dreams, Bing Lee follows her lead and supports her.

Charlotte Lu isn’t condemned for accepting Mr. Collins’ proposal…of a job. While Lizzie might question her motives and happiness, we see Charlotte content with her choices and she has a way out of her financial woes. She can help provide for her mother and younger sister too.

Best of all, Lydia is not conveniently married off to Wickham at the story’s end. Lydia is not the one-dimensional, selfish ditz shown in some adaptations/retellings. She is a well-rounded, three-dimensional young woman. We feel compassion when she makes mistakes and is manipulated, and we can rejoice when she thrives after her association with Wickham ends.

I’ve watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries multiple times and it never gets old. There’s something about it, especially during this pandemic, that is heartwarming. The oddball Bennet’s remind me of my own family. I’ve laughed and cried with this version, as much as I have with the original.

And you know what, I think it’s time for me to tune into it again. You can watch it for free on Youtube! I’ll even link the first episode here.

[hotjaneaustenmenpoll]

Also, I know this is not the point of the poll, but since you posted the mini poll with the modern Darcys, I need to give the one from Latter Day Comedy points for actually being named Fitzwilliam!

I didn't know this - immediately it has more of my respect!

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy

Rating: PG

Director: Andrew Black

Cast: Kam Heskin, Orlando Seale, Benjamin Gourley, Lucila Solá, Henry Maguire, Kelly Stables, Amber Hamilton Russo, Rainy Kerwin, Kara Holden, Hubbel Palmer, Honor Bliss, Carmen Rasmusen, Doug Chamberlain, Daniel Shanthakumar, Ken Norris, Bob Nelson

Release year: 2003

Genres: comedy, romance

Blurb: Elizabeth Bennet is a hardworking, intelligent college student who won't even think about marriage until she graduates...but when she meets Jack Wickham, a good-looking playboy, and Darcy, a sensible businessman, Elizabeth's determination is put to the test. Will she see through their exteriors and discover their true intentions?

[princesssarisa]

Pride and Prejudice adaptations with a modern setting – e.g. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Bride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy, Fire Island – seem to almost always save Lydia from Wickham in the end. Either Darcy stops the elopement, or the elopement is replaced with an online sex tape which is taken down. Wickham is either arrested or at least left behind permanently, and Lydia learns a lesson and gets a happy ending. Neither she nor the other characters have to live with her mistake for the rest of their lives the way they do in the original.

I've just been rereading several people's posts on this subject, and about Lydia's portrayal in general, which show some very different opinions about it all.

Of course, part of the issue is that in a modern setting, it's much easier to save Lydia. In most of the modern Western world, a teenage girl running off with a 30-year-old man would result in the man being arrested, not in their needing to get married to save both the girl's reputation and her whole family's. And even if they did get married, divorce is an option.

But I suspect the bigger issue is that Austen's original ending is considered cruel, unfair, and a product of outdated morals.

People view Austen as punishing Lydia for being a "bad girl" by leaving her trapped in a loveless marriage to a worthless man and always living on the edge of poverty, when by modern standards, she's guilty only of teenage foolishness. They accuse Austen of "making an example" of Lydia to teach young female readers how to behave, in contrast to the virtuous, well-behaved Elizabeth and Jane with their happy endings, and they call it anti-feminist.

Not only is Lydia's marriage bleak for her, it slightly mars Elizabeth and Darcy's happy ending too, as well as Jane and Bingley's. It means Wickham will always be a part of their lives, and for Lydia's sake, they're forced to treat him as a family member. Darcy is forced to financially assist his worst enemy – though at least he draws the line by not letting Wickham visit Pemberley – and even Jane and Bingley's patience is worn thin by the long periods of time Wickham and Lydia stay with them.

By modern standards of romantic comedy, this isn't normal. The heroine, the hero, and all their family and friends are expected to live entirely "happily ever after," while the antagonist – especially if he's a womanizer who preys on teenage girls – is expected to be punished, then never heard from again.

But of course, Austen didn't write simple romantic comedy. Her work was social commentary. Lydia's ending arguably isn't a punishment, but simply the only way her story could end without disgracing her or killing her off, and it arguably it serves less to condemn Lydia herself than to condemn the society that lets men like Wickham get away with preying on naïve young girls and forces their victims to marry them or else be disgraced forever. It also condemns the type of bad parenting that leads to Lydia's mistake. Lydia is the product of her upbringing, after all: between Mrs. Bennet's spoiling and Mr. Bennet's neglect, she's never had any decent parental guidance or protection. And our heroines, Elizabeth and Jane, both pity their sister and regret that marriage to Wickham is the only way to save her honor. No sympathetic character ever says she deserves it.

The fact that Lydia is trapped in a bad marriage, and that Wickham does go unpunished and the other characters will always have to tolerate him and even cater to him for Lydia's sake, arguably drives home Austen's social criticism. The fact that it adds bittersweetness to the otherwise blissfully happy ending is arguably part of the point. If we change it just to create a happier ending, or in the name of "feminism" and "justice for Lydia," doesn't that dilute the message?

Then there's the fact that by the standards of Austen's era, Lydia's ending is remarkably happy. She doesn't die, or end up abandoned and forced into sex work or a life of seclusion. Nor, despite Mr. Collins' recommendation, does her family cut ties with her: the ending reveals that Jane and Elizabeth regularly welcome her into their homes, and Elizabeth "frequently" sends her money. Other authors would have punished her much more severely.

But of course, that was a different time. While in Austen's original context, Lydia's fate might seem fairly happy and lenient, by modern standards it seems more cruel. And since most of the modern retellings that change her fate are screen adaptations, not books, maybe the difference in art form further justifies the change. I'm thinking of that post I recently reblogged, which argued that some of Austen's more "merciless" plot points would seem darker on film than in print, and therefore tend to be softened in adaptations.

So how should a modernized adaptation handle Lydia's ending? Is it better and more progressive when they save her from Wickham? Or for the sake of social commentary and retaining Austen's sharp edges, should the writers follow the book and find a way (not necessarily marriage to Wickham, but some modern equivalent) for her mistake to leave her trapped in a less-than-happy life, and add a slight bittersweet note to the other characters' endings too?

I think a case can be made for both choices and I'd like to know other people's viewpoints.

[dandelionsandderivatives]

Oh! I forgot Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy! This one is very odd. It's set in an LDS community and so it's. . . Pride and Prejudice but modern LDS? I'm not LDS, and so I feel like I'm not getting some of the jokes. It does, however, feature Mary lecturing the other girls on their choice of church attire and awkwardly singing "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean" at a party, and the latter scene is so full of cringe that it takes my breath away. Again, I wouldn't recommend it as a first adaptation, but if you want to see how people interpret the story into a different culture, then go for it! I file it in the same category as Bride and Prejudice. One of the interesting things about this adaptation is that the setting allows more fidelity to the source material than other modern settings. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, for example, changes some of the marriage proposals to job offers, but since A Latter-Day Comedy is set among young adults who are looking for spouses, fewer plot points are changed.

I also vaguely remember seeing the trailer for this when it came out, and I'm still confused at the fact that this trailer somehow reached my family. I don't really know what the target demographic for this movie was, so maybe we were unknowingly in it. Or maybe my parents were just searching the internet for any Jane Austen-related news.

[ardentlyinlovedarcy]

[the-troll-book-of-mormon]

there is not a doubt in my mind that mormonstuck karkat would have loved the movie pride and prejudice: a latter-day comedy

[bestadaptationtournament]

@thehobbitwithstickyuppyhair replied to your post “Pride & Prejudice: Modern adaptations”:

Bride and Prejudice is so good!! And Pride and Prejudice: a Latter Day Comedy is also amazing and hilarious (and despite the characters going to church it's not really a religious movie)

​Sorry... I don't actually have anything to add to your comment. It's lovely.

But was anyone gonna tell me you can quote a reply and auto-tag the op by hovering over it under the activities or was I suppose to just find that out myself?

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I asked you about Darcy, now it is fair to ask you about Lizzy:

[daenystheedreamer]

do you have any book recs?

im gonna sound like a normie or a heathen but my tastes in books is extremely lame 😭 my favourite books are all huge classics. i fucking love pride and prejudice im so boring 😭 i read the fucking godfather and thought it was fine like THAT is how boring my tastes are

i LOVE catch 22 if you havent read it i HIGHLY recommend it. its really funny and i♡yossarion. about american pilots during ww2 but its a military/war/america/etc satire. really funny!!!

HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO... omg my most favourite recently published read. BEAUTIFUL collection of short stories. feminist queer etcetc, i love the quiet body horror so to speak? it felt like it read my mind...

an invitation from a crab by panpanya amazing manga/short story collection. after reading it i had to lay back and just stare into the nothingness. again it felt like it read my mind

kurosagi corpse delivery service episodic body horror/horror comedy detective mystery manga. its about a group of college students of a buddhist university who all have various odd ESP powers who try to help corpses lay in rest/peace. great ensemble cast and the dark horse official english translation is AMAZING especially if you are a huge nerd who likes reading footnotes

gay manga: my lesbian experience with loneliness and our dreams at dusk. the latter is a beautiful exploration of queer people, a very kind and sweet work (though check for trigger warnings). the former is a really raw memoir by a lesbian author. its beautiful and its relatable and its horrible and vulnerable. love it<3

junji ito in general great horror mangaka.

ive got more manga reccs but i think i did too many already and idk if they count as books im sorry for answering your ask bad 😭 anyway some more of my lame taste in books below the cut

favourite books no order off the top of my head and my goodreads: catch-22 (love you bisexual slut legend yossarion), contact by carl sagan, i robot by isaac asimov, alias grace + the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood. i love a clockwork orange (LOVE nadsat). i like maurice (em forster), a thousand splendid suns (khaled hosseini). also fingersmith and like water for chocolate. i liked carmilla but its honestly kinda mid 😭

love the hunger games uhhhh. love asoiaf obvi. i tried the first of the witcher novels (the short story collection) but they were too sexist for me and geralt was an annoying centrist. i was like but the elves are literally being oppressed God forbid they fight back. God Forbid renfri fight back against men! i liked jaskier though :) jesus christ thats a tangent

i actually like a lot of non fiction. jeanette mccurdy's recent memoir is a great read, as if ben mcintyre's operation mincemeat. i read ben raines' clotilda, about the last slave ship to smuggle captive africans to the USA. all three are interesting reads

finally karl marx's communist manifesto :) not a joke. very quick pamphlet. one day i will read lenin's imperialism i stg. my goodreads to read list is huge...

[qualitymoonsuit]

It's funny that I should see a post that mentions Jane Austen while listening to God Awful Movies' review of a movie called Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy. (It's a modern-day, Mormon retelling of P&P.)

in the age of remote work we should all be visiting friends like they did in jane austen times. is it raining? stay overnight, you'll catch a chill. coming for a visit? why not stay for a couple months, until the roads...get better?

[hotjaneaustenmenpoll]

I tried searching but couldn't find the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on your blog. Was it not included because it's a modern adaptation? It was very popular on tumblr at the time and there are certainly some hot men in it.

I'm afraid I kept it strictly to regency period . There was a minipoll of my two favourite bingley's from modern pride and prejudices which had Bing Lee in but as we're all going feral for Darcys this week here are some more modern men to vote on...

[farfarawaygirl]

There is a Mormon adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and I only saw it once many, many years ago; but I think about it all the time. I just want to know if it as bad/good as I remember. The above gif is from it.

The tagline: a latter-day comedy

[frootlooppoptarts]

“After all the time we’ve spent together--” “You were paying me to cut your hair.” “Cut my hair? It was practically a scalp massage. The way you dug in there with your fingers...”

[still-alive-at-the-moment]

Jeff Foster’s “Dream on Dream” from the soundtrack to Pride & Prejudice a latter-day comedy; Enjoy

[mrdarcysdadbod]

Mormon P&P?!

OH YEAH so my understanding of the life of this adaptation, which is a 2003 film called "Pride and Prejudice: a Latter-Day Comedy," is that it started as a stage adaptation by some Brigham Young University students that got made into a movie (wikipedia is corroborating the "BYU students/graduates made it" part but not the "started as a stage play" part so idk) which sets P+P in modern-day Mormon culture, and from what I've heard it's actually okay-to-good in terms of adaptations! Which, like, tracks to me, bc (much as is the case with Bride and Prejudice) using a modern culture that echoes Regency English cultural values around marriage is an effective way to preserve the marriage plot, and, imo, there are feminist themes that can be teased out of that setting that can't be in a period piece just bc the period is missing that tension of like, feminism exists, just not here and not for you; I'm not saying that B+P accomplishes that (it's been years since i saw it last) or that Mormon P+P even attempts it (I've never seen it) but i think it's worth mentioning. Anyway I don't know, uh, anything else about it really, but that's the short version!

It's explicitly LDS/Mormon in theme and content, though wikipedia says some of the reviews call the Mormon themes more subtle. Regardless I can imagine it might be uhhh upsetting for people with religious trauma vis a vis Mormonism or Xian fundamentalism in general, so there's that as a caution I suppose. Anyway I do intend to watch it at some point! And I'll probably revisit this when I do.