#tfg watches emma 2009

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Finally checking out the BBC miniseries for Emma, and it just definitely does not feel as strong as the BBC P&P. I'm still going to enjoy watching it but the long exposition at the beginning was incredibly jarring to me and I'm no expert but the timelines for their histories seems really strange. I listened to the book recentlish and I admittedly miss things given the language being formulated less familiarly, but I have never gotten the impression Emma had anything to do with Isabella and John. I get what they're going for with it which isn't a bad choice but one I disagree with haha. So I'm not hating it ofc but I'm kinda annoyed lol

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I do see why they went the direction they did. The show is definitely trying to draw attention to the fact that Emma's meddling has resulted in her current lonely position. By including Isabella's marriage in that, they get to hammer down the irony that her matchmaking has left her desperate for Harriet's company.

I just watched Mr. Knightly say to Emma that she would one day greatly regret her meddling, and that's a really great moment, especially with this setup, given that the show is making extra Emma's fault she's in the situation. She is already greatly regretting her matchmaking.

This also makes an implication even more heavy than one might get from the book that by choosing Elton for Harriet, Emma is almost ensuring to keep Harriet. I don't think Emma is like choosing to pick Elton because she's sure he won't marry Harriet, but I think he feels safe to match Harriet with because of ways he seems inaccessible to Harriet.

Harriet marrying Robert Martin, she believed, took Harriet even farther from her than Elton. But if Elton doesn't marry Harriet, she continues to have Harriet for a companion longer too.

I like what they're doing with this choice, and it was the right route to take imo if they were going to do it.

But I still much prefer the idea that the only successful matchmaking she's a part of is Ms. Taylor and Mr. Weston. Which was largely a situation of noticing infatuation among two people and smoothing the path. And given the fact that Mrs. Weston, before marrying, may have felt that she could not abandon the Churchills and therefore didn't quite offer encouragement to Mr. Weston, Harriet playing matchmaker for her would be something Mrs. Weston could assume meant Emma was giving her blessing. In fact, Mrs. Weston might have assumed those 'matchmaking' attempts by Emma would be her way of showing her that it was okay and not even matchmaking at all.

It highlights how young Emma is and how little she understands the world outside of her bubble. Though... I guess... the show does make Isabella say she would not have married if Emma had not been there to take care of Father, so I guess, in a way, the same scenario could be said for Emma in this case, where Isabella only was encouraged because her sister gave her the blessing and was letting her know it was alright to leave Father in her hands.

I'm more okay with it now I've talked myself into it that way, but Emma's transformation to realizing how little she really understand human dynamics (read especially when she discovers Frank and Jane) is such a good arch that... still, a little piqued. Ha XD

Finally checking out the BBC miniseries for Emma, and it just definitely does not feel as strong as the BBC P&P. I'm still going to enjoy watching it but the long exposition at the beginning was incredibly jarring to me and I'm no expert but the timelines for their histories seems really strange. I listened to the book recentlish and I admittedly miss things given the language being formulated less familiarly, but I have never gotten the impression Emma had anything to do with Isabella and John. I get what they're going for with it which isn't a bad choice but one I disagree with haha. So I'm not hating it ofc but I'm kinda annoyed lol

[thoughtfulfangirling]

@itaughtyoutofightandfly said:

Honestly, I was a 2005 P&P fan my whole life and watched it multiple times a year from young childhood and didn't watch Emma 2009 til I was an adult. I've now seen it a handful more times and can honestly say it's my favourite Jane Austen love story (still love P&P more overall, but the way Emma 2009 sets up Mr Knightley's love for her in so many subtle ways the whole time and his whole demeanour and Emma's position granting marriage as a choice not a necessity? Best romance on the market)

itaughtyoutofightandfly 2h ago

All this to say, you'll like it more the next time you watch it, and more the next time after that

I will definitely watch it again too! It's definitely great material for when I need a feel good watch even with my little qualms. I will say I thought this actress the closest to the Emma I would imagine in my head, and the portrayal of Knightly truly was solid. I think knowing where it's going and what it's doing in a second viewing will help it, but it is one of my things not to like much exposition in visual media. Imma hypocrite like that lmao cause it doesn't bug me in books. Austen likes to have those and after all I very much enjoyed the Kushiel trilogy I read and boy if Kushiel's Dart doesn't front load the very start of the series with so much exposition lmao XD

Finally checking out the BBC miniseries for Emma, and it just definitely does not feel as strong as the BBC P&P. I'm still going to enjoy watching it but the long exposition at the beginning was incredibly jarring to me and I'm no expert but the timelines for their histories seems really strange. I listened to the book recentlish and I admittedly miss things given the language being formulated less familiarly, but I have never gotten the impression Emma had anything to do with Isabella and John. I get what they're going for with it which isn't a bad choice but one I disagree with haha. So I'm not hating it ofc but I'm kinda annoyed lol