Well, that didn’t take long. Today I watched the second and third episodes of the new series “Anne With An E.” Spoilers ahead…proceed with caution.
The Incident Of The Brooch is dealt with in a most unsatisfactory and overdramatic way…even for a story about the very dramatic Anne. In the book, Marilla has an amethyst brooch that goes missing. She is sure Anne must have stolen it, and demands that Anne confess or she cannot go to the Sunday School Picnic. Anne is innocent, but because she is Anne, and because she desperately wants to go to the picnic, she makes up a wild story about stealing the brooch and dropping it into the water. Marilla insists that since she has lost the heirloom brooch she is not allowed to go to the picnic and Anne is distraught. Fortunately, Matthew finds the brooch, Anne and Marilla make up, they all go to the picnic and Anne gets to have ice cream for the first time EVER.
This new show decided it had to up the ante, for some reason. Same brooch, still missing, Marilla still insists on a confession (which she gets). However, in the new show, Anne is to be sent back to the orphanage for her “crime.” She is taken to the train station and put on the train, all alone, before the brooch is found. Two days pass, involving Anne running into a possible child molester/abductor, hitching a ride from a milkman, and then performing poetry in a different train station to earn money for a ticket onward. Matthew finally catches up with her and brings her home. Marilla, who has been sick with worry, cannot bring herself to say a civil word to either Matthew or Anne.
(PS…NONE of that business was in the original book.)
The Cuthberts take Anne to the church picnic where everyone treats Anne coldly, talking poorly about “the orphan” and “those foolish Cuthberts.” Boys bark at Anne and refer to her as “dog girl”. Anne hears these things, of course, and can’t help but feel as though she is still unwanted. (This is a departure from the book, too, I’m pretty sure. It’s definitely a departure from all the fun Anne had at the picnic in the original movie.)
In the end, the Cuthberts do adopt Anne, having her sign their family Bible, and having her change her name to “Anne Shirley Cuthbert.” (This is a departure from the book, too—which irks me as a literary purist.)
Episode 3 has plenty of its own faults. It’s Anne’s first day at school, and she is suuuuper excited. Anne gets to school and meets back up with Diana Barry (her BFF that we met in the 1st episode and saw briefly at the picnic). Diana shows her all around the school which is very “progressive” (ummm…ok…the story takes place in the 1870s what whatever, screenwriters…) and they find the teacher holding hands with Prissy Andrews, the oldest and prettiest girl in class. This is actually from the book. What happens next, however, is not. Anne goes on about how they must be having intimate relations and how they are going to make a baby. Diana listens, intrigued and horrified in equal measure. At lunch Diana takes Anne to her group or girlfriends with instructions to tell all…and Anne does. She tells them about the “pet mouse” that all men keep in their front pocket, and that when women pet it they end up with babies. Three minutes are wasted on this conversation, after which Anne is shunned by the other girls. The next day Prissy’s brother threatens to beat Anne up for slander. She is rescued by Gilbert Blythe but is then shunned further by the girls because one of them has had a crush on him for several years.
Meanwhile, Marilla is approached by the Progressive Mothers Sewing Circle. They talk about feminism and women’s education. The problem with this (aside from the ridiculous ploy to throw feminism into a story about such a strong girl) is that the education for boys and girls at the time was pretty equal…especially in small communities. The women also talk about suffrage…which is only obnoxious because it is presented 20 years ahead of its time. Marilla is shunned by the group the next day when Anne’s wild tales drift through the community.
Anne’s third day at school Gilbert pulls her braids and calls her carrots. (This, along with a few good lines, is straight from the book.) She smacks him in the face with her chalkboard and, despite Gilbert’s protests, is instructed to stand in front of the classroom in shame. However, she walks out of the schoolhouse and tells Marilla she is never going back to school.
And with that, I am finished with this series. No doubt Anne had more than her fair share of negative experiences in the many homes she was in before she came to Green Gables. But for all her nonsense, there was an innocence that kept Anne grounded. This new Anne is missing that innocence and that bothers me as to where this show thinks it is going with this beloved character.
I think the aspect that bothers me the most about this, though, is the way Anne, who is adopted, is treated by the community. I have a sister and many, many friends who have adopted children. It hurts my heart to think that these precious children will see this show, hear these comments, and think for one moment that they are “dogs” or “unwanted” or “burdens to be overcome.” Yes, this is a very personal thing for me and yes, perhaps I’m taking it too much to heart. But take it to heart I will. I can’t help it…I am Anne.
