Anne with an E: A Late Review

Well, this has been a long week and I realized I have not read a new book since I last posted. A few months back I noted that I had watched the then ‘new’ Anne with an E on Netflix. I thought I would do a brief write up of the show, though I might miss some elements. [Link to the other post]

The new show is darker than the older one by the BBC. I enjoyed the old show more but this new reboot does more closely resemble reality. I found the season one cringy and almost too much to watch, it may have lost me for the assumed second season which is coming. Claire Fallon (2017) of Huffington Post shares in her review how the show seems to overemphasize elements for drama's sake, adding in new pieces that do not add to the story of the show. Fallon (2017) sees the show as a good “prestige drama” but not exactly a retelling of the classic Anne of Green Gabel's story told by Montgomery. Marissa Martinelle (2017) of the Slate explains that the show is not bad for the new additions by the writer but is bad because of how it discusses the grim elements and its lack of subtility presented by the source material. She states, “Instead, Anne With an E falters in presenting all of this without an ounce of subtlety, as if its own screenplay had been penned by its feverishly imaginative heroine, who idolizes the gothic and the macabre” (Martinelle, 2017). This new love for the gothic style does not suit the traditional view of Anne or the source material.

For fans of the original book I do not recommend this show, but if you enjoy darker Victorian material you may find a show which you enjoy. To describe this new feeling Fallon (2017) explains that the show is “[a] very good adaptation of Anne is buried within the Jane Eyre–esque Gothicism of ‘Anne with an E.’” The new adaptation beats the darkness over the head adding a disparaging color

Book

to the life of Anne and her triumphs, she is never allowed to win and even when she does it is overshadowed by some dark element of her past or future.  The story is haphazard and lacking in real texture or life it feels that modern elements have been imposed on the old story with Anne simply as the vehicle to show audiences today’s problems. As Martinelle (2017) says the show could be good but “…its lack of trust in the audience to understand why…aspects suit the story” will be a hindrance to it ever being accepted. Just know when you start this show it is not your typical lighthearted Anne tale but a darker grimmer version with less lighthearted moments and more of the reality of Victorian life.

References

Fallon, C. (2017). The relentlessly grim ‘Anne with an e’ reveals the limitations of today’s TV. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anne-with-an-e-netflix-review_us_5915defae4b0031e737d5510

Indie Bound. (2017). Anne of Green Gables (paperback) [Book image]. Retrieved from https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780553153279

Martinelle, M. (2017). Anne with an e: Netflix’s dark, gritty reboot of Anne of Green Gables has all the subtlety of a chalkboard smashed over your head. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2017/05/netflix_s_anne_with_an_e_reviewed.html

Netflix. (2017). Anne with an e. 

Netflix. (April 4, 2017). Anne: Official trailer [Netflix] [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5qJXYNNINo