Written by Lady T.
Are you watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries? You should really watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. This modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is charming, funny, moving, and a total trip down the rabbit hole once you devote just a few minutes of your time watching the first episode. Here is said first episode:
Isn’t it great?
“Of course it’s great!” you say, “but I have very little time on my hands and I cannot devote my precious hours to such a complex project!”
Oh, but you can. Here are five reasons you should be watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
Agency for Women
The women in Pride and Prejudice don’t have many goals in life. They want to make comfortable marriages, and that’s it. This isn’t a criticism of Jane Austen – making a good marriage was literally a matter of life and death for women in Regency England – but a benefit of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries’ modern setting is the wider options available to Jane, Lizzie, and Charlotte. Jane pursues a career in fashion, Lizzie and Charlotte in communications, and Gigi Darcy in…whatever technological position she has at Pemberley Digital. (Don’t ask me for details; I’m so not the tech expert.) Even Charlotte’s subplot with Ricky “Mr.” Collins is related to work, not romance. Watching these smart and dynamic women pursue their goals and dreams is bound to put a smile on any feminist’s face.
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| Charlotte Lu, Lizzie Bennet, Lydia Bennet, and Jane Bennet |
Jane Austen in-jokes
Any Jane Austen fan will be delighted at the constant in-jokes and references made in Lizzie’s video diaries. One great example: In one of the Q&A videos, Lydia shows Lizzie her fake I.D. with the name “Mary Crawford” – a treat for any fans of Mansfield Park. In another episode, Lizzie mentions how much she likes empire-waisted fashion. In yet another, we finally get a glimpse of Kitty Bennet: a cat that followed Lydia home from school and does everything Lydia wants. (Poor Kitty. She’s the Milhouse of Pride and Prejudice.) These meta references are sprinkled liberally in Lizzie’s videos, Lydia’s videos, and the occasional Twitter conversation between the different characters. Jane Austen geeks will find these references highly agreeable, and not vexing in the slightest.
Any Jane Austen fan will be delighted at the constant in-jokes and references made in Lizzie’s video diaries. One great example: In one of the Q&A videos, Lydia shows Lizzie her fake I.D. with the name “Mary Crawford” – a treat for any fans of Mansfield Park. In another episode, Lizzie mentions how much she likes empire-waisted fashion. In yet another, we finally get a glimpse of Kitty Bennet: a cat that followed Lydia home from school and does everything Lydia wants. (Poor Kitty. She’s the Milhouse of Pride and Prejudice.) These meta references are sprinkled liberally in Lizzie’s videos, Lydia’s videos, and the occasional Twitter conversation between the different characters. Jane Austen geeks will find these references highly agreeable, and not vexing in the slightest.
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| “Kitty” Bennet with Lydia and Cousin Mary |
Ethnic diversity for the win!
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries isn’t just about white people. A fair amount of supporting characters – Charlotte and Maria Lu, Bing and Caroline Lee, and Fitz William – are people of color. Charlotte and Maria even had their own side story in the brief “Maria of the Lu” series sponsored by Collins & Collins. None of their characters are included as “token minorities,” either; they all have distinct personalities and are entertaining in different ways. Much like the world did not spin off of its axis when the creators of Elementary cast an Asian woman as Dr. Watson, the planets stayed in alignment when The Lizzie Bennet Diaries made Colonel Fitzwilliam gay and black.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries isn’t just about white people. A fair amount of supporting characters – Charlotte and Maria Lu, Bing and Caroline Lee, and Fitz William – are people of color. Charlotte and Maria even had their own side story in the brief “Maria of the Lu” series sponsored by Collins & Collins. None of their characters are included as “token minorities,” either; they all have distinct personalities and are entertaining in different ways. Much like the world did not spin off of its axis when the creators of Elementary cast an Asian woman as Dr. Watson, the planets stayed in alignment when The Lizzie Bennet Diaries made Colonel Fitzwilliam gay and black.
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| Fitz William plays along with Lizzie |
Lydia is Totes Adorbz
Lizzie’s irrepressible little sister, Lydia Bennet, is just as bubbly and energetic as ever, constantly interrupting Lizzie’s video diaries to make her own announcements to the viewers (and to call her sister a nerd). She’s bouncy, full of life, and seemingly shallow but also filled with love for her family, and her subplot with George Wickham takes an interesting turn. I don’t want to spoil too many details for new viewers, but let’s just say that modern-day Lydia Bennet is not the Kardashian-esque fame seeker I expected her to be. There’s a lot of warmth in this version of Lydia. I would not have minded if The Lizzie Bennet Diaries had kept their version of Lydia closer to the one of the original text, where the character is irredeemably selfish and impulsively trusting (thus serving as a nice parallel to Elizabeth’s judgment), but I’m very pleased with this more sympathetic Lydia. Mary Kate Wiles is fantastic as poor, loud, naive Lydia.
Lizzie’s irrepressible little sister, Lydia Bennet, is just as bubbly and energetic as ever, constantly interrupting Lizzie’s video diaries to make her own announcements to the viewers (and to call her sister a nerd). She’s bouncy, full of life, and seemingly shallow but also filled with love for her family, and her subplot with George Wickham takes an interesting turn. I don’t want to spoil too many details for new viewers, but let’s just say that modern-day Lydia Bennet is not the Kardashian-esque fame seeker I expected her to be. There’s a lot of warmth in this version of Lydia. I would not have minded if The Lizzie Bennet Diaries had kept their version of Lydia closer to the one of the original text, where the character is irredeemably selfish and impulsively trusting (thus serving as a nice parallel to Elizabeth’s judgment), but I’m very pleased with this more sympathetic Lydia. Mary Kate Wiles is fantastic as poor, loud, naive Lydia.
It’s Almost Over!
Episode 100 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will air on March 28th – and it’s the last episode ever! You only have a few weeks to catch up! Do it! NOW!
Episode 100 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will air on March 28th – and it’s the last episode ever! You only have a few weeks to catch up! Do it! NOW!
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| William Darcy and Lizzie can’t believe there are only a few episodes left! |
Here is a link for you to catch up on the whole series via every platform, from YouTube to Tumblr to Twitter: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. You’re welcome.
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Lady T is an aspiring writer and comedian with two novels, a play, and a collection of comedy sketches in progress. She hopes to one day be published and finish one of her projects (not in that order). You can find more of her writing at The Funny Feminist, where she picks apart entertainment and reviews movies she hasn’t seen.
It is truly amazing but while the original was a not-so-subtle criticism (to say the least) of the time it was written in, we get nothing like that in the modern interpretation. Well, it is massively entertaining still.
It seems to be wonderful, i got so excited while reading everthing you said about it! 😀 Thanks for this great tip, i’ll look for the episodes, hope i can find it! 😉