Pride & Prejudice

IW: You know those characters you love and feel represented by to an extent where it becomes hard to tell where they stop and you begin? No? Just me? Cool. That’s Elizabeth Bennett for me, which is cliché and obvious and frankly a little lame but it's the truth. My thoughts on the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice have changed in the past few years and the past few million times I watched it. At first, I was just unhappy with it: I didn’t think Mr. Darcy was brooding enough, I did not like that Georgiana was boiled down to half a scene, and frankly, I was upset it wasn’t a direct translation of the book. But after rereading the book in English class during my senior year of high school (I never loved school more than when we did that book and I do indeed enjoy school) my opinions started to change. I noticed the breathtaking score that I listen to probably once a week when I am doing homework. My heart stopped working when I noticed the way Mr. Darcy flexes and clenches his hand after helping Elizabeth into a carriage. My love affair with Jane Austen’s signature sexually charged ballroom dance scenes began and most importantly, after watching Normal People which is essentially a line for line adaptation of the book, I realized that this movie doesn’t need to be identical to the book. It was an adaptation, a different version brought to life by someone who loves the story but is not Jane Austen (obviously). So no, it’s not perfect but no adaptation ever is. And I do love other adaptations of this story: the mini-series, Bridget Jones Diary, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ( I cannot and will not apologize for loving that movie it fucking rules). When I watched this movie with Gabbie on her dumb ass velvet couch I could not stop smiling. I don’t know if it was because I haven’t seen this movie in a year or so or because for the first time in 6 months, I was watching a movie with my best friend. In summary: this movie is my happy place and if you haven’t seen it,,,, eat a dick then go watch it.

GV: After listening to this audiobook for what felt like forever I finally finished it and was able to sit with Isabel in real life to watch a movie for our blog. It was just as incredible as I imagined it would be, snuggled up on my green velvet couch on a Tuesday afternoon bantering over a film together. Now that's hot!

This thing really starts off with a bang. Within the first 15 minutes, they’re at a ball and the longing stares are already happening. The eye contact maintained between couples at a Jane Austen ball is more eye contact than I have made with anyone during my twenty years of life. 

This movie wasn’t all sunshine and fun for me. I’m still a cynic and there was a very strong feeling of disgust during a part of this movie. As described by many, ‘the ick’, a sudden cringe feeling when you have romantic contact with someone: and become almost immediately put off by them. I felt this when Lizzy was looking at a marble bust of the beloved Mr. Darcy. Something about that just made me hate him. I got over it quickly but still felt the need to share that. On the contrary, Mr. Darcy calling Lizzy Mrs. Darcy, taking pauses in between to kiss her, is the complete opposite of ‘the ick’. Like Lizzy, I’m not the biggest fan of pet names but, My Pearl,, kinda hot.