my own pride & prejudice

it has come to my attention that i am a snob of sorts.....a pride and prejudice snob.....

i was introduced to the story several years ago by my co-worker. bbc's version staring colin firth (the best darcy EVER) had just come out and my co-worker loaned it to me. now this was a six hour mini-series, but it was excellent and so well done that six hours was the exact amount of time you needed to see this wonderful story come to life.

i loved the mini-series so much, that i had to read the book. which i found that the bbc version adapted quite faithfully (which i really wasn't surprised to find out). i enjoyed the book but continued to watch colin firth's career and was thrilled to read Bridget Jone's Diary which was a modern take on the book with the author writing her Mark Darcy with colin firth in mind. (which is why i loved, loved that he was in the movie - no one else could play him.)

my mother suggested that i watch her favorite version, with greer garson and laurence olivier made in 1940. i hated that movie...they changed the plot and the costumes were the wrong, WRONG period. they had elizabeth deny Mr. Darcy a dance, which infuriated me. a woman of her rank would NEVER deny a man of Mr. Darcy's. i hate, HATE that version, it's wrong, wrong, wrong.

so i kept my snobbish view points....nothing was going to change my mind. when keira knightly's version came out, i was so not interested. first of all, how can you faithfully tell that story in less than 2 hours? and the preview showed some lines that never happened. i didn't trust hollywood. would a version 65 years later be any good? and who was this nobody playing mr. darcy? he was no colin firth!!!

but i was bored one day flipping through the channels and felt like watching a movie i would hate (ever feel like that?) and yes, things were different. but they were little things the heart of the story was much the same. i found this elizabeth more soulfull and you felt her longing for mr. darcy and the music moved me to tears.

so i was wrong...i loved this movie...i loved it despite the changes because truth be found, i love the story of elizabeth bennet and mr. darcy....1940's version wasn't true to elizabeth, who i felt she was and how i felt she would respond.i didn't mind subtle changes as long as the core didn't change. (and apparently the costumes)

during an interview, one of the actors said that women feel some sort of ownership of the story, that in some sense, it's their story and belongs to them. that they feel certain actors are totally wrong...which i find is true. pride and prejudice belongs to me somehow, and you can't fuck with my story. and it's nice to know, that i'm not the only woman who feels this way.