A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 85-89 and Domino Videos

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

This week on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries I will be looking at episodes 85-89 and Gigi’s Domino videos. There was just too much to get through with the Lydia storyline to add in Jane and Bing, so I will save that for next week. These are emotionally packed videos, though a lot of the action happens off stage like it does in Pride and Prejudice.

Lizzie and Lydia

Lizzie rushes home from her internship at Pemberley Digital, Darcy’s Company, when Charlotte tells her about Lydia and George Wickham’s website. George videoed an intimate encounter between he and Lydia and sold it to a distribution company. The website was advertising the count-down to the release of the video. When Lizzie arrives home she thinks that Lydia knows about the website. It is only after she confronts Lydia that she reveals she had no idea about the site. Lydia stares at the website in horror and disbelief. She just keeps repeating, “This is a joke right?” Yet Lizzie knows it is no joke. George sold the tape without Lydia’s knowledge and never returns any of Lydia’s text, calls or tweets. Continue reading “A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 85-89 and Domino Videos” →

12 April 2013 3

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 77-84

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

There are only 8 videos this week of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, but they are packed full of important information and plot developments. Here are some of the highlights and my take on them from these episodes.

Meeting Gigi Darcy:

Gigi Darcy, played by Allison Paige, is a pretty big departure from her character in Pride and Prejudice. In the novel Georgiana is EXTREMELY shy. In the LBD Gigi isn’t shy at all. She is fun and outgoing, even if a little inexperienced. She becomes a tour guide for the day to show Lizzie around and then seems to be confused by the fact that she can’t leave a school group roaming around Pemberley Digital by themselves. Yet it is clear that she likes Lizzie and wants to be friends with her. I love that Gigi seeks out Lizzie and watches her videos. Lizzie is a little hesitant about Gigi since she is Darcy’s sister, but the two do get along well from the very beginning. Continue reading “A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 77-84” →

5 April 2013 2

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 51-66

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

This week I will be looking at episodes 51-66 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries starting with Lizzie’s life while she is visiting Collins and Collins. We get to meet several knew characters and get to see some of the most beloved ones in a new setting. Did I also mention that we get to see DARCY for the first time!

Lizzie goes to visit Charlotte at Collins and Collins. She meets Lady Catherine and her dog Annie Kins (though we never get to see Lady Catherine we just see Lizzie’s impressions of her). We also get to meet one of my favorite characters in the novel and in the series, Fitz, who comes with Darcy to look at Collins and Collins and give Lady Catherine a report on its progress. Darcy finally shows up in the videos and tells Lizzie he loves her. She flatly rejects him and tells him off for his rude behavior towards her and others and she also tells him to watch her videos. He returns later with a letter and having watched videos. Lizzie reads the letter but refuses to share its contents even with Caroline who comes trying to snoop and find out what is in the letter. Lizzie and Charlotte face off against Caroline and call her out for her manipulation of Bing. Collins flits in and out of several episodes mostly causing havoc by making Charlotte dress as a condiment or trying to make Charlotte work over Thanksgiving. By the end of these episodes Lizzie is ready to go home because home would probably be less stressful. In episode 62 Lizzie says, “This is definitely messing with my world view. Its like I don’t know myself anymore” (I consider this line akin to Austen’s “Till this moment, I never knew myself.” It is the turning point in the book for Elizabeth’s character)

Here are some highlights from Episodes 51-66:

We meet Fitz:

Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of my favorite characters from the novels. I have always had a crush on him because I found him to be so much nicer than his cousin. In some alternative universe I really think he and Lizzie would work out (even though he is a younger son and has no money).

In the alternative universe of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries Fitz (Craig Frank) and Lizzie can’t work out as a couple because he is gay. I think this modernization is BRILLIANT because it allows Fitz and Lizzie to be good friends, but it is known from the start that they will never be more than friends. Fitz in the LBD is a smart and well-established business executive (he can see two bridges from his corner office) but he is also super fun. I automatically want to be his friend and so does Lizzie. Lizzie wonders why Darcy can have such nice friends when he is so cold and stiff. Fitz explains “The guy doesn’t always make the best first impression, and he has the social skills of an agoraphobic lobster.” (episode 56). Fitz does a fabulous impression of haughty Darcy and really enjoys goofing off on the videos. He says “Well what is life if you cant have a little fun? Am I right Lizzie B? You know you should meet Gigi… because she is a cool kid and I think you too will like each other” (episode 56). Fitz seems to be a nice guy who cares about his friends and has his head on straight yet a guy who can also loosen up and have a lot of fun.

Catherine de Bourgh and Annie Kins

I hate that we never to get see Catherine de Bourgh but Lizzie’s impressions of her make up for this loss. Her daughter Anne is transformed into a snaggletooth, asthmatic dog named Annie Kins that Catherine dotes on. Mr. Collins prepares Lizzie for dining with Catherine de Bourgh by giving her a long list of dos and don’ts and by telling her “so if you will simply choose the least offensive outfit you have brought along with you, I am certain that will be more than satisfactory.” (episode 53). Catherine still tries to but into everyone’s conversations and adores Caroline Lee for her accomplishments even though it is unclear what Caroline does or if she even has a job or goes to school.

Charlotte and Mr. Collins Dressed as condiments

Mr. Collins is full of hair-brained ideas about improving the company morale. One if his ideas involves a “spirit week” of sorts culminating in a Halloween party where he and Charlotte dress up as condiments. Seeing Charlotte as a giant ketchup bottle is pretty amusing, but Mr. Collins as a giant mustard bottle takes the cake. His sincerity and seriousness make him even funnier. Collins tries to make Lizzie come to the party but Charlotte steps in and shows her control and handling of him. Mr. Collins might be the head of the company but Charlotte is the neck and she can turn the head anyway she chooses.

Darcy:

Darcy, Darcy, Darcy… everyone freaks out when Darcy is finally shown. Not this girl. I am going to try and keep my talk of Darcy to a minimum for several reasons:

We don’t see that much of him.
I don’t like Darcy Hype.
He does come off as a pretty big jerk.
I agree with Lizzie about him.

The viewership of the Darcy episode almost doubled compared to other episodes. Episode 60 (where we first see his face) has had over 466,000 views. Don’t get me wrong– he will improve, and I do think the writing on his episode is fantastic; I just hate Darcy hype. These are called the LIZZIE BENNET DIARIES and that is who the story is about, so I applaud the writers and creators for putting off introducing Darcy till 3/5 of the way through the series.

Ok, now on to Darcy. Daniel Vincent Gordh plays Darcy and does a very good job. He comes off as haughty and austere early on but does loosen up in later episodes. The writing for the proposal episode is a wonderful modernization of the scene from the book. I was worried that they would stray too much from the novel in his insults to Lizzie or that they wouldn’t have him insult her, but they did. Darcy says “I have been fighting against this for months now but Lizzie Bennet I am in love with you… I cant believe it either; that my heart can completely overwhelm my judgment.” Lizzie responds, “I hope that your judgment can be some solace in your rejection because those feelings are not mutual.” (Episode 60) In his video about the episode, one of the creators of the series Hank Green talks about how much effort and time went into writing this episode because they knew it was so important. Hank and his wife Katherine had a lot of input into who they chose for Darcy and the scene. Overall I applaud the series portrayal of Darcy because he does come off as a pretty big jerk at first and then starts to soften so that maybe you think he is just super awkward instead of a jerk. I could also do without the suspenders and skinny jeans, but I see why they did it.

Darcy hand writes and wax seals his letter to Lizzie, which is pretty cute and shows his quaintness. I thought they might do his letter as an email but I like that Darcy hand writes it and says that sometimes he has trouble expressing himself in words so he has to write things down. I think this is just the beginning of Darcy opening up. He also watches Lizzie’s videos because she tells him about them. He says, they were “illumining… you called me a robot and a newsie.” (Episode 62)

Lizzie and Charlotte v Caroline

Caroline Lee shows up to try and see what was in the letter. Charlotte and Lizzie question her motives in befriending Lizzie and helping Lizzie with her videos since Caroline hasn’t spoken to Lizzie since they left. This betrayal by Caroline seems worse than in the book because in the book Lizzie never thought that Caroline was her friend. The fact that Lizzie and Jane are both hurt by Caroline’s lack of communication with them shows Lizzie’s vulnerability in a new way. Caroline comes off as manipulating, conniving and superficial. The nicest thing I can say about her is that she has great hair. Lizzie and Charlotte call Caroline out for her behavior, and I say, “You go GRILS!” If only Lizzie got to tell Mrs. Bingley off like that in the books. I think it would be very therapeutic to her.

I am leaving out Lydia’s videos from this weeks article because I want to be able to do them justice in an article all to themselves.

Next Week 67-76

Favorite Quotes of the Week

“If Lydia ends up with in anyway involved with someone who traces back to Darcy I swear I am going to steal a plane and crash land onto a desert island. I can totally survive on coconut and crabs… assuming there is wifi.” (Lizzie in episode 54)

“He is like a robot with buggy programing for social interaction”– “Darcy- bot Malfunction” (Lizzie on Darcy in episode 55)

“He was probably just looking for an air conditioned place to drink his probiotic hemp latte”- (Lizzie guessing why Darcy keeps stopping by to see her in episode 57)

“I am pretty sure the guy read Tolstoy for you”

“Even if that is true the virtues of reading Russian literature are far out weighted by the fact that he disinherited George. Oh yeah and he broke up Bing and Jane” (Charlotte and Lizzie talking about Darcy in episode 61)

“You should see the texts I have been getting from Lydia about this OMG… WTF… WHATEVS… YOLO… FTS… PQZ!!!!” (Lizzie talking about Lydia’s reaction in episode 62)

Awesome Links:

“If you are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area this weekend please join JASNA NC for a discussion of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. The talk will be held on Sunday March 17th at 2:00 at the Cameron Village Regional Library. Virginia Claire Tharrington will be showing clips and leading a discussion about the adaptation. We would love to see you there. Thanks VC”

Images courtesy © The Lizzie Bennet Diaries 2012; text © Virginia Claire Tharrington 2013

15 March 2013 3

A Closer Look at the Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 35-50

From the desk of Virginia Claire

There is a lot to cover this week for the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. One announcement before we get started; the series will be ending on March 28th with the 100th episode. (mass hysteria and sobbing ensues!). Sadness I know but the book does come to an end and so much the LBD. On a happier note we are just reaching the halfway point of looking at the vlogs so there is still a more discussion to come. I also can’t wait to see which book the creative team of Hank and Bernie do next. I myself am voting for Emma, mainly because I want to see a modern Emma more than a modern Anne (I am huge fan of Persuasion, but Anne Elliot is just not a blogger the way Emma would be)

This week I watched episodes 35-50 and then Charlotte and Maria Lu’s spinoff from Collins and Collins. Lizzie starts off episode 35 by saying “and everything is as it should be.” This pleasant feeling doesn’t last long for Lizzie because Mr. Collins arrives and annoys her to no end. He offers her a job, which she refuses but which Charlotte then takes. Then Charlotte leaves for the job with Mr. Collin. Next Wickham comes and tells his story of woe at the hands of Darcy to Lizzie, which makes Lizzie hate Darcy even more. After Bing’s birthday party Bing, Darcy and Caroline leave for LA without telling anyone. Jane finds out about the move from Twitter. She is broken hearted and decides to move to LA for a job promotion and a change of scene. Wickham then takes a job with the Meryton Marines and goes off to flirt and party with other girls. Lizzie isn’t broken hearted over his departure but she does wonder, “why is everyone moving on but me?” Episode 50. In Charlotte and Maria’s spinoff we see the reconciliation that will happen between the friends. Charlotte too misses Lizzie and her sister has her watch Lizzie’s videos to see how much Lizzie misses Charlotte. Maria’s videos are a cute spinoff that shows us a glimpse at Charlotte in a new light but I don’t think they are as funny as other spinoffs like Lydia’s and Gigis’; they seem more like a plot device then stand alone vlogs.

Now I want to look at some of my favorite moments and characters from these episodes.

Mr. Collin: Mr. Collins is by far my favorite character (other than Lizzie) in the novel and in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I find his so delightful obtuse yet verbose that he is irresistible to me in his ridiculousness. I interviewed Maxwell Glick who plays Mr. Collins and he was so thoughtful and wonderful that he sent me some wonderful answers to my questions. I am including a handful below.

How do you think you make Mr. Collins different or special?

Max-I wanted to bring something to Mr. Collins that took the perception of him as this rather repulsive character, and made him actually have more dimensions and real feelings. I took the approach that he just “doesn’t get it” – not that he is a terrible person or intentionally says hurtful things. He has poor social skills, but I don’t think his heart is in the wrong place. I wanted it to appear that everything he says is carefully scripted, albeit poorly, sometimes. I also wanted to add a touch of humor to the guy. After all, he is far from a boor. I wanted the audience to say “Oh I totally know someone like that.”

What do you think was the hardest aspect of Mr. Collins to adapt into modern times?

Max-Mr. Collins is a clergyman in the book, and that would be a tough storyline in modern times, so the way the writers made him a venture capitalist interested in online video, was just genius.

I think the “first proposal” followed by the “your pitch needs work” episodes are brilliant in terms of Mr. Collins character. Do you have a favorite scene or episode?

Max-I have two favorite moments. The Proposal where I keep bringing out an increasingly larger envelope is just hysterical to me. I love that. Also I love my episode with Lydia. This was one of the most fun times for me on set. I got to bring out Collins’ incredibly uncomfortable emotions, as Lydia got closer to him. That was just a blast. I wish I had some more episodes with her.

(hopefully I will get to post the entire interview at a later date because it is very interesting)

It was so wonderful talking to Max about Mr. Collins. He gave lots of insight into how he played Collins and how he thought about the character. Max is a hilarious guy. Check out his Flashback Friday Videos from his closet. These are adorable and entertaining videos where he sings top 10 songs from different years with no music. It is cute so check them out.

Lydia v Mr. Collins: Episode 37 is perhaps my favorite episode thus far. It combines two of my favorite characters Lydia and Mr. Collins. Lydia puts Collins in his place from the beginning and makes Mr. Collins increasing uncomfortable till he runs away leaving Lydia alone when she says “and that my nerdy older sister is how you properly get rid of Mr. Collins. BOOM!” Lydia wins and I love it.

“Your Pitch Needs Work”: Episode 41 is pretty brilliant because we see Charlotte’s guidance of Collins and how she influences him. Charlotte is very subtle in her manipulation of Collins. She isn’t portrayed in a negative light but we do see that she is in control of the situation and “fishing for an offer” from him. I am not condemning Charlotte in the least because she knows exactly what she is getting into with Collins, and I think it is a very conscious decision on her part.

Charlotte and Lizzie: Charlotte is a voice of reason for both Lizzie and Collins, so when Charlotte chooses to take the job with Mr. Collins, Lizzie feels completely crushed. The girls get in a huge fight over Charlotte’s decision in episode 42, which shows a more selfish side. of Lizzie. It is only through Maria showing Charlotte episode 43 where Lizzie laments not talking to her bestie that Charlotte calls Lizzie and invites her to come, stay and see Collins and Collins.

George’s Intro: In episode 45 we meet George Wickham! I am going to skip the Darcy v. Wickham story because it just isn’t as funny as George himself. George is looking at Lizzie bookshelf when he says “I have to make sure you don’t have any red flags like books on serial killers or anything shady or with shades.” Later in the episode Lydia runs in with a solo cup “accidentally” spilling water all over him, then casually suggests that he just takes his first off. I don’t know if this is a funny nod to the 1995 “wet t-shirt scene” but it is funny none the less. Lizzie and Lydia both get a little distracted by Wickham’s excellent body and abs.

Snickerdoodles: On a more serious note episode 48 is very sad because we see Jane break down from her normal happy self to distraught and upset Jane who is just looking for answers from Bing. The viewers are in the same boat as Lizzie when she says “and if I could find Bing Lee and smash him over the head with a frying pan to knock some sense into him then I would.” At this point it is very unclear why Bing broke up with Jane and will not talk to her anymore, but we will find out more in later episodes.

Next week we will watch episodes 51-66. Enjoy!

Favorite quote of the week: “What do you think it is? Maybe George has incriminating photos of Darcy. Maybe George has videos of Darcy in a boy band” Episode 44 – Lizzie trying to figure out the dark history between Darcy and George Wickham.

Further Reading:

Texts from the LBD – A funny website.(as if there wasn’t enough transmedia to keep up with)
The Today Show video on the why of LBD
Reflection on the use of Transmedia in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Visit our The Lizzie Bennet Diaries archives for previous blogs
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries website

8 March 2013 7

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 27 – 34

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

Some rather dramatic changes occurred this week in episodes 27 – 34 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Jane and Lizzie go to NETHERFIELD—we meet Bing (Christopher Sean) and Caroline (Jessica Jade Andres)—and hear an awful lot about Darcy (don’t worry, the suspense only gets worse because we will not see him for another 25 episodes). Lizzie has a lot of visitors in these episodes because she has new characters to introduce, she is living in someone else’s house so there is less privacy, and she has a lot of narrative to relate.

At first, Lizzie thinks that Caroline, Bing and Darcy don’t know about her vlog, but in today’s world of instant Google, this doesn’t seem very well thought out since she does use her name in the vlogs and tweets about the videos. Caroline finds out about the vlogs and becomes very “friendly” with Lizzie, though she promises not the tell Bing and Darcy. While Caroline and Lizzie do have a “friendship” over the course of Lizzie’s time at Netherfield, there is certainly a sense that Caroline might have ulterior motives in becoming her friend and wanting to be in her vlogs. The good news about their friendship is that Caroline adds variety to the vlog and they are very funny together. Caroline in The Lizzie Bennet Diaires is a vast departure from Jane Austen’s Miss Caroline Bingley in the novel where she is never really friendly with Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzie), and never nice. She is consumed with Darcy and shows him excessive amounts of attention, “I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you” (P&P Ch.10). In the novel Elizabeth or the narrator observe and comment on Miss Bingley’s attentions to Darcy, “the perpetual commendations of the lady either on his hand-writing, or on the evenness of his lines, or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison with her opinion of each” (P&P Ch. 10). We can see here Elizabeth observing and judging both Miss Bingley and Darcy along with the narrator. She sees Miss Bingley’s attention contrasted with Mr. Darcy’s coldness and indifference.

The vlog removes us from the actual scene so that the viewers get a slightly less accurate picture of the conversations that go on. Lizzie does say “I forget nothing” when she is doing her animated costume theater interpretations. People remark on how good her memory is for recalling exactly what people say, yet getting the words verbatim doesn’t change the fact that the audience is getting a bias version of the events through Lizzie’s eyes. Now I will grant you, the narrator in the novel is not necessarily unbiased, (Caroline and Louisa) “declared that they were miserable. They solaced their wretchedness, however, by duets after supper” (P&P Ch. 8). That is a fairly snarky narrator, and while Lizzie does give us some sass when describing the dialogues, it is not quite the same as being in the room with everyone as the reader is in the book. The costume theaters discussing Darcy and Elizabeth’s famous battle of wits is also a little strange since Caroline is the one taking part in it, but it is still delightful and very memorable.

The viewers also get to meet BING LEE (the Charles Bingley character) in these episodes, but he does not know that he is on Lizzie vlog. He just thinks that Lizzie and Jane are sending video letters to Charlotte. Lizzie struggles with the ethical line here. She is torn between wanting to show Bing on the vlogs and her desire for him not to know about the videos since he is the topic of many conversations between the girls. This is a fine line to walk. I think it is admirable that the writers show Lizzie’s hesitation about this continuing lie because one interesting thing about the novel, to me, seems to be about the power and importance of frank communication.

Bing Lee is just as wonderful, sweet, and endearing as Charles Bingley in Pride and Prejudice. He dotes on Jane when she has a cold, which leads to the adorableness of Episode 28. Caroline rightly says of Bing, “Have you met my brother? When he sees a spider in the house he catches it and releases it into the rose garden. He probably gives it a checkup and a lollipop before letting it go” Episode 29. Lizzie certainly starts to like Bing more and more because he is so sweet to Jane and to herself. He also doesn’t have much competition from Darcy in the sweetness category. Lizzie does get frustrated with how nice Bing and Jane are and how they both hate confrontation.

Lizzie’s descriptions of her disdain for Darcy and what she believes to be his equal aversion of her are some of the best episodes so far. She refuses to see that he might be interested in her for any other reason other than to criticize her. She is blinded by her own dislike of him to see what the others see; that Darcy is very interested in her. Caroline certainly sees this and it is most likely her motivation for her fake friendship with Lizzie. When Darcy tries to ask Lizzie to dance she just ignores him at first and then rebuffs him in a very similar way to how she does it in the novel. It is absolutely brilliant and hilarious.

By the end of her stay at Netherfield, Lizzie is VERY ready to go home, and frankly so am I. I want Lydia and Charlotte back in the videos. Caroline and Bing are great and all, but they just don’t have the sassiness that Lydia and Charlotte bring to this series. Jane is the one who finds out that their parent’s house renovations have been completed for a week and that their mother has just been lying to them to make them stay at Netherfield longer. Needless to say, Lizzie is not a happy camper when she finds out and packs up right away!

LYDIA’S TURN

While her sisters are off at Netherfield, Lydia descries to start her own vlog with her cousin Mary and her cat (Kitty Bennet even gets her own episode!!!). Lydia’s vlog is called “The Lydia Bennet” and has it own story line of her dying of boredom, meeting boys, renting out Mary’s attic to a stranger, and getting revenge on girls that made fun of Mary. Overall, these videos are delightfully entertaining because they expand the characters of Lydia and Mary, and we get fantastic dialogue. Lydia explains her problem solving skills when she says “Well if you want my advice, I always solve my problems in these three easy steps 1. Alcohol 2. Pretend the don’t exist 3. More alcohol… it’s a universal truth!!” (Episode 4) We also get to see the cute Kitty Bennet (the cat) who is just adorable and should be in more videos.

Check out the archives on the LBD website because the twitter feeds are great between Caroline, Darcy, and Bing. Gigi (Georgiana Darcy) also gets mentioned which is exciting for those people paying very close attention because we don’t meet Gigi in person for many more episodes. There is also a lot of information in the archives about choices the creators made and other insights. It is a great source and you can really addicted by reading all of it. (I fight this addiction a lot).

That’s all for this week. Next week we will be watching episodes 35-50 with Mr. Collins and Wickham!

Great Quotes from Episodes 27 – 34:

“The bad… I am living under the same roof as Darcy… WHAT THE F?” – Lizzie talking about staying at Netherfield episode 27.
“Hey this mister is soon to be a doctor” – Bing to Jane in all of there adorableness in episode 28.
“Have you met my brother? When he sees a spider in the house he catches it and releases it into the rose garden. He probably gives it a checkup and a lollipop before letting it go.” – Caroline talking about Bing in Episode 29.
“Some women are considered together if they know how to tip a waiter and go to the gym twice a week.” – Lizzie describing what Darcy said about put together (accomplished) women with Caroline. They reenact this conversation by playing a “Darceny (Darcy + Scrutiny)” game show in episode 30. BRILLIANT
“When the two of them are together its like an agreeable-off. I want to put my eye out with a spork!” – Lizzie describing how nice Jane and Bing are in episode 31.
“Well his arrogance is comical. We should have just laughed at him.” – Lizzie talking to Caroline about how to reprimand Darcy for his rude comments about them walking around the room in episode 32.
“I am always civil” – Lizzie defending her behavior toward Darcy to Jane in episode 33.
“Darcy doesn’t like anything except himself and wearing scarves during the summer” – this line is so funny that it speaks for itself from episode 33!

Best Lydia Quotes: (really hard to pick because every line she says is pretty fantastic)

“This phone is my only connection to the outside world. If you are receiving this communication I may already be dead… of BOREDOM.” – Lydia’s opening line to her vlogs
“That’s Mary. She my cousin who likes things like reading and darkness and having no facial expressions” – Lydia’s description of Mary
“I heard that someone stuck hundreds of unicorn stickers all over their car windows… apparently there has been lots of nail breakage in attempts to scrape them off.” – Mary describing Lydia’s revenge on the girls who made fun of her. “Totes Adorbs!”

Further Reading:

1 March 2013 6

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 17 – 26

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

Last week we were introduced to our heroine Lizzie Bennet, her sisters Jane and Lydia, and best friend Charlotte. This week in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries episodes 17- 26, the Adorbs steals a show, Jane gets Binged, and we meet Mr. Collins! So I lied last week. We don’t get to meet Wickham in these episodes, he is just mentioned through discussion. Sorry for the let down, but we do get to meet, my favorite character Mr. Collins.

Wickham’s militia is modernized into a swimming competition that descends on the town every year. Lizzie is not impressed by the swimmers eloquence or astuteness when she and Lydia go to Carter’s bar. However, she is impressed by George Wickham’s gentlemanly manners. Lizzie says they met when he put his coat over a beer puddle. She commented “gentleman are an endangered species” to which George replied “yeah but they are making a comeback like mix tapes and tandem bicycles.” (well, isn’t that the cutest line ever!) He and Lizzie also exchanged numbers and start texting. Lizzie is obviously excited when she is telling Jane about this new boy because he seems different from all of the other swimmers. Lizzie thinks that Wickham might not have the same thinly veiled ulterior motives and all around douchebagginess of the other swimmers (who pretty much sound like frat boys). We will see how he turns out later. Continue reading “A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 17 – 26” →

22 February 2013 7

Intro to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries – A New Pride and Prejudice Adaptation

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern day online and immersive adaption” of Pride and Prejudice created by Hank Green and Bernie Su and a team of excellent writers. The 4-minute episodes are posted on Monday and Thursdays at 9:00 A.M. Pacific time (I can assure you I am waiting by my computer at that time for the next installment). They are slowly telling the story of Pride and Prejudice through online video blogs, twitter and other social media outlets. It is a very interesting adaptation of the story and look at the uses of social media as a medium of story telling. There have been 80+ videos posted to date so while this adaption is winding down there is still plenty of time to catch up before the end.

I cannot speak enough praise for this innovative new adaptation of one of my favorite novels. I have found it to be so entertaining and yet unorthodox at the same time. I am normally a Jane Austen purest, but I find this series to be hilarious, relatable, and intriguing. It is certainly geared towards a younger generation because the videos are uploaded to YouTube. It engages its viewers not just through the videos but also through other social media to make the characters truly come to life through their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. There is even a Lizzie Bennet Tumblr, and Jane Bennet even has a Pinterest page!

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries seems like the story of Pride and Prejudice transplanted in to the real modern world. Lizzie is a young woman searching to find a balance between herself, her family, her friends, her school and her work. (Who can’t relate to that?) Lizzie makes mistakes, and she has to deal with the misconceptions that she has made about people in her life including Darcy, Charlotte, Wickham, her sisters Lydia and Jane, and several of the other characters throughout the story. As the story progresses, Lizzie finds herself through her experiences and it is as beautiful to watch as it is to read in the novel. Pride and Prejudice to me seems like a coming of age story and a story of self-discovery. The Lizzie Benent Diaries allow the viewers to experience Lizzie’s life and feelings in a new and modern way so we too are discovering Lizzie as she does.

One of the highlights of this series is the cast behind the classic characters. I will talk more about the individual actors in later posts, so for now I will just tell you about the wonderful actress playing Lizzie who parallels the heroine Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice.

The very talented actress Ashley Clements plays Lizzie, a 24 year old grad school student who is studying mass communications. Ashley’s Lizzie is effervescent, witty and I instantly wanted to be her best friend. She is doing these vlogs (video blogs) as her thesis project for her graduate work. Young, modern, funny, and smart Ashley resembles the Elizabeth Bennet we know and love from the novel. We see some of Lizzie’s flaws in the videos as well. She is rather judgmental, sometimes harsh and even a little self-centered. These character traits however do not take away from her charm; in fact, they enhance her appeal by making her a more complex character. Elizabeth Bennet in the novel is by no means perfect, though sometimes I forget that because I love her so much. Lizzie Bennet has similar flaws and I appreciate her for them because no one is perfect and it makes her more thought provoking.

The other characters are also interesting and engaging. Lizzie’s sister Jane Bennet is a fashion buyer who is the picture of sweetness and wholesomeness. Her best friend Charlotte Lu (Charlotte Lucas) is Lizzie’s sassy, goal oriented BFF who also helps her edit the videos. Bing Lee (Mr. Bingley) is a shy but generous medical student. Fitz William (Colonel Fitzwilliam) is a fabulously gay businessman who should have his own show. George Wickham (Mr. Wickham) is a beautiful swim coach with a great body. He also just exudes Wickham because he is too good-looking, charming and funny for his own good. From the beginning he just seems too good to be true. Gigi Darcy (Georgiana Darcy) is a young graphic designer who instantly likes Lizzie because she watches her videos and actively tries to get Lizzie and Darcy together. Gigi is a delightful character though she doesn’t really resemble the tremendously shy character from the book.

Lydia Bennet, Lizzie’s younger sister steals the show in many early episodes. She is a wild child and is known for her marathon style partying, double jointed arms and super sassy attitude. Lydia gets her own vblog later in the episodes where we see her emo cousin Mary and her relationship with Wickham progress. Even Lydia’s cat “Kitty Bennet” has her own twitter. I will not spoil the brilliant plot twist that the writers and creators came up with for Lydia and Wickham, but I think it is the perfect contemporary twist on Lydia’s elopement.

Ricky Collins (Mr. Collins) is a personal favorite of mine. He is an owner of a big company who offers Lizzie a great paying job in language that makes you cringe and want to look way. Collins is excessively self-confident, rather incompetent and reliant on his investor Catherine de Bourgh for ideas and money. Charlotte and Ricky have great connection. Charlotte’s subtle manipulation of him is very well done. Catherine de Bourgh is never seen (along with the Bennet parents which is a loss) though Lizzie does reenact all of them in her “costume theater” which is one of the best parts of the vlogs.

And last but certainly not least, William Darcy (Mr. Darcy). Darcy is a hipster, well maybe not a full blown hipster but he certainly dresses like a hipster. He wears suspenders, red bowties or skinny ties, and Lizzie even calls him a “Newsie” (what is a great line!). I actually HATED it at first but after some reflection I think it is completely appropriate and a smart decision on the part of the creators. By making him a haughty hipster Darcy automatically comes off as socially awkward, stiff, and pretentious. Darcy is a character in name only until episode 59 (when we see his body but not his head). We don’t get to see Darcy really until episode 60, though we hear a lot about him. This might seem annoying but I think it does two important things for the show:

It built up the suspense for the audience seeing Darcy since we hear so much about him.
The first 58 videos focus so much on Lizzie, her life, her perspective and her views of Darcy that it puts the audience much more in her shoes than other adaptations where the audience sees Darcy from minute one and sees his growing attraction to Lizzie.

In the LBD we are just left with Lizzie’s view of him. This is a brilliant device by the creators who are battling the audience’s very strong preconceived ideas about Darcy. Darcy owns a big company in San Francisco called Pemberley Digital, which is coming out with a new product called Domino. I suspect Domino will play a major part in upcoming episodes to capture some of the final scenes.

Image from I h8 Everything Tumbler by Ginia

I am so invested in this story that I not only watch the videos; I read the tweets and view the Tumblrs, and Facebook posts regularly; follow Jane on Pinterest; and follow the actors on Facebook. What I am so intrigued by about this adaptation is that the creators designed the story to be so multi layered just like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. On the first viewing of the videos, just like with the first reading of the novel, a viewer will understand the story, but on further viewings, and investigation into the cross platform social media extravaganza that has been created, a viewer will get a more personal view of the characters and the ingenious subtleties of the plot. I have found this adaptation to bring the characters more to life then any other adaptation. I feel like the characters are relatable, engaging, and young which is so refreshing.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a weekly article about groups of episodes of the LBD and some of the things that I love them. I will be talking more about the characters, themes, modernization, cute quirks and anything else that strikes my fancy about this entertaining adaptation.

Feel free to send me links, comments and responses all about the Lizzie Bennet Diaries because I think this adaptation fosters a wonderful conversation especially for a younger generations just discovering Jane Austen. So start watching right away, and if you are a dedicated follower take this time to re-watch the early episodes so they will be fresh in you mind.

Further reading:

8 February 2013 45

Preview of Jane Austen’s Emma: A Musical Romantic Comedy at the Old Globe

Jane Austen’s Emma, the new romantic comedy from Tony Award nominated composer Paul Gordon and directed by Tony Award nominee, Jeff Calhoun, is a musical production of Austen classic story of our favorite nonsensical girl. It premiers January 15, and runs through February 27, 2011 at the Old Globe Theatre in Dan Diego, California.

Emma, a timeless love story from one of the most widely read writers of all time, is now a musical, and will once again entice modern audiences to fall in love with one of Jane Austen’s most adored characters. Emma, a beautiful and clever young woman who prides herself on her matchmaking ability, is preoccupied with romance yet is clueless to her own feelings of love. When she takes on a young friend as her latest project, her well-intentioned efforts misfire, leading to a whirlwind of complications. Deliciously charming, this new romantic comedy from Tony Award nominated composer Paul Gordon and directed by Tony Award nominee, Jeff Calhoun, brings Jane Austen’s masterpiece to musical life.

Cast

Emma Woodhouse – Patti Murin
Mr. Knightley – Adam Monley
Robert Martin – Adam Daveline
Miss Bates – Suzanne Grodner
Mr. Elton – Brian Herndon
Mrs. Bates, Mrs. Elton – Kelly Hutchinson
Mr. Woodhouse – Jerry Lanning
Harriet Smith – Dani Marcus
Mrs. Weston – Amanda Naughton
Mr. Weston -Don Noble
Jane Fairfax – Allison Spratt Pearce
Frank Churchill – Will Reynolds

Complete cast and creative team

31 December 2010 7

Tag: Jane Austen Adaptations

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 85-89 and Domino Videos

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 77-84

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 51-66

A Closer Look at the Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 35-50

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 27 – 34

A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 17 – 26

Intro to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries – A New Pride and Prejudice Adaptation

Preview of Jane Austen’s Emma: A Musical Romantic Comedy at the Old Globe

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