Sense and Nonsense.

*If you haven't watched the PBS version of Sense and Sensibility yet and you're planning to and don't want to know anything about it, don't read this.

So last night I watched the first half of Sense and Sensibility on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. In case you haven't been able to tell by my sidebar noting the books I've been reading or below in my recent DVD/book purchases or from having ever met me, I am what they call a fan of Jane Austen. I blame my mother. She got me started with her video tape of the 1983 PBS Pride and Prejudice miniseries (which is GREAT) when I was young and then I got all into it. I've seen multiple versions of each of the movies (and in a few cases I own multiple versions), I own all of the books, I've watched pretty much the whole series that PBS has shown this winter/spring, and yes I realize that this along with the knitting thing makes me approximately 150 years old.

Whatever, it's glorious I don't care what you say :)

So, back to the point. Sense and Sensibility. I should preface this by saying that I love Emma Thompson's version of this, for which she won an Oscar (best adapted screenplay). This new version was always going to suffer by comparison. Also, I am completely aware that it is impossible to get every piece of the story in a 3 hour miniseries, it's a long book. Changes will have to be made. And I'm not saying Emma Thompson's version was perfect. But it was pretty darn good.

That being said, I have several issues to raise with the first half of this version:

1. Why why why did Elinor and Marianne keep calling Fanny "Aunt"? She's not their aunt! She is their half-brother's wife! You know what they should call her? Fanny.
2. The guy playing Willoughby doesn't look even remotely like someone anyone would fall in love with. He's kind of slimy and not very nice and the Marianne from the book would never have been fooled by such a phony (because, you know, he didn't fool her, he actually loved her)
3. Even Marianne would know better than to kiss the man when he took her to Allenham. Never happened. Don't put it in the movie, because then you make Marianne silly and easily manipulated instead of just overly romantic and disdainful of hiding her emotions.
4. Starting with the seduction of Beth was weird and a little too sexy for Jane Austen, if you ask me. It's supposed to be this shocking thing to find out about Willoughby in the middle of the story, not presented right up front (especially considering she's not actually a character, just someone they talk about)! What if someone who wasn't familiar with the book was watching? You're already predestined to hate the man, when you're not supposed to hate him until later! (ok, I know it's entirely possible that no one was watching PBS on Sunday night who was not already familiar with the story, but just in case that was an unnecessary spoiler)
5. What was the deal with that little showdown between Brandon and Willoughby at Barton? I'm pretty sure Brandon wasn't even supposed to know about what went down with Beth at that point. He had no reason to think badly of Willoughby other than as the guy who had Marianne's affection.
6. Mrs. Jennings was hardly in the story so far, and she's a pretty major character. I'm just sayin', give the lady her due.
7. This one is a little shallow and I feel bad about that, but the girl playing Elinor should be prettier. Or they could have at least done her hair better or something. Or if not prettier, just make her stand out in SOME way. Obviously she was always going to suffer in comparison with Emma Thompson who was pretty fabulous, but she was definitely missing something. She just sort of fades into the background at the moment, and she's supposed to be the cornerstone of everything. You know, loving sister, pillar of strength, everyone's confidant, economically rational, morally upright, etc. I'm not getting that from this chick. (I know, that's knitpicky, but Elinor is a really great character, and she should be played by someone who can fit that profile)
8. What's the deal with that book Edward gave to Elinor? With the inscription and everything? Way to turn Edward into kind of a shady character instead of a poor guy who made a stupid mistake when he was young that he's paying for. The "real" Edward would never have given a woman something like that which would practically be evidence of feelings that might bring about some expectation from Elinor when he was engaged to someone else.
9. Marianne got along too well with everyone else. She was generally agreeable and spoke to everyone, and only acted badly a little bit (I'm throwing that whole kiss thing out, see above). Ok, Marianne was a COMPLAINER. She couldn't stand being around Sir John or Mrs. Jennings or Col. Brandon (or anyone who wasn't her mother, Elinor or Willoughby), especially after she found out they all wanted her to marry the Colonel. When they first got to Barton she was rude to everyone because she was sad about Norland, then she was rude to everyone because they wanted her to marry Brandon, then she was rude to everyone because she was in love with Willoughby. She didn't ever give anyone the time of day because she thought they were pretty much all stupid or annoying or too old.

Yea. So. This all led to a conversation with my mom on whether or not the person who wrote the screenplay has actually ever read the entire book. I'm going with no. She agrees. If you're going to tackle a very famous piece of literature that lots of people love, do your homework and work on at least capturing the true spirit of the story and the characters. People will notice.

To be fair, there were some parts that I really enjoyed. I liked how they had little Henry in there, just munching away and not being all that stellar with his mother fawning all over him while John Dashwood was trying to decide what to do for his sisters; I like the girl playing Margaret (though why do they keep calling her Mag or Meg or whatever? I can't completely distinguish what they're saying); I like the guy playing Colonel Brandon (I'm trying to avoid unfair comparison with Alan Rickman, who is pretty great); and shady book-giving aside, I do like the guy playing Edward.

*sigh. I had such high hopes.

Whatever, you know I'm going to watch the 2nd half when it airs on Sunday, because I want to see how much more there will be to complain about (all the while hoping something happens that will redeem it). :)

***I realized later that "Beth" is actually "Eliza" Oops. Where did I get Beth?