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Le sigh.
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brokenrecord_ pretty much laid out my feeling on this episode here and I think tumblr has pretty well covered what’s not working about this section of the narrative. Speaking personally, I am not traught with any of the choices being made
but I feel like the format (five minutes twice a week, resolution to come in 2-4 weeks) and the secondary narratives (for my own enjoyment, I’m avoiding the secondary videos and twitter feeds) deeply acerbates what’s not working. If I could (and fandom could) power through these episodes in a half an hour and move on to Lizzie and Darcy's faces once more interacting... I mean, it wouldn't make these choices good, but there could be less attention paid to them. Additionally, I’m starting to question if the writers are directly responding to viewers in the videos or they’d always planned to have, for example, Jane explicitly stating that Wickham is responsible for all his actions, not Lizzie.
Speaking of, Jane telling it like it is was the only good part of this week’s episodes.
The rest was not awesome. The problem with a sex tape is that while it matches the sexual aspects of book!Lydia’s running off with Wickham, it really, really doesn’t match the way that book!Lydia’s actions effected the rest of the Bennets. Basically, the sex tape has NOTHING to do with Mr. Bennet or Lizzie or Jane. It hurts Lydia. An embarrassing sibling just doesn’t have the same social/economic consequences in modern times. I feel like a drug over dose, a criminal charge, or a gambling debt, would have been VASTLY superior choices because all of those options would have been both a.) personally devastating to Lydia and b.) hugely effect the rest of the Bennets. Imagine if Lizzie had to take out another loan to finish grad school or even take a personal loan to help pay for the consequences of Lydia’s actions. Or if there had been a more pressing reason for Jane to need to be back at the Bennet’s house. (Callous that I am, part of me was going, ‘Jane, you can’t do anything at home – don’t lose your job!’)
Sidenote: While I understand there was probably extra-textual reasons for why Lizzie isn’t filming in her bedroom, textually, I was boggled by the cruelty of Mrs. Bennet redoing Lizzie’s room while she was house-sitting out of town. Ouch.
I’m really glad I’m most invested in the Lizzie/Darcy stuff, which is the thing that has been done the best in recent episodes.
In a change of tone, I do want to recommend two LBD fanworks:
In Our Own Pretty Ways in which Gigi and Lydia exchange music and don't talk about things (with bonus fanmix!) and this fanvid:
brokenrecord_ pretty much laid out my feeling on this episode here and I think tumblr has pretty well covered what’s not working about this section of the narrative. Speaking personally, I am not traught with any of the choices being madebut I feel like the format (five minutes twice a week, resolution to come in 2-4 weeks) and the secondary narratives (for my own enjoyment, I’m avoiding the secondary videos and twitter feeds) deeply acerbates what’s not working. If I could (and fandom could) power through these episodes in a half an hour and move on to Lizzie and Darcy's faces once more interacting... I mean, it wouldn't make these choices good, but there could be less attention paid to them. Additionally, I’m starting to question if the writers are directly responding to viewers in the videos or they’d always planned to have, for example, Jane explicitly stating that Wickham is responsible for all his actions, not Lizzie.
Speaking of, Jane telling it like it is was the only good part of this week’s episodes.
The rest was not awesome. The problem with a sex tape is that while it matches the sexual aspects of book!Lydia’s running off with Wickham, it really, really doesn’t match the way that book!Lydia’s actions effected the rest of the Bennets. Basically, the sex tape has NOTHING to do with Mr. Bennet or Lizzie or Jane. It hurts Lydia. An embarrassing sibling just doesn’t have the same social/economic consequences in modern times. I feel like a drug over dose, a criminal charge, or a gambling debt, would have been VASTLY superior choices because all of those options would have been both a.) personally devastating to Lydia and b.) hugely effect the rest of the Bennets. Imagine if Lizzie had to take out another loan to finish grad school or even take a personal loan to help pay for the consequences of Lydia’s actions. Or if there had been a more pressing reason for Jane to need to be back at the Bennet’s house. (Callous that I am, part of me was going, ‘Jane, you can’t do anything at home – don’t lose your job!’)
Sidenote: While I understand there was probably extra-textual reasons for why Lizzie isn’t filming in her bedroom, textually, I was boggled by the cruelty of Mrs. Bennet redoing Lizzie’s room while she was house-sitting out of town. Ouch.
I’m really glad I’m most invested in the Lizzie/Darcy stuff, which is the thing that has been done the best in recent episodes.
In a change of tone, I do want to recommend two LBD fanworks:
In Our Own Pretty Ways in which Gigi and Lydia exchange music and don't talk about things (with bonus fanmix!) and this fanvid:
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Exactly! I was shocked by how dynamic that vid ended up being!
ETA: Also, wrt the sex tape, I think it works, but one of the reasons I suspected a medical trauma from the mid point or so, was because of the direct financial strain it would put on the whole family. It would also be a better reason for Jane to come home.
*nods* Yep, medical trauma would have been a lot more believable at creating the consequences that I think that show wanted.