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Somebody on Austenblog asked why anyone who's read the book would defend P&P3. So here goes.
For my part, I'm inclined to defend the movie because I think the level of vitriol leveled at it at certain sites is disproportionate to the "crimes" it has committed.
I've seen all the JA adaptations (I think) except NA and P1, and to my knowledge, this is the only one aside from MP2 that has met with this much anger. MP2 is also the only one I dislike on the grounds of being unfaithful---any others I dislike, it's because they were boring, or ugly, or both. Now, I don't think this movie comes anywhere close to the level of travesty that MP2 attained, so I find the rabidity of its detractors to be somewhat bewildering. I mean, at least the makers of P&P3 actually respect Jane Austen and P&P --- at least, they don't go around openly insulting it in interviews. It seems to me like they really tried to be "faithful," in their own way. There are some unpopular interpretations of characters, but nothing too outrageous. I mean, nobody would actually (I hope) interpret Fanny Price as a spirited, horseback-riding hoyden, but who honestly hasn't heard the argument before that Mrs. Bennet is actually really very sensible in trying to get her girls married? Who hasn't witnessed a Shy War? Even if you don't agree with it, it's out there.
Plenty of other adaptations -- Emmas 2 and 3, P2, and even S&S2, which I love -- make serious changes to the text, but they don't have gaggles of people bashing them. (Though of course every adaptation is disliked by *somebody.*) So I don't understand why this one meets with such frothing-at-the-mouth responses. Though I have my suspicions.
EDIT: Got a reply which was more of the same, insisting on the horrible inaccuracy of the movie, and here's my response to her:
MP2 was widely disparaged by Austendom when it came out. My intention was not to ask why MP2 wasn't *more* despised, but why P&P3 seems to have been labelled as the same sort of travesty as MP2.
So is it just that the publicity campaign shot itself in the foot? I can understand wanting to rebel against publicity. Personally, I realized I didn't like the publicity for the movie, so I stopped paying attention to it. I still liked the movie itself, however.
The thing is, if you're going to hate one adaptation for changing details, you have to hate all of them, in order to have consistency. But many people love the Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale Emmas, or P2, or S&S2, even though they changed and added lots of things. A lot of the complaints against P&P3 -- like simplifying the class structure, for example -- could also be levied against S&S2.
I enjoy most adaptations, even though every one of them has something in it that I don't like. I see a lot of complaints about the lack of gloves and the messy house in P&P3, and so on. Honestly. Yes, there were some things about P&P3 that I didn't like. But that doesn't mean I think it's a terrible movie. I don't like the parade at the end of P2 and I think Ciaran Hinds is ugly, but I don't condemn the movie because of it.
To me the makers of this movie have no understanding of the book.
This is what I hear a lot of people say, but at the same time, I think most of it comes down to "The makers of this movie don't have the same vision of the book as I do."
And what if, as you say, they have "no understanding" of the book? They're still trying to be faithful to it as they do understand it. They wouldn't be touting all this faithfulness nonsense if they weren't. And that is still much more than Rozema did.
I do think the hatred shown to this movie stems from an over-familiarity with P&P2. People are used to that version, they expect to see the same level of detail in every subsequent version of P&P. Which isn't to say anything against P&P2 or its fans, but I think if P&P2 hadn't existed, people would be more receptive of this new version.
Of course, if P&P2 hadn't existed, a lot of us wouldn't be here at all. ;)
That's also why I think adaptations of the other novels (barring an MP2-like departure from the novel) are generally more tolerated: adaptations of them are fewer and further in between, and so fans are glad just to have any version.
In any case, we'll probably get another adaptation of P&P in 10 years. Maybe that one will benefit from this one in no longer being compared to P&P2.
For my part, I'm inclined to defend the movie because I think the level of vitriol leveled at it at certain sites is disproportionate to the "crimes" it has committed.
I've seen all the JA adaptations (I think) except NA and P1, and to my knowledge, this is the only one aside from MP2 that has met with this much anger. MP2 is also the only one I dislike on the grounds of being unfaithful---any others I dislike, it's because they were boring, or ugly, or both. Now, I don't think this movie comes anywhere close to the level of travesty that MP2 attained, so I find the rabidity of its detractors to be somewhat bewildering. I mean, at least the makers of P&P3 actually respect Jane Austen and P&P --- at least, they don't go around openly insulting it in interviews. It seems to me like they really tried to be "faithful," in their own way. There are some unpopular interpretations of characters, but nothing too outrageous. I mean, nobody would actually (I hope) interpret Fanny Price as a spirited, horseback-riding hoyden, but who honestly hasn't heard the argument before that Mrs. Bennet is actually really very sensible in trying to get her girls married? Who hasn't witnessed a Shy War? Even if you don't agree with it, it's out there.
Plenty of other adaptations -- Emmas 2 and 3, P2, and even S&S2, which I love -- make serious changes to the text, but they don't have gaggles of people bashing them. (Though of course every adaptation is disliked by *somebody.*) So I don't understand why this one meets with such frothing-at-the-mouth responses. Though I have my suspicions.
EDIT: Got a reply which was more of the same, insisting on the horrible inaccuracy of the movie, and here's my response to her:
MP2 was widely disparaged by Austendom when it came out. My intention was not to ask why MP2 wasn't *more* despised, but why P&P3 seems to have been labelled as the same sort of travesty as MP2.
So is it just that the publicity campaign shot itself in the foot? I can understand wanting to rebel against publicity. Personally, I realized I didn't like the publicity for the movie, so I stopped paying attention to it. I still liked the movie itself, however.
The thing is, if you're going to hate one adaptation for changing details, you have to hate all of them, in order to have consistency. But many people love the Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale Emmas, or P2, or S&S2, even though they changed and added lots of things. A lot of the complaints against P&P3 -- like simplifying the class structure, for example -- could also be levied against S&S2.
I enjoy most adaptations, even though every one of them has something in it that I don't like. I see a lot of complaints about the lack of gloves and the messy house in P&P3, and so on. Honestly. Yes, there were some things about P&P3 that I didn't like. But that doesn't mean I think it's a terrible movie. I don't like the parade at the end of P2 and I think Ciaran Hinds is ugly, but I don't condemn the movie because of it.
To me the makers of this movie have no understanding of the book.
This is what I hear a lot of people say, but at the same time, I think most of it comes down to "The makers of this movie don't have the same vision of the book as I do."
And what if, as you say, they have "no understanding" of the book? They're still trying to be faithful to it as they do understand it. They wouldn't be touting all this faithfulness nonsense if they weren't. And that is still much more than Rozema did.
I do think the hatred shown to this movie stems from an over-familiarity with P&P2. People are used to that version, they expect to see the same level of detail in every subsequent version of P&P. Which isn't to say anything against P&P2 or its fans, but I think if P&P2 hadn't existed, people would be more receptive of this new version.
Of course, if P&P2 hadn't existed, a lot of us wouldn't be here at all. ;)
That's also why I think adaptations of the other novels (barring an MP2-like departure from the novel) are generally more tolerated: adaptations of them are fewer and further in between, and so fans are glad just to have any version.
In any case, we'll probably get another adaptation of P&P in 10 years. Maybe that one will benefit from this one in no longer being compared to P&P2.