Every Mr. Darcy (that you care about), ranked
December 3, 2020 2:28 PM Subscribe
Traditionally, people who click on articles ranking various Mr. Darcys are one of two types: a MacFadyen through the mists person or a Firth in the drink person. Therefore, I must apologize now, as both are tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me. Don’t @ me, Firth-hive. In honour of the 25th anniversary of the beloved 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, Emily Temple ranks all the Mr. Darcys she cares about in LitHub. Features (among others) a life-sized Mr. Darcy cake and Mr. Darcy as played by a Jack Russell Terrier.
I'd be ok with Firth OR MacFayden.
WAIT. Just as I typed that I realized no, it's Firth.
posted by Glinn at 3:02 PM on December 3, 2020 [7 favorites]
WAIT. Just as I typed that I realized no, it's Firth.
posted by Glinn at 3:02 PM on December 3, 2020 [7 favorites]
Wishbone forever.
posted by emjaybee at 3:04 PM on December 3, 2020 [17 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 3:04 PM on December 3, 2020 [17 favorites]
Can we do this next for every Edward Rochester?
kthx, JE
posted by ikahime at 3:12 PM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
kthx, JE
posted by ikahime at 3:12 PM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I was willing to grudgingly allow Wishbone to not make the top 3, on the grounds that he is a dog and thus neither sexy nor surly enough, but ranking him below that hideous statue is unacceptable.
This list has therefore achieved the dual purpose of all internet lists, in that I clicked on it and disagree with it.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:16 PM on December 3, 2020 [17 favorites]
This list has therefore achieved the dual purpose of all internet lists, in that I clicked on it and disagree with it.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:16 PM on December 3, 2020 [17 favorites]
As a forever-Firther, I was annoyed that she had ranked his P&P Mr. Darcy 3rd...but then seeing who was number one I was mollified.
I had a VHS tape of the 1995 P&P that I'd recorded off the TV. During grad school, I often played it in the background while I was doing work, and by the end I had quite a bit of dialogue memorized. Every time I see something about closet reorganization, I think, "Shelves in a closet...happy thought, indeed."
On preview: the primroses were over, that statue is terrifying!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:17 PM on December 3, 2020 [15 favorites]
I had a VHS tape of the 1995 P&P that I'd recorded off the TV. During grad school, I often played it in the background while I was doing work, and by the end I had quite a bit of dialogue memorized. Every time I see something about closet reorganization, I think, "Shelves in a closet...happy thought, indeed."
On preview: the primroses were over, that statue is terrifying!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:17 PM on December 3, 2020 [15 favorites]
I think I'm having a brainfart or something but what does OTP mean in the article?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 3:24 PM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 3:24 PM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
I wonder where Donald Duck ranks.
Yes, this was a real thing, but I'm having trouble finding a good reference to it. A duck-comics adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
posted by wanderingmind at 3:24 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Yes, this was a real thing, but I'm having trouble finding a good reference to it. A duck-comics adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
posted by wanderingmind at 3:24 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
NotTheRedBaron, OTP= One True Pairing
(I had to google it too)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:30 PM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
(I had to google it too)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:30 PM on December 3, 2020 [3 favorites]
I just watched the 1995 BBC version for the first time last week, and couldn’t stop mentally comparing that Darcy to Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Same sexually glowery stare.
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:35 PM on December 3, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:35 PM on December 3, 2020 [5 favorites]
Dear Mr. Darcy
Please forgive us for our lack of piety
We're justified by your impropriety
We know you're not an object we really do
We're ashamed of ourselves we swear it's true
Having said that now if you could take the time
Could you ride a horse all covered in grime?
Or chop down a tree all sweaty and glowing?
Or lean in to the wind when it subtly blowing?
It doesn't matter who plays you but for what it's worth
We'll always close our eyes and think of Colin Firth
posted by adept256 at 3:47 PM on December 3, 2020 [11 favorites]
Please forgive us for our lack of piety
We're justified by your impropriety
We know you're not an object we really do
We're ashamed of ourselves we swear it's true
Having said that now if you could take the time
Could you ride a horse all covered in grime?
Or chop down a tree all sweaty and glowing?
Or lean in to the wind when it subtly blowing?
It doesn't matter who plays you but for what it's worth
We'll always close our eyes and think of Colin Firth
posted by adept256 at 3:47 PM on December 3, 2020 [11 favorites]
"Be warned that I cannot be bothered with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. (I’m in my mid-thirties.)"
PISTOLS AT DAWN, MADAM.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:48 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
PISTOLS AT DAWN, MADAM.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:48 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Shout out to Julia Sawalha as Best Lydia.
posted by adept256 at 3:50 PM on December 3, 2020 [25 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 3:50 PM on December 3, 2020 [25 favorites]
Peter Cushing played Mr. Darcy on BBC TV in the 1950s, but there was no recording made. No kinescope, no nothing. We were so robbed.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:55 PM on December 3, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:55 PM on December 3, 2020 [7 favorites]
Were young men still wearing wigs and powder in 1812? I don't recall any references to such for the younger set in the books, and poking around suggests the fashion for it stopped just about dead in 1795
Perhaps it that has something to do with the discovery of a smallpox vaccine in 1796. I've also heard a theory that milkmaids were considered highly desirable at that time because they were basically the only people with unblemished skin due to the immunity to smallpox conferred by cowpox. Everybody else had to use a ton of powder.
posted by adept256 at 3:57 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Perhaps it that has something to do with the discovery of a smallpox vaccine in 1796. I've also heard a theory that milkmaids were considered highly desirable at that time because they were basically the only people with unblemished skin due to the immunity to smallpox conferred by cowpox. Everybody else had to use a ton of powder.
posted by adept256 at 3:57 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Can we do this next for every Edward Rochester?
kthx, JE
There are so many terrible Rochesters! It's difficult to rank them because they are all deeply flawed. Appropriate, I suppose.
Orson Welles: good at capturing the selfishness of Rochester
Timothy Dalton: looks completely wrong for the part
Ciaran Hinds: too much moustache, but fine if you like that kind of thing
Michael Fassbender: no chemistry with Jane
Toby Stephens: lots of chemistry with Jane, inadvertently hilarious at the end when he was all don't look at me Jane I'm a monster while looking the same as always
No one will be making Rochester cakes anytime soon.
Modern adaptations of Pride and Prejudice tend not to work for me because without the economics of 19th century marriage driving the plot, the stakes are pretty low. However, I agree with this listicle's Darcy rankings.
posted by betweenthebars at 4:07 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
kthx, JE
There are so many terrible Rochesters! It's difficult to rank them because they are all deeply flawed. Appropriate, I suppose.
Orson Welles: good at capturing the selfishness of Rochester
Timothy Dalton: looks completely wrong for the part
Ciaran Hinds: too much moustache, but fine if you like that kind of thing
Michael Fassbender: no chemistry with Jane
Toby Stephens: lots of chemistry with Jane, inadvertently hilarious at the end when he was all don't look at me Jane I'm a monster while looking the same as always
No one will be making Rochester cakes anytime soon.
Modern adaptations of Pride and Prejudice tend not to work for me because without the economics of 19th century marriage driving the plot, the stakes are pretty low. However, I agree with this listicle's Darcy rankings.
posted by betweenthebars at 4:07 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
I have to go with the classic Colin Firth, if only because in my university days he was the defining Darcy for every woman in English Lit, and by extension, Firth was the standard by which all us suitors for those women in English Lit would be judged (and of course found wanting).
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:10 PM on December 3, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:10 PM on December 3, 2020 [10 favorites]
Wow, for some reason I just never thought about that aspect of smallpox. That there would be a lot of survivors with scars on their skin who would use a lot of makeup to cover it up. I saw Mary Queen of Scots earlier this year, which depicted Queen Elizabeth I having smallpox and later covering her face with white makeup as a result. But it certainly would have been a widespread practice considering how virulent the disease was. Would wigs have been a response to smallpox or would that have been for a different reason? Did pox sores on the scalp affect hair growth? I had chickenpox as a kid (obviously can't compare to the severity of smallpox) and I had a ton of sores on my scalp and there was no effect on my hair growth but maybe smallpox would cause problems.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 4:11 PM on December 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 4:11 PM on December 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
The fad for hair powder was done in in 1795 by, of all things, taxes.
Anyway, the cake Darcy has its appeal, if only because I've developed this weird craving for frosting since the lockdown began...
posted by thomas j wise at 4:14 PM on December 3, 2020 [5 favorites]
Anyway, the cake Darcy has its appeal, if only because I've developed this weird craving for frosting since the lockdown began...
posted by thomas j wise at 4:14 PM on December 3, 2020 [5 favorites]
I must be dead inside or something because Firth's D'arcy just totally falls flat for me. MacFadyen was so much better.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:19 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:19 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
I had no idea MacFadyen's D'arcy's hand flex was such an iconic moment until it kept coming up in Buzzfeed articles. Here's a good take on why it works so well: Memorable Moments: That hand flex in Pride and Prejudice.
posted by Paragon at 4:58 PM on December 3, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Paragon at 4:58 PM on December 3, 2020 [5 favorites]
MacFadyen was the only halfway decent thing in that horror of an "adaptation." I hated that movie so much that it took literal years before I agreed to watch another Matthew MacFadyen movie (Death at a Funeral; highly recommend in this non-Darcy role) and even longer before I willingly sat through another Keira Knightley flick (Colette, decent).
Larry Olivier is too effete for my tastes, and Matthew Rhys, though overall a great actor, plays him waaaay too angry.
The real list o' Darcys is:
1. Colin Firth
2. Colin Firth
3. Wishbone
4. Colin Firth in a wet shirt (non-statue edition)
No others need apply.
posted by basalganglia at 5:00 PM on December 3, 2020 [10 favorites]
Larry Olivier is too effete for my tastes, and Matthew Rhys, though overall a great actor, plays him waaaay too angry.
The real list o' Darcys is:
1. Colin Firth
2. Colin Firth
3. Wishbone
4. Colin Firth in a wet shirt (non-statue edition)
No others need apply.
posted by basalganglia at 5:00 PM on December 3, 2020 [10 favorites]
Does not include were-platypus Darcy and therefore invalid
posted by babelfish at 5:07 PM on December 3, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by babelfish at 5:07 PM on December 3, 2020 [6 favorites]
The only thing I remember really liking from the MacFadyen is that it is one of the few to recognize that Mrs. Bennet is in fact right about the financial necessity for her daughters to make decent marriages, even if she's somewhat embarrassing how she goes about it, and that Mr. Bennet while charming in many ways is extremely feckless and weak.
posted by tavella at 5:28 PM on December 3, 2020 [21 favorites]
posted by tavella at 5:28 PM on December 3, 2020 [21 favorites]
Jack and Stephen both wear wigs at one point or another in POB's books.
As for the question of the best Darcy: Colin, no doubt
posted by Fukiyama at 6:04 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
As for the question of the best Darcy: Colin, no doubt
posted by Fukiyama at 6:04 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
Does not include were-platypus Darcy and therefore invalid
I expected that list to conclude with Regency Bigfoot erotica. It did not, and I am all astonishment.
posted by jquinby at 6:07 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
I expected that list to conclude with Regency Bigfoot erotica. It did not, and I am all astonishment.
posted by jquinby at 6:07 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yessssss Macfadyen. I don't understand how Wishbone isn't higher though... at least higher than David Rintoul, for the love of God. :|
posted by yeahyeahrealcute at 6:54 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by yeahyeahrealcute at 6:54 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
What I really liked about Macfadyen's Darcy was the sense that he wasn't just proud, but also socially awkward. He didn't stand aloof at the first ball simply because he thought they were his social inferiors, but also because he was just plain uncomfortable. It was an interesting angle that I thought worked really well.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:16 PM on December 3, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:16 PM on December 3, 2020 [13 favorites]
Loved the shout-out to Tom, the world's Worst Spy in that article. (MacFadyen played Tom in the first couple seasons of Spooks, where he was an anguished manly spy with terrible terrible judgment...)
posted by suelac at 9:02 PM on December 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by suelac at 9:02 PM on December 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
where is Elliot Cowan's Mr. Darcy from Lost in Austen? I'm not claiming he's a Firth contender but I don't not care about him
SHENANIGANS
posted by taquito sunrise at 9:33 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
SHENANIGANS
posted by taquito sunrise at 9:33 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Oh, suelac, I'm pretty sure that's a Succession reference, not a Spooks/MI-5 reference. He plays a social-climbing fool named Tom Wambsgans on that show. Tom is an upper-middle-class guy (mother was a Twin Cities lawyer) who has married into a super-rich family and often makes a fool of himself in toady mode.
Anyway, I liked the list, and my comment about the high taxes on hair powder is not needed.
Pride and Prejudice was written long before it was published, which is why you will see people dipping into the mid-1790s for "true historical" versions sometimes (including the costumes in the 2005 version).
posted by verbminx at 12:08 AM on December 4, 2020
Anyway, I liked the list, and my comment about the high taxes on hair powder is not needed.
Pride and Prejudice was written long before it was published, which is why you will see people dipping into the mid-1790s for "true historical" versions sometimes (including the costumes in the 2005 version).
posted by verbminx at 12:08 AM on December 4, 2020
Matthew MacFadyen walking through the mist for me... tho my partner and I have watched the BBC version too many times to count.
My favourite part of the "Matthew MacFadyen" version is the music and bird noises... could listen to it all day.
posted by greenhornet at 1:37 AM on December 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
My favourite part of the "Matthew MacFadyen" version is the music and bird noises... could listen to it all day.
posted by greenhornet at 1:37 AM on December 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
Colin Firth every time. I agree that Jennifer Ehle is the quintessential Lizzie, and Alison Steadman makes an excellent Mrs Bennet. Main challenge with the 1995 casting is that all the actors are much older than the characters they play, and I think this affects perceptions of Mr Collins (who should be more gauche) and Caroline Bingley (who should be more queen bee/mean girl) the most.
posted by plonkee at 6:02 AM on December 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by plonkee at 6:02 AM on December 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I was willing to grudgingly allow Wishbone to not make the top 3, on the grounds that he is a dog and thus neither sexy nor surly enough, but ranking him below that hideous statue is unacceptable.
I am already on record here that Wishbone is my #2, but putting Mark Darcy on the list changes my math a bit (I am good with that #1).
Wishbone would have made a fantastic Mr. Rochester, fwiw.
posted by Mchelly at 7:00 AM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
I am already on record here that Wishbone is my #2, but putting Mark Darcy on the list changes my math a bit (I am good with that #1).
Wishbone would have made a fantastic Mr. Rochester, fwiw.
posted by Mchelly at 7:00 AM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
Everyone wants to rank the Mr Darcys but can we also do the Lizzie Bennetts? Or it is too obvious that Jennifer Ehle is #1 and Keira Knightley is listed on the reverse side of the paper.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:59 AM on December 4, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:59 AM on December 4, 2020 [8 favorites]
As I've said before, the Knightley/MacFadyen movie is basically P&P as reimagined by Emily Bronte, and is much more enjoyable if viewed in that context.
As with many here, other than Wishbone's low ranking, I approve of this list.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:26 AM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
As with many here, other than Wishbone's low ranking, I approve of this list.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:26 AM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Everyone wants to rank the Mr Darcys but can we also do the Lizzie Bennetts?
1. Jennifer Ehle
2. Anna Maxwell Martin
3. Greer Garson / Elizabeth Garvie [I've only seen part of these]
....
n. Keira Knightley
Agree that the 2005 film is basically P&P by Emily Bronte, which is frankly an insult to both authors and Knightley doesn't rank so low IMO in her portrayal because she's a poor actress but because the fundamental direction of the film was wrong. On the upside, she was closer to right age.
I honestly think it was too close to the 1995 version in time and was essentially a reaction to it which meant that some of the choices were wrong.
posted by plonkee at 9:17 AM on December 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
1. Jennifer Ehle
2. Anna Maxwell Martin
3. Greer Garson / Elizabeth Garvie [I've only seen part of these]
....
n. Keira Knightley
Agree that the 2005 film is basically P&P by Emily Bronte, which is frankly an insult to both authors and Knightley doesn't rank so low IMO in her portrayal because she's a poor actress but because the fundamental direction of the film was wrong. On the upside, she was closer to right age.
I honestly think it was too close to the 1995 version in time and was essentially a reaction to it which meant that some of the choices were wrong.
posted by plonkee at 9:17 AM on December 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
Agree that the 2005 film is basically P&P by Emily Bronte, which is frankly an insult to both authors and Knightley doesn't rank so low IMO in her portrayal because she's a poor actress but because the fundamental direction of the film was wrong. On the upside, she was closer to right age.
I certainly understand this viewpoint, and I might share it if I had scene the 1995 version when it was new (rather than only seeing it for the first time a couple years ago). I enjoy the 2005 version mainly because I think Joe Wright is an excellent filmmaker (setting aside whether he choices for the story are right or wrong), and so I enjoy how the movie works cinematically. In contrast, the 1995 version is a TV miniseries made as best as they could with the BBC budgets at the time.
I don't necessarily love Keira Knightley as Lizzie, but frankly I didn't love Jennifer Ehle either, who I thought comes off as cold.
I do want to put in a plug for Bride and Prejudice for any who haven't already seen it. Aishwarya Rai is stunning, and the movie is a ton of fun.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:02 AM on December 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
I certainly understand this viewpoint, and I might share it if I had scene the 1995 version when it was new (rather than only seeing it for the first time a couple years ago). I enjoy the 2005 version mainly because I think Joe Wright is an excellent filmmaker (setting aside whether he choices for the story are right or wrong), and so I enjoy how the movie works cinematically. In contrast, the 1995 version is a TV miniseries made as best as they could with the BBC budgets at the time.
I don't necessarily love Keira Knightley as Lizzie, but frankly I didn't love Jennifer Ehle either, who I thought comes off as cold.
I do want to put in a plug for Bride and Prejudice for any who haven't already seen it. Aishwarya Rai is stunning, and the movie is a ton of fun.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:02 AM on December 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
betweenthebars, there's a 1970 TV movie version of Jane Eyre starring George C. Scott and Susannah York that might be worth checking out for you too.
Now who's going to make a list for Mr. Knightley? I don't have a comprehensive list but Jeremy Northam's 1996 version should be up there.
posted by of strange foe at 10:11 AM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Now who's going to make a list for Mr. Knightley? I don't have a comprehensive list but Jeremy Northam's 1996 version should be up there.
posted by of strange foe at 10:11 AM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also about the Kiera Knightley version... a writer I love made some very trenchant comments on Weibo that I'm going to paraphrase here:
What the writer found most unforgettable from that movie was the way it focused on Lizzy's dismay after she turned down Mr. Darcy's first proposal. She spent a dark, almost desperate night over her decision because she knew how precarious her financial prospects were and how much her refusal would cost her. (There's nothing 'genteel' in 'genteel proverty', as the Jenkyns sisters in Mrs Gaskell's "Cranford" can attest.)
Previous adaptations all focused on Darcy's pain and wounded pride, but this one chose to highlight a young woman's agency and plight. And for that alone, the 2005 movie is to be recommended.
posted by of strange foe at 10:27 AM on December 4, 2020 [9 favorites]
What the writer found most unforgettable from that movie was the way it focused on Lizzy's dismay after she turned down Mr. Darcy's first proposal. She spent a dark, almost desperate night over her decision because she knew how precarious her financial prospects were and how much her refusal would cost her. (There's nothing 'genteel' in 'genteel proverty', as the Jenkyns sisters in Mrs Gaskell's "Cranford" can attest.)
Previous adaptations all focused on Darcy's pain and wounded pride, but this one chose to highlight a young woman's agency and plight. And for that alone, the 2005 movie is to be recommended.
posted by of strange foe at 10:27 AM on December 4, 2020 [9 favorites]
Firth, firth and forthmost.
I just can't with the Mathew MacFadyn as Darcy; he's too perfect as the spoiled selfish Sir Felix Carbury in The Way We Live Now.
posted by winesong at 10:29 AM on December 4, 2020
I just can't with the Mathew MacFadyn as Darcy; he's too perfect as the spoiled selfish Sir Felix Carbury in The Way We Live Now.
posted by winesong at 10:29 AM on December 4, 2020
Now who's going to make a list for Mr. Knightley? I don't have a comprehensive list but Jeremy Northam's 1996 version should be up there.
Knightley is a horrible, judgmental prig, and even the wonderful Jeremy Northam can't make him likeable.
The dude in the 2020 version with Anya Taylor-Joy wasn't bad, but the real star of that movie is Bill Nighy.
Really, the winning Austen gentleman is Alan Rickman's Colonel Brandon. (Although my wife would likely argue for Ciaran Hinds' Colonel Wentworth.)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:49 AM on December 4, 2020 [11 favorites]
Knightley is a horrible, judgmental prig, and even the wonderful Jeremy Northam can't make him likeable.
The dude in the 2020 version with Anya Taylor-Joy wasn't bad, but the real star of that movie is Bill Nighy.
Really, the winning Austen gentleman is Alan Rickman's Colonel Brandon. (Although my wife would likely argue for Ciaran Hinds' Colonel Wentworth.)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:49 AM on December 4, 2020 [11 favorites]
Yes, give me Brandon over a pack of Darcys any day.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:57 AM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:57 AM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Huh, I don't remember that "hand flex" moment at all -- but then, I spent most of the 2005 movie complaining about how terrible it was (PIGS IN THE KITCHEN, no wonder Mrs Bennet's nerves are shot) -- on watching that clip, I would interpret it as a moment of disgust rather than longing.
I do think that some of the magic of the 1995 version was seeing it when it first came out. Week by week, the slow growth of the characters and the world, so that you could savor it instead of binge. The way so much is conveyed in a look (you know the look I mean). It aired on A&E in the States; I was 12, the perfect age; I figured out how to use the VCR's programming feature on that show. (My VHS tape, long since unwatchable, is missing the first 10 minutes of episode 3 and I was SO MAD.)
Apparently when it aired in the UK, traffic was noticeably lighter. It was *that* popular.
posted by basalganglia at 11:30 AM on December 4, 2020 [8 favorites]
I do think that some of the magic of the 1995 version was seeing it when it first came out. Week by week, the slow growth of the characters and the world, so that you could savor it instead of binge. The way so much is conveyed in a look (you know the look I mean). It aired on A&E in the States; I was 12, the perfect age; I figured out how to use the VCR's programming feature on that show. (My VHS tape, long since unwatchable, is missing the first 10 minutes of episode 3 and I was SO MAD.)
Apparently when it aired in the UK, traffic was noticeably lighter. It was *that* popular.
posted by basalganglia at 11:30 AM on December 4, 2020 [8 favorites]
Now who's going to make a list for Mr. Knightley? I don't have a comprehensive list but Jeremy Northam's 1996 version should be up there.
Clueless was the best Emma. Fight me.
posted by Mchelly at 12:01 PM on December 4, 2020 [5 favorites]
Clueless was the best Emma. Fight me.
posted by Mchelly at 12:01 PM on December 4, 2020 [5 favorites]
Clueless was the best Emma. Fight me.
Haha, no worries, I'm in your corner.
posted by of strange foe at 12:08 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
Haha, no worries, I'm in your corner.
posted by of strange foe at 12:08 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
Matthew Rhys, though overall a great actor, plays him waaaay too angry.
Everything about Death Comes to Pemberley is an abomination. Matthew Rhys is too short, too plain, and appears to be wearing an angry porcupine on his head in place of hair. Anna Maxwell Martin is too pissy-faced and sullen. Hm, it's been years but apparently this production still raises my ire.
When we watched the Keira Knightley version and McFayden shows up at the end in his enormous shirt, and knee breeches and bare feet, my husband said, "Is he a hobbit?!" and we both laughed too much to pay attention to all the romancing. So that's my take-away from that version - Lizzie Bennett hooks up with a hobbit.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 12:42 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
Everything about Death Comes to Pemberley is an abomination. Matthew Rhys is too short, too plain, and appears to be wearing an angry porcupine on his head in place of hair. Anna Maxwell Martin is too pissy-faced and sullen. Hm, it's been years but apparently this production still raises my ire.
When we watched the Keira Knightley version and McFayden shows up at the end in his enormous shirt, and knee breeches and bare feet, my husband said, "Is he a hobbit?!" and we both laughed too much to pay attention to all the romancing. So that's my take-away from that version - Lizzie Bennett hooks up with a hobbit.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 12:42 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
What I really liked about Macfadyen's Darcy was the sense that he wasn't just proud, but also socially awkward. He didn't stand aloof at the first ball simply because he thought they were his social inferiors, but also because he was just plain uncomfortable. It was an interesting angle that I thought worked really well.
See, but I think this misses the point of the novel. Darcy is a jerk at the beginning. He is supposed to be a jerk, a man with a lot of privilege and power -- he really does believe that Elizabeth et al. are his social inferiors. Over the course of the novel, he learns to work through that privilege, and to appreciate Elizabeth not as someone he loves in spite of himself, but as someone he loves because of how she challenges him to be a better version of himself.
Playing Darcy as a socially awkward introvert is an interesting angle, sure, but it loses the redemptive arc that makes him more than just a typical rich romantic hero.
posted by basalganglia at 3:52 PM on December 4, 2020 [6 favorites]
See, but I think this misses the point of the novel. Darcy is a jerk at the beginning. He is supposed to be a jerk, a man with a lot of privilege and power -- he really does believe that Elizabeth et al. are his social inferiors. Over the course of the novel, he learns to work through that privilege, and to appreciate Elizabeth not as someone he loves in spite of himself, but as someone he loves because of how she challenges him to be a better version of himself.
Playing Darcy as a socially awkward introvert is an interesting angle, sure, but it loses the redemptive arc that makes him more than just a typical rich romantic hero.
posted by basalganglia at 3:52 PM on December 4, 2020 [6 favorites]
Well, as I said, he doesn’t play him as JUST a socially awkward introvert. It’s a combination of that and ALSO pride that makes him act like a jerk.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:18 PM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:18 PM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
My Darcyest admiration is for This portrait of a randomer, 1809. I guess I'll have to wait for the CGI version.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:40 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:40 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
I read Darcy as a bit of both also; from the novel I imagine him with a natural discomfort with social interactions that enables and reinforces his class prejudices.
posted by Rinku at 4:42 PM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Rinku at 4:42 PM on December 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
on watching that clip, I would interpret it as a moment of disgust rather than longing
I've always read it as a moment of lingering and then self-disgust at the lingering and his inability to control himself.
posted by corb at 7:08 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
I've always read it as a moment of lingering and then self-disgust at the lingering and his inability to control himself.
posted by corb at 7:08 PM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
The 2005 version intentionally re-wrote the characters a bit. A what-if scenario if you will - what if Austen had written Darcy’s aloofness a result of his awkwardness; what-if Austen had written Mrs Bennett as justified in her anxiousness rather than just absurd, etc. I’ve always thought the concept was interesting but my unreserved love of every single word in the novel keeps me from enjoying it.
posted by double bubble at 11:52 PM on December 4, 2020
posted by double bubble at 11:52 PM on December 4, 2020
what-if Austen had written Mrs Bennett as justified in her anxiousness rather than just absurd
I'd argue she does; for all of Elizabeth's and the text's affection for her father and mockery of her mother's foolishness, we get a very clear view of the options available for a woman with no money in her friend Charlotte, and as for her father the particular key is the brief conversation with Elizabeth where he is for once honest about his part in the disaster of Lydia and also about the fact that he'll return to his usual all the same. "No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass enough." And indeed, he quickly backs down from his initial statement that Wickham will never be welcome in his house.
Austen is a subtle writer.
posted by tavella at 12:43 AM on December 5, 2020 [9 favorites]
I'd argue she does; for all of Elizabeth's and the text's affection for her father and mockery of her mother's foolishness, we get a very clear view of the options available for a woman with no money in her friend Charlotte, and as for her father the particular key is the brief conversation with Elizabeth where he is for once honest about his part in the disaster of Lydia and also about the fact that he'll return to his usual all the same. "No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass enough." And indeed, he quickly backs down from his initial statement that Wickham will never be welcome in his house.
Austen is a subtle writer.
posted by tavella at 12:43 AM on December 5, 2020 [9 favorites]
Good point. But she is also absurd in that it doesn’t matter who her daughters marry - Wickham, who is wholly unsuited to supporting a family, is just as good as any other man given he looks handsome in his uniform. Marriage is her goal, not stability.
For my vote - Firth all the way.
posted by double bubble at 6:26 AM on December 5, 2020
For my vote - Firth all the way.
posted by double bubble at 6:26 AM on December 5, 2020
« Older 1872 Equine Flu | The Social Life of Forests Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by tavella at 2:59 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]