It also seems to think that Anne needs a radical feminist makeover when, in fact, the story of her success was feminist in its own right. Anne with an E seems to think Anne’s triumphs are only noteworthy if she’s continually told she can’t succeed, when in fact her unfettered brilliance needs no such clumsy opposition. These misogynist sentiments not only do the good men of Avonlea a disservice (Anne considers the kindly Reverend Allan in the book a “kindred spirit”) but construct an unnecessary obstacle to Anne’s success. Anne Shirley is not the first girl on the planet to crack a book. This cruel, pervasive attitude ignores the fact that, historically, Anne has been surrounded by other educated women-like her beloved teacher, Miss Stacy, or the girls who go with her to college. But Walley-Beckett takes a different route: she explores classic Anne escapades, but makes them feel moody and bleak. Several recent ambitious adaptations, like Fargo, Hannibal, and The Leftovers, have found great success in ditching the content of their source material and concentrating instead on matching its tone.

Emmy-winning Anne writer and producer Moira Walley-Beckett-who knows something about darkness, thanks to her work on four seasons of Breaking Bad-strains to break away from the simple, homespun charm of earlier versions. From the start, Anne with an E (called, simply, Anne in Canada) has promised a gritty, dark reboot of the Prince Edward Island tale. You don’t need Anne-levels of imagination to see that Netflix hoped the brand recognition that made Fuller House such a hit would work again for Green Gables.īut those hoping the series recaptures the glow of either the original Montgomery books or the 1980s adaptation are in for a rude awakening. Montgomery first debuted her in 1908-she holds a special place in the hearts of children of the 80s and 90s who grew up on a wildly popular two-part CBC miniseries, Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea-directed by Kevin Sullivan and starring Megan Follows.

While Anne has been a bona fide cultural icon for over a century-ever since Canadian author L.M. And though this 2017 production-titled, cutely, Anne with an E-didn’t originate with Netflix (it’s a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation joint), the first season of Anne’s adventures fits in neatly with one of the streaming service’s favorite tactics: nostalgia. This Friday, Netflix premiered the latest version of the much-adapted story of Anne Shirley-the scrappy, smart, red-headed orphan from Prince Edward Island.

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