Lizzie & Lydia
Dec. 26th, 2012 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerYou know, I was worried that the Lizzie Bennet Diaries might get stale after a while. Sure, a modern vlog of Pride and Prejudice is a fun idea, but could they keep the gimmick fresh?
But the videos just keep getting better and better! And the vlog format doesn’t feel like a gimmick anymore: it’s a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, sure, but it’s also become its own thing, and nowhere is that more obvious than the increased attention the Dairies give to Lydia.
In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie’s dislike of her youngest sister is presented as, if not admirable, certainly not problematic. But the Lizzie Bennet Diaries really delve into that - their fight in the most recent episodes didn’t hurt quite as sharply as Lydia’s fight with Mary, but it still ached, and I think the pain is going to hang around a lot longer this time. Recovering their relationship from this fight will be much harder than mending Lydia’s fight with Mary, or Lizzie’s rift with Charlotte - not least because neither Lizzie nor Lydia will want to meet the other halfway.
Lydia had let Lizzie’s criticisms just roll of her back, and all of a sudden she realized that Lizzie really meant them - and there’s no way Lizzie can really apologize for that, because she’s not going to (and should not) believe that Lydia’s reckless class-skipping, hard-partying ways are A-okay just because Lydia wants her to.
What I love about the Lizzie Bennet Diaries is that the fights are about real things: issues that cut to the heart of the girls’ relationships with each other. And the narrative gives them the weight they deserve: they feel hard and painful and real. It’s not only rare for a story to focus this intensely on female friendship and/or sisters - it’s rarer still for those relationships to be allowed to be this loving but at the same time so difficult and complicated.
Finally, another Yuletide rec, because it has just perfect Lydia voice, and is simultaneously an excellent character study of Lizzie. Reasons Why Lizzie Bennet is Perpetually Single: A Helpful List Compiled by her Awesomer, Sexier, Totes Adorbs and Amazing Younger Sister. An awesome, adorable, and insightful fic.
But the videos just keep getting better and better! And the vlog format doesn’t feel like a gimmick anymore: it’s a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, sure, but it’s also become its own thing, and nowhere is that more obvious than the increased attention the Dairies give to Lydia.
In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie’s dislike of her youngest sister is presented as, if not admirable, certainly not problematic. But the Lizzie Bennet Diaries really delve into that - their fight in the most recent episodes didn’t hurt quite as sharply as Lydia’s fight with Mary, but it still ached, and I think the pain is going to hang around a lot longer this time. Recovering their relationship from this fight will be much harder than mending Lydia’s fight with Mary, or Lizzie’s rift with Charlotte - not least because neither Lizzie nor Lydia will want to meet the other halfway.
Lydia had let Lizzie’s criticisms just roll of her back, and all of a sudden she realized that Lizzie really meant them - and there’s no way Lizzie can really apologize for that, because she’s not going to (and should not) believe that Lydia’s reckless class-skipping, hard-partying ways are A-okay just because Lydia wants her to.
What I love about the Lizzie Bennet Diaries is that the fights are about real things: issues that cut to the heart of the girls’ relationships with each other. And the narrative gives them the weight they deserve: they feel hard and painful and real. It’s not only rare for a story to focus this intensely on female friendship and/or sisters - it’s rarer still for those relationships to be allowed to be this loving but at the same time so difficult and complicated.
Finally, another Yuletide rec, because it has just perfect Lydia voice, and is simultaneously an excellent character study of Lizzie. Reasons Why Lizzie Bennet is Perpetually Single: A Helpful List Compiled by her Awesomer, Sexier, Totes Adorbs and Amazing Younger Sister. An awesome, adorable, and insightful fic.
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no subject
Date: 2012-12-28 11:02 pm (UTC)I'm two-thirds of the way through The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I started watching it this week with Fenella, who's been telling me about it for months. It's so great!
We're on episode 51 - and I can't see we're in for some drama soon, oh noes!
no subject
Date: 2012-12-29 01:16 am (UTC)I am pretty sure that Lydia Bennet is my favorite. The fact that the show has made me not just tolerate but adore her has simply blown my mind.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 04:58 am (UTC)Fic? Yes, please!! I don't have any plot bunnies myself. But I'd love to read some from you!
Lydia is wonderful. They all are! The show's so well done. My favourites are Mary and Charlotte and Bing Lee. And Jane has been fantastic in the last set of episodes. She and Lydia are so sweet and cute in their scenes together. Aw!
And Ricky Collins' actor makes me laugh every time he has a scene.
Yeah, they're all great! :D
no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 05:03 am (UTC)So far, my somewhat vague idea is for something back during Lydia & Mary's fight. A more complete rendition of Mary's side of the story? (Possibly as told to her pen & paper diary, as Mary is not a "sharing my life with the internet" kind of person.) Or "Three Videos Lydia Never Posted," showing her attempting to deal with the revelation that Mary was being paid to tutor/hang out with her.
Or possibly something with Ricky Collins & Charlotte, because I'm pretty sure there is a goldmine of hilarity there.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-31 12:15 am (UTC)I fully support the idea of Mary!fic. And yes, Mary would never share her life with the internet. So fic is needed to fill in the gaps.
Ricky and Charlotte making awkward conversation in the lunch room at Collins & Collins?
That Lydia story sounds like one you have a good handle on. There's already a title: It's nearly a story! ;)