The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Tone
I think the problems with the narrative of Lydia’s arc and the way the vlogs are resolving it have been amply dealt with by far more intelligent writers than me (glamaphonic and courtneymilan spring to mind), but there is a point I wish to add, on the subject of tone. For some time now I’ve found the tone of Lydia’s arc to be very jarring, and I wanted to add a couple of observations that I don’t think anyone else has made. I’ll do it under a cut, so if you’re not interested in criticism, you can look away now.
This is awesome, and it says a lot of things that I’ve been thinking and wouldn’t have been this eloquent in phrasing. I wish we hadn’t dipped into melodrama and soap operatics / Lydia as !Victim! in a way that insulates her from the consequences of her actions.
(Just to clarify: NOT her relationship with Wickham OR her choosing to be in a sexual relationship, as #1 is abusive and there’s nothing wrong with #2. I mean more, all the characters are flawed, so we should be able to talk about Lydia’s faults without it seeming like we’re piling on an abuse victim. And yet, here we are.)
I sort of have another post brewing about how this arc would actually have been better without the abuse — Wickham could have convinced her to film the tape and then betrayed her trust all without ever being a controlling fucknozzle, so what was the point of that, narratively speaking? — but that will wait for another day.
via Tumblr http://lies.tumblr.com/post/42473770979
