Has your inner child been over the top, ecstatically happy for the last eight weeks? Mine sure has!!!
OOPS – my ‘Anne’ enthusiasm got the better of me. Perhaps you aren’t even a fan of (or don’t even know about???) “Anne of Green Gables”. If that’s the case you haven’t been glued to the TV set on Sunday evenings for eight weeks. I was so sad to see the last episode end.
The ‘Anne’ books are classic children’s literature – and totally Canadian too! For years, there have been many plays written, musicals performed and TV series created about Anne of Green Gables.
CBC Television has premiered this new series for the last couple of months. This latest version is what I call ‘The Adult Version’ of Anne of Green Gables.
Moira Walley-Beckett is the Emmy-winning producer-writer of the series. She hopes all generations will enjoy the show in a co-viewing way, noting it’s not dialed down for kids.
The series was shot in P.E.I. and Ontario, featuring stunning landscapes. Another bit of Canadiana is the choice of song to accompany the opening credits: The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead By a Century.”
Walley-Beckett says: “In this day and age, themes of identity, prejudice, bullying, being an outsider, searching for a way to be accepted and how to belong are entirely topical and super relevant, and those are themes that are built into the story of ‘Anne’.
CBC and Netflix co-produced the ‘Anne’ series. But now there is some controversy before Netflix’s release on May 12. They’ve changed the series name to ‘Anne with an E’. For promotional purposes, Netflix has made a more picture perfect looking Anne with Photoshop. What do you think of these ‘alterations’?
You can ‘google’ to find posts online with backlash/feedback about the series name change as well as the ‘poster image’ of Anne. Click here or below on the image to read Global TV’s article on the matter.
Personally, I like the title change to “Anne with an E”. It’s consistent with a key phrase that Anne used in the original books. She wanted to be unique and always reminded people of the correct spelling of her name. As for the ‘doctoring up’ of a 13-year-old child to make her look ‘prettier’ – that I find disturbing. It goes too far from the original character and what made her who she was. In this day and age of unreal expectations for females of all ages – I am disappointed in its blatant judgmental message.
I’d love to hear what you think. Please share all your ‘Anne-ish’ thoughts. Her character has been an icon for women of many ages. I believe this new series will gather more female generations to the feminist values and strengths.
