#is even something dated or incomprehensible or fraught in a modern context or bigoted | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

decepti-geek · 17 days ago

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that excellent pride and prejudice post setting my brain alight has unfortunately only spiralled me back into anger at the BBC austen documentary which somehow managed to finagle the summary of Mansfield Park to make it appear that Fanny is sent away from the house for condemning the fact that her uncle is a slaveowner

#like they essentially elided enough to imply that the movie version where Fanny does that is a faithful adaptation #and sure it would have been extremely impactful from the off if that HAD been the case but like #austen does not deserve the credit for that particular thing at all??#because she straight-up did not write that????#i think using mansfield park as a vehicle for discussing the slave trade as a huge driving force in the era was a good idea #but you very much can do that without making the specific move of creatively reworking the plot summary into something fabricated #i think this also makes me angry because... it's not as though what fanny does stand her ground on #is even something dated or incomprehensible or fraught in a modern context or bigoted #she refuses to marry a man whom Literally Everyone in her life is pressuring/encouraging her to marry #(i have a lot of Thoughts on edmund's role in it and i do believe strongly that 'encouraging' is the better word for thematic reasons)#and she does this as a relatively impoverished dependent who has been raised in a sense of obligation to this family #she refuses to marry a man whom she basically KNOWS will cheat on her eventually #if people really need to make it Pop Culture Relevant she's the only one who spots Crawford's red flags!!#i don't see how that's like... not something that could be talked about in an appropriately glowing tone #to match the rest of the documentary #like it just feels so dismissive to see an existing idk. Good Example or evidence of austens Convictions #and to decide not that it's just not what you want to focus on #but it's not good enough to the extreme that it's necessary to completely invent a different story beat #and attribute the credit to austen of something she did not do #like... no matter who it is you're doing that about #they could be the most upstanding person in the world #and telling people that they took a stand for an important struggle which they Did Not take at the VERY least in the form described #that would still be an injustice #jane austen #mansfield park

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