Today is the day my inner fangirl, which i didn’t even know existed, hit overdrive and went squee.
For the last four weeks, I have been glued to various YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter accounts to catch up on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, the most recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The whole story is recounted mainly by means of Lizzie’s video blog, with all the characters using social media in between vlogs to push the story along with photos, tweets and a healthy amount of trolling.
I have only been engaging with the story for a short time but it has in fact been running since April 2012 as weekly diary vlogs of approximately 6 minutes each from Lizzie are posted every Monday and Thursday (at 4pm for us poor souls in the UK, rather than 9am Pacific Time or whatever time it is in California). Judging from the amount of time I’ve spent thinking about the show in a mere month, I honestly don’t know how fans who followed the story throughout have been able to get on with their daily life this past year.
But all good things come to an end and today’s episode 98 finally bringing Darcy and Lizzie together led the entire blogosphere to explode and flail about in unison with ‘all the feeeels!’ All I can say is, I might have already re-watched it a few times. It is a most satisfying moment and beautifully acted. One only needs to have a look at the notes on the Tumblr account or indeed check all the fan comments on the Facebook site Socially Awkward Darcy to see the extent of the Dizzie (yes, it is a thing) fanbase losing the plot together (or rather, don’t, if you don’t want to be spoiled!).
Whilst there have been a few disgruntled moans here and there about how the story has been remodeled the overall reaction to the series has been enthusiastic, passionate and complimentary. There are always those, especially in the film business, who will complain about ‘yet another adaptation of a familiar story – bore bore bore’, but I for one believe the Pride and Prejudice concept is one that translates well to the modern world and gained a completely new yet familiar feel from being shown in the vlog format. Basically, I loved it and would go as far as to put it up there in my top two favourite adaptations.
I also found the casting of the various parts rather inspired, and whilst all the actors have played their parts beautifully (hello Lydia Bennet – who knew I could actually like you), special credit should be given to the two actors who have played with our emotions the most, Ashley Clements and Daniel Vincent Gordh in their respective roles of Lizzie Bennet and William Darcy. It’s been interesting to me that I have found myself re-watching scenes involving the two of them not simply to re-live a particular moment they portrayed, but to be able to look at the scene whilst focusing solely on one or the other’s face and body language throughout. It’s a beautifully subtle piece of acting when so much is said and expressed without a word uttered, and the quality of the experience only improves from additional viewing.
There are now only two episodes left and I can only say one thing. If you are an Austen fan, a Pride & Prejudice fan or simply a fan of all things romantic and involving and Beautifully Acted, this series is not to be missed. Thankfully, you don’t have to, as the whole lot can be viewed under ‘Story’ on the Lizzie Bennet Diaries website.
There are also rumours of a DVD coming out at some point. I for one will be on the lookout.
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