Anne With An E | It’s Fan-Fiction Not An Adaption

I feel when books are made into a series or a movie that there is a line of respect that needs to be given. I personally do not feel that the series respects the book, as it has multiple circumstances that don’t occur. And it’s these added circumstances that shape many of the characters, including the main character herself.

An original story key main points, I feel, should still be reflected back.

When a series or a movie crosses over so many lines of the original story, in my eyes, it goes from being an adaption to Fan Fiction. Which I’m not against, but it should be labeled as such. Fan Fiction doesn’t have to stay within story grounds, it can go in multiple directions, as Anne With An E has done.

But that’s my opinion. I’ve looked online, curious to see how others reacted to this series, many people enjoy it. Some feel it reflects the author Lucy Maud Montgomery because her lines in the book depict some darkness, that needs to be read in-between the lines.

To this, I argue two things.

1. The fact that Anne of Green Gables is considered a CHILDREN’S book means exactly that.

2. Anne of Green Gables was not written as Oliver Twist. Whatever darkness is discussed is visible in the lines. Anne is friendless at the beginning of the series. She longs for love. She longs for acceptance, and a “bosom” friend.

These are all made too clear in the book. No reading between the lines. She was abused. She worked for exhausted women who had many children, and those women each had a drunk husband.

This may be precisely why she turned to her world to cope with her circumstances. She created an imaginary friend who lived in the mirror. She taught herself to look at the world with a new perspective, even in darkness. All of these things, within the lines of the book, point to a child who was resilient against her abuse.

She was bold in action, and showed no fear in sticking up for herself, as indicated early on when Rachel criticizes her. She refused to let a boy tease her about her looks.

The Anne this series tries to show shouldn’t be that bold because of her PTSD. The Anne this series tries to portray should be afraid of being hit and tortured.

Instead of a few changes added to the story, there are entirely new stories added. It draws farther and farther away from the book. It is for this reason, personally, I feel Anne With An E, is more fan-fiction than an adaption.

And, like I’ve said, I am a fan of the books and Anne’s character in general. So I definitely am not giving this series an entirely unbiased view, I’m just giving my personal view. If you enjoyed the series, please feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt. It’s just an opinion. 🙂

---

(Check out my main blog, Inside Cup, here)