Near-life Experience

On some godforsaken whim I actually watched the Netflix Persuasion with Dakota Johnson, and I was genuinely surprised that I didn’t completely hate it? I mean it’s not very good and it’s a dreadful adaptation and an enormous disservice to Anne Elliot and Jane Austen, but I didn’t hate it. I think that there was the possibility to do a Persuasion along these lines and do it well. I kept thinking about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but the not zombie parts. It’s goofy and everything is dialed up to eleven, but it’s still recognizable as a fun, campy take on the story. In its better moments the Netflix Persuasion is the same—specifically the supporting characters. I definitely have room in my heart for a Mary Musgrove who says things like “I’m an empath.” Because it’s true to her character! A lot of the supporting cast felt perfectly like themselves, just with this heightened, tongue-in-cheek contemporary styling. I think these kinds of adaptations can work and be fun if done well. Back when they first released trailers for this movie I remember thinking the “now we’re worse than exes, we’re friends” line would actually be perfect for a Clueless-style teen romcom adaptation of Persuasion. After watching the movie I still think that—a lot of the stupid modernizations actually could have fit just fine in an alternate version of this movie that had a stronger identity and better execution.