#adaptation problems

Fandom Problem #12,397:

Disney specific:

Let's not pretend all the POC being cast as previously white characters isn't performative and lazy.

You know what would be a great way for a company known for their fairytale adaptations to add representation?

ADAPTING FAIRYTALES FROM THOSE REGIONS!

This question refers to this post

I think the 2005 movie was trying to depict the very real class/wealth difference between the Bennets and Mr. Darcy and to some extent the Bingleys, but they went too far.

Mr. Bennet has 20x the income of a master blacksmith. Mr. Bingley has 40x, Darcy has 100x. So there is a difference! However, this is like, having one personal yacht, three personal yachts, or a whole helicopter. No one here is actually poor, it's gradations of wealth.

Even if Mr. Bennet died and Mrs. Bennet had only her 250/year, she is still at 2.5x the income of that master blacksmith and that's all passive income.

Fanny Price is weak, sickly, shy, nervous, and everything that modern readers and media creators seem to hate. She never stands up to her abusers. She is staunchly moral. She is not sassy. She cannot defeat anyone in hand-to-hand combat, but I still think she is a heroine worthy of being represented accurately in film. I still think her book is worth reading, even if it loses in popularity on every single poll. Because Fanny is freaking strong. She has incredibly limited choices, means, and energy but she still stands her ground and refuses to marry Henry Crawford. And I would bet she's a heck of a lot more relatable to the real general population than a lot of heroines seen in film or books today; not every heroine needs to be inspirational (I mean, I do think she is inspirational too, but I think a lot of people would disagree).

When Hollywood makes Fanny Price sassy to make the film "better" or they hand Cinderella/Snow White a sword to make them "interesting", it says to me that they think women with their personality/situation don't deserve to be portrayed as heroines. No one wants to see that; it won't make money. People want Strong Female Characters! And then they did it again with Anne Elliot. She can't be prudent, self-sacrificing, and know when to hold her tongue! Make her sarcastic, messy, and drunk. And then you have people getting annoyed any time a woman cries because now she's "weak." Humans cry! But no, women have to be some insane level of "strong," so they cannot cry.

I want love for the weak women, the oppressed women who cannot defeat their oppressors, the quiet women, women who are chronically ignored or forgotten, women with disabilities, but women who still fight in their own way for their happiness and place in the world. Because not all of us are the "right" kind of strong.

Jane Austen, whose personality was bestowed on "Fanny" 1999, would probably not have survived at Mansfield. She'd have been sent packing to Portsmouth years ago. She would have gotten in a fight with Mrs. Norris. Fanny Price's personality is just as vital to the story as her being pushed down by abuse. A different personality would make her into Jane Eyre and Jane Eyre famously did not get to stay with her wealthy relations long term.

So often, the events of the story are very tightly tied to the personality of the characters, which is why alterations to the character ruin the story. P&P 2005 gets away with making Darcy shy and Elizabeth more angry because that story can still be achieved with those traits. It's less interesting than canon Darcy's arrogance and snobbery, but it works. A snarky Fanny Price makes the story fall apart. Anne Elliot despising her family makes her story illogical.