Posted by Bonnie on July 20, 1997 at 01:04:01:
Forgive me for being presumptuous (since I am a newcomer), but as I revel in my Austen obsession I try not to lose sight of the fact that this is fiction, and the movies are adaptations of that fiction. Our individual reactions to those respective pieces of fiction are uniquely our own -- nobody is right or wrong in the debate. At the risk of appearing to be unintellectual (there are bits of me that are!), I must weigh in on behalf of Emma2 simply because it made me FEEL GOOD -- it made me laugh, cry, and tingle. So what if Jane wrote Knightley as being older, plainer, or angrier? Jeremy Northam floated my boat, (maybe Mark Strong floats yours). I LIKED Gwyneth"s Emma better than Kate's. I don't enjoy a movie where I dislike the heroine. I am a busy (stressed) lawyer, with two small children and barely enough time to tie my shoes in the morning. If I find two hours to escape into movieland per week, I wanna' be entertained! I love Austen because I love good romantic comedy. I enjoy it less if I over-analyze it.