I am on Team Knightley.
I realize my self-respect just took a stumble with that statement but thought I should clear that up before launching into my comments on Masterpiece Classic‘s new version of Jane Austen’s Emma. Yes, yes, Darcy, blah-di-blah. But I came to the realization last night during Part One that of all the Austen men, I am a Knightley gal through and through. I shall list some reasons for you:
- He’s not stuck up
- He is caring and helps people
- He calls Emma out on her shit
Case closed. Go Team Knightley.
Now on to Part One. I have not read Emma. I bought the paperback for $2 a few months back. I opened up to start reading and where page one ought to have been was page 51. Yes, someone blasphemous ripped out the first fifty pages. And someone else sold it to me. So imagine my giddiness at the prospect of seeing the full Emma. I loved the hell out of the movie Emma with Jeremy Northam as Knightley. Oh, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma. But obviously it was way condensed. And yeah, it took Part One to clear up the matter of who Frank Churchill was related to…or maybe I forgot. Because after all, Ewan McGregor was Frank in the movie. Distracting.
The premise of Emma is this: very rich girl loves matchmaking and makes a mess of things. She lives with her father, played by England’s Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Michael Gambon. (Apparently, the phrase “turn down work” does not enter into his world at all. Perhaps he doesn’t want to dip into his Dumbledore money.) She hangs out with Knightley (!) played by Jonny Lee Miller. She fixes up her governess with a widower. Then turns her sights on Harriet Smith for some matchmaking fun with Mr. Elton the vicar. And she’s intrigued by Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax and doesn’t want to ever get married. Part One. In a nutshell.
As I watched, I tried to imagine what it must be like to be rich and have nothing to do. Where every new person that comes to town is high drama. And where people “call” on other people to visit…and they just talk or take “turns” around the garden. They sit and watch others paint. Part of me wants to ask someone tomorrow to take a “turn” around the former morgue that is now where I work. I’m sure that will go over well.
What did I learn from Emma Part One? I would like to take a “turn” around Knightley.
