Hello All,
Yes I am back! I took a week off, blame it on the fall weather. Either way the fates have brought us here tonight. I think we're going to turn to the left. (Don't worry we'll return to Review Lane soon.) Let's see where it takes us eh?
One place to consider: 19th century Austen England. I finally caught the BBC series Lost in Austen where a modern day woman switches places with Elizabeth Bennett. Lately I've been drawn to the heavily metatextual. (Loved Inglourious Basterds for the same reason.) And Lost in Austen draws upon it's fair share of the post-modern. Lead character Amanda Price finds herself stuck between maintaining the story she loves, Pride & Prejudice, and facing the fact that her very presence creates an alternate reality. In this alternate reality the fictional characters are able to realize their own strengths.
Here's some examples:
-Mr. Bennett leaves the library!
-Bingley finds an individual strength & really fights for Jane.
-Jane stands up for herself & tells the truth to Mr. Collins. And it's not nice.
-Mrs. Bennett shows that she can be a ball buster!
I could go on but I think you see the point. I think that there is definitely some Lacan at work here. How much of Pride & Prejudice, or any other work, is a representation of what the reader brings to it? I subscribe to the idea that once an author sends there writings out into the world then their interpretation becomes moot. It's up to the reader to interpret what's on the page in their own way. So if Amanda Price knows this fictional world as one way, Elizabeth Bennett-centric, then of course it's going to be different if you remove Elizabeth Bennett! Price finds herself trying desperately to maintain the storyline of P&P, but she can't. Maintaining her own expectations of the fictional world she now inhabits only causes frustration. Price has to let those expectations go & accept the new world being created in front of her.
To me the most interesting idea presented by Lost in Austen is that all the characters are better off without Elizabeth Bennett. However the trade off is that they gain Amanda Price. It could be argued that Amanda Price derives her strength from the fictional Elizabeth Bennett. Does your head hurt yet? My apologies. Apparently Elizabeth Bennett, whether fictional or actual, as presented here is the representation of feminine potential. Elizabeth Bennett influences those around her to look for their own personal happiness. While Elizabeth finds it in the modern world, Amanda Price finds it in Austen's fictional world.
So in the end do I recommend Lost in Austen? Yeah. Anything that can lead me to vomit up this much thought can't be too bad. If you're an Austenite, well I'm surprised you haven't see it already.
The Reading List
Books
25 Scripts
Astro City Vol. 2
Mags
Four Four Two
Comics
Flash Rebirth #4
Check Out Count: Shockingly Getting Lower.
Comic Pull List: Adventure Comics #2, Amazing Spider-Man #604, Blackest Night Batman #2, Bprd 1947 #3, Red Robin #4, Secret Six #13, Superman World Of New Krypton #7, Wednesday Comics #10
Have a great week! Book Slave.
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