Newsie-hat wearing Gilbert Blythe
Straw fedora wearing Gilbert Blythe
Curly mop-standing ovation Gilbert Blythe
Requited Love Gilbert Blythe
Welcome home, Wartime Gilbert Blythe
Watching Anne of Green Gables Was All of Us
The beloved book series, Anne of Green Gables, was adapted into a mini-series in 1985, and most of us over 30 grew up watching once every year when they showed it on TV. Our older sisters braided our hair while shushing us through Anne and Gil’s first meeting and that 3-legged race. We shared blankets while crying all the way through Gilbert’s illness. We sat around and listened to our cousin Stephanie read the first book to everyone one weekend when the power was out as a concession to our other cousin Shannon who hated board games and was upset that she was missing YO!MTV Raps. We derisively called every single red-haired friend we ever had, “Carrots” even though we were desperately jealous. We groaned about (but secretly loved) the pink, puffy-sleeved Anne-inspired monstrosity that our Aunt Sarah made for our turns as flower girls in her daughter’s 1988 wedding.
The thing is, Anne of Green Gables is a book series that we admired, but the mini-series was an event in the formative years of our lives. We might never had read and loved the books if it hadn’t been for that seminal series. And even though press outlets are regularly reminding us this week that there have been several adaptations of the books since before there were even talking pictures, this is the only one that matters to us.
Please Be Gentle with Gilbert and Carrots, Netflix
And now, there is about to be another one. Netflix is bringing the CBC’s newest adaptation of Anne of Green Gables to their streaming services in 2017. Eight episodes written by Breaking Bad writer and producer Moira Walley-Beckett. It promises to focus on the coming-of-age aspects of the story while introducing themes that haven’t been touched on including “new adventures reflecting themes of identity, sexism, bullying, prejudice, and trusting one’s self.”
Wait up. That sounds suspiciously like they are going to take our beloved Blythes and turn them into something perhaps slightly unrecognizable. Remember this horrible book set edition we got not too long ago?
A BLONDE Anne? A SULTRY Anne? A modern plaid-wearing Anne? Someone hide all the slate in my one room schoolhouse because I’m about to bust up some foreheads if this Netflix adaptation takes its cue from this utterly useless 21st-century nonsense.
I don’t think Netflix is going to turn Anne into a platinum version of Kelly Kapowski; they make great shows with great vibes and deserved critical acclaim. But do we need a new Anne? Maybe. I have a hard time getting my daughters to sit and watch it with me, even though by the time I was their age I had it memorized.
Because Megan Follows was the most beautiful Anne Shirley. Jonathan Crombie was the most perfect Gilbert Blythe. And the mini-series that is such an important part of our shared history was such a beautiful masterpiece. The proof is in this perfect mother-trucking gorgeous gif.
That dappled sunlight! That perfect cheek! That indelible smirk! That wind-blown hair! That high-neck collar. That itchy sweater vest!
I don’t know that I need or want anything else. But I will anxiously await casting news and production photos just like the rest of you who wished you grew up on Prince Edward’s Island.
