Persuasion
Director Carrie Cracknell seems determined to make all the women in this film #girlbosses but gives no context for how hard that would be for women in the 1840s. Anne is blamed for not “following her heart”, but Cracknell doesn’t care to outline why that might be difficult for someone with no rights to money or property except through her spouse or male relations. Greta Gerwig’s excellent feminist adaptation of Little Women outlined how society forced women to view marriage as a monetary venture. Cracknell doesn’t care about any of this context. It’s both condescending and confounding. It’s fitting that Marie Antoinette is referenced frequently in this film because Cracknell takes a “let them eat cake” attitude to the plights facing women in this era.
Verdict: I remain half agony, half hope that other adaptations will learn from its numerous mistakes.
