When Apple announced they were establishing a streaming service, I'm sure we all laughed. That's ridiculous! Why would a computer company be interested in competing with Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu? Why would a computer company be interested in competing with J.P. Morgan? But that's another story. The point is Apple TV+ is here, and it's very serious. Their mission is to stream original content only, things only Apple Studios would produce. However, when I signed up I found Star Wars. So, it's not all original. But that's another story.
You know that boring reclusive poet we are supposed to read in English class? Well, what if she was a rebellious teen, speaking in 21st Century lingo, and dating Wiz Khlifa? While still set in the late 1840s, we witness Emily Dickinson argue with her old-fashioned parents about marriage and her place in the home, dream of the independence and the poems she'll never see published, and suffer as her secret girlfriend marries her brother.
The show is written for you to understand and feel Emily's predicaments, especially when she meets other accomplished authors of her era. We see Henry David Thoreau as a weirder shut-in than she is, and Louisa May Alcott is in it for the money. While it adds to the sympathy we have for Emily not being able to share her words, it stands to understand how she is more remembered than her counterparts. Let's face it: no one reads Thoreau or Alcott willingly, except for Greta Gerwig who wrote and directed Little Women last year. I'm sure no one reads Dickinson willingly either, but she is among the first to come to mind when you have to list American authors and poets.
Hiding behind Emily's ever-widening shadow is her sister, Lavinia, who is desperate to find a boy and get married. There is an episode in which she gives a bad boy, she was seeing, a nude sketch of herself that she drew, and he went and showed it to everyone. You'd think she'd hide in her room until she died, because that's what you would do if your nudes get leaked. But I think she took a page out of Emily's confidence book, and released the rest of her sketches showing she has nothing to hide. And there was nothing risque about the sketches, as far as TV-14 will allow, it was something she's proud of.
The part that annoys me the most, and I think it's the whole point of the series, is that Emily never truly runs away. Today, she would have struck out on her own, be an accomplished poet, and win all kinds of awards. But she's stuck living in her parents' home. Everyone around her puts her down saying she isn't an author, women shouldn't read, shouldn't write, shouldn't have a legacy. Well, that can't be true. Though possibly made up for the show, we see Emily's got quite the following in her lifetime from lovesick boy, George, to closeted gay man, Ben. And let's not forget about Sue. Her best friend growing up, and actually more than friends, we see the two struggle with their relationship as know they will never be legally together. What hurts more is that Sue marries Emily's brother, Austin, who is extremely jealous of their friendship. So jealous that Austin bans Emily from their wedding.
Emily Dickinson may have died alone, but her story, real or make believe, is an invigorating one, and I can't wait to see what season two has in store.
I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie or TV show for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.
Released on Apple TV+: November 1, 2019
Rating: TV-14
Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Toby Huss, Anna Baryshnikov, Ellen Hunt, Adrian Enscoe, Jane Krakowski
Directors: David Gordon Green, Lynn Shelton, Silas Howard, Stacie Passon, Patrick Norris
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.5/10 (Average)
You know that boring reclusive poet we are supposed to read in English class? Well, what if she was a rebellious teen, speaking in 21st Century lingo, and dating Wiz Khlifa? While still set in the late 1840s, we witness Emily Dickinson argue with her old-fashioned parents about marriage and her place in the home, dream of the independence and the poems she'll never see published, and suffer as her secret girlfriend marries her brother.
The show is written for you to understand and feel Emily's predicaments, especially when she meets other accomplished authors of her era. We see Henry David Thoreau as a weirder shut-in than she is, and Louisa May Alcott is in it for the money. While it adds to the sympathy we have for Emily not being able to share her words, it stands to understand how she is more remembered than her counterparts. Let's face it: no one reads Thoreau or Alcott willingly, except for Greta Gerwig who wrote and directed Little Women last year. I'm sure no one reads Dickinson willingly either, but she is among the first to come to mind when you have to list American authors and poets.
Hiding behind Emily's ever-widening shadow is her sister, Lavinia, who is desperate to find a boy and get married. There is an episode in which she gives a bad boy, she was seeing, a nude sketch of herself that she drew, and he went and showed it to everyone. You'd think she'd hide in her room until she died, because that's what you would do if your nudes get leaked. But I think she took a page out of Emily's confidence book, and released the rest of her sketches showing she has nothing to hide. And there was nothing risque about the sketches, as far as TV-14 will allow, it was something she's proud of.
The part that annoys me the most, and I think it's the whole point of the series, is that Emily never truly runs away. Today, she would have struck out on her own, be an accomplished poet, and win all kinds of awards. But she's stuck living in her parents' home. Everyone around her puts her down saying she isn't an author, women shouldn't read, shouldn't write, shouldn't have a legacy. Well, that can't be true. Though possibly made up for the show, we see Emily's got quite the following in her lifetime from lovesick boy, George, to closeted gay man, Ben. And let's not forget about Sue. Her best friend growing up, and actually more than friends, we see the two struggle with their relationship as know they will never be legally together. What hurts more is that Sue marries Emily's brother, Austin, who is extremely jealous of their friendship. So jealous that Austin bans Emily from their wedding.
Emily Dickinson may have died alone, but her story, real or make believe, is an invigorating one, and I can't wait to see what season two has in store.
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I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie or TV show for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.
Released on Apple TV+: November 1, 2019
Rating: TV-14
Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Toby Huss, Anna Baryshnikov, Ellen Hunt, Adrian Enscoe, Jane Krakowski
Directors: David Gordon Green, Lynn Shelton, Silas Howard, Stacie Passon, Patrick Norris
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.5/10 (Average)
I LOVED this show. It's everything modern story telling should be. It Dawson's-esque plotting with all the real Dickinson poetry organically thrown in, is just luscious. I wish we'd had this when I was in school. It is even more to reading Dickinson as Gibson (at the time) was to Hamlet. I came to a real appreciation of Dickinson, much later than high school through an enthusiastic friend. Also Gus Gigous has oft referred to me as Emily Dickinson because of my introverted ways. I hope the scenes in the apple orchard and the solar eclipse in this rendition can also count as well in a summation of my existence.
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