Thread by @lainasparetime

Alright, I've got a bit of time before I need to go do a thing, so how about our second #LainaWatchesAnne thread?

#LainaWatchesAnne So it is the next morning, and Anne is picking at her breakfast. Props that they do show here Anne having trouble eating when she's so anxious about Marilla not letting her stay, and having Marilla be concerned about it.

#LainaWatchesAnne Marilla tells Anne to go wash up as Mrs Barry is coming up the path.

Reminder that Mrs Barry and Rachel Lynde have been combined into the same person in this. Still weird.

#LainaWatchesAnne Otherwise this scene does play out by the book, with Rachel insulting Anne and Anne snapping back at her. However, I hink her being so much older changes the dynamic. Again, she's fourteen, not eleven.

#LainaWatchesAnne Anne kind of comes off as immature and a little bratty. Flying off the handle like that doesn't make her look great. It really makes her seem overdramatic and maybe a little annoying.

#LainaWatchesAnne However I actually do like the framing of the scene after when Marilla goes to talk to Anne. The actress playing Marilla has a great balance in this scene of stern but compassionate. Seriously, she's wonderful.

#LainaWatchesAnne Incredibly random side tangent - did any of y'all watch Mr. Dressup as a kid? He's kinda like Canadian Mr. Rogers. I swear his backyard had a bench around a tree like this. Or SOME show I watched as a kid did.

#LainaWatchesAnne Aw, when Marilla tells Anne she has to apologize, she leaves out the line about dungeons being scarce in Avonlea. I love that line!

#LainaWatchesAnne Marilla says Anne must apologize "if you expect to remain under my roof" and Anne replies that they can send her back to the orphanage. That does not happen in the book and I don't particularly like it.

#LainaWatchesAnne In a very odd addition, Matthew has been eavesdropping on this whole thing. He comes over to Marilla and says, "Maybe it's best. I've a feeling we would never like her." What?

#LainaWatchesAnne Marilla's response of, "I never said I do or don't like her," is totally in character, but Matthew comes off as weirdly manipulative. That isn't something I could ever imagine him saying.

#LainaWatchesAnne Then Matthew immediately goes in the house and sneaks up to Anne's room and this is not the most comfortable I have ever been.

#LainaWatchesAnne There are small details changed like Marilla being in the house and him sneaking past her, but my biggest problem is the actor playing Matthew.

He's enjoying this just a little too much.

#LainaWatchesAnne Eck look at his face there.

He's just creepy!

#LainaWatchesAnne SO creepy

#LainaWatchesAnne Matthew tells Anne that MARILLA thinks it's best she's going back and he thinks probably she's right and honestly Matthew Cuthbert doesn't have the social skills to be this manipulative.

#LainaWatchesAnne Honestly saying something like that would break book!Anne's heart and this Anne doesn't look unaffected either.

#LainaWatchesAnne "You're used to the orphanage," he says and Anne makes this face.

#LainaWatchesAnne Ugh, this Matthew is so creepy.

He says it'd be "terrible lonesome downstairs witout you" and looks at her like this and I'm so super grossed out.

#LainaWatchesAnne When Anne agrees to keep this whole thing between them (ew), she stares off into the distance and asks, "How could wild horses drag a secret from anybody?"

This is a book line! But the feel of it is completely different from a 14 year old versus an 11 year old.

#LainaWatchesAnne Honestly she comes off as a little... ditzy.

#LainaWatchesAnne Anne agrees to apologize and for some reason Matthew comes with them for this. Did they just really like this actor or something? I don't get why he has to constantly be in scenes he wasn't present at in the book.

Anne apologizes, Matthew stares creepily.

#LainaWatchesAnne Her apology does come off a bit oddly due to the age bump, as many things have. The constant murder faces she makes don't help.

#LainaWatchesAnne Mrs Barry forgives her and Diana gets caught creepily laughing in the bushes. Seriously, a very weird transition there.

And so Diana and Anne are introduced. I will give the movie slight props that Anne is dressed in a plain, dark dress compared to Diana.

#LainaWatchesAnne It doesn't exactly put it across that Marilla is the one dressing Anne that way since this is her dress from the orphanage, but it does contrast them well.

#LainaWatchesAnne But wow what an odd choice for Diana. One, she's blonde. Two, not renotely the way Diana is physically described. Three, her voice is super strange. It really started to grate on my nerves the further we got into the movie.

#LainaWatchesAnne Marilla says though they "haven't exactly decided to keep her, she ought to go to school" because this movie likes building unnecessary drama that goes nowhere.

So instead of a whole summer passing, Anne is going to school tomorrow. COOL.

#LainaWatchesAnne For some reason Anne is the only student wearing a school apron/pinafore? They all should be wearing this.

#LainaWatchesAnne So we finally get some Anne backstory, as Anne's conversation that was Marilla asking her history turns into Anne info-dumping it umprompted on Mr Phillips.

Who is kinda old. At least they cut the Prissy Andrews flirtation.

#LainaWatchesAnne Oh. Good. Gilbert Blythe. I'm so excite.

#LainaWatchesAnne It annoys me a lot that they give this time to Phillips instead of Marilla. Marilla learning Anne's backstory was so important. It bonded them and softened her towards Anne.

#LainaWatchesAnne Also I think I caught an error?

Where is Gilbert in this scene?

#LainaWatchesAnne Is this him?

Where'd the little blonde child go?

Seriously this scene is oddly framed at best.

#LainaWatchesAnne Philips starts his lesson and Diana points out Gilbert to Anne and asks if Anne thinks he's handsome.

I mean. He certainly doesn't look 13 or 16 or however old he's supposed to be. The actor was 21 or 22 to Shirley's 17.

#LainaWatchesAnne Gilbert immediately starts trying to get Anne's attention and they do this scene weirdly. Remember in the book, Anne was daydreaming and didn't notice him at all.

#LainaWatchesAnne In this, she's noticing him and then choosing to ignore him. It changes the tone of the scene completely.

And she keeps looking over at him like he's interesting or something, which. He's not.

She looks over.

#LainaWatchesAnne He catches her looking and winks.

#LainaWatchesAnne She looks away again.

#LainaWatchesAnne And then he gets angry.

#LainaWatchesAnne He keeps trying to get her attention with a drawing of Phillips and she looks then ignores him to pay attention. Then he gets even angrier and calls her carrots in probably the most mocking, annoying voice possible.

#LainaWatchesAnne No, you know what, I'm linking to the scene on youtube for anyone who wants to watch.

#LainaWatchesAnne He also doesn't pull her hair. He only calls her carrots.

And then she smashes her slate on his head and it shatters and I replay that a few times even though I don't need to. Dang, that's satisfying.

#LainaWatchesAnne Ugh, he does get props for taking the blame for teasing her while he's still wearing her slate frame like a necklace. That and the fact that he apologizes after class are the only points this Gilbert gets.

#LainaWatchesAnne When Anne gets home, Marilla has heard about the slate-smashing and she's annoyed until she heard it was Gilbert Blythe. Then she just tells Anne to get ready for supper.

Big changes are a-coming so I'm going to tackle all that next thread.

#LainaWatchesAnne Like, comment, and subscribe and all that jazz for more 1934 Anne tomorrow!