Jane Austen fan fic

So big nerd moment of the week: I watched Lost in Austen. It's a about a modern day reader of Jane Austen who trades place with Elizabeth Bennett in a time machine switch-a-roo sort of way. Except she doesn't travel back in time but into Austen's Pride & Prejudice.

The main character, Amanda, then bungles the entire novel in a delightful way that highlights the differences in our modern world. For example, Jane Bennett does marry Mr.Collins because it is the practical thing to do, but then Mr.Bingly starts drinking and they decide to run away together to America- a "modern" choice if ever there was one.

This is blatant fan fiction as it places a modern day fan smack dab in the Austen world. The movie depends on the viewer's synchronous placement as a fan- it's a web of Austen jokes, turns of language, play with character and above all, the at home fan's complete and utter love for Mr.Darcy. Amanda is our on screen replacement. Not only does she love Austen's work she loves the recreations and adaptations just as much. Right from the beginning, she says that Mr.Darcy (the Lost in Austen Mr. Darcy) is no Colin Firth (one of the other and perhaps most famous Mr. Darcy, who also appeared in Bridget Jones' Diary as the modern Mr.Darcy). The best moment for me is when Darcy declares he loves Amanda and she asks him to do her a favor. The next thing you see is this:



which is a visual homage to Colin Firth's diving into the lake scene which has been over analyzed and enjoyed by every Austen nerd out there. It's a moment of pure visual fetishization of the male body/masculine ideal. Everyone always wonders at the fact that Elizabeth's feelings start to change when she sees Pemberley. Well, it's because she starts to feel desire- for beauty, for belonging, for wealth, for physical presences and bodies. This moment of female desire is rare in fiction in general, and it has been drawn out of Austen (scene never happens in the book) and treasured.

To be explicit, it's rare for female desire to exist and not be punished in some way. Lizzy is bold about her desire and she gets rewarded for it. In the film, Lizzy is also pretty straight about not wanting to leave the modern world. She ditches Darcy for London, short hair and a cell phone :)

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this series- the Brits do tend to get it right! Austen has long been one of my favorite writers because she combined such great melodrama with biting social criticism and excellent wit. Lost in Austen managed to capture some of that by re-interpreting the plot and characters and all the what ifs. But it still gave priority to the female reader's pleasure which is fabulous!