I came home today knowing exactly what I’d do – take out my DVD of the 1999 Mansfield Park, which I hadn’t done in years because, while I remembered enjoying it, I wasn’t sure whether it would hold up to a repeat watching, considering how loose an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel it is. (It did, but that’s not the point of this post.) So why did I?
In a way it started with the Youtube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Or maybe it started years and years before that, when I fell in love with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and, not long after, the 1995 mini-series. In any case, I watched and completely adored this modern take on the beloved story (unusual for me – most re-writes, adaptations and sequels leave me cold or, worse, make me cringe), so I bought the book and subsequently the audiobook. I took a break listening to it (not the fault of the book, I hasten to add!), so I only finished it yesterday.
As chance would have it, the very next thing on my playlist was the recent BBC radio play of Mansfield Park. You see what I’m getting at – I finished listening to the play on my way home, being gripped with the desire for more. I have yet to watch the BBC mini-series from the 80s (although I own it as part of a DVD set) and am not sure I want to bother with the 2007 ITV version. Which is why I decided to follow up Jane Austen with another beloved story, Jane Eyre – namely the 2001 movie. I utterly adore the mini-series from 2006, but a) it’s rather long for one evening, b) I’d only watched it once since seeing it in the cinema, and c) my recently rekindled love for the X-Men movies (sparked by finally watching First Class before seeing Days of Future Past in the cinema) made me want to see more of Michael Fassbender.
Which is where I stand now, asking myself in which direction I should let fancy lead me – because the X-Men movies are still fresh in my mind, I’m leaning towards The Eagle, because St. John Rivers is played by Jamie Bell. We’ll see, shall we? It’ll be enjoyable in any case – and quite far from Pride and Prejudice…
Which is why I wanted to write this post, I guess. All of us have followed the rabbit down its hole at some point or another in this media-saturated age, I’m sure. 😉
