Greetings Tweet-A-Weekers,
See those dog-earred, 30-something-year-old, yellowing paperbacks above? Yes, well, in the summer shocker of all-time, my 13-year-old daughter R, lover of games, adventure, technology and her friends, read all of them in a couple weeks with zero prompting and LOVED THEM. Admittedly, they had been visibly resting on bookshelves in our home since before she was born and I had told her once or twice that the Anne of Green Gables series was one of my favorites of all-time. However, we had passed the point where I thought it was feasible that my teenage daughter would take an interest in Canadian author L.M. Montgomery’s beloved series which debuted in 1908. I was actually surprised that I myself had enjoyed it so much in 1985 at the age of 12. But then I remembered, it was the 1980’s Anne of Green Gables miniseries that aired on PBS starring Megan Follows that hooked me…I read the books after watching the series to keep the magic alive. There have been a variety of Anne of Green Gables movies/series that have been created based on the books including the recent eerie Anne with an E on Netflix, but none of them holds a candle to the Megan Follows 1980s series (you can buy the DVDs on amazon).
After R read the books this summer, she realized that I also had purchased the Megan Follows Anne DVDs years back and she started watching them. I got sucked in and would pause whenever I would walk past her in the living room watching them. Finally, I just gave in, sinking into our comfy couch next to her with my computer responding to emails while I experienced anew, all the sweet and cozy feelings that show gave me when I had originally seen it decades ago. Anne of Green Gables (for those of you who somehow have missed it) is the story of a charming, quirky, orphaned, red-headed young girl who gets adopted by an elderly brother and sister (Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert) living on Prince Edward Island who were originally hoping to adopt a boy to help out with farm chores. Despite their initial inclination to send Anne back to the orphanage, Matthew and Marilla quickly become taken with Anne’s pluck, intelligence, independence, ingenuity, huge heart and flair for the dramatic as does almost everyone else in their fictional small town of Avonlea.
There is so much to love about this TV series it’s hard to know where to start: (1) Anne’s relationship with her adoptive parents is truly heartwarming – she softens stern Marilla and brings such joy to introverted Matthew that moments in the show bring tears to your eyes; (2) Anne’s friendship with Diana Barry, her neighbor, who R reminded me Anne accidentally and hysterically gets drunk on currant wine during their first time hanging out at Anne’s house, was the first true, healthy teen BFF friendship I’d ever seen depicted on T.V. The intensity, sweetness, vulnerability, honesty and unconditional support of that friendship served as a subconscious model for me in what I sought in my closest female friends growing up; (3) Anne’s relationship with schoolmate, competitor and eventual love interest Gilbert Blythe is a slow burning, evolving relationship of equals that is the kind of love story that actually provides a great example for younger girls as Anne never compromises herself or her goals for him and Gil appreciates her even more for it; plus Gilbert Blythe is just dreamy; (4) All the characters are so richly drawn out in the books and perfectly cast in the series — besides the main characters, Anne, Gilbert, Diana, Marilla and Matthew, even side characters like nosy neighbor Rachel Lynde and Diana Barry’s imperious Aunt who takes Anne under her wing quickly become known and liked by the viewer. Most importantly, the warmth and rosy glow that I was able to experience with my oldest daughter, who is growing up and away from me so quickly, through watching Anne’s travails, was priceless.
I hope that you will watch Anne of Green Gables with a young lady in your life, and I hope that you enjoy this series as much as we did.
Until next week, Treat-A-Weekers, I remain,
Very truly yours,
M
