Hey, Elle, do you want to watch a show?
Yeah. Sure.
What do you want to watch?
I was thinking of Pride and Prejudice.
I was actually thinking about watching Pride and Prejudice the other day.
Cause remember it was really foggy.
And whatever it's foggy, I just think of Darcy walking through the mist.
Wait, are you describing Pride and Prejudice 2005?
Well, what's wrong with that?
Because it horribly slaughters the book.
Okay, it's not that bad.
I can't believe you right now.
No true Jane Austen fan could possibly like that movie.
What?
I'm not a Jane Austin fan, just cause I liked 2005?
Because it appeals to the mass audience who has no taste, intelligence or
knowledge of classic literature.
Ehhh...ahhh.. What?!
*Cheerful classical music playing*
Hi guys!
Today, we're going to be talking about this interesting topic called: Is it
okay to like Pride and Prejudice 2005?
Yep.
That is the adaptation with Keira Knightley.
And you might be wondering, "Ellie, that's a really weird topic for a video.
Since when do you get as a side, if it's okay to like a movie or not?"
The answer is, I don't know.
But, I'll tell you my opinion on this topic in a minute.
But the reason we're talking about this is because I think the question in itself
highlights an issue that has developed within the Jane Austen community and the
larger literary community in general.
And I just felt like addressing it.
So other YouTubers would probably call this a rant.
But I don't like that word because it sounds like I'm just all angrily
being angry about something.
But I really just want to share my thoughts on this issue with you.
My name is Ellie Dashwood and this is my channel where I talk
about history and literature.
And if you like, either of those things, you should definitely subscribe.
And if you do subscribe, you'll be joining a community of totally awesome
people, which is what all of you guys out there who watch my video are.
You're totally awesome.
And I do have to say that I am so proud of the community that we've built.
That I feel like it is really welcoming, encouraging, and inclusive.
And it's just awesome to see the great spirit of our community.
But anyway, returning to this idea of: is it okay to like Pride and Prejudice 2005?
So the inspiration for this video really came from when I published
my video on "Pride and Prejudice 1995 versus 2005 comparison."
And when I did that, I did realize that it was kind of a debate in the Jane
Austen community, but between 95 and 2005.
What I didn't realize at the time was how intensely people felt about it.
How much they hated one, or they loved the other.
And all of that is great.
You know, people can really love the stuff they love.
Obviously, I really love Pride and Prejudice.
I have a channel on YouTube where I talk about it all the time.
But what really surprised me was there was this tiny minority I noticed that
seemed to take their love of 1995 or the book in general to the next level, by not
only hating 2005, but kind of looking down on and despising anybody who liked it.
And what that really led me to realize was this was something happening, not just
on my channel, but across the internet.
It probably happens in real life.
But I don't really talk to that many random strangers
about Pride and Prejudice.
Like I'm never at the store being like, "Hey, you like Pride and Prejudice?
You like 2005?
No, you hate it.
Okay.
Do you hate people who like it though?"
So I'm not like out there surveying this in real life to see how much of
an issue it is, but it is something I've discovered is an actual
issue, at least on the internet.
And it just fascinated me that, 1995 or the book lovers would look at
people who like 2005 and be like, "You guys aren't real Jane Austen fans.
You don't have good taste in movies.
You don't have good taste in literature.
Pretty much you aren't that smart."
And I'm like, "What's happening here?"
First of all, everyone needs to be nice to everyone else.
Second of all, what?!
Since, when is liking 2005, the definition of not being smart, having
taste or being a true Austin fan?
Did I miss something?
Which, I think this goes back to this interesting question that I thought a
lot about after this, which is what is the definition of a true fan of anything?
And the Miriam Webster's dictionary defines fan as "an
ardent admire or enthusiast."
Right?
And of course it comes from the word fanatic.
It's just shortened down to fan.
But basically it means you really like something.
So if they really like Pride and Prejudice, they're a fan.
If they like Jane Austen, they're a fan.
Now are all fans at the same level?
No, because I feel like there's a scale.
There's like," I'm a little bit of a fan" to " I've lost my own life.
And I have no more friends because all I do is eat, sleep and drink this fandom."
Right? I mean, there is a range.
Everybody who is geekily into anything knows that.
For example, I'm a BTS fan of army persuasion.
And yeah, I know that there are way more dedicated BTS fans out there.
However, in my defense, I can tell all of them apart.
Which is more than most of my friends.
So BTS fan score there.
And so I feel like similarly, there's a Jane Austen fandom scale, whether
it's you've only ever seen Pride and Prejudice 2005 and you love it.
All the way to, I literally have read all of the books, all of the minor works,
all of the letters and I am preparing to build a time machine so that I can
go back and meet Jane Austen for real.
I feel like there's definitely a range there.
And the thing is, is they're all fans.
There's no like milestone on this range to be like, "You have to at
least do this to be a real fan."
Who's out there thinking they can regulate the fandom of anything?
Shouldn't we just embrace that we're all fans and be like,
"Hey, that's awesome that you like this thing that I also like."
There's no need for the sense of superiority, I guess.
Which takes me to my next talking point, which is that liking anything
or being good at anything doesn't make us better than anyone else?
I think one thing that this whole situation sort of reminded me of and
made me sad was when I was in college.
So here's a question I've actually gotten from a couple of different
people in the comments about, "What did you major in in college?
Were you an English major in college?"
And the answer is yes.
I majored in English and mass communication.
And I was kind of a nerd who apparently had no life.
I also worked at the library, worked at the writing center, was the creative
director of the literary magazine, founded the creative writing club and
I was also in the international English honor society called Sigma Tau Delta.
So you can say I've had a lifelong interest in English literature.
But the sad part of this was that while I loved literature, I loved what I was
learning, for some reason, one of the main attitudes of the whole English
department was this sense of superiority.
Like, because we studied literature and could critically analyze it.
All of a sudden we were better than everyone.
All the other majors, nothing compared to us.
We were more intellectual.
We were more refined.
We were just essentially superior.
And I remember, I really didn't like it.
It made me sad.
Because I was like, "Guys, we like books.
It's fun to read.
It's great to talk about them.
It doesn't make us better human beings than anybody else."
And I just thought that was really sad.
And that was one of the major reasons why eventually as I
progressed, I split my major.
So I was studying half English and I was also half in the
communications department.
And that also opened me up to this fact that not all majors were like that.
And I did, I'd take classes in other departments.
And none of them seem to have this "We're ultimately superior"
attitude about themselves that the English department had.
And I just have to say, like, not all English department people were bad.
I loved so many of them.
I'm just talking about this attitude.
For some reason, it seems to pop up when it comes to people who read old books.
I don't know why it happens.
But I do just want to clarify that in my opinion, first of all, nothing
makes us superior to anybody else.
And of all the things that maybe possibly could, reading
old books is not one of them.
And as much as I love classic literature, as much as I love Jane
Austen, they don't really matter.
What matters is other people and being loving and kind to other people.
And what good is something like literature if all it does is
divide each other or make somebody feel better than somebody else.
Cause like, "I read more books than you."
And it's like, "Great.
That person could read the old books if they cared.
They just don't."
Like, it doesn't matter.
Anyway, this is my, my random rambling rant.
Which the other funny thing about English majors sometimes thinking
they were all, that was, you know the English honor society I was mentioning
earlier being Sigma Tau Delta?
The initials to that is STD.
We would literally get emails that's like, "STD meeting on Monday."
And I'm like, could you just not type out the whole thing?
It doesn't take that long to type out Sigma Tau Delta.
But no, my college inbox was just looking quite scandalous.
And yet, despite the fact that we were in STD club, this did not bring
down anybody's sense of superiority.
Ironically.
Also, I think this whole video could totally be turned into a Onion article.
Cause it does sound sort of ridiculous.
Like: "This girl fights prejudice against the lovers of 2005 P&P."
People will be like, "What?
Since, when is this an issue?"
People would probably think it was a joke.
Sadly, it's not.
But I do think it's sad that with all of the issues that do
divide mankind, that this happens.
I think Pride and Prejudice should be something that brings
people together and not apart.
These are my opinions.
Nobody asked for them.
And yet they're still here.
And honestly, I don't remember if I even said whether I prefer
1995 or 2005 in my video.
But I have to say I am a 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, loving girl.
I mean, that is the version of my heart, but also Pride and Prejudice
2005 totally has a high points.
I think it's a wonderful gateway into Jane Austen's works.
And even if you don't ever do anything else.
It's great on its own.
Basically, whether you like Pride and Prejudice 2005, 1995, the eighties
version, the forties version, the poorly illustrated version from the
Victorian Era book form, whatever you love of Pride and Prejudice welcome
to my channel and thank you for being an incredible Jane Austen fan.
And I'm so glad you're here in our community.
As I said before, you guys are one of the best, incredible and very
welcoming communities on YouTube.
And yeah.
So just keep being awesome.
Cause I really appreciate you guys.
So until next time, bye!
It appeals to the mass audience who has no taste intelligence or
knowledge of classic literature.
Ahhh...
uhhh..
What?!
I literally can't believe you right now.
I'm unfriending you.
Unfriend me?
You're literally my identical twin sister.
If we weren't wearing different clothing, nobody would tell us apart.