#and matthew's autistic stop making him more neurotypical but that's another rant altogether

[14th-centuary-capitalism]

Anne With An E's minorities

Believe it or not, Anne of Green Gables and its sequels don't have many LGBTQ+ or non-white characters. The books were set in the mid-late 1800s in rural Canada, so long before the legalisation of homosexuality but not long after the abolition of slavery. Lucy Maude Montgomery did not have representation at the forefront of her thoughts when writing her novels in the early 20th century- in fact she probably never considered it at all- and that's okay because as a modern audience we can appreciate her books for the stories they are whilst also realising that they are a centuary old and outlooks have changed a lot in the time between their original publication and us picking up our copies. However, this does not mean that adaptations made in more modern times have to share the same lack of diverse characters.

Anne With An E surprised its viewers in its second season by including a host of many new characters not from the books, and amongst these were a black man and a gay teenage boy. Now here's the thing... as much as I love the books and want the tv show to stick to them completely, I don't hate these two characters (Bash and Cole), in fact I really like them! But it's the way the inclusion of these oh-so-controversial characters was handled that I really don't like. Should I stop watching? Not over this, there are far more egregious things pushed into this story by the tv writers that would make me do that (gold scammers??). Should I start a boycott demanding that PC culture is ruining media? Absolutely not. I shall attempt to explain as simply as I can what I would have done with these characters had I been in charge of season 2. Now I don't expect this will do anything more than leave me feeling satisfied with venting my thoughts, but that's good enough for me.

Bash

Oh Sebastian, I do love you but it is such a pity that you were introduced at the expense of another character's development! Gilbert Blythe being stripped of his years of natural and evolving character growth to give him a sad backstory is possibly one of the worst changes I've seen in one of my favourite characters from page to screen (and I'm a Percy Jackson fan so that's saying something!). Of course, if Gilbert was never made an orphan he wouldn't have gone on his soul-searching trip working on a ship and indeed wouldn't have met our Bash. However, if there is a way to keep Bash without sacrificing Gilbert's personality I would find it, and I think I did. It would be oh so simple to keep John Blythe alive and have him hire a new ~controversial~ farmhand who he met in Carmody fresh off a ship and looking for new work. Instead of having Bash and Gilbert be seen as equals (or Gilbert being more senior to Bash because of his race) have them build a relationship wherein Gilbert sees Bash as an older brother. If John is constantly ill he probably doesn't have much time for his son, so Bash can step into certain roles for Gilbert. A big part of why I don't like Gilbert and Anne's relationship in season 2 is that it feels as though Gilbert is far more mature than Anne now, and putting him with the fully grown adult Sebastian makes him seem even older. Of course, this version of Gilbert is free to grow up at his own pace and with him treating Bash as his, for lack of a better word, elder. This is normal for the audience who sees a boy and a man, but for the citizens of Avonlea who largely still don't see black people as equals to white people, them seeing Bash as a superior to Gilbert would shake their core. (Yes, they are supposed to equals as business partners in the show, but it's clear that everyone choses to ignore that. And yes, Bash would be working for Gilbert's dad here, but it can be made obvious that their relationship is more than that.) The storyline with Mary can happen just as it does because it needs nothing changed. They're perfect. The only loss here would be the scene with Bash's mother which I really like. The best thing I can come up with to replace it is a scene where Bash writes to his mum and never sends the letters and explaining to Gil that it's because he knows she can't read or write because she was born into slavery and hasn't learnt since the abolishment because her life has barely changed. It's not my greatest idea, but I'm not a professional writer.

Cole

Cole is a little different... I would prefer to scrap his character altogether. Controversial I know, but so much about him is a bit iffy. Where was he before the plot needed a gay boy for Anne to be friends with? Is it stereotyping to make him an artsy sensitive type whose only friends with girls? Why did they write him out at the end of his storyline? So to begin with I'd like to make an existing character gay. Just for argument's sake let's make it Charlie Sloane. So Anne is up to no good having a snoop in Charlie's desk. Maybe she's dared to, maybe she thinks he's taken something of hers. At the very bottom of the desk, underneath a big stone, is a small folded up piece of paper. She hestitates before opening it, but she's naturally too curious for her own good. Oh how romantic would it be if this were a secret love note! Uh oh turns out she was right, but it's not adressed to Diana or Ruby or even Anne, it's simply addressed to B. Anne brings the gossip to Diana and both are determined to find out who Charlie's girl is, because no-one's name begins with a B and the mystery is just too tempting to not solve. Through some wacky hijinks the two discover that B stands for Billy and uncover Charlie's greatest secret. Anne thinks it's the very pique of tragical romance and let's Charlie know that she accepts him as he is. This can maybe be written to Aunt Josephine in a letter (because saying something out loud in Avonlea means Mrs. Lynde will hear it sooner or later, and some adult input on the situation would be much appreciated). Cue the party where she insists that Anne bring Charlie. Cue the elderly lesbian giving her speech. Only difference is that Charlie isn't left behind. He remains a normal school boy and a constant gay presence who isn't just written out as soon as diversity points are scored in his name.

In short, I think that the decision to add more diverse characters was a good one, but it really does feel like that decision was only made to score points with the diversity patrol! Adding minorities into an already well-loved and established story should be a well thought out process and the communities they represent deserve to be represented better than "insert black character, make him sad about slavery, make white characters like him, racism is over now". I wish Bash and Cole and all other minorities in the show could be given more complexity and have them fit in with the story instead of having them stick out like sore thumbs!

#this has been my ted talk #I'm just so tired of people saying that anyone who doesn't like anne with an e is just a racist homophobe #no!!! i like the new characters i just wish they were better written and got given as many dimensions as the straight white characters!! #gold scammers also just give me a headache! #and matthew's autistic stop making him more neurotypical but that's another rant altogether #think critically about media kids don't just blindly like everything