Sunday, June 05, 2005

Colin Firth - Again

Chick-lit author Sarah Sands has this article in today's telegraph online about a new film version upcoming of Pride and Prejudice. She has this to say:

If it is true that there are only four stories, then Pride and Prejudice must be one of them. Poor but proud woman spurns and loves rich, humourless man. Women consistently vote for Pride and Prejudice as their favourite novel, ever. Mr Darcy remains the most romantic figure created, ever.
And also this:

Dignity is perhaps the most important thing in a romantic hero, which is why Hugh Grant was always going to lose out to Firth. The greatest fantasy figures - Mr Rochester, Maxim de Winter, Heathcliff - are all grumpy.
And again this:

They are also, I am afraid to say, men of means. Women can run off with the poor and light-hearted (and usually artistic) - as Dorothea Brooke did when she chose Will Ladislaw, but it was not really very satisfactory, was it? I am still suspicious when women describe their menfolk as "supportive". It usually means economically unsupportive, and they tumble down the romantic league table.

And yet more, this to be relevant when we get to BJD:
Working Title is proud of its contemporary Elizabeth Bennet in Keira Knightley. No bodices and bonnets here. You would not be surprised to see Lizzy rolling a cigarette on the kitchen table. By contrast, Matthew Macfadyen is resolutely period, with a deep voice and breeches.
To all of which I say, "Cad, curate & Colin Firth"!

4 comments:

Dr. Stephen Ogden said...

Dear Sandeep:

Well, follow the link in this post to the Sarah Sands article and you'll see that she uses the term as a description of Kiera Knightley! So, Sands certainly has a different understanding of "ladette" in mind.

The term is English slang, so it doesn't translate well to North Americans. The OUP post below gives a good definition. If I had to give a translation into North American, I'd say "Party Girl" ...

Angela said...

I think of a laddette as the girl at work who spends the first half hour of every shift telling me about either how drunk she got the night before, how drunk she is going to get tonight or something about one of many sexual partners. Another helpful term could be 'bar star'.

Dr. Stephen Ogden said...

Dear Angela:

That's precisely the English sense in which Sands uses it. Perfect example!

Stephen

Admin said...

I like the term "ladette". :)