Any year that boasts a Jane Austen screen adaptation is a good year, and in 2022 we got two! Yet it’s hard to feel entirely satisfied, because only one of them is worthy of the source material.
Persuasion, on Netflix, takes Austen’s least humorous and most romantic novel and turns it into a comedic romp set in 19th century England. Fire Island, on Hulu, sets Pride and Prejudice at the gay haven of Fire Island in the current day. Of the two, the movie with an almost all-male cast, dressed skimpily, doing drugs and having casual sex at the beach, is the most true to Jane Austen.
Fire Island keeps the plot of P&P nearly intact–we meet a poor “family” of friends faced with losing their house, two of whom are especially close and particularly sensible, two others who are overly flighty and embarrassing, one who just wants to be left alone to read, and a loud and pushy mother. They meet two wealthy suitors, one too sweet and malleable for his own good, the other haughty and rude, and an immoral but oh-so-hot bad guy who wreaks havoc on them all.
Sure, there’s sex, drugs, and an underwear party, but the class struggles, the invisible rules of the social hierarchy, the inherent mismatch between wealth and decency, and the relationships–both romantic and familial–follow Austen’s universal themes.
Joel Kim Booster’s Noah (Elizabeth) and Bowen Yang’s Howie (Jane) are a fresh take on Austen’s beloved Bennet sisters. Noah stretches Elizabeth’s cynicism to the point that he doesn’t even believe in love. Howie shares Jane’s sweetness but notably isn’t the “pretty one,” causing some friction with Noah, who is. Their opposing views on romance drive much of the story between them, but their bond is never in doubt. Margaret Cho’s house mother, Erin, manages to embody both the obnoxiousness of Mrs. Bennet and the neglectful-but-loving affection of Mr. Bennet. And the other three members of the family are pitch-perfect as the “silliest girls in the country.” Witness their brilliance:
Austen’s dialogue isn’t used, because it isn’t needed. Her tale of overcoming snobbery in order to find love is timeless, because snobs and romance will always exist. Booster, who also wrote the screenplay, understands this, and updates Austen’s characters in a truly thoughtful way–they exist as gay men navigating the current social complexities of class, race, intelligence, appearance, and desire. That they share a plot with the fictional Bennet family is fun, but it’s not necessary to know in order to enjoy Fire Island. Hewing to the Clueless style of adapting Austen, Booster and director Andrew Ahn give us a modern, funny, touching, and romantic film that updates both the characters and the social commentary of Austen without needing to telegraph its Regency romance heritage.
Then there is Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson. Unlike Fire Island, this adaptation keeps the Regency-era setting. It would have made more sense not to. The modern dialogue, the Fleabag-style narration to the camera, and the bizarre treatment of Anne Elliot as someone who would smear jam on her face in order to mock the man she’s been pining over for years…well, let’s just say it may have been more palatable set in 2022. If you can get past Anne as a sarcastic woman who makes fun of her family behind their backs, a huge departure from Austen’s heroine, you’ll still have difficulty with her referring to Captain Wentworth as her “ex” in 1815.
It’s hard to know what director Carrie Cracknell was going for with this adaptation. Anne’s humiliations are played for laughs as if she’s a hapless rom-com heroine, so presumably that was the goal. But Persuasion isn’t a rom-com. Austen’s social commentary in this, her last, novel is far more pointed than usual, and therefore less funny. While Sir Walter Elliot is a ridiculous character, he’s hard to laugh at. Jane Austen was brilliant at skewering ridiculous rich people–from Lady Catherine de Bourgh to Lady Bertram to Mr. Woodhouse–and she did it in such a way that readers saw the nonsense of such people and found it amusing. But Sir Walter is different. He’s awful, and while his nonsense is apparent, it’s not funny. It has ruined Anne’s life, it has ruined their family. Similarly, Anne’s sisters aren’t simply thoughtless and silly, they’re mean. Anne is a truly unhappy person, with no prospect of a change for the better in her life. She has grown small because it’s what is expected of her. It’s not a fun situation.
Yet Dakota Johnson’s Anne is goofy. She rolls her eyes and mugs for the camera and is very self-possessed. Though Anne is facing a lifetime of increasing poverty and dependence on her terrible sisters, she seems utterly unconcerned by her future. The characterization is as odd as the jarringly modern language. Why set the film in the 19th century if nothing else is true to the period?
My teenager, who’s never read Persuasion, liked this movie because it was romantic and funny. Fair enough. As a film, it’s fine. As an Austen adaptation, it’s terrible. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the absolute best thing in it, which is Mia McKenna-Bruce as Anne’s sister Mary. McKenna-Bruce understood the assignment, and she’s hilarious.
Anyway, if you’re looking for an Austen adaptation to keep you warm as the days grow colder, watch Fire Island. But if you’re looking for a Persuasion adaptation, watch the 1995 version starring Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds and just pretend the Netflix movie never happened!
