'anne with an e' deserved so much more.
let me rant guys
I fell in love with television at twelve years old. It was the middle of the night, all the lights were off and my family was asleep, oblivious to the moment my wide eyes truly opened. The moment I gained media literacy. The white light of my laptop screen reflected off my face (as if the gates of heaven
had opened in front of me) whilst I listened to Gord Downie sing ‘Ahead by A Century’ alongside a montage of a freckle-faced ginger (who I have come to know as Anne Shirley-Cuthbert) amongst trees and birds.
I had finished the show in less than a week and eagerly googled when the fourth season was released, only to be met with the words no binge-watcher ever wants to read: “‘Anne With an E’ cancelled after three seasons on CBC/Netflix.”
Some may say their first heartbreak occurred in their late teens after a breakup, but mine was at twelve after the cancellation of the only show I truly admired. ‘Anne With an E’ was my first love and the blueprint for every show I watched after it. It taught me the beauty of impactful writing and the true power of mise-en-scene. In simpler words: it enlightened me, proving it was possible for a show to change your entire worldview.
I would like to take this moment to truly allow myself a break from consuming current television and mourn ‘Anne with an E’ properly, rewatching every beautiful episode. So, here is why ‘Anne with an E’ not only deserved better but is, to this day, Netflix’s best work (and biggest fumble).
i. first of all: what is the show about?
Anne with An E is a TV series based on L.M Montgomery’s ‘Anne Of Green Gables’ book series set in the late 19th Century. The story follows an orphan girl named Anne and her new life in Avonlea after her recent adoption by an elderly brother and sister, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The show follows her life as she navigates growing up in a new town whilst coming to terms with her trauma and learning more about her heritage.
ii. the writing.
With Netflix shows, there is a constant pattern of bad writing: faux representations of the younger generation (Ahem, the representation of Gen Z in Ginny and Georgia), lack of chemistry between characters (Achew, Bridgerton Season Three) and awkward or unnatural dialogue (Yes, you: Emily in Paris…). Despite the flaws in the companies’ writers' room, Moira Walley-Beckett (‘Anne With An E’s’ writer) was able to do the opposite of all three and more when it came to ‘Anne With An E’.
From start to finish, Walley-Beckett has not only been able to write serious topics like trauma, sexism and racism in a digestible way for her target audience of children but she has always been able to break down stereotypes regarding the late 19th-century’s strict nature and includes moments of humour and laughter, not just as comedic relief from Anne’s depressing past, but as a natural part of the character’s lives. The light-heartedness of some scenes is not forceful, these scenes weren’t written in an attempt to make you giggle, they were written to show the chemistry between characters and how these funny moments occur in their lives due to their matching (or clashing) personalities.
In fact, Walley-Beckett often ignores viewers’ wants and goes in the direction of what is true to Anne and the story. The series acts as a memoir of Anne’s life in Avonlea, it has a set route that will not change to fit the viewers’ more comfortable direction they want the show to go in. So, the writer’s inclusion of even the most embarrassing scenes (For example, Anne’s loud and dramatic reading of a book in class) is why the show is so good: it’s authentic in its purpose and doesn’t change for viewers.
Here are other things I loved about the show’s writing:
The way the love story between Gilbert and Anne was written truly humanises 19th-century relationships and dating. Walley-Beckett was able to embed three different (and realistic) topics and lessons into the plot with a single storyline: how to support others in their grief, what true love is, and the effects of miscommunication in relationships (platonic or romantic). In the first season, Gilbert’s unwavering affection for Anne, despite her immediate refusal of him (she whacked him in the face with a wooden slate), shows us that love is patient. Anne’s efforts and failures to support Gilbert whilst he grieved the loss of his father taught us what to say and what to avoid saying to those in mourning. Further on, in the third season, Anne and Gilbert’s constant miscommunication taught us how frustrating it feels when you do not communicate your emotions healthily.
The dialogue between characters who are family or friends. Marilla and Rachel’s friendship, no matter how rocky it was, was the perfect representation of the term ‘Best Friends’. They constantly teased eachother (with Marilla making fun of how many children Rachel had) but supported eachother at their worst (Rachel calming Marilla down when Marilla was impatiently waiting for Matthew to come home with Anne). The friendship had its difficulties and imperfections, with Marilla having to set her boundaries with Rachel when it came to Anne and sometimes her own beliefs regarding subjects like feminism and change. Walley-Beckett’s inclusion of the good and bad in a friendship made the script all the more realistic and relatable to any audience: contemporary or old-fashioned.
Finally, the representation of the teenagers in Avonlea. In season three, the way the youth of the town acted truly immersed me in their lives, it was extremely relatable despite the show being set in an entirely different period. The giddy talk of romance and sex (A discussion entailing how babies were made via a mere touch with a man) between the girls emphasised the younger generation’s curiosity when it comes to such topics, representing the naivety of the youth and the lack of sexual/romantic education in the 19th century which is still persistent in the modern era.
Walley-Beckett’s representation of girlhood through the teenage female characters’ realistic conversations restored my confidence in the idea that it is possible to write a period piece that focuses on the strength of female friendship despite a patriarchal society rather than toxic female competition because of one.
iii. the characters.
Anne Shirley Cuthbert’s character is a love letter to every girl who has ever felt like she was different, a societal outcast. She is the living embodiment of the phrase: ‘It does get better’. Anne’s ability to find joy after her traumatising childhood spent in asylums and abusive houses proved to me that no matter how difficult your experiences were, and no matter how difficult the future may be, you have the power to heal from them and live happily because it is what you deserve. Additionally, Anne taught me what it meant to be a true empath: she always tried to support others and took their pain as her own, despite her issues and whether or not the person she helped truly deserved her help. This is evident when she offers Ruby, a girl in her class, a place to stay after her house burns down despite her constant passive-aggressive behaviour towards Anne. She also taught me what it meant to be brave. She never shied away from standing up for her, at the time, liberal beliefs despite how oppositional public reactions may be. This is shown when she brings her class together to protest against the sexist firing of her beloved teacher, Miss Stacy. She was a force for good in an, at first, cruel town and a binary opposite to the intolerant 19th-century society.
Despite Anne’s good-hearted nature, she also had some imperfections, which was why she was the most interesting main character Netflix had ever produced. Her imperfections could always be explained by something regarding her past trauma. For example, she can be quite rude to people. In the beginning, she is extremely unkind to the boy, Jerry, hired to help her father figure, Matthew, run the farm and Green Gables property. This hostility could be explained by her fear of being ‘replaced’ and abandoned in the family due to her unstable home life in the past, nothing was ever permanent for her and she constantly moved places. She was fearful of losing the one place she finally felt happy in.
In addition to the main character, all the supporting characters were extremely well-thought-out and interesting:
Anne’s caregivers, Matthew and Marilla, are given their own episodes explaining why they stayed in Avonlea rather than pursuing their passions and how this stunted the existence of their personal lives and stories outside of their family.
Anne’s best friend, Diana, despite having a rich upbringing, has her fear of being sent away to Finishing school and live a future that is not her own but carefully plotted by her parents.
Anne’s newfound friend in season three, Ka’kwet, is a part of the Mi'kmaq. She is an extremely friendly girl who is heavily prejudiced against and forced to go to a school for Indigenous Canadians that forces white education amongst her and her people and abuses them constantly. This forceful erasure of her culture causes her to struggle with accepting her heritage. Ka’kwet’s story and attempt to make her way back home is the most heartbreaking side plot of the show and the show’s cancellation means we will never see her escape.
iv. mise-en-scene: specifically shot types and lighting.
The Mise-en-scene of a show is all the elements of a shot that we can see: the actors, setting, props, costumes, shot types and lighting. To me, the shot types and lighting were some of the most impressive parts of the show’s Mise-en-scene because they always communicated some kind of meaning.
'Anne With An E’ consists of many different camera angles, but my favourite is the director’s use of a close-up. As stated in an article by Damiana Gibbons Pyles, Close-ups are used in emotionally intense scenes for Anne so we can connect to her. In a flashback scene of season one (where we learn of the abuse she endured in a household she stayed in), There are extreme close-ups of her crestfallen and fearful expressions whilst she is being beaten and yelled at. This conveys vulnerability: The close-up allows us to see every detail of Anne’s facial expression, exposing her terror to us which in turn makes her seem even more defenceless. Furthermore, the close-up also allows us to feel like we are with Anne whilst she endures her suffering despite her being alone in the shot.
Additionally, the lighting in Anne With An E reveals much about Anne’s journey to self-discovery and stability. In season one, the lighting was often dark and grey, to mirror her lack of knowledge about her heritage and herself. This lighting also mirrored her feelings of isolation due to her inability to fit into Avonlea immediately. Contrastingly, by the end of season three, the lighting is bright and the colours in each scene are more saturated, emphasising her growth and confidence in herself. This lighting and colouring highlight the fact that she finally has answers to the question that riddled her thoughts throughout the show: Where did she come from?
v. critical success.
Finally, most of these things I have mentioned mean nothing to large companies like Netflix who truly just want to make a buck rather than actual art. Netflix cares about its ratings and revenue, often cancelling shows after the second or third season if they do not see instant results. Examples of brilliant shows Netflix have cancelled are ‘I am Not Okay With This’, ‘Shadow and Bone’, and ‘Lockwood and Co’.
This is why Netflix's Cancellation of ‘Anne With An E’ is so shocking because the critical success it had was incredible. ‘Anne With An E’ was able to achieve an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes after the airing of its first season and has had 55 award nominations, winning 24 of them. And if that does not prove the show’s success in gaining a large fanbase, the fact that 3.5 million tweets were made in 2019 with the hashtags ‘SaveAnneWithAnE’, ‘SaveAnneWithAnne’ and ‘RenewAnneWithAnE’, pleading with Netflix to renew the show after its cancellation will. Additionally, a petition to renew the show on Change.org reached one million signatures in 2020, making it the largest entertainment petition to target Netflix in Change.org history.
vi. conclusion.
Anne With An E’ is one of the best shows Netflix has ever aired due to its writing, characters and filmmaking techniques and its abrupt cancellation lost Netflix a lot of success (and support) it could have had if the show continued.
And I am clearly not over its cancellation.