There’s an unmatched feeling of cosiness that small towns bring, that makes me want more and more seasons of the series that centres on it. A small community where everyone knows everyone, they love, fight and feel at home is a warm feeling of belonging that seems to diffuse into me through my screen. ‘Anne with an E’ is the story of one such community, as warm as any in the world, named Avonlea that houses farmers. No matter the number of hardballs that a good script throws at the community, the bond always remains and so does the comfort that a viewer like me feels with a bond like that.
‘Anne with an E’ is as interesting as a series can get given the slow, subtle plot that it employs. A young girl gets adopted into a rather un-happening family of a brother and sister who never married. She is so full of life; it is almost annoying how enthusiastic she is about everything all the time. But that’s what makes Anne so special. She brings a perspective into the lives of the Cuthberts who learn to appreciate her dearly and fiercely, even against their community that has been their entire lives until she came into the picture. They, especially Matthew, really see her for what she has been through and what she’s made of – instead of the surface level fact that she is a rather pale orphan with an outrageous demeanour.
Anne’s journey of ‘becoming’ is an inspiring one. She does start off as a promising character at the very beginning – but there are flaws that the writers haven’t left out. The journey of the lead character (Anne) and the town (mostly her friends) is traced through three seasons in the series but the trajectory is not a dramatic one. They don’t start from scratch and land on the moon at the end. Things are still subtle at the end – but so many messages are delivered.
I always feel like subtlety can be a challenge. The temptation to go overboard and include extra dramatic elements that can sell content can be a tough one to resist. Anne with an E has resisted it successfully; perhaps that’s why Netflix did not renew it after three seasons because the commercial value of it could not have been upto the mark. Such a shame that content as good as this has to struggle to keep itself alive when soft porn mints millions in the disguise of reality TV on the same platform.
You learn so much about life in a completely different timeline and different part of the world through a work of art like this one. The language, costumes, architecture, relationships, education and landscapes are so new and entirely indulging. The series has certainly touched upon concepts of modernity such as homosexuality and feminism, as well as revolution of education. Also, this is the only series I have seen that touches upon the concept of immigration and points a finger at the organized atrocities inflicted upon them in the name of missionary education. (They did not give the sub-plot a reasonable ending though.)
Despite having included so many elements, the series has never once forgone subtlety. The dialogues and the language were the key highlights for me through everything. Not to mention Amybeth Mcnulty The content and the tone of the series put together make it almost educational and fulfilling than entertaining. I really hope they make more of these.
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