Oh dear. Another literary classic gets unnecessarily updated. But not really updated because the story still supposedly set in its original historical period, but everything else — the dialog, the manners, some of the plot, and many costume details — are modernized in an attempt to make the book “relatable” to Gen Z or whatever kiddos are the audience for this crap. Yes, I’m talking about The Buccaneers (2023), the new take on Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel set in the 1870s, and in no way to be confused with the much beloved 1995 BBC miniseries far more accurately based on Wharton’s tale.
Because I love you and apparently hate myself, I’m watching the whole damn series, but I’m breaking up my review into two parts as it airs. This first review covers the first half (three eps dropped on November 8, and the rest are showing weekly), and I’ll finish up when the series ends in December. And since I went overboard in screencapping and have Many Opinions, yeah, this is a Patreon post, but consider that the $2-per-month cost to read my rant is cheaper than the $9.99-per-month to subscribe to Apple TV and actually watch this junk, so I’m really providing a service here ;)
Do you want to read all of this review (with over 8,500 words and about 135 images) about The Buccaneers (2023), Episodes 1-4? The full post is available on Patreon for our subscribers! Check it out here. We’ll make this post available to everyone one year from today. Until then, only Patreon subscribers can view it!
What is Patreon? It’s a simple way you can support our work. Pledge as little as a two dollars (or your local equivalent) each month to keep our site running, and in return, you’ll get access to subscriber-only content like this.
We’ll be back tomorrow with a post for everyone. Just as we noted in one podcast, we want to give those who subscribe regular exclusive content. We’re also thinking of how to provide exclusive content for PayPal supporters, so if you have ideas, drop us a line!
Wow! What an article. I shall have to go through it more thoroughly.
My first reaction is that the costuming is just lazy.
As for the feminist reworking, ‘Bridgerton’ was a modern take on a modern writer’s modern take on a time well in the past. Neither TV series, nor book were accurate to the period, but it doesn’t really matter very much. This, however, is a modern take on a book written about what women’s lives were really like in a certain place and period in history by an author who was living one of those lives. I want to know what it was like then; I already know what it is like now.
Well said – as we’ve written about anachronistic feminism in frock flicks, it’s more legitimately feminist to show how womens’ lives were in the past to make a critique of that, instead of show women as magically liberated or rebelling in a modern way.
I love the original series too much to even look at this one…yikes
Saw the trailer and first thing that came to mind was Reign
In the way it treats the story, yes. But the costuming take its own track & the characters go yet another direction! So a unique hot mess, hah.
They took away Conchita’s Brazilian accent and love for cigars, I guess in an effort to “humanize“ her, but it just removed her original vibrant personality that made her so lovable in the first place
How you suffer for Us! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
We love you back though
Thanks for taking one for the team! Oh, the horror. :)