Watch the 1995 Pride and Prejudice (not the 2005 version)

Our sophomores read Pride and Prejudice, which is a book that everyone should read (it actually gets better each time I read it. I pick up on the humor more and more each time).

You may wonder (when you're done reading of course), which movie should you watch: the 1995 adaptation or the 2005 (there are a number of other options including 1940, 1980, and Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies, but we'll put those aside for now). In my mind, there's only one viable option. It's the 1995 BBC miniseries version. It's just better all around.

If you haven't seen it, you may never agree with me (we tend to like the first thing that we see). However, here are a few reasons whey you should give it a chance:

The casting (and hair) is much better. Here are 3 examples.

1995: Colin Firth

2005: Matthew Macfadyen

1995: Jennifer Ehle

2005: Kiera Knightley

1995: Mr. Bennet (Benjamin Whitrow)

2005: Mr. Bennet (Donald Sutherland)

Length is important in book adaptations.

To properly adapt a book, you need time. the 2005 film has a runtime of 2 hrs and 7 minutes. That's just not long enough to properly focus on the details, characters, and subplots. In other words, the 2005 film reduces the story down to the bare bones of the story and a whole lot of Wickham being a jerk is left out.

The 1995 miniseries runs on for 5 hrs and 25 minutes. Now, you may say that is too long, but if you have the patience to read a book, you should be able to sit through a movie as well. That extra time gives room to explore the characters and their motivations, faithfully reproduce the best lines, and focus on reactions (not to mention lots of time for Darcy to stare).

It would be a lot shorter without the staring.

Another important aspect of the length is that Pride and Prejudice is like comfort food. I (and by extension you should) watch/read it when I'm not feeling well. If I'm going to be in bed sick all day, 2 hours isn't going to be enough to get me through.

The hand flex is stupid

Much has been said of Darcy's hand flex.

Big deal. I flex my hand all the time: when I'm cold, when I'm trying burn a few extra calories, when I'm stressed, sometimes when I'm feeling awkward. But never when I'm concealing passion. This means nothing.

Please take a weekend on watch the vastly superior 1995 version.

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