To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters (2016)

[Mini Mia]

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"When a man writes something, it's what he's written that's judged. When a woman writes something, it's her that's judged." - Emily Brontë.
---- PBS's To Walk Invisible. Feminism, women's empowerment, quotes.

"If we're to be taken seriously and judged fairly and make anything resembling a profit, we must walk invisible." - Charlotte Brontë.

catastrofewaitress.tumblr.com/post/155439622443/to-walk-invisible-2016

cadwalladery.tumblr.com/post/174695370343/to-walk-invisible-sally-wainwright-2016

[Phalon]

I just finished watching the movie "On Demand", and really enjoyed it. I'll have to watch it again though - parts of it seems muffled making the dialogue hard to catch (I remember thinking the same thing watching Pride and Prejudice w/Keira Knightley). I'd better hurry though - it's only "On Demand" for another week.

[Mini Mia]

I've seen it several times already. I'm thinking of popping the disc in and watching it again tonight before going to bed. I also plan on buying the DVD ... hoping they may have bonus clips and behind the scenes stuff. Watching this is what has motivated me to get back into writing every day, AND Indie-Publishing, now that Mom is gone and I have more time for myself.

[Phalon]

I didn't know much about the Brontes except that they had a difficult life and that Emily died fairly early. I wasn't aware though, that both she and Ann died so soon after their brother (or that another sibling died earlier than that). How tragic that all three died within months of one another (not to mention their mother died when they were children).

I read that the writer of the movie softened the father character; some accounts say that he was very strict and unyielding, sometimes tyrannical.

[Mini Mia]

I knew very little about the family before seeing this movie. When the bloody vomit hit Emily's face, I thought, "You just killed your sister." If not for him, Emily and Anne might have lived longer.

From what I've found in my searches, there were two older siblings that died young. The father outlived them all. I'll have to read the bio I own and see what it has to say about the father.

[Phalon]

I didn't care very much for the ending of the movie - all those people milling around the museum seemed staged, and somewhat cheesy. <shrugs> I thought it might have been better just to end it with the scene of the three of them on the hill.

[Mini Mia]

I guess they just wanted to show what an impact their short lives have made, and that their works have endured through the passing years. But, yeah, I find the jump to modern day a jolt to the system, even in a rewatch.

[Mini Mia]

Rewatched it again last night. The DVD has the two hours broken up in two parts. I guess they originally aired them two nights instead of one. I’ll probably just watch my recording, since it’s a two hour movie. I mostly bought their DVD for support and bonus stuff.

I had been wondering why the brother turned out as he had. Did the men back then have too much pressure to support the single sisters? Would finding out they were supporting themselves have helped him turn his life around? And then, duh, they had outside jobs at one time so that wasn’t it.

If the father was harsher in real life, perhaps he was the one who put too much pressure on his only son. I wonder if the sisters would have published if the brother had? Strange how some lives are so fascinating, even after all these years.

[Phalon]

If the father was harsher in real life, perhaps he was the one who put too much pressure on his only son.

That could be a reason, and perhaps in addition, society as a whole at the time held the expectations of a man - especially the only son of a family - at a higher standard than a woman's. A man was expected to be successful; the same was not true of women - they not only weren't expected to be successful, they had to hide their successes (by writing under a male pen-name for example). When the brother didn't live up to his own expectations or those of his father's and society's, his vices turned into addictions, which led to further failures.

[Mini Mia]

I am reading, "Jane Eyre" at the moment. I'm on chapter 13. I bought a four-pack years ago. The Brontës: Charlotte Brontë and Her Family by Rebecca Fraser; along with Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Emily's Wuthering Heights, and Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. And I've never read any of them. Figured I'd give them a try and see if I can get through them at least once.

[Phalon]

Figured I'd give them a try and see if I can get through them at least once.

Aside from some poetry and quotes I've run across on occasion, I've never read anything by the Bronte sisters. I'd like to read "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" someday...when I have a lot of time.

That's the thing about reading a period novel, at least for me - I can't whip through it like something written present day. It takes more time to get through the language used back then - not only to understand it in the context in which it was written, but to get into the rhythm of the style. Often times, especially in the beginning of those types of novels, until I get into that rhythm, I'll have to reread a paragraph or two before what the author is saying sinks in.

I bought "Emma" by Jane Austen at the used bookstore earlier this year - actually, it might have been around this time last year. I haven't even opened the cover yet; now that I'm off for the winter, after the holidays will be a good time to start reading.

[Mini Mia]

I have a book with six, I think, of Jane’s novels. I’m sure Emma is one of them. I could try and read it too. Maybe chat on it a wee bit ... not necessarily as a book club discussion. I enjoyed the movie, so maybe I can get through the book.

I don’t think it’s just the language. I wonder if it’s because sometimes the story starts way too early? Whereas nowadays the story jumps right in and the backstory is filtered in in flashbacks.

[Phalon]

I have a book with six, I think, of Jane’s novels. I’m sure Emma is one of them. I could try and read it too. Maybe chat on it a wee bit ... not necessarily as a book club discussion.

Emma would have to be in there; Austen only wrote six novels! I'm up for reading it together when things calm down after the holidays, when BP goes back to school, and LX goes back up north (can't say back to school because she'll have graduated!). It'd be fun...but yes, not necessarily a book club type discussion. (Coincidentally "The Jane Austen Book Club" was on last night; I caught about the last half hour or so of it.)

When I was out with friends last week, they again asked me to join the book club they are both members of; again I declined. They get a lot out of it, they said, but it just seems too rigid for my tastes (and sometimes for their tastes too!). One of the women is also in another book club that is more lenient - more like a group of friends hanging out, chit-chatting maybe about the book, maybe about other things...mostly about other things.

[Phalon]

I've never seen the movie based on "Emma", btw.

Maybe throw it out there on Whoosh Facebook, to see if anyone else wants to read too.

[Mini Mia]

I've not seen any of the movies based on the Bronte works. I've seen bits of several movies, but not from start to finish. I'll create threads for both Austen and the Brontes books.