Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Another Anne

OK, so, what is it with the British? They get the posh accents and the afternoon teas and the sophisticated yet secretly smutty lesbian dramas on the BBC. We get Sarah Palin’s Alaskan windsong, Grape Kool-Aid and “The Real L Word.” It’s simply not fair. So my latest envy comes in the form of “The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister.” After “Tipping the Velvet” and “Fingersmith,” the jolly old Beeb has proven that it knows how to dial up the lady loving. Say what you will about those Victorian-era sudsters, they certainly weren’t dull.

Now comes Anne Lister and this time, it’s not just a tall tale from the fertile imagination of Sarah Waters. This is based on a real lesbian’s life. Take that, Ilene Chaiken. Miss Anne Lister was a 19th century landowner and avid ladies’ lady. Hey, those aren’t my words. That’s just paraphrasing from some of the more than 4 million words written in her coded diaries. Sample text: “I love and only love the fairer sex and thus beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any love but theirs.” See, avid.

Now, considering we’re still struggling for acceptance in the 21st century, I have a sneaking suspicion that things do not go entirely smoothly for our 19th century heroine. I sense there will be much heartbreak and sobbing on tree limbs amid the delightful bodice ripping. But I am so ready to swoon over the dashing Maxine Peake as Anne.

Just my luck, I’ll be on vacation when “The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister” screens at the San Francisco LGBT Film Festival later this month. But, I may or may not have found myself a copy to watch while I’m on away instead. Hey, I’m nothing if not resourceful. Here’s a taste of the trailer for everyone stateside.

See, lucky British. Of course, you’ve got David Cameron and we’ve got Barack Obama. So for once we’ve have the cooler leader. But, yeah, other than that – totally jealous.

p.s. Damn, I just realized there is one thing the British really suck at – stopping oil spills. Hey, British Petroleum, fix it! Fix it NOW!

12 comments:

Norma Desmond said...

Sometimes, I really think we never should have left the Motherland.

Anonymous said...

I just watched this last night and Maxine Peake was brilliant. But to me she'll always be Twinkle on Dinnerladies...

Bren: Twink whats the soup today?
Twinkle: Minestrone
Bren: Why didn't you but it on the menu?
Twinkle: Can't spell it

Anonymous said...

If you've got a region free DVD player, you can order it online. It'll be released in a few days.

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/13705729/The-Secret-Diaries-Of-Miss-Anne-Lister/Product.html

I know there's a temptation to try and get it free online, but please support BBC by buying the DVD so they'll actually do more of these projects if they get good DVD sales! I pre-ordered mine already.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I watched Secret Diaries&the documentary about Anne Lister on BBC iPlayer last night(or I should say morning, it was like 3 AM when I finished...:)and it was totally worth it.But now,I´m SO jealous.Here in central Europe we have no cool politicians (or cool first ladies), no Anne Lister and no BBC dramas with Maxine Peake.Damn it...:/Marta

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed it, totally worth the watch. Dunno if you will get it on the DVD, but it's worth watching the documentary that was on afterwards if you can, with the lovely Ms Sue Perkins (I heart her). If only for the lady expert talking about "auto eroticism" in the diaries and managing to keep a straight face whilst Sue giggled.

Anonymous said...

whew~
wow, I mean ds, it's just wow,
so she left record, that's great,
historian like to have them to understand
and bring them into this time so they'll
rebirth.

what I feel about today's post,
you really know things well, that's the first
thing that I love about,

of course you have zillion things, don't make me
comment every single thing. let me skip!

and have a great day! okay~
of course cheer up! I do like you a lot.

Anonymous said...

do you not have access to bbc iplayer in usa ?

Lulu said...

you phrase everything perfectly. just the way i play it out in my head! definitely envious of the british. and so looking forward to watching this!! ah!!! i'm sure you get a lot of thanks, but i'm just going to repeat it and say thank you for providing so much fun/not so fun information with such a wonderful sense of humor.
and really. this post echoes what i've been thinking about the british for ages....

Anonymous said...

I live near halifax :3
But trust me, it's nothing to be jealous of - i hear you have this thing over in America called "warm weather", i think i read about it once...

kranARI said...

It was a great movie, VERY different to the actual person though. If you were in the UK when it aired, there was a documentary that followed and it turns out she was kind of a bitch :/
A HOT, outspoken and strong one at that.
I admire what she did.

And hell those love scenes were HOT!!!
xxx

Anonymous said...

Oh, Maxine Peake is my No 1 swoon. She's ridiculously sexy and completely hilarious in her interviews- very self-effacing and has that northern accent that is tres sexy. And she once described her dress sense as 'androgynous Pilgrim Father' which made me officially fall in love

Cynicgirl said...

Gah and I was in America when this aired and now its too late to catch up on iPlayer.

I shall never go on vacation again.