The original post: /r/television by /u/Soggy-Barnacle3324 on 2025-02-02 21:47:46.
The show is very hard to watch in my opinion. The director, Alena Smith, tries to portray the life of Emily Dickinson in a modern way. It’s not historically accurate. They use modernized slang and songs which makes the TV show’s aesthetic feel uncomfortable and unorganized. There’s also a bunch of metaphors, since Emily’s a poet, but it just gets weird because you can’t tell what is going on in Emily’s head vs what is going on in reality. Which that would be great if the story was told entirely from her perspective, but it’s not. They’re trying to make us see what Emily’s seeing but also what’s actually happening.
I also just hate how every character is trying to get together. Sue and Emily, Sue and Austin, Sue and Sam, Sam and Emily, Emily and Ben, Austin and Jane, the list goes on… It gets so confusing and it’s to the point where everyone just seems like a bad person. They’re all cheating on each other.
They portray Emily as a “tortured poet.” Which I like how they try to lean in to that narrative, but it comes off as tone deaf. In the show, Emily feels like she’s making such an impact. Where’s the impact? In the show all she does is sit in her room writing. She says her life is miserable. She compares herself to a slave! She thinks she has the worst life ever. It’s so absurd. She does nothing, no chores, work, doesn’t talk to anyone, all she does is sit around writing and complaining. It’s so cringeworthy how Smith tries to lean into the narrative. "oh yeah she’s so miserable, she lives in a big house, has food for her at all times, has a (mostly) loving family, and goes to her sister-in-law/girlfriend’s parties all the time, while this is all happening during the Civil War!
Emily thinks everyone is in love with her and her poetry and that she’s truly making a difference. When they’re making bandages for soldiers she uses her writing as an excuse. She says that she’s making a difference, not by making bandages, but with her words. Where are your words going??? You’ve only been published once. Nobody is reading them. Her servant, Betty, calls her out for this and Emily acts like she’s being so attacked. It’s just so hard to watch. Emily thinks she’s making a difference, when in reality she is not.
Overall, I think this show is just trash. It’s tone deaf, annoying, not historically accurate, tries to be modern, and it seems like the show just wants to be a romantic drama. Again, everyone is with each other! Smith feels like since the story of Emily Dickinson is ‘so boring’ she has to change it so that it’s interesting. Sex and parties is not going to make it more interesting!!