Are you watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries?

Charlotte, Lizzie, Jane and Lydia.

You know how sometimes, when something is really popular among a particular group of people, you tend to assume that it must be popular everywhere, and maybe even that the whole world is tired of hearing about it? But then you realise that different social circles often operate completely independently, which means that there might be tons of people out there who have not yet encountered this wonderful thing that has you and all your friends so excited.

Such is the case with the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I’m completely in love with this series, and I know that fellow bloggers Iris, Jodie, Renay, Simon, Chachic, Heidi and probably many others would totally back me up, so I assumed it was wildly popular all over the Internet. But then two things happened: one, Jenny mentioned not being familiar with Hank Green in a comment. Hank, John Green’s brother, is a producer for the series, so I started thinking about whether she was watching it and how Jenny is someone I’d particularly love to share the Lizzie Bennet Diaries with. Two, I read this post at Gossamer Obsessions, and it got me thinking about how sometimes, even if a piece of media is all over the place, it takes a particular post worded in a certain way that catches you at the right moment for you to pay attention and decide to seek it out. Nothing would please me more than to make that happen for someone with the Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

But let me begin at the beginning: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a web series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The setting is contemporary and the premise is the following: Lizzie is a Master’s student who started recording a video blog with the help of her best friend Charlotte. There are three Bennet sisters instead of five – in this version, Mary is a cousin and Kitty is, in what I thought was a delightful touch, the actual family cat – but despite these changes the order of events is actually very faithful to Austen’s novel.


Lizzie and Charlotte dressed up as Mr and Mrs Bennet.
I’m not going to review the series in depth (Renay and I are working on a discussion post for Lady Business, which will hopefully be up soon), but I’m going to tell you why you should watch it: first, I love how human it is. The pace of the series is slow, which allows the characters to be fleshed out and their motivations to be carefully considered in a way that goes beyond what the original does (explicitly, at least). The characters are all treated with kindness and given the benefit of the doubt. Secondly, the acting and the production value are both amazing. Thirdly, it’s smart, funny, charming, delightful, and it passes the Bechdel Test with great ease. Although there are plenty of swoon-worthy romance moments, the angle of Pride and Prejudice this adaptation brings to the forefront is the coming of age story. This is a series about a young woman and her sisters and best friend, all twenty-somethings who experience personal growth, who are trying to figure out what they want the next stage of their lives to be like, and who have meaningful, emotionally charged relationships with each other.

Last but not least, there’s ease of access: you can start watching the series for free right now by heading over to YouTube. There are 82 episodes so far, but that’s not as daunting as it sounds because they’re all between 3 and 6 minutes long. I started watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries in October, when there were already close to 70 episodes, but it only took me two days to get up to date. You don’t have to binge like I did, though – you can catch up by watching an episode here and there and I bet you’ll be done before you know it. 3 to 6 minutes, after all, is the perfect length for a coffee break.

Another thing: the series is kind of a multimedia experience, with the characters all having Twitter and Tumblr accounts, and with Lydia having her own YouTube channel in addition to Lizzie’s. I realise this can be intimidating – knowing there’s too much out there can paralyse people because they don’t know where to start. But the good news is that you can watch and read as little or as much as you want and the story will make sense. Don’t want to go beyond Lizzie’s videos? That’s absolutely fine. Want to obsessively follow all the characters on Twitter and consume every story crumb they throw your way? That works too.

So: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are awesome and you should be watching them. If you’re already a fan, consider this post an open invitation to come squee with me. If you’re not and decide to give them a try, I’d absolutely love to hear what you think.