Bernie Tumbles

Hey Everyone,

Twelve episodes in and WOW does time fly. I hope you all appreciated our bonus Q&A video from two weeks ago. The team worked hard to make all of Lizzie’s answers both rewarding and entertaining. I also still laugh thinking about Mary Kate’s double shushing, it’s definitely one of my favorite moments in the show thus far.

Those of you who are following along in the book should know that we are now into Chapter 6. And those of you who know the book well know that Chapter 6 is a BIG chapter. Thus it’s safe to say that we’ll be spending several videos here.

So topic of the week: I’ve been seeing a few, okay a lot, of requests about having Darcy or Bing Lee have their own video blog.

That is some serious support!

So why so much support? Well I think it’s basically these two reasons.

1. We (the audience) really want to see them!
2. We (the audience) really want to see their side of the story!

Both very reasonable audience requests. Bing Lee and Darcy are definitely important people in our world and they have stories that certainly can be told.

But I’m sorry to say a Darcy or Bing video blog won’t happen. Sure, I could tell you a dozen reasons as to why they won’t, reasons like “not splitting our creative resources for Lizzie’s Diaries”, but there’s only one reason that trumps them all and that is Character.

Darcy and Bing Lee would never actually video blog. It’s not that they can’t (literally anyone with a camera can start a video blog), it’s that their characters would never do it.

Darcy is a proud, quiet, entitled, soft-spoken guy, with a high sense of social elitism.  That doesn’t sound like someone who would consciously turn a camera on himself to rant about his daily life to the internet.  The character leap it would take for Darcy to start video blogging would be like Lizzie Bennet captaining her collegiate cheerleading squad, it just feels ridiculous.

In my mind, if you were to ask Darcy directly if he’d do a video blog, he’d either sternly answer with “what’s a video blog?” or “I don’t have time for that”.

That made me laugh.

Bing Lee, is in a similar boat, just has too many things going on. Sure we know he’s charming, but he also has that social elitism, he’s not publicly vocal about his feelings, and he’s a medical student (so he’s freaking busy). Though, because of his charisma, he’d probably be a pretty entertaining video blogger, he would never initiate it. The idea of him doing such a thing would never come across his mind.

Anyway, I’m sure the longer and longer we go without seeing Bing and Darcy the more and more support a Darcy or Bing vlog will get. To be honest it’s been something that Hank and I have discussed, but it really needs to make sense (production, story, and character wise) for us to do it.

I’m also going to highlight one more comment that got little support but really nails what would happen if Darcy or Bing made video responses to Lizzie.

Well said.

I will leave you all with a nugget about other characters video blogging. We haven’t committed to anything yet, but I’ll say that we’ve had serious discussions about having another character do it.

Thanks again for watching and sharing the show. I’m sure if you’re reading this you’ve seen our small but growing new merch line over at DFTBA. Though I don’t think I could personally pull off the shirt, those buttons that Hank put together are ridiculously cute.

Hi Everyone, 

So we’re now 4 weeks (8 episodes) into the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Those of you who are following along in the book should know that we are now through Chapter 5. I’d like you know that though we’ve been pretty linear thus far, we’ll definitely be shifting things around a bit in our story. Some things will happen sooner, some later, and some not at all. That’s the nature of an adaptation.

Anyway, so big (and very frequent question) of the week.

Will we ever see Darcy and Bing Lee?

Seriously look at that, three tumblr questions in a row all asking/wondering it. So my short answer.

YES we will.

Of course the next question you’re all going to ask is WHEN or as I like to paraphrase from the many comments on the YouTubes.

“WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SEE THE HOT BOYS?!?”. 

So the answer here is a little more cryptic, which I mentioned in this Tweet a few days ago. But to expand on that, here’s how it works. What we’re watching is Lizzie’s diaries. As Lizzie is an open, vocal, and idealistic young woman there are many things that are sacred to her that she doesn’t want to share.  Even if you counter with saying, “well other vloggers are totally open with everything”. I’d counter back with, there is no way they are sharing EVERY personal detail of their life. Some may share more details than others but everyone has stuff they want to keep private from everyone else. Point is everything that they choose to tell/shows us they are comfortable sharing (consciously or subconsciously).

So where does that leave our Lizzie?

Well we know she’ll show us her room, but we’re only seeing the specific part of her room that she’s comfortable showing us. We’re not seeing her bed, or her desk, or her closet, these are spaces that are just a little more intimate to her than say a bookshelf full of the books she reads. 

Then what about the boys? Does that mean we’ll never see them because we’re stuck in her room?

No. It means that she has to either want to show them to us (like whenever Jane appears), or be forced to show them to us (like every time Lydia bursts in). So when is that more likely to happen? Well the idea of Darcy (the most hated person in her life atm) showing up in her room while she’s vlogging seems pretty absurd at this point in the story, so it’s certainly not imminent. But let’s remember (to those familiar with the book) that she doesn’t always LIVE in that room. Events happen in her life that force her to not live in that house so those will be some fun twists and turns ahead.

So in closing, I’d like to remind everyone that though we’re adapting Pride and Prejudice, we’re really telling it from Lizzie’s POV. So right now this is really the story of her and currently the three most important people in her life.

The pictures were taken by Mary Kate Wiles (aka Lydia) and the collage was done by Laura Spencer (aka Jane). Nothing to do with the narrative, but what a cool picture set right?

Thanks again for watching the show and supporting us.

elfigreen14 asked: First off, I have to say, I'm a big fan of the LBD. The was you've chosen to adapt it is so clever and funny! Though lots of people have been upset about the loss of Mary & Kitty, I feel you made the right choice with them. Okay, so my question! Up until this point, the blog has been very much laced with humor. When we get to the more serious notes of the story, is the writing going to become a bit more somber, or will you still try to keep everything light and funny? Can't wait for more. HOLLA!

Hi Elfigreen14,

Thanks for the message. I was holding off replying to this figuring that the recent Episode 7 answers your question about the more somber moments of the story. 

This is an entire episode dedicated to the encounter that defines and catalyses Lizzie and Darcy’s relationship for most of the journey. This event had to be scarring for Lizzie and we did our best to show that.  

As we continue the story, I think you’ll find that we’ll continues to lace in character humor in most of the plot points. Just less so depending on how heavy the moment.

Those of you who know the book well can probably think of several big story points that Lizzie goes through that almost require we do it a little more somber.

Regardless, one of the things that’s important to me and the writing team is that we are entertaining in the story that we are telling. So yes we’ll continue to lace in humor coming from character POV. 

What we’re doing is definitely way more of a broad comedy vs. Austen’s satirical style, but I think that the only way the show works is using the “in your face” style. (Literally Lizzie in your face). 

Thanks for watching and supporting the show

Bernie

gremlinowl asked: First off, I love the series- it's absolutely brilliant. However, as a somewhat strong feminist, I do wonder at the slut shaming of Lydia. I understand it's Lizzie who's speaking, and she is highly judgmental, but I always read her as being a forward looking feminist in the book, whereas she seems somewhat less so in this series. Regardless of whether this issue is addressed, I'll keep watching- and enjoying immensely!- but it would help with my peace of mind.

- This is my response to the Slut-shaming critique we’ve been getting - 

Hi GremlinOwl

Thanks for watching the show. The slut shaming critique is definitely something we’re aware of and honestly one of the few disappointments we have with the reception of the series. I’d like to clarify that we are not defending it. The critique is a fair one. It really is something we simply missed on.

Lizzie’s line early in episode 2 when she casually refers to Lydia as a “whooreey - slut”  is especially one I really really wish I had caught and taken back. :/

As for where it came from, I think it was a by product of our early development of the character and “what would Lydia be if she was modernized”.  We just overlooked it (not just Hank and I, but the whole writing team as well). Our only real response to this is that the Limbaugh “slut” comments and the gender political lines of this year’s presidential campaign hadn’t happened yet when we wrote and shot those episodes.

Basically, playfully referring to a bold, totally unapologetic, and presumably very promiscuous young woman (annoying sister or not) as a “slut” today has very different connotations now than it did 3-4 months ago. Again not defending, just giving context.

I’d like you (and the rest of the fans) to know that we at The LBD team have definitely been making adjustments to future episodes regarding this matter. I don’t think you’ll see us toning down Lydia but you will see us adjusting Lizzie’s choice of words and actions in dealing with her. I will say that Lydia provides an amazing foil and contrast to Lizzie in our version and I hope you and the fans will continue to enjoy the head butting that these two have throughout the story. 

As for the modernization of Lizzie as a forward thinking feminist, I can totally see that interpretation. As a man, I don’t know if I have the right to say that Lizzie will fill that forward feminist archetype but I will say that she’ll continue to be idealistic, vocal, and forward thinking. One thing I will add for our Lizzie is that though she is beloved for being those things, our Lizzie can’t be beloved 100% of the time with everything she says and does. I just don’t find that to be possible if you’re idealistic and vocal (man or woman).

Finally, one of the challenging thematic changes we had to consider in our series is to incorporate the fact that women in the modern era have many more choices in life than in the 18th century.  So you will definitely continue to see that develop, acted upon, and vocalized by not just Lizzie but in Charlotte and Jane as well. - It may not be there yet, since every episode thus far has been set up and Darcy/Bing plot, but it’s definitely coming.

Thanks for watching,

Bernie Su

Lizzie Bennet Diaries Co-Creator and Head Writer