Have you experienced Anne-girl, the redheaded orphan from L.M. Montgomery's famous Anne of Green Gables series? If you've never read it, perhaps I should say that she's a very precocious young reader (with dramatically poetic aspirations). You could almost compare her to Jo (from Little Women), but Anne's fiery red hair and a penchant for getting into trouble (without any real intention behind many of her exploits) makes her a singular personality in my mind.
Have I mentioned that she has RED HAIR? While others tease her with allusions to carrots, it's very clear from the first pages that her hair is an unendurable tragedy (in her mind). She dreams of a day when she will have autumn hair (beautiful tresses). She attempts to speed up the potential evolution of her hair color (this time to "raven black") by dying it--with disastrous, though comical, results.
Do you remember?
If you read the books (or even if you watched the movies), you'll remember why Anne's red hair was of such great importance...
So, we can ALL ask: "Whose bright idea was it to change Anne's hair color?" Seriously?
Anne Shirley, our quirky, be-freckled spit-fire has become "a blonde, buxom farm girl" in a new edition of the novel, according to The Guardian. Is that really the way we want to capture the reader's attention? Or is the idea for us to compare Anne with controversial characters like Lolita?
What are your thoughts?
Comments
LET ANNE STAY A RED HEAD…LOVED THE ORIGINAL SERIES AS A CHILD. ANNE WILL ALWAYS BE THAT RED HEADED SPITFIRE. WHY DO THEY ALWAYS HAVE TO TURN STORY CHARACTERS INTO BLONDES?!
LEAVE ANNE ALONE. KEEP A REDHEAD SINCE SHE HAS MORE FIRE THAN BLONDES. ANNE WILL ALWAYS BE A RED HEAD TO ME.READ THE SERIES AND LOVED IT AS A CHILD.
Anne being a red head is an integral part of the series. Didn’t the people who changed her hair color ever read the original?
Leave it alone. Somethings should not be changed and this is one of them.
Yes, it IS a big deal! Part of the whole premise of Anne is that she’s a redhead. More B.S. marketing from the millions of people who wasted their money and time buying MBAs so they could tell the rest of us what we’re doing wrong.