here’s the thing about greta gerwig’s little women. it’s really not just about jo anymore. almost every adaptation of little women has been a version of here’s jo and her sisters who have two dimensional stories. meg marries off, she’s happy. beth dies and nobody is really that sad because we never got to know her well. amy married laurie and everyone is confused. but with gerwig’s telling, she affords every sister real autonomy and story. she showed the struggle and sacrifice and love that meg has. she gives beth one of the most beautiful story arcs ever. she lets beth exists in the movie and grow on us before her death. and she completely translates amy to a character that may have always been right there, but not properly communicated. amy and laurie make sense. you feel beths absence. you understand meg. and you still have jo right there in focus. but they all feel real. the other three don’t feel like accessories anymore but real and important characters of the story. and it’s fucked if gerwig doesn’t get nominated for best adapted screenplay and direction because she took a 150 year old story and made it seem brand new.
