Hey just wondering if you could please analyze the reunion scene? I know there is a lot to unpack in that scene. Mainly in distance/consent how AL keeps her distance from AW at first and itâs almost as if AW is holding her breath until AL says she missed her. Then AW breathes a sigh of almost relief & moves closer. Almost taking it as consent to touch AL for the 1st time. It almost parallels their first kiss in regards to consent. Except itâs AW who is waiting for consent from AL. Thank you!
anonymous asked: Hiya, did you already talk about the scene in 01x08, on the top of the hill? I wanted to know your thoughts, especially when Anne says âdonât hurt meâ, because this gave me FEELS OH MY
I already wrote something about the beginning of the reunion scene, when Ann Walker arrives, and how I think Anne Lister thought she was having some kind of heavenly vision when she saw her beautiful future wife right there with her.Â
Now about the whole scene, as you said anon1 thereâs a lot A LOT to unpack and the scene is very very long (something I love about GJ is that it has very long scenes by the way) so Iâm gonna mainly focus on what you pointed out (the distance/consent thing), the âdonât hurt meâ moment and some moments that are my favorites (while I was writing this whole thing I realized that basically every single moment is my favorite so lol).
1. I love how AW walks closer to AL. I love it, I love it because we see how it is Ann Walker this time that âcontrolsâ the situation, sheâs not waiting for AL to make a move, and sheâs not expecting her to because she knows itâs up to her now to show AL that she wants her and loves her. So, she takes those steps forward and only stops because she sees Anne taking a couple of steps back.
AL canât let AW come closer. At this point Anne Lister wants a serious commitment and thatâs why she keeps her distance, she takes that step back to protect herself from disappointment. Itâs a reflex. Sheâs scared that if she lets Ann come close without having talked things through and without knowing, for sure this time, if Ann has finally made up her mind about their union, theyâre just gonna fall back to what they had before. And as much as she wants Ann (and thatâs what makes her take that step back, she has to take that step back because: âWhenever I see the girl, she always manages to unhinge meâ) she canât allow herself to go back to that kind of relationship. Ann Walker understands this and she stops right away, giving AL the space she needs.
2. Ann talking about her sister & the letter. â âI donât think sheâs very happily married, Elizabeth. I think sheâs frightened of him. I donât think heâs very nice. I think he destroyed the letter, and I didnât think this, not at the time, but I think he just married her for her money, and I think that sheâs miserable.â â Oh god! AW is talking about her sister but really sheâs just talking about herself. Sheâs explaining (in her usual quite confused and rushed way) what she realized during those months apart. I love ALâs confused face while AW is talking, I love how sheâs trying to make sense of why AW is talking about her sister lol
But what AW is really saying to AL is: âI saw what my life would be like without you and I donât want it. I donât want to be miserable like my sister, I donât want to marry a man because thatâs what everyone wants, I donât want to have children and be a mother. I donât want all those things that I thought were ârightâ, because theyâre not right for me.â And this is, finally, Ann saying what she doesnât want (and, later in the scene, she will also say what is it that she wants â âYou know, if you asked me to marry you again, I wouldnât say no.â â ).
3. â âA good friendship is better than a marriageâ â I just wanna say⌠POOR ANNE LISTER. Like, I love AW because she just rumbles in the wrong order sometimes, meaning that she doesnât explain why she says some things, she just says them, and I love her for this because it says a lot about how eager she is to get to the point of things. But AL doesnât have the whole picture so, she does need an explanation to actually get the meaning of what AW is trying to say. AWâs way of explaining things is just starting to talk about them in medias res without context and poor AL is always left kinda confused. After that line AL is thinking the worst, sheâs like âOh fuck no, not again, I donât want to hear this, I canât, Iâm gonna cry.â Is AW saying that she thinks a friendship with AL is better than a marriage with AL? Or is she saying that what everyone will think is a âgood friendshipâ with AL is better than a marriage with a man? Of course we know itâs the second one.
4. â âAre you alright?â â This little line, this line right here is so important. Weâve seen before other people (Booth and Marian) ask Anne Lister if sheâs alright, and her answer has always been â âIâm always alrightâ â She lies to not show how vulnerable and hurt she can be. With AW she doesnât lie, with AW she doesnât hide. She canât. She says the truth, she says what happened, she shows AW that sheâs not alright (this is also a parallel to episode 3, when AW shows the letter to AL and asks her âAre you alright?â and AL doesnât say she is. Again, she just canât lie to AW). This is so important because a) it shows us that Ann Walker can read Anne Lister so well, she knows that AL is not as strong as she wants to appear, and b) Anne Lister feels safe enough to be vulnerable in front of Ann.
5. â âWeâre not alive are we? If weâre not taking the odd risk, now and again.â â âNo. No, weâre notâ â We see Ann Walker take a few steps forward. She tries to get closer to Anne. What I love about this is how sweet and reassuring AW looks. Her smile, the sweetness in her voice, how she takes a couple of steps forward basically saying âIâm here. Iâm taking the odd risk right now. I want to be here, Iâm happy to be here, with you, and Iâm trying to show you how much I love you.â Every time she gets closer she tries to reassure AL more and more, and every step forward is like a declaration of love.
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