Oh Gilbert.
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have seen the award-winning series Anne of Green Gables mini series (circa 1985-1987) and those who have not. And I have yet to meet anyone in the former group who has failed to fall in love with Gilbert Blythe.
No, not the actor who plays Gilbert but the character himself. The actor who plays the character may be as physically cute as Gilbert but no real life person could ever be as adorable as Gilbert because, you know, he’s a fictional character. This is the only explanation for why someone as smoking hot as young Gil - all corkscrew curls and impish grin - spends five-odd years loyally mooning after Anne in the way most people like to think somebody could possibly moon after them. Yes Anne is feisty, smart and very cute but in reality it’s only the creeps who stay madly in love with you for years from afar and then it’s more of a “stalking” relationship than an epic romance.
Admittedly I was a biased young viewer when I first fell in love with Gilbert. As a bespectacled nerd I thought he could have been speaking directly to me when he said that being smart was better than being good looking. At the time it seemed perfectly logical to me that the only thing standing between our love was the fact that he didn’t technically exist. Other than that we were clearly soul mates.
I wished I could be the one pressing a cool cloth against his fevered brow while he was potentially dying of scarlet fever and, even though I wanted him for myself, I cried like an absolute woman when Anne repeatedly shot him down in flames and broke his little paper heart in two.
And did I mention that he wears three piece suits through the entire series? Snug, snug three piece suits. Obviously I’m not the superficial type but for those people who don’t agree that being smart is indeed better than being good looking… well, um, you know he uh, he looks pretty good. Every boy should invest in a personal tailor that freaking good is what I’m saying. Even if you are into brains.
3 comments:
I had the same thing with Sebastian Flyte, from Brideshead Revisited.
Only the terrible terrible tragedy is, I had to sit there and watch/read as Evelyn Waugh killed-off perhaps the most perfect characterisation ever created.
I mourned. Deeply and actually mourned.
I still carry a torch for the young Flyte.
Mmm it’s quite ridiculous how easy it is to fall in love with a completely fictional character. In theory I know Gilbert Blythe doesn’t exist but it doesn’t stop me swooning. And, hey, at least he was still alive at the end of the series…
Incidently I’m taking your advice on getting into Waugh and have a fresh new copy of Vile Bodies ready to start once I’m done with my latest batch of books.
I haven't been reading much of late at all. I've had other things to focus on. When I become a man of leisure full-time though, then the books will get a bit of a workout.
I'll also be doing a lot of writing. Both comedy and other fiction.
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