Aren't there always certain movies that exist for all of us that you can pop in and watch from any point in it and never tire of it? Of course there are. We all have very different ones. One for me is the 1994 version of Little Women. I adore this film. I still remember seeing it in the theater at age 10 and falling completely and utterly in love.
That being said...when you watch a movie enough you can really start to overanalyze it. REALLY overanalyze. And so I guess you can say I overly analyze the book as well since it is the original piece of literature. But anyways, I watched it again on Sunday as I was lying in my sinus hell. The first hour is the most enjoyable part of the movie. Sure Meg is all about vanity and Amy is a little spoiled brat... and poor sweet Beth is always pushed aside but the first hour is also filled with a lot of beautiful sisterly moments, innocence and playfulness. And, of course, a wonderful relationship between Jo and her neighbor Theodore Lawrence aka Laurie. Or Teddy as only Jo called him.
Then in the second hour it all hits the fan. Well we can blame Louisa May Alcott but come on... Jo and Teddy don't get together, Beth gets scarlet fever and dies of heart failure five years later, Amy gets chosen to go to Europe over Jo, and then that brat Amy gets Jo's man. Ugh. Sure I LOVE this movie so much but come on Louisa - how could you have not put Jo and Teddy together?
I once read that Louisa May Alcott received loads of feedback on her original manuscript of Little Women to put Jo and Teddy together. Apparently LMA didn't like people telling her what to write so the old spinster pulled a 180 on them all and had Teddy marry Amy. Amy? Seriously that little brat? NOT COOL. LMA would go on to write a lesser known sequel to Little Women known as Good Wives detailing what happened with Meg, Jo and Amy in their respective marriages. No thanks. I won't ever read it. The fact that Jo rejected Teddy was bad enough but him hooking up with the brat and then Jo marrying the boring Professor Baer. Nope no interest in Good Wives.
Here is what I would have happen in the sequel to Little Women if I wrote it. Jo's boring Professor husband dies 2 years into their marriage. All the while... across town in Concord - Teddy is miserable with controlling, snobby Amy and still longs for Jo. Meg has a happy marriage filled with lots of children. Jo and Amy both support the Arts in Boston since Jo is a writer and Amy is a painter. One weekend Amy is off in Boston for some art function that Teddy cannot attend since he is ill and since Jo is widow she offers to go tend to Teddy. While Jo takes care of Teddy, Teddy admits that he never really loved Amy and that he was still hurting from Jo's rejection and married Amy as a means to stay close with her in some way. Jo is both touched and uncomfortable. In the 1870s, men don't leave their wives so Jo doesn't take it too much to heart but can't forget Teddy's declaration. She realizes that her love for him never went away either. Then Amy gets pregnant. Amy later on dies in childbirth after giving birth to a son, James (after Teddy's grandfather). Teddy is left to raise James and Jo offers to help. And in that they reconnect yet again and finally marry a couple years later. And go on to have two of other children together, a daughter Elizabeth and a son Robin (named for Jo's father).
Well as you can see... I have thought about this before but really I think a lot of girls have. Most love the book but are still very unhappy with the ending. Yes I think I tend to have an overactive imagination but this happens quite often for me with a piece of literature I revisit over and over.
Now after writing this I am off to watch some of Little Women yet again. I really only need bits. Or perhaps simply listen to the beautiful soundtrack - one of the most beautiful film scores ever composed.
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