Breaking Bad producer Moira Walley-Beckett bedazzles us AGAIN with the Netflix adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, Anne with an E.

Type: drama

The journey of a misfortunate red-headed  orphane, seeking an escape from her shattered bitter past.
Raised in an orphanage where she was bullied for her physical appearance; red pigtails, a freckle-spattered face, and a skinny shape.
Anne, played by the super talented Irish actress Amybeth Mc, was not only hated because of her look, but she was also envied for her cleverness, massive imagination, and her passion for literature.
“She is wordy!”, using such poetic rhetoric made those around her feel threatened by her intelligence.

In her quest to find “a new home”, she is haunted by her past; years of violence and torture were following her. Traumatized by the fear of “never belonging to anybody”, that’s what she kept hearing in the orphanage, “nobody will want you for your looks!”.
“My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes” claims Anne while riding the horse with the tight-lipped Mathew, Robert Holmes, who BTW killed the role, claiming my favorite character spot.
Why this show?
What attracts me in TV shows is when you see a clear character development. In this show you will see Anne moving from being socially rejected for being an orphan first, and then for her different appearance, to a very supportive and easy-going person, who helped change the rigid society she’s living in.
Each and every character will hit different spots in your heart, starting from Mathew to the great Geraldine James, Marilla, and the kids whose acting was BIG TIME professional.
What is captivating about the show is the use of dark realism when reflecting the 1900 Canadian society.
“It is not sugar-coated “, “The mud is muddy. The rain is wet” claimed Walley-Becket.
The show has this drab and bleak mood that makes you sympathize with the characters. For instance when watching the scene where Billie sexually harasses Jossie, you will certainly feel that anger and pain of the unjust treatment that Jossie (the victim )faced.
If you are a feminist, you will Love this show!
Let’s say one of the dominating themes is feminism and women empowerment.
You will be triggered by the amount of misogyny and the typical gender roles that are present in the show, which is also relatable to our contemporary world.
“You should stay in the kitchen” , “ A woman can never be a leader”
“you have to get married”, ( we hear the last one very often in our Arab societies).
Unfiltered comments like these will fuel your anger while watching the show, but meanwhile, you will find Anne and the other girls getting back at them in a savage way. who run the world!
Anne always worships her womanhood and encourages the rest to do so, by defending Jossie when she got harassed and normalizing periods, “what’s the shame in that! I can make a whole person now”.
Personally, her speech affected me deeply in a way I started to actually appreciate being a woman.
I can write thousands of pages about how the show portrays feminism, but I gotta leave the floor for you to discover yourselves!.
Apart from womanhood, the show is full of other issues like racism, child abuse,( orphans were seen as disposable sinners), child humiliation, the brutal relationship between Anne and her professor Sir Phillips, Stephen Tracey, whose character, and also cole’s character, Cory Andrew, were used to present the LGBTQ community and how sexuality was dealt with back then.
The show pushes you to accept yourself regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation.

It is made for older people, since it criticizes major issues in our world, without relying on cheap and gross tactics to make the story more adult. We know several shows that do that (ehm sex education ).
Now go watch it and thank me later!

Rating:

Rotten tomatoes: 83%

IMBD: 8,7\10

Number of episodes:

3 seasons, 27 episodes