Dickinson

One of my favorite parts of my studies at university was getting to learn about the life of Emily Dickinson. I always had an idea of what she would have been like, and this show got it spot on. Three words always come to mind while thinking of the real Dickinson: wild, eccentric, and queer (both in personality and sexuality). Hailee Steinfeld did an amazing job in her portrayal of Emily Dickinson. Also, I think the anachronisms were done remarkably well in this show compared to other uses I have seen in other film and television.

I'm normally so good with words. It's historical but accessible. It's poignant but laugh out loud funny. It teaches you something about humanity. It connects you to a bygone era in a way that's rich, not a soup of facts and names. It's well written, well acted, well directed. It's a good deed, keeping alive a famous poet, but in a way that's relatable. It's like Hamilton and Arrested Development, a new type of of medium. A new art form. I'm LOSING MY MIND. It's so good. Even if you think you hate poetry, don't you see? Poetry is life! Everything in the world is poetry to the discerning. Teaching us a discerning viewpoint is the purpose of any great art. This show does that.

I've read the user reviews, and people seem to love or hate it. Yet, no one seems to have pointed out the obvious: it is only the kids that speak in "modern slang". The adults are all speaking appropriate to the era. So the underlying theme is the age old concept of kids and adults speaking different languages, and therefore not understanding one another. Schultz did it with the Peanuts characters and more recently Macfarlane with Family Guy. I am a 56 year old WASP, so am the definition of "stuffy" and I throughly enjoy period shows and movies. This was NOT intended to be one of those. Once you let go of that expectation, it is really quite clever and entertaining.

I wasn't sure about watching this simply because I'm not a lover of historical series. However from episode 1 Hailee Steinfeld's Emily had me hooked. It's fast and funny and quirky and there are only 2 people who could have taken this role: Steinfeld and Winona Ryder. Krakowski brings a fiery funny to it too and the rest of the cast are very able. I'm not interested in the life of Emily Dickinson, I just love the show for what it is.

I came for Hailee Steinfeld and I stayed for the quality; bold, inspirational, "old" but that surrounds you to also feel in the present, I loved the realities in Emily's mind, sometimes they are uncomfortable but interesting.