Austen on Masterpiece Classic

I've read all of Austen's books multiple times, and adore her. I enjoyed the BBC/A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. It was very well done, as well (I think) as a book adaptation can be done. So, of course, I watched the Masterpiece Classic series when they produced movie versions of her more famous novels. However, I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the series. On the one hand, the films have been romantically stirring. I cry when boy gets girl every time. I also have no problem identifying with the characters, and feeling with them through all of their highs and lows. Yet, I find that there has been so much modernization of the sensibilities of the characters that I can't help but feel that Austen herself would be appalled at some of what they've done with her work.

Persuasion in particular seemed to have reversed what Austen was trying to say with her text. The scene in which Louisa falls was handled as an accident that did no more than make Captain Wentworth aware that he had shown her too much attention and had made it seem to all concerned parties that he wanted to marry her. In the text, it is this, but so much more. Captain Wentworth has been thinking that Anne was too persuadable, and should have had a stronger will. He felt that her passion for him should have overridden any other consideration. He has been holding up Louisa as closer to his ideal of strong-willed womanhood. When Louisa falls, it is due entirely to her willful nature, her unwillingness to be persuaded by more rational minds. Captain Wentworth learns from this to value Anne's ability to subjugate her will to rational decision. Anne's ability to rein in her passions, weigh the opinions of others, and make a decision based on which is more rationally persuasive is indeed a noble virtue.

In this movie version, they make it seem that Anne is the one who has to change. She admits in the end to having been too persuadable, and insists that she will never be so open to persuasion again. All of the lovely romance seems slightly tainted for me at this point. Because, for me, as I believe for Austen, the whole point of Persuasion is that Captain Wentworth has to come to truly value what he's getting in Anne! Anne is perfection itself, and it is he who needs to change, grow, learn (be subject to rational Persuasion) in order to be worthy of her. I understand why modern screenwriters make the change. They believe that the feminist imperative demands strong-willed female characters, and they don't see Anne as strong-willed. I see it otherwise, and believe that Austen did too. Her novel substantiates the stance that it takes a stronger will to resist one's own passions and act on rational decision, than it does to follow your passions bullheadedly.

Soooo, I protest, because I wish that the movies were more perfect, BUT...I have now watched the movie several times. Let's face it, even in a flawed form, Austen's stories are superior to anything else out there!