Amy and Jo, Two Sides Of The Same Coin
University of North Wales/ Glyndwr University
Children's books and book publishing industry
Podcast Project
Summary:
In this collaboration with Emiloid, we explore why film makers put Jo and Amy
against one another in Little Women. Do they have more in common than we
think? Amy and Jo, not so different after all. Why on earth the filmmakers think
it is a good idea to have the two sisters fight over a guy when in the novel they
both find Laurie lazy and unproductive (and Amy eventually becomes the one
who helps him to shape up his act). Little Women is a coming of age story, both
Amy and Jo grow as people.
Transcript:
Hello Little Women fans. It was about time that Emily and I got together to talk about
Amy and Jo. Today's comment shout goes Ebonya, who says the following.
"Remember in Little Women when Jo desperately wants to go to Europe with Aunt
Carol , but is passed over for the trip, because she isn't refined enough and Marmee
says that Jo probably wouldn't have enjoyed the trip anyway because Jo would have
to be prim and proper the entire time. So can we talk about the fact that Jo's
eventual husband is German? Loved her for her personality and not in spite of it and
if they had enough money, would have willingly taken her to Europe and let her be
herself while there".
What a great observation and all true. This wouldn't have applied to Jo marrying
Laurie. She didn't love him, but also she knew that if she would have married him,
not only would she have been lonely, but also required to be something that she
wasn't. A lady. That was something that Louisa struggled with. She was a very
masculine looking woman and it does seem that even some Little Women fans made
fun of her looks when they saw her, which is pretty insane.
, But I also read that Henry Thoreau, the real life critic, he was sometimes quite
critical about overly feminine women. Henry was very critical about consumerism.
But you can definitely see while Louisa fell in love with him, since he didn't really
care that much about women who were overly feminine. So the story of Jo and f
Friedrich, intertwines to Louisa and Henry's reality.
I always thought that Jo and Friedrich did travel to Europe together when Jo wrote
her best-seller, which happened between Little Men and Jo's Boys, when Jo is in her
forties. I thought they went to Germany and France. Jo would go to a booktour and
Fritz would accompany her. Louisa mentions that Friedrich's nephew Frantz moved to
Berlin and married a German girl, so they would visit him and then Fritz would show
Jo around Berlin.
All Fanfic writers and filmmakers, feel free to use my head canons anytime. I don't
know if I am only person who struggles with this, but I always have hard time liking
Amy and Laurie as a couple in the adaptations, and it has everything to do with
today's topic, that Laurie is being reduced into a trophy, who the sisters are fighting
over and that never happens in the novel. My Amy and Laurie Shipping begins when
he goes to see her at Aunt March and it continues to adulthood when he's
composing an opera for Jo and the only things that come to his mind are Jo's worst
qualities, and Laurie even calls her as a torment, which kind of shows his shallow
dreaminess, but it's also a wake up call to reality, and that's when Laurie starts to
grow from a boy to a man, and he takes Amy's advice and goes to work. It is not just
the recent adaptations that don't show Laurie's growth and his character arc or
Amy's good influence on him. It is every Little Women adaptation.
It is a very deeply integrated issue, the way the feminine girls are put against more
masculine girls in pop culture, that is something which contributes to the very black
and white views on womanhood. This is Little Woman Podcast, Amy and Jo, Two sides
of the same coin.
'
(intro music)
Niina: There was an older version of the Greta Gerwig's film script where Jo wanted
to punch Amy when she heard about their engagement. Even if Greta Gerwig says
that she wanted to do a good job with Amy, she's still participating to this triangle
that doesn't exist in Little Women.
Emily: Yeah! well, I really hate the rivalry that Greta Gerwig sets up between Jo and
Amy. It's like, It's like, and so it's almost just like, oh, they're fighting over who gets
University of North Wales/ Glyndwr University
Children's books and book publishing industry
Podcast Project
Summary:
In this collaboration with Emiloid, we explore why film makers put Jo and Amy
against one another in Little Women. Do they have more in common than we
think? Amy and Jo, not so different after all. Why on earth the filmmakers think
it is a good idea to have the two sisters fight over a guy when in the novel they
both find Laurie lazy and unproductive (and Amy eventually becomes the one
who helps him to shape up his act). Little Women is a coming of age story, both
Amy and Jo grow as people.
Transcript:
Hello Little Women fans. It was about time that Emily and I got together to talk about
Amy and Jo. Today's comment shout goes Ebonya, who says the following.
"Remember in Little Women when Jo desperately wants to go to Europe with Aunt
Carol , but is passed over for the trip, because she isn't refined enough and Marmee
says that Jo probably wouldn't have enjoyed the trip anyway because Jo would have
to be prim and proper the entire time. So can we talk about the fact that Jo's
eventual husband is German? Loved her for her personality and not in spite of it and
if they had enough money, would have willingly taken her to Europe and let her be
herself while there".
What a great observation and all true. This wouldn't have applied to Jo marrying
Laurie. She didn't love him, but also she knew that if she would have married him,
not only would she have been lonely, but also required to be something that she
wasn't. A lady. That was something that Louisa struggled with. She was a very
masculine looking woman and it does seem that even some Little Women fans made
fun of her looks when they saw her, which is pretty insane.
, But I also read that Henry Thoreau, the real life critic, he was sometimes quite
critical about overly feminine women. Henry was very critical about consumerism.
But you can definitely see while Louisa fell in love with him, since he didn't really
care that much about women who were overly feminine. So the story of Jo and f
Friedrich, intertwines to Louisa and Henry's reality.
I always thought that Jo and Friedrich did travel to Europe together when Jo wrote
her best-seller, which happened between Little Men and Jo's Boys, when Jo is in her
forties. I thought they went to Germany and France. Jo would go to a booktour and
Fritz would accompany her. Louisa mentions that Friedrich's nephew Frantz moved to
Berlin and married a German girl, so they would visit him and then Fritz would show
Jo around Berlin.
All Fanfic writers and filmmakers, feel free to use my head canons anytime. I don't
know if I am only person who struggles with this, but I always have hard time liking
Amy and Laurie as a couple in the adaptations, and it has everything to do with
today's topic, that Laurie is being reduced into a trophy, who the sisters are fighting
over and that never happens in the novel. My Amy and Laurie Shipping begins when
he goes to see her at Aunt March and it continues to adulthood when he's
composing an opera for Jo and the only things that come to his mind are Jo's worst
qualities, and Laurie even calls her as a torment, which kind of shows his shallow
dreaminess, but it's also a wake up call to reality, and that's when Laurie starts to
grow from a boy to a man, and he takes Amy's advice and goes to work. It is not just
the recent adaptations that don't show Laurie's growth and his character arc or
Amy's good influence on him. It is every Little Women adaptation.
It is a very deeply integrated issue, the way the feminine girls are put against more
masculine girls in pop culture, that is something which contributes to the very black
and white views on womanhood. This is Little Woman Podcast, Amy and Jo, Two sides
of the same coin.
'
(intro music)
Niina: There was an older version of the Greta Gerwig's film script where Jo wanted
to punch Amy when she heard about their engagement. Even if Greta Gerwig says
that she wanted to do a good job with Amy, she's still participating to this triangle
that doesn't exist in Little Women.
Emily: Yeah! well, I really hate the rivalry that Greta Gerwig sets up between Jo and
Amy. It's like, It's like, and so it's almost just like, oh, they're fighting over who gets
