What the film makers leave out

What you will learn

You will learn about the history of Little Women and the real characters who inspired the story.

How Little Women film makers have added scenes to the adaptations between Jo and Laurie that don’t happen in the novel.

Scenes in Little Women the novel that show the dark side of Jo’s and Laurie’s relationship.

Laurie’s growth process and becoming more independent with his relationship with Amy.

Description

The ever old question. The novel answers why Jo rejected Laurie, but the filmmakers never show us Laurie´s growth process, or why Jo travelled to New York in the first place.

“One of the things this podcast made me realize is that the adaptations always focus on the positive traits of Jo and Laurie´s friendship and the negative traits in Amy and Laurie´s relationship. That is why it is so hard for people to root for them. Even the 2019 adaptation did that and people were praising it because “it made a good contrast” anyways screw the adaptations and always book supremacy. Go listen to this! they literally transferred Jo´s and Laurie´s toxic traits to Amy and Laurie. What kind of bs is that”.

Small Umbrella In The Rain the Little Women Podcast is an ongoing series of video essays, articles and podcast episodes that examines the intersections in Louisa May Alcott´s Little Women.


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Hosted by Alcott essayist Niina Niskanen. Regular visits from literal scholars and Little Women fans.

In the book before Laurie moves to Concord, he has been tossed around in Europe from one boarding school to another and then he moves to live with his grandfather and they have to build their relationship from the scratch. Older Mr Lawrence had rejected the marriage of Laurie´s parents so from the beginning Laurie feels unwanted and this is why he becomes so attached to the Marches. He even calls Marmee his mother and that is why he is clinging to Jo so much. Because of Jo´s idealization of the masculine Laurie thought he could do anything and she would always forgive him. Hannah describes Laurie as a weathercock. He is a character with constant mood changes. He can be sensitive but he also has a high temper. Which has never been shown in the films. He can be very inconsiderate towards other people´s feelings (same way as Jo) like during the time when he was catfishing Meg (never adapted). Times, when Laurie is sweet and caring, are the times when he puts other people before him. Like during Beth´s illness and when he went to cheer up Amy when she was staying at aunt March.

English
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Content

The Book Laurie

The Book Laurie
Call to conform
Jo defends Friedrich when Laurie proposes
Two different proposals
Laurie’s growth