New MP with Billie Piper?
Is it true a new version of mansfield park is being produced by the BBC with Billie Piper as Fanny Price?
'is it a bird? is it a plane?, no its a man in tights and a cape!'
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MovieChat Forums > Mansfield Park (1999) Discussion > New MP with Billie Piper?
>Is it true a new version of mansfield park is being produced by the BBC with Billie Piper as Fanny Price?
No, it is a cruel evil joke!!!!
or perhaps a lie spread from the Anti-license fee brigade to make us stop paying our liscence fee as a protest!!
mwahahahahaaa
MP is always going to be a difficult to adapt book as Fanny Price is not the most charming of Austen Heroines. When JA wrote Emma she declared that she was going to create a heroine that no one would like besides herself, however, we find that we rather like Emma, she is interfering, she has her faults, but her heart is in the right place, she is human after all.
Fanny is such an annoying judgemental goodie two shoes, she doesn't have the backbone of Lizzie, the charm of Emma, the contrasting strength of the Dashwoods, the sweet naivete and imagination of Catherine or the tolerance of Anne, she is probably the girl that we all found a bit of a bore at school.
That is why they spiced up her character in the '99 version.
I am not much of a Doctor Who fan but Piper is ok in that, can I see her as a Regency lass though? No, I think she is far too contemporary looking.
But who knows? Let's wait and see.....
"Judgemental goodie two shoes" is a phrase I hear hurled at poor Fanny a lot, but I think it's rather unfair. Fanny does not sit around condemning people, she chooses not to indulge in their behavior, but she certainly isn't scorning or unfairly judging them for it. She does see the Crawfords for what they are long before anyone else does, but in that case, she was certainly right about her impressions of them.
I found a great quote in a book I was reading about Fanny, and I agree with every bit of it:
Although our first impression of Fanny may be of a conduct-book weakling who does nothing but tremble in a corner or yield supinely to others, she in some ways has the most strength of any Austen heroine. She stays loyal to Sir Thomas in his absence, repulses Henry Crawford’s advances, refuses either to reveal or to abandon her unrequited love for Edmund, and remains unswayed by the persuasions of her social superiors. Despite her obliging temperament, she resolutely asserts her right to her own feelings….
Austen demonstrates in Mansfield Park that even a shy, traditionally feminine, economically dependent, and yielding young woman can summon from within herself the necessary strength to refuse to compromise her beliefs….Even shrinking violets and wallflowers can blossom. To make even small changes in one’s self can require tremendous inner courage, Austen suggests. For Fanny to act and speak in her own person—in propria persona, as Austen notes near the end of the novel—requires far greater growth than for a heroine already endowed with self-assurance.
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. share
Oooh but she does make judgements, she just doesn't express them, whereas Anne (another shy character) is a lot more expressive and is not always 'right' all of the time.
I admit she was right to turn down the proposal though.
It's been a while since I read it, but I don't remember her sitting around and silently condemning people for their behavior--it seems that was often more the narration that showed their activities in a disapproving light. But again, it's been a while so I could be remembering wrong.
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.
Oh yes, it has been an age since I read it also.
Hummm, I might start reading it again today, I will tell you if anything pops out at me
She was judgmental about Mary Crawford, but since Fanny was so in love with Edmund, I don't think she could really help but be envious/judgmental, (as it must have been very hard for her to see Edmund always fawning over Mary...)
shareMary was every bit as bad as Fanny suspected her of being, as was Henry. Mary did behave badly, was incredibly shallow, amoral and heartless. Fanny had an impeccable judge of character, if she didn't like someone or what they were doing, there was a pretty darn good reason for it.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
What is the title of the source cited in yourpost, Birdtamer? Sounds like something I'd enjoy reading. :-)
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Just the IDEA!!! I mean there is nothing remotely classical about her though, she just looks SO contemporary,....it would just suck! Please someone tell me they are wrong? Especially after that had just done such a good job of casting Jane Eyre, who is that girl? Damned if I know but it was perfectly cast!!!
shareone i think it would be hilarious to see billie piper as fanny price, i love billie piper but i dont know if she could play the part
two when i went to the Jane Austen house where she died and wrote most of her novels this summer i was told that her mother loved all of janes characteres EXCEPT fanny price because fanny price was a ninny or something along that line
three when i found out Justine Waddell was in this version of Mansfield park i was positive she was going to be fanny price, when i saw justine waddell in BBC's wives and daughters i felt for sure she would do a wonderful job as fanny price. come to find out she was julia bertram instead.
You mentioned a Catherine and an Anne, what stories are these characters from?
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Anne = Anne Elliot from Persuasion.
Catherine = Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey.
He looks like what happens when you punch a cow!share
YUK! I just looked this girl up, and she sure is funny looking. Her face is so square and wide. I can't picture her playing Fanny at all. She looks like a charactature. Just odd. Anyone else think so? I'll never get past the big ole horse mouth. lol...sorry, just being brutally honest.
shareDisneyDana, I absolutely agree! I started watching the movie and couldn't finish it because I was just thinking, "that's NOT Fanny!" The actress from this version (1999) isn't quite how I'd pictured her either while reading the book, but much closer than Billie Piper!
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