Sometimes I find the inclusion of certain instances of adult situations, language, violence, and/or nudity a little over the top. Is there anything in any of these categories I should be aware of before I watch Little Dorrit?
shareNo. I'm very sensitive to this as well. It is clean.
The Frenchman has a couple of kissing scenes and one crude gesture at the end with his hands, but that is all.
*SPOILER ALERT*
I saw two comments about "objectionable" language in the miniseries. I have watched this program around 3 dozen times and not sure would be considered "objectionable" language. There are a few adult situations and two acts of violence that I recall. There was no overt nudity, but there was a hint of cleavage in one scene. I would guess the following scenes might offend certain people.
1) Rigaud murdering the twin brother of Flintwinch (murder scene)
2) Rigaud fondling the landlady and later going to bed with her (implied sex)
3) The flower girl who asks to spend the night with Arthur (solicitation)
4) The Merdle suicide scene (graphic death scene)
5) The kiss between Miss Wade and Tattycoram (implied lesbianism)
6) The rather loud birth of Mrs. Gowan's baby (graphic childbirth)
7) The poisoning of the Gowan dog (animal cruelty)
8) The rather rough abuse of Affery Flintwinch (spousal abuse)
Update: Several people have commented regarding the language in the miniseries. There were several instances of the word "damn" being used. When I was young, that word was considered a profanity. So, some viewers may be offended by hearing this word being uttered by the characters in the show.
Why did they make Miss Wade be so "close" to Tattycorum in the first place? Not in regards to the plotline, just her behavior in the first place.
I'm going on a perfectly innocent ride with my kids, whom I love. Is that clock correct?
The screenwriter thought the Miss Wade character to have possible lesbian tendencies so the series was shown with that possibility on her personality. The novel doesn't make any explicit statement on her character in regards to this. It was just something that the screenwriter thought could be a possibility. Tattycoram's rebellious nature made her more open to a relationship with Miss Wade.
shareToo wrong and weird, if you ask me. Completely uncalled for.
Where did you hear about that, by the way?
I'm going on a perfectly innocent ride with my kids, whom I love. Is that clock correct?
It was the screenwriter's interpretation of the novel's character. He thought it was a possible aspect of her character. I went online on a discussion forum that he participated in back in April 2009. He took questions from people on the forum about how the novel was adapted to the movie screen. The Miss Wade character was his by design. The selection of a black actress to play Tattycoram was not his decision. He did say that some might have found that aspect to be objectionable. But he wanted to explore and show that possibility.
shareWhen I read the novel about 20 years ago I was surprised how strong the impression was that Miss Wade was a lesbian. I thought it might be my own imagination but a lot of people have noticed it over the years so this was NOT one of Andrew Davies's additions but something that is in the book.
Dickens has a lot of very unusual and often dark characters like Miss Wade.
*SPOILER ALERT*
I compared the prostitute scene in the miniseries versus the novel. The screenwriter decided to revise the scene from how Dickens had presented it. Instead of Amy and Maggy encountering the streetwalker after they left Arthur's lodging place, it was changed to have Arthur meeting up with one before he enters his lodging. In the novel, the prostitute stops Amy and Maggy and asks where Maggy was talking the "child" at such a late hour. She appears to offer help to the "child" and wants the "child" to give her a kiss and to her surprise that Amy is not a child. Amy tells her that she is not afraid of her and helps to protect Maggy as they slept outside overnight. I am not sure how the contemporary audiences would have interpreted this scene from the novel had it been included. No such scene was in the 1988 movie version.