no-wait-ill-turn-him-into-a-duck:

mishasemenov:

Hey, um, I, uh, thought you might like to try one. They’re from our orchard. They’re real sweet.

You know what I love about this show? They gave me reasons for all of the moment’s in the books.

Like Anne having such strong reaction to Gilberts “Carrots” line. In the book it I always saw it as “omg this boy is being terrible why bring up my shameful hair color? *dramatic feelings of drama*”

But in this show it was a more realistic depiction of why she had such a violent reaction to that one word.
Reason 1. Orphans at that time were really judged on their physicality. Strong boys could do farm work ( the reason the Cuthbert wanted a boy specifically) girls could do house work and historically girls in particular were judged by their bodys. orphans specifically knew at that time sometimes your face could play a big part in being selected. (let’s be honest it was a nasty time and people were pervs about little kids with no one to look out for them. And sexual abuse and rape was a real and obvious fact the vulnerable had to address and be aware of and protect them selves from) it stands to reason that Anne would have placed this information in key parts of how she formulated her identity. (Aka I wish I had a different, more “pretty hair color”)

Anne proves she understands that people only see her for what her body can do When she meets Jerry, her reacion is to prove her body can do exactly what the Cuthberts wanted. She can work just as hard and she holds what she presumes the Cuthbert main interest in her was.

We see it in flashbacks when she cares for children and cooks/cares for parts of the farm she was on before coming to green Gables.

There are the very many comments about her hair and how she could “go into one of the female careers because she’s obviously not going to get married.” And blah blah blah.
all of this sends that message of “I am not worth the affection or love of others because my body has no value in that capacity.”(Also anther reason why she would have such a strong reaction the the Cuthbert hiring a boy instead of letting her use her body for what she believes it’s only value is. )

Reason 2. Gilbert and hers first meeting has none of these “first meet objectification” we have seen leading up to this piont. (Marilla- I wanted a boy for work, Rachel – look at that red hair, school girls- she’s an orphan, Diana parents- are you acceptable enough to associate with us?)

Instead Gilbert sees her and defends her. Flirts with her, interacts with her as if he sees value in her deeper than what her body can give. Instead he smiles and shares apples happily stands up and crushes on her in front of his male friends disregarding their comments of “but she’s an orphan”

At this piont in the story she had finally started to be reaccepted into the female group at school after the “pet mouse fiasco” so her being torn between enjoying the fact that somebody likes her for herself and a group of people that she truly want to belong with makes complete sense. Her avoiding gilbert makes sense when you see she is fighting to be accepted and it is obvious ignoring him can give her, for lack of a better phrase “ brownie pionts” with a group she is clearly trying to navigate without any guidance or understanding the workings of. (Also she has rarely had positive interactions with children her age so having no clue how to feel when someone whole heartedly and unabashedly cares and takes interest you it makes complete sense for her to avoid it because ALERT☡☡☡☠ brand new this she doesn’t understand what the mean!☢☡☡☡

And then the moment comes where gilbert is standing there and trying to talk to her and he is a kid and kids do what they know will give them the best or most desired reaction and gil is obviously wanting any kind of attention. So he as little cutesy flirty boy he is gives her a nickname.

The ominous “Carrots”

But I feel like for anne this has a different context. She has shown she feels like her body is the only thing others she value in. And gilbert is someone who is like “nah I like all of you let’s be friend *flirt flirt”

Then to identify her by her body but specifically by a part of herself she internalize a lot of her self esteem issues and clearly blames for a lot of what is wrong about her and why she has no value aside from her body. It feels like a betrayal in a sort of way I think.

Here is someone who has no reason to like me and obviously sees me for some reason or worth, right? Then for that person to reestablish a fact that has been enunciated through out the society and culture crashes down the hope of “I can be more than my physical body. I have more value to at least on person than that.”

Reason 3. Anne doesn’t lie. She tries to be honest and clearly expects the same from others around her (she has obviously seen this in usually negative contexts-rachel and her opinions, the school girls after the pet mouse incident, the pastor of bullshit.) Whether she likes it or not she has come to expect a blunt and forthright opion of her self to be said to her face (we won’t talk about her reactions to these interactions because this text post is way to long already) and gilbert (in her head obviously) broke this cycle. He valued her first as a person then “backtracked” to identifying her by her body.

So everything after that whole Carrots deal is her feeling betrayed by his actions, confused by what he really sees in her. And she sets out to disprove his so called “assumptions” about where her true value lies. (I’m looking at you guys and your homework competion.)

She reacts to what she presumes is his objectification of her by claiming her mind and refusing to let him see her in any capacity aside from this (again, that schoolwork competition /spelling bee/and lot of other stuff)until she realizes that he DOES she see her the way she originally believed him to see her. (I’m looking at all the sad feels after his dad dies and she’s been bringing him books and fooled and offers him orphan advice)
So yeah I super love this show and want to talk about it for hours.