No one told me. No one told me that I would become so invested in these characters. No one told me that I wouldn’t be able to stop watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries until I had seen all 100 episodes. I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice, mostly because I’d always thought of it as a “girl’s book”. For the same reason, I wasn’t planning to watch the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. However, the LB Diaries may have changed my mind about “romantic” literature.
I don’t care for romance novels, mostly because I don’t have a romantic bone in my body. I don’t pick up on flirting. I find it difficult to trust and commit to people. I have many acquaintances but very few close friends. Here I go, making my own list of the reasons why I’m perpetually single. Actually, I feel I have a lot in common with Lizzie Bennet. She is stubborn (as am I). She is sarcastic, snarky even. Lizzie is such a likable character. I like Lizzie the most of the three sisters because, not only is she sarcastic (a quality that I love), but she is independent. She doesn’t seek a man to give her an identity. Even in the end when Darcy offers her a job within his own company, she chooses to start her own instead.
Jane is very independent too. She finds her own way in LA. She hesitates to take Bing back in the end, and when she does, it comes with some stipulations, because she knows that she and Bing have grown apart and things can’t just go back to the way they were. What’s more, both Jane and Lizzie are responsible. They do things because they are the right things to do, not because they’re “fun” or “feel good”. Jane especially tries to see the best in everyone and is nice (“sweet”) to everyone. Where Lizzie is sarcastic, Jane is “sweet”. Where Lizzie is sometimes judgmental, Jane is not. However, contrary to some who think so, I don’t see Lizzie as overly judgmental, so much as incapable of trusting easily.
You might be able to see where this is going. I like Lizzie. I like Jane. The youngest sister, Lydia, is basically the antithesis of the two older sisters. While I was watching early episodes, I tweeted that I couldn’t stand Lydia. I thought Lydia was annoying, obnoxious, selfish, irresponsible, disrespectful, self-centered, apathetic, and even at one point “the epitome of what is wrong with American culture”. And yet, after that tweet, I received several responses expressing to me that I should wait and judge her character at the end of the series, that I would “feel sorry for her” in the end. Perhaps I don’t see Lizzie as overly judgmental, because I am judgmental myself. Why? Because, even after seeing the conclusion, I still didn’t feel sorry for Lydia. I know this isn’t a popular opinion among LBD fans, but I felt, even in the end, that Lydia deserved what she had coming to her.
Granted, I also seriously dislike Mr. Narcissistic, George Wickam, and he deserves most of the blame for what happened with the sex tape, but that’s beside the point. If I was Lydia’s brother, I probably would’ve done the same thing as Lizzie did and tried to make her see how irresponsible she was being. Maybe I wouldn’t have given her a book, but I would have found some other way to make her see the light. Then again, Lydia probably would’ve blown up in my face as she did in Lizzie’s face, and I probably would’ve washed my hands of Lydia too, like Lizzie did.
Like I said, I can’t handle people who are irresponsible. I can’t handle people who are so self-centered. She is constantly going on and on about how awesome she is. Sometimes I joke about my own awesomeness with my friends, but they know by my tone that I’m joking. If I’m reading Lydia’s tone correctly, she isn’t joking. She sounds genuine when she says that she is more awesome than Lizzie or that her videos are better than hers. She only thinks about herself, particularly when she goes on shopping sprees at the mall. She doesn’t see that her family is suffering from her overspending.
Besides her selfishness, Lydia is so obnoxious and annoying. As someone who tries his best to adhere to the standards of the English language, I can’t handle her “abreves”, such as “totes” and “adorbs”. Saying things like that don’t make you sound “adorbs”, they make you sound “ridic”. Neither Jane nor Lizzie talk like that, and they sound vastly more intelligent than Lydia does. Lydia also places too much importance on “feeling good”: partying, drinking (especially underage and especially too much), stealing and doing drugs, and finding some hot guy to make out with.
As I said, she embodies everything that is wrong with American culture. Unfortunately, too many people in our society are apathetic about things that genuinely matter: climate change, the unbelievable disparity between those who have and those who don’t, and well, the list goes on. Too many people only care about the same things that she does—sex, drinking, drugs, partying, and feeling good in the moment without considering the consequences. Too many people are irresponsible and not only don’t care about doing what’s best for their own lives, but also don’t care about doing what’s best for this country or this world. Too many people are flippant and say “whatever” when the problems they face become too hard for them. When school becomes too hard, Lydia ditches it. When situations with friends and family become too hard, she runs from them. Talk about cowardly and irresponsible.
I really don’t understand how Lydia wasn’t able to see how unhealthy her relationship with George was. Perhaps she did see how unhealthy it was, but she didn’t want to admit it, because then she would have to do something about it, and she is too cowardly to face her problems. Jane or Lizzie would never have let things go so far with George. Never in a million years. You know why? Because they have an identity apart from the men in their lives. As independent individuals, they are successful and responsible (I know—I’m placing quite an emphasis on this particular quality). Lydia, though? Towards the end (I also watched the Lydia Bennet Diaries so I could see how her relationship with George played out), she only sees herself as George’s girlfriend. With each video, she became less herself and more his property. Why? Because she lets him manipulate her instead of standing her ground.
It is so striking to see this happen, because the more this happens, the more she becomes less herself, she becomes less obnoxious. She becomes less selfish. All those hateful qualities that I described earlier? Gone by the end. I don’t get it. However, I don’t like her more as a character by this point, because even though she is less annoying, this does not make her more independent and responsible like her older sisters are.
Ugh. The problem with writing a deconstruction about the three Bennet sisters—and about Lydia Bennet in particular—is that there are real people who are similar to these characters and identify with them. I’m not trying to attack those who identify with Lydia. I guess I’m merely saying that she possesses the worst qualities imaginable and if you share the same qualities, you should change? Yeah, that doesn’t sound much better. Perhaps my attacking her makes me sound just as judgmental as Lizzie and perhaps even as arrogant as Darcy seems in the beginning. If so, I’m sorry.
However, am I glad that Lydia exists as a character? Absolutely. Those who are in a manipulative relationship, like Lydia was with George, might stumble upon the Diaries—both Lizzie’s and Lydia’s—and realize that they need to save themselves from future manipulation and leave. Granted, it’s not that simple, and it’s easier said than done, but at least they might realize that it’s better to reach out to siblings or friends rather than go it alone.
Another reason why I’m glad she exists as a character? I get to write great commentary about everything that’s wrong with our society. Ha.
What do you think? Do you agree with my unsavory opinion of Lydia? Do you disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments.
