Growing Up with Anne and Jo: The Influence of Strong Female Leads in Cinema
Written by Chantel Kienitz
Graphics by Jade
In the summer of 2019, my family and I took a trip to Canada, not to attend one of the large cities or national parks, but instead to visit Prince Edward Island, the vibrant setting of the book Anne of Green Gables. This was a destination that my sister and I had been dreaming about since we were little girls, and we had not yet read the book. Instead, all we knew was the version of Anne that we had seen portrayed by Megan Follows in the 1985 movie, Anne of Green Gables. The film was a staple of our childhood, and this trip to the tranquil oceanside was a manifestation of what this movie had meant to us while growing up. Instead of mainly showing us traditional fairy tales or children’s movies when we were young, my mom would put on movies such as Anne of Green Gables (1985) or Little Women (1994) that showed strong women who embraced their femininity without backing down from their beliefs and passions.
In Anne of Green Gables, Anne Shirley was an orphan, adopted by the Cuthberts, an elderly pair of siblings who mistakenly receive Anne instead of the young boy they were trying to take in to assist with the farm. It is not Anne’s willingness to do farm work or help with chores that convinces the Cuthberts to keep her, but instead, it is her confidence and strong will that endears them to her. She never backs down from a fight, even if she thinks it will dissuade the family from adopting her. On Anne’s first day at the house, she is told to keep her conversation to a minimum, but her imagination and wit are qualities that the Cuthberts grow to love within a short time of knowing her. When one of the Cuthberts’ friends calls Anne “ugly”, Anne loses her temper and berates the friend. She later acknowledges that she should not have been so hateful in response, but she never stops believing that she did so for good reason. Her refusal to back down is an attribute that I have always admired.
Anne never abandons her sense of self with her ability to talk and share her opinions with anyone around her. When she is taken to meet Diana, a girl her age, in her new community, Diana, she tries to hide her excitement, knowing that Diana’s family is quite proper. However, as soon as Anne’s true personality comes out, Diana is enthralled and they become fast friends. They can easily connect with one another due to Anne’s openness and willingness to lead gripping conversation. Anne does not learn to be quiet just because it is what is proper or important for high society; instead, she utilizes her overactive mind. She puts her energy into studying and becomes a scholar, even reciting a poem at a prestigious recital later in the movie. Within this period, fighting back and talking too much were seen as unappealing faults for women; however, neither of these traits halt a romantic narrative.
It is established early in the plot that Gilbert Blythe is the most desirable bachelor in the Prince Edward Island community, but his head is immediately turned by Anne. He is not unnerved when he notices how much she talks or deterred by her head-strong nature; when she surpasses him in academics, he does not lose interest, but instead, enjoys the challenge. We watch as they both push each other to their highest points, even while Anne outwardly claims her indifference toward him. Their slow-burn arc was significant to me as a young girl, and it would take me years to understand why: Anne was never seen as unattainable or unfeminine for being loud and unbending; she was the centerpiece of a warm story about friendship and romance. She was intelligent and not isolated from high society, but rather, accepted and admired.
A similar concept is displayed in Little Women, with Josephine March (Jo) being the main character that fueled my first steps into adulthood. Instead of solely being a love story, Jo’s relationships with her sisters were the focal point of a dramatic movie about death and love in 1860s America. Just as in the story of Anne, Jo is a determined woman who puts her passions and values at the forefront of her life, even at a time when marriage was the most preferable and profitable option for a woman. Jo does not let the structure of society bring her yearning for a career to a halt, but instead, she pushes through, even as her family struggles with loss and impoverishment. She makes her passion for writing into freelance work and sells her stories for money to help her family, all while maintaining her governess position at a boarding house. Jo pursues her interests and explores her creativity and intelligence, crafting it from the beginning of the film until the end. Many of the trials she faces throughout the book revolve around her love for drafting stories and her confidence and true talent in it.
Yet again, her brilliance does not deem her undesirable; throughout the film, she is pursued by two different men, and she has the forethought and autonomy to reject one of them when she knows the aforementioned “passion” is not there. While she finds her value in self-expression and family, she does not reject the notion of love. In fact, she is selective in whom she chooses to spend her time with and does not surrender her sense of self for him.
Throughout the movie, Jo maintains her understanding that family and her sisters are more important than anything, and this portrays the perfect picture of femininity for a young girl. Jo does not withdraw when her family struggles, but instead she does everything she can to assist, even if it means selling her hair or staying up all night to care for her sick sister. Conversely, her sisters display more of the common expectations of femininity by getting married and raising children, but they do not judge Jo for her initial dismissal of that lifestyle.
Anne of Green Gables and Little Women instilled values in me that I did not realize the impact of until I was a young woman who valued my independence and outspokenness. I saw myself in these heroines as a child and grew up to love how true that notion of feminine strength still was. These movies allowed me to understand that women were not simply the side characters of powerful stories, but they were the main characters and the heart of narratives that would be retold and remade for years and years to come.