Please leave comments telling me why I’m wrong! I did think it was weird that Laurie decided to go after Jo’s little sister after being rejected by her. I definitely overlooked it because Timothée Chalamet played Laurie. Laurie wanted to be a March so bad.
Im not gonna tell you wrong but i wanna recommend something to read while it rains ryuuma no gagou and it truly embodies the term you die twice once when you body dies and the other when everybody who knows you forgets your name
I agree with Amy and Laurie being a better romantic match than Jo and Laurie, however the way they went about it was completely wrong and the timing was horrible and Laurie jumping from one sister to the other is nastyyyyy
You are not wrong. But it is clear that you have only seen Gerwigs version. She makes it clear that these are the right matches by showing Amy and Laurie first. This is not clear in any other version.
Can I just say how much I love Florence's performance in this film? Amy is so distinctly different in Paris, she's grown up and that transition is do so masterfully.
It's clever how we see Amy in a new light because the movie deliberately makes an effort to force us to do so. By first meeting an adult, we see someone whose petulance has given away to even-tempered stoicism, whose pettiness has sharpened into ambition, and whose childhood stubbornness has become the sort of steeliness that one admires. Allowing us to see the type of woman that Amy becomes and, more importantly, spending time with that woman allows us to more easily see her faults for what they were - childhood flaws and foibles that one grows out of - and forgive her for them. It gives Amy the sort of treatment she probably should’ve had the whole time - the same treatment the narrative and all its adaptations have afforded to Jo.
jo wants to run back to laurie towards the end of the movie because he's familiar, even if she doesn't realize it. laurie represents childhood and all the good memories jo holds with him and her sisters. jo even admits it: she's lonely! beth has just died, and how could we blame her for longing for the past, longing for simpler and joyful times when she didn't have to worry about making money, feeling lonely, or beth's sickness? i'll admit, the first time i watched this movie, i was upset that they didn't end up together, but after i digested it and watched it another time, it is so clear that they would have crashed and burned as a couple. they would have held each other back. amy & laurie and jo & friedrich supremacy luv xo
Amy is so misunderstood as a character. She has such a good character development and arc- she is always been my favourite of all the sisters. And the romance with Laurie...I love it!! I found it very convincing- to be honest they were perfect for each other.
Can u help explain I pissed my girlfriend off this morning because I’m not understanding her character and honestly dislike her as a character. We watch the movie it’s one of her favorites. It was my first time viewing it. I definitely enjoyed it nine out of 10 style but I do dislike Amy.
if im honest with myself i perfectly know that i only wanted jo and laurie to end up toghether because im jo, im lonely and i want to be loved. i understand her point of view perfectly, but i rationally know that laurie and amy are a great couple, and jo didint know how to love him properly
The thing is I feel like in the book it makes sense. Yes, she did reject him, but in the book, she is constantly saying how she feels and saying she thinks Laurie should be with Beth or with Meg. She realizes early on in the book that she doesn't want to be with Laurie and that she loves him as a friends. Also, in the ending of the film in the part when Laurie is saying how she loves Amy in a way he could never love Jo, Jo completely agrees with him. I think the book represents Jo's feelings a lot better and makes the decision to have Amy and Laurie end up together make so much sense.
I was a kid when i read the book (or a version of it) and always rooted for Laurie. It felt like he "lost" when he didn't end up with Jo, and that bothered me as a kid 😂 looking back with what I know now, it makes better sense he ended up with Amy. No one lost. Edit: typos.
I think the writers are Jo+Laurie shippers bc the book is very clear in the part that Jo doesn’t love him and that she’s just lonely and wants to be loved when she writes the letter. It’s very clear she doesn’t love him, while the movie makes her seem in love with him, or at least more so. And I don’t believe she really was supposed to love Fredrick, but the sexist editors and publishers and the societal standards caused them to make the author have her get married
Yeah, I think the book shows Jo's feelings better. To be honest, I totally shipped Jo and Laurie in the first book, but in the second part, you can perfectly understand why she doesn't love Laurie that way. Also, I don't know why in the movie they made it seem as if she regrets rejecting Laurie and she going with Fritz like a consolation prize when it wasn't like that in the book at all. Anyway, for me, it would have been a more satisfying ending if she had stayed single but Alcott was forced to marry Jo.
Shipped Amy and Laurie, when I read the book and when I watched the movie. Jo and Laurie didn't make sense, they are more fitted to be best friends than a couple. For starters, Jo never wanted to get married to Laurie or anyone else. She only got married, because Louisa Alcott was forced to change the ending. However, Amy and Laurie made a lot of sense. Amy made Laurie grow up. She made him a man. She was the only one who had the guts to tell him to stop fooling around. Laurie loves her for that. And, in the book you could see that they got along as a couple as they did when they were just friends. I don't think Jo and Laurie would have gotten along if they got married. Considering that Jo doesn't want to get married and that she doesn't bring the man out of Laurie. Some people may call Amy and Laurie's relationship unrealistic, but I think that it is real and it make sense.
And she also said it herself if they got married they’d drive each other crazy and in the end they’d resent each other. I don’t think a marriage that she didn’t even want in the first place is worth losing such a beautiful connection.
@@ymirsgf4646 true!! laurie was never jo's. i mean, she never loved in the way that laurie wanted her to love him. and, they never made sense to me ever.
@@karisdietrich1964 yeah!! i mean, some people may get along as best friends, but once they include marriage and all that stuff into the equation, it messes things up. jo was never the person who was 'domesticated', and that would have messed up their relationship a whole lot.
When reading the book, I shipped Laurie and jo. Jo’s ending was rushed and I didn’t like her with the professor. In the movie, I love Amy and Laurie AND jo and freidrich.
@@jazzstew3108 that you can have your own future that you genuinely want for yourself; to be confident and strong enough to live by your own beliefs. she told us from the beginning that she does not want to marry anybody, that she doesnt see herself getting married. she has this burning passion and she really wants her dream to become a writer happen. yes, she had thought about going back to laurie but these are the times where she felt lonely and has this void. it made her feel even emptier when she stopped writing. she wrote that letter to him not that she loves him in a romantic way, but to fill her emptiness.
I know I am replying many months later but I personally believe its not up to you to say whether he understood the core message or not. Movies are all about personal interpretation and I share the same opinion as him but someone else might not and that doesn't make any of us right or wrong.
High school me was devastated that Jo and Laurie didn't end up together. I believed that their sameness is why they were soulmates. When in reality that thought process was just because I was naive and lacked romantic history. As an adult, I understand why Laurie ended up with Amy. Jo and Laurie's sameness would cause them to burn each other up. Their romantic relationship wouldn't help either of them grow into better versions of themselves like good romantic relationships should. Jo encouraged Laurie's childish and selfish behavior, while Amy pushed him into becoming a more mature version of himself. Laurie needs Amy's pragmatism. Amy also enjoys Laurie's way of life. A way of life that Jo would have resented and wilted under.
I agree that they might have burned each other up, but Jo was always correcting Laurie. She was constantly telling him not to play billiards, that the joke that he played on John and Meg was nasty, that he should be grateful for his opportunity to go to college. Amy just fit in better with his world because she likes high society, as you said.
@@dynesteefields4396 correcting people and effectively pushing them into better versions of themselves is not quite the same thing. Amy's temperament could manage it with Laurie, Jo's could not
Jo's conversation with Marmee was really similar to my conversation with my mom about love. I said I wanted to find someone who loves me more than I do but my mom said I was wrong. When my mom was young, she was going through the Vietnam War, so in a sense marriage is an economic proposition for her. But the way my mom spun it, she believes love is about sacrifice and compromise, which means you have to accept each other's flaws and support them with either your economic wealth or your emotional support. I guess that's what "to be there in sickness and in health" means.
i honestly find their relationship very sweet. i’ve known of people who ended up dating/ marrying their older siblings best friend after they had a crush on them when they were younger. tbh i don’t even think laurie and jo were really actually in love, i think they were just close and thought that they should be
The reason why every woman in Little Women ended up with someone was because Louisa Alcott was pressured by her publishers to have all her female characters married by the end. Which is why Jo’s storyline focused a lot on sexist publishers telling her how she has to write with the intention of encouraging women to get married. So even with critics stating Laurie and Amy’s relationship makes no sense or has no thematic relevance. Keep in mind the times and how the author herself probably wasn’t too happy about it either. Considering being a “sPiNsTeR” was treated like a swear and deemed a crutch on society for women to refuse marriage and children. You can criticize it but honestly it’s pointless to do so, disregards the context, and invalidates the importance of her work. She encouraged a whole generation of Women to live there lives for themselves. We would probably be set back decades if it weren’t for her trailblazing. Show some respect.
How does critique invalidate the significance of a work? Nothing is perfect and trying to put something on a pedestal just because it was ahead of its time is dumb. Hell trying to put anything on a pedestal is dumb.
Corksucker Fair enough, I grasp her novel isn’t perfect but criticizing aspects of it that were out of the authors control isn’t right to me. Criticism isn’t wrong in fact people offering different perspective’s on fiction should be welcomed. We shouldn’t ignore when certain good pieces of work have problematic elements, no more or less than should we ignore objectivity with fiction that helped in positive social change. This is coming from someone whose an aspiring author and a feminist.
Corksucker Bottom line, one can think Amy and Laurie not being romantically involved would have been objectively better for the story. However keep in mind it was out of Louisa’s control and said uncontrollable minor flaws shouldn’t be ammunition to diminish her work.
I think what some people miss is how selfish Jo is in regards to Laurie and how possessive. I love Jo's character and also because it is flawed. She wants Laurie to love her and not to return that love and for that to be enough for him. Yes I know what it is like to be lonely but to push your loneliness on someone else is not a good thing. Also Laurie being unavailable is what frees Jo from the idea and sets her off to pursue her career instead of giving in to her selfish desires after Beth's death. I know exactly what it's like to be in Jo's position. And Laurie did the best thing for her in moving on.
In the script, after Jo and the Professor first meet, he says "No one gets ink stains like yours just out of a desire of money." It reads 'Jo feels the intense pain and pleasure of being seen by someone, of knowing that they know you.'
I agree too! Amy and Laurie are meant for each other. Like Laurie said in the movie, the love he felt for Jo is different. For him, Jo was a crush, but once he fell in love he realized that his love for Jo wasn't romantic, while his love for Amy is!
This is such a HUGE thing that a lot of Jo stans dont seems to understand. Jo does not have a monopoly on Jo. Amy didnt STEAL Laurie from Jo when Jo stated multiple times she didnt love Laurie (until she got desperate and lonely) and Laurie grew up and out of the boyhood crush he had on Jo. Amy just happened to be the sister of his first crush. That is IT. Amy and Laurie are a romantic couple and partners in life while Jo and Laurie are platonic soulmates. These are FACTS that Jo stans just dont want to admit.
Jenna Wallace and even if you don’t like the Amy and Laurie pairing, that doesn’t mean that Amy stole Laurie, he’s a person (character) capable of making his own decisions.
It's not that Jo owns Laurie, it's just that the first book specifically builds their relationship. Jo introduces Laurie to the March family. Jo is best friends with Laurie. Meanwhile, Amy comes off as shallow in the first book. By the time that it's over, it's almost inconceivable that suddenly it would by Amy and Laurie. The writing was extremely in depth for the first pairing.
@@dynesteefields4396 if i am not wrong, Louisa May Alcott, based the book on herself and her sisters and she wrote herself as Jo. it's from her point of view and majorly set in their childhoods where admittedly she was friends wih Laurie first and introduced him to her family and they hung out together all the time. but time spent together doesn't equal love. Amy and Laurie, they fit better because they want similar things from life and better each other by being together.
when i first saw the movie in theaters, my opinion strictly was that jo and laurie should have been together. but the more and more i watched the movie and read the book, i realized, amy and lauries ending was perfect. it made so much more sense that they ended together than say jo and laurie. so i 100% agree with you.
When Jo writes her love letter to Laurie she says “My dear teddy, I miss you more than I can express. I used to think that the worst fate was to be a wife, I was young and stupid. But now I have changed. The worst fate is to live my life without you in it.” I think Jo finds it hard to express her feelings without going against her believes/ideas about what women should and shouldn’t be in the world. Like when Jo tells her sister Meg that she doesn’t need to get married to John and that she will get bored after 2 years. Later on Jo telling her mum that she is sick of women having their only purpose of to love. Jo realised that women are more than that. To all the people saying Jo felt ‘lonely’ and needed to fill a void that’s why she confesses to Laurie her love that was not the reason. When Jo left to go to New York she left her sisters behind. And when her sister Beth got sick she came back in a heart beat. Stopping everything that she was doing her dreams and ambition for her sister. When her sister Amy burned her papers Jo got angry at Amy and even said she will never ever forgive her and then when her sister nearly drowned she went back to talking to her in a heart beat realising that her sister was more important. Similarly as soon as she rejects Laurie she kept writing to him but he was the one that was not answering to her letters. Jo truly did care for him. She just didn’t have herself figured out yet. Jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time in the end she realises she can when she marries the professor. She realises this before however and wanted to tell Laurie by confessing to him through the letter but it was to late. Jo wanted it to be Laurie that she marries. Jo even admitted to her mum that when she gets angry her anger can blind her. Like when she rejected Laurie because of her anger blinding her to thinking women should be independent and never married, but she doesn’t realise women can be both. Jo is a strong willed character who refuses to back down but then she does on all of these occasions she does it for the people that she loves. She did that when she rejected Laurie. She was angry because she had dreams she wanted to pursue and marriage was not on her radar back then. However after loosing her sister for good this time she realises the mistake she made rejecting Laurie. She realises death is her worse enemy and it can come in the way of things even when she thinks she is in control. She steers the wheel of her life, she is independent, unmarried, in New York writing doing everything she ever wanted but death still has a way of ruining things. When she comes to this realisation she cannot bear to loose Laurie in the same way without telling him how she truly feels. Because Jo finally realises that the love she holds for him is greater than whatever it is she wanted to do as a single women.
Boudourou Bou boo we don’t need a full explanation of the movie we saw it. Just because jo was lonely does not mean she was in love with Laurie in that way. She was just lonely she expressed that many times and she missed her friend. She felt like she needed to except Lauries proposal because of society’s shame to unmarried women.
This video was what I needed to see. I am currently in the works for creating a video essay for my film theory class and the topic of "gaze" was discussed too. I was trying to find out what angle to take my video since I chose to compare 1954 vs 2019 versions of Little Women, and your discussion of "gaze"/"look" helped, thank you!
I finally got to this movie on my "to watch" list last night and spent the whole second half of the movie in tears. It was beautiful- and like you I went into this movie blind as I had not seen any other films or read the original novel. I loved what you pointed out about how love and good partners should be honest and push you to be better- this is so true. The scene where the professor reads Jo's work and comments on it was so powerful to me- as he said "has no one taken you seriously before?" because that is so true. To take someone seriously is to be honest with them and point out any flaws you may see in their work, not to just say "oh it's lovely!" and keep any criticism or comments to yourself xo
I like your analysis. I believe Laurie fell for Amy after the whole, "Marriage is an economic proposition" conversation. He was used to seeing the childish Amy but after that moment he saw her in a different light. He realised that it was not Jo whom he loved romantically but Amy. After all, if Laurie and Jo were to be married, they would prove to be incompatible to each other. Also, I think Jo didn't get together with the professor at the end, she only wrote it that way because of the publisher. Jo never wanted to marry someone, all she wanted was to be with her family. I think the slight romantic looks given by Jo were added to the story on the demand of the publisher.
Jo and Laurie is the MOST unrealistic and irrational pair (if they were ever paired) I don't understand the literary dunces who ship them! Laurie and Amy on the other hand go as smooth as soft butter on crusted bread.. It just goes so well, you don't even need to doubt. Both compliment each other so well!
I again i was actually shocked to hear that people were upset that Jo didn't end up with Laurie. Jo was always honest with her thoughts of settle down and playing the wife role she wanted to write and spend her life with her sisters. While Laurie was always trying to avoid life. Like the narrator said Jo wasn't concern about Laurie's potential she liked him because he loved to break the rules like she did. I love Jo and Laurie's relationship, but i was happy the way the story ended especially knowing that the publisher pressured her into finding love in the end. It was refreshing especially because i couldn't understand why with a lot of tv couples especially i got annoyed with a lot of them after they got married the main reason was because of the unnecessarily drama made just to play with the audiences emotions some storylines were reasonable but the unnecessary affairs and love triangles.... I am SOOOO tired of love triangles! I so am defiantly Jo know marriage is not for me. I'm not against people that go that route but for me that is something i rather die without. That doesn't mean i don't want to have relationships or fall in love, but having a legal contract with someone finically tell divorce or death is not for me especially because am going Jo's route and looking for my owe success not marry into success like Amy. No shade to her i love her character growth, but I'm a Jo and it's nice for us Jo's to get a story about get our dreams come true without a love interests overshadowing our success.
@@lstarsabb Its not all too shocking when you consider the time period that this came out. Things were very simple then. Girl meets boy. Girl has significant interactions with boy, girl marries boy. The readers of Alcott's time just could not fathom Jo having such an important and close friendship with a boy if she wasn't romantically connected to him. The only way readers could have understood was if another suitor was courting Jo, but at the time of Laurie's marriage proposal, Jo hadn't even met her actual love interest yet. Its like growing up your whole life being told Peanut butter had to ALWAYS be served with jelly, no question, and then after growing up this way and finally going to a restaurant only to be served a peanut butter sandwich with no jelly in sight. Its not that it CAN'T happen, its just that for you its NEVER happened.
I have never loved a comment section more than this one seeing how everyone has literal paragraphs about this book and movies and how everyone is just in love with Amy and Laurie which is so true. Jo and Laurie were something else but in a different way. Amy called each one of Laurie's bullshit even after being in love with him she didnt hesistate in pointing it out fearing that she might lose him. Now thats the kind of love a relationship needs. THIS WOMAN MADE HIM A MAN. #amyandlaurieforever
And also Flo's performance in this movie. HOLY SHIT. That scene where laurie confessed oml her acting there and in this movie is MARVELOUS. no wonder she got an oscar nomination. She is going to RULE the world here i predict future now
I really love the last part where you clarify the true importance of the story, and the warm parts of childhood versus the cold separation of adulthood, because it brings words to the reason why I love this story so much as someone who grew up with two sisters (albeit with not such a rosy childhood, but we were together all the same), and all still trying to figure out and pursue our ambitions in our 20s and 30s, separately and somewhat alone.
She is. Louisa may alcott was said to be queer and she never married and jo was based on herself. Jo only gets together with the professor in the end bc the original publishers refused to end the story with Jo being a spinster with no love interest
How cool would it have been if LMA had only referred to The Professor as such or just as Bhaer, no pronouns and no first name, and Bhaer’s gender could have been left up to interpretation? The publisher would probably have just assumed Bhaer was a man (as would most of the readers of the time) and published it without a second thought, but it would never actually be canon. Dang, now I want an adaption where Bhaer is a woman, especially if she was portrayed as ultra feminine so that when she’s introduced as Bhaer, people are really thrown.🤷🏻♀️
Honestly....I DON'T think you're wrong. Louisa May Alcott originally didn't want Jo, the her heroine in her novel, to marry AT ALL. But much as we see in the movie's ending, the publisher insisted that Jo marry because that's the way things were done. So she had Jo marry the good Professor Bhaer. Laurie and Jo are best friends.....and in a way, she DOES consider him to be the brother she never had. The love each other and she leans on him for support during her moments of greatest emotion (like when Beth fell sick and when Amy burned her manuscript) but she's not IN love with him. I DO agree with you.....when Laurie proposes to Jo, she turns him down, but then, when Beth dies, there is a hole in Jo's heart and she feels she needs to be loved, so she wants to marry Laurie, but just for the sake of having someone to love her. When Marmee asks her if she loves Laurie she even says "Its more important for me to BE loved" And in this new movie, I DO like how they expanded Amy and Laurie's relationship. Amy is different from Jo. Her dreams are different. Jo is a free spirit. She wants to be a writer and be independent. Amy wants to be rich and be the elegant and refined lady and marry into high society and pursue her dreams of being an artist. And Laurie supports those dreams. He is a bit lackadaisical when it comes to fulfilling his duty and what's expected of him (from both Amy and his grandfather) but in the end, he's willing to change to prove himself worthy of her. He's not afraid of her ideals and her ambitions. I think all the March sisters consider Laurie to be their affectionate older brother, but as they grew up, that relationship between Amy and Laurie changed into love. They make a good match.
Your assessment is pretty correct. In "Little Men", Amy continues to challenge Laurie, he works to make her proud of him, and he and Jo are best of friends. Jo can write without feeling guilty.
Jo and Laurie are more like Harry and Hermione. but Amy and Laurie were made for each other. she was the one who was able to control him and bring him to the right part. I don't understand why people hate on Amy. she is really the beest.
I loved Amy and Laurie together in the book as well as in the movie. I first read “Little Woman” when I was in my sophomore year of high school and I related a lot to Josephine March. We both liked writing and didn’t really focus on marriage. Like Jo I had a friend who I could be myself around. We thought of each other as protectors. We wanted the best for one another but we didn’t need nor want each other, if that makes sense. I think that’s why I understood Jo’s and Lauries relationship. Amy and Laurie I also understood. I wanted to be able to love someone as she did. I wanted to be able to see some ones potential and help them reach it. I called her the supporter of dreams. I think her and Laurie needed the extra push that can only come froM a gentle push in the right direction. And the gentle push is so hard to get right, it literally takes the right people. As to Jo and professor Bear, I understand why some would say it doesn’t make sense but for me, that was the only logical choice. Sometimes we have a talent so rare and beautiful that when we know it’s good, it’s hard to see the flaws. I also believe that when people care about us and pay attention they can see when we are not being true to ourselves. Jo never needed nor wanted a romantic marriage. I think she needed something honest and helpful. Since she didn’t want to be alone I think being with Bear was an option that offered her a companionship that wouldn’t result in Juvenile behavior. It was simply more her speed. I believe Allotcott chose a suitor who wouldn’t take away Or add to Jo’s gifts or personality. He would simply support her. I think there is something to be admired in all of the relationships including Alcott’s relationship with the world. It tells you a lot about the time in which she was living but it also tells the reader how important and different relationships can be. Love is not always a fairytale nor is it always a person! Love has many faces and many dances! I think her work reflects this beautifully and to criticize is to only criticize the many different flows of life.
I related so much to the scene where Joe said: "I just want to be loved". I was once loved truly, But I wasn't in love. It is an Isolating feeling but when you are completely alone it seems like it's the only alternative. I found it powerful that Amy ended up with Laurie because It stopped Joe from being completely alone with a man she didn't LOVE. Friendship is very powerful, but Laurie wanted more, It would lead to both of their hearts being broken. However, In my imagination I really wanted Amy to marry someone who showed her the emotions Laurie showed Joe, So that for once in her life she feels like the First choice.
When Jo writes her love letter to Laurie she says “My dear teddy, I miss you more than I can express. I used to think that the worst fate was to be a wife, I was young and stupid. But now I have changed. The worst fate is to live my life without you in it.” I think Jo finds it hard to express her feelings without going against her believes/ideas about what women should and shouldn’t be in the world. Like when Jo tells her sister Meg that she doesn’t need to get married to John and that she will get bored after 2 years. Later on Jo telling her mum that she is sick of women having their only purpose of to love. Jo realised that women are more than that. To all the people saying Jo felt ‘lonely’ and needed to fill a void that’s why she confesses to Laurie her love that was not the reason. When Jo left to go to New York she left her sisters behind. And when her sister Beth got sick she came back in a heart beat. Stopping everything that she was doing her dreams and ambition for her sister. When her sister Amy burned her papers Jo got angry at Amy and even said she will never ever forgive her and then when her sister nearly drowned she went back to talking to her in a heart beat realising that her sister was more important. Similarly as soon as she rejects Laurie she kept writing to him but he was the one that was not answering to her letters. Jo truly did care for him. She just didn’t have herself figured out yet. Jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time in the end she realises she can when she marries the professor. She realises this before however and wanted to tell Laurie by confessing to him through the letter but it was to late. Jo wanted it to be Laurie that she marries. Jo even admitted to her mum that when she gets angry her anger can blind her. Like when she rejected Laurie because of her anger blinding her to thinking women should be independent and never married, but she doesn’t realise women can be both. Jo is a strong willed character who refuses to back down but then she does on all of these occasions she does it for the people that she loves. She did that when she rejected Laurie. She was angry because she had dreams she wanted to pursue and marriage was not on her radar back then. However after loosing her sister for good this time she realises the mistake she made rejecting Laurie. She realises death is her worse enemy and it can come in the way of things even when she thinks she is in control. She steers the wheel of her life, she is independent, unmarried, in New York writing doing everything she ever wanted but death still has a way of ruining things. When she comes to this realisation she cannot bear to loose Laurie in the same way without telling him how she truly feels. Because Jo finally realises that the love she holds for him is greater than whatever it is she wanted to do as a single women.
I’m talking about the movie btw. The 2019 movie adaptation. Laurie fell in love with Amy’s beauty. Constantly calling her beautiful and admiring only that about her. That’s even what he notices about her when he speaks to her. You look beautiful, you are beautiful. Whereas with jo he has loved her ever since he met her. Watching her live out her passion for acting and supporting her by being part of her play. Watching her fall in love with writing and even him inviting her to the theatre to watch a play because he knows that’s what she lives for and loves. Laurie fell in love with jo for her soul and everything she is. So for the people saying that laurie would never have supported jo in the way the professor does in her passions that is so false. What Laurie and jo had was ethereal.
@@boudouroubou9790 I agree it was special and someone else here said the they were "Platonic soulmates" which is quite accurate in my opinion. However, in the movie you can just tell that Laurie is not as passionate about his work as Jo and when she meets the prof' she feels like she has something to learn. Yes, Laurie loved her deeply of course he would be supportive but Jo is competitive by nature and she needed someone to challenge her! She needed to feel feminine and ladylike where's with Laurie she felt like he would do anything she says and she felt like she had the power, there was no challenge. Love isn't just about supporting each other But it's about finding a partner that pushes you to be the best version of yourself.
In the movie I think she may have found it difficult maybe to admit to her mum that she is in love with him, perhaps because she was shy. Besides she never says she doesn’t love him she says “I care more to be loved.” She shows her love through her actions she doesn’t need to say the words. In other words she loves differently. She’s not one to be lovely dovey like her sisters she has a different love language. Hers isn’t like Meg or Amy’s, jo shows her love differently through acts of service. She didn’t want to be with Laurie because she was lonely she kept in contact with him even after rejecting his proposal it wasn’t at beths death that she realised she wanted to be with him because she was lonely. She has always wanted to be with him but just that she didn’t have herself figured out yet. He loved her to early she loved him to late. Besides Laurie does push her to be her best self. In different ways. He doesn’t need to critic/challenge her to push her to be the best possible version of herself. Sometimes all it takes is just support being there for the person. Being part of their dreams and ambitions and passions. He did that, he did all of that. Jo yearned for Laurie before her sister Beth dies. In the movie when she comes back from New York she tells her sister that she kept writing to him but he won’t answer to her letters. And her sister asks her do you miss him. And jo says “i miss everything” she misses the love he showed her and what they had. It wasn’t loneliness that prompted her to want to be with Laurie because she says all of this before her sister dies. she loved him way before she even realised.
I feel that when Amy says to laurie that”[she] believes she has power over who she loves” she is saying to laurie that love is something she can develop through time not that she still has feelings for laurie.
this is absolutely perfect, so spot on!! Every time someone keeps on insisting that Jo and Laurie should have ended together I'll just send them this video and won't be bothered
wow... i was definitely one of those people that HATED that amy and laurie ended up together (i think lowks just cuz i love timmy and saoirse together lol) :”)) after watching your video i definitely agree with the fact that amy and laurie were right to end up together, but yes, jo and laurie are definitely platonic soulmates
I remember watching the movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I have never read Little Women nor have I seen another adaptation. I went into it blindly, just wanting something to watch. Naturally, I fell in love with the story, BUT the moment Amy cried out to Laurie in Paris in the beginning, jumping off the carriage, running in her dazzling puffy dress to engulf him in a bear hug, I immediately said "Oh! I hope they end up together!!" And while Jo and Laurie's relationship is very heart warming romantically they could NEVER work, and so I was very excited by the ending with Laurie and Amy getting married.
Anyone who thinks Jo and Laurie shot have been together has provided seen too many bad romcoms where a guy obsesses over and finally wears down an unwilling woman into accepting him. In what world is ir either healthy or romantic for somepne to propose by saying "I'll changs everything about myself so yoz would want me, now you must accelr me!' or for the other person to eventually go "I should marry my childhood friend because I'm really lonely and I don't want to lose him as frirnd/faux-brother, even though I'm not in love with him and never wanted to marey him in general and him specifically"? How does "I'm not in love with him, but I'm lonely and want to be loved" a good reason to marry someone?
I think overall I like the original better but the actress who plays any did an amazing job. Also Meryl streep was a great addition along w timothee. The music and cinematography were also top notch
I think Amy and Laurie makes sense but, I'm of the opinion that in the movie, Jo doesn't actually end up with Friedrich. There are scenes with her watching her book being made at the end and there, her expression is of love. I think that near the end of the movie, there's a shift where we see the ending Jo has written in order to be published, and then her true ending--where she is alone, but has found love in her own writing. That's how I interpreted it.
Kira Miryam Yes! I think she did a brilliant job of walking that line! I saw in interviews that she wanted to be faithful to the real events and the book events so it was great way to tie them both together. Masterful directing and writing on her part. Should have had the Oscar nom -.-
I’ve never read the book, and this genre of entertainment doesn’t really grasp my attention. Yet I still loved the movie. On a completely different note Timothée Chalamet did fantastic and I’ve never loved anyone more.
I love this video so much! I've always had trouble explaining why I felt that Amy and Laurie were the perfect ending, and you've just put my thoughts into words.
the only reason jo and laurie didn't work is because jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time and when she realized she was wrong it was too late...HE LOVED HER TOO EARLY AND SHE LOVED HIM TOO LATE
Such a beautiful explanation. I hadn’t seen Amy and Laurie as making any sense!but your perspective has started to make me look at it from a different angle. Thank you for that.
As much as I loved Laurie. I don't think he deserved to be with Joe or Amy. From my perspective, Amy just feels like a second-choice or left-overs for Laurie. He was rejected, and she was there.
Amy and Laurie make sense because they've always been the kind of people who knew what they wanted and always went after it, regardless of proving some point. They were passionate but level-headed, and both grew up into their own person and matured to want the same things in the same way. Very unlike Jo who, while meaning well, didn't really care for the same things Laurie did. She entertained the thought of romantically loving him because he loved her, but other than that, there was nothing there.
Having a boy best friend for 12 years I can assure sometimes you both are soulmates but not necessarily romantic, we had so many people even saying to our back "they are dating" "they are hucking up" or "tana i saw luca with some girl" like ¿? All this after we made clear we weren't dating, Even if we absolutely love each other we don't have sexual tension, we don't find each other attractive like that, it's just, not us, so I can tell why Jo rejected him and why they didn't end up together, they just weren't the love of each other life's amy is, that's it. (Sorry for my english)
I’m so glad you acknowledged that little women is not a love story. I feel like people skim over that. I disagree with end so much because I don’t feel like Jo should have ever fell in love, she spend the entire movie breaking the traditional role that a female of her time was expected to play. To me it felt liked her falling in love was just her giving in.
To be fair, it's because until the ending, Louisa had written the story for Jo not to marry a man but the publishers forced her to change it. Had the author had her way Jo would have either been alone or with a woman.
I first read the book when I was in elementary school. It was the first book that didn't have a completely happy ending, with beth dying and the main dude from the beginning did not end up with the main girl and it made me so upset, but as I grew older I totally started to understand how the different ending is consistent with the characters and what alcott was saying all in all. I really love how at the end you said the story is more about Jo finding her self and her relationships with her sisters rather than about who they fell in love with!
At the beginning i so wanted Jo to be with Laurie as they seemed perfect for another and it was so sweet to see how he accepted her for being so boisterous. But the more i think to it He needed to mature to marry and Jo needed to truly be set for it maybe yes they could've married when she decided she did want to marry but Amy matured him and Amy deserved him and he deserved Amy as Amy loved him for so long and in a matter of weeks he was head over heels for her and forgot about Jo and like he said "this love feels different" Jo and the Professor made me cry when I saw how she ran after him he is mature for her and still accepts her boisterous behaviour as a 1860 women he let her open a boys and girls school and continue this book about how Women shouldnt be seen as to live for love and that they have so many more chances in life it was truly uplifting. Would Laurie also let Jo do that? yes but was would he have to mature enough to be able to do that? yes Laurie became the person everybody wanted him to be because of Amy and he really does love Amy and Jo loves the proffessor.
I do not like Amy and Laurie together and it has very little to do with Jo. Also to all those saying Amy and Laurie were meant for each other I’ve actually read that Louisa paired them together as a sort of punishment to her readers at the time who wanted Jo and Laurie to be married. My main issue is with Laurie, he was absolutely determined to be part of the March family which is fine but it starts to seem a bit obsessive. Also in the movie the words were changed a bit when he tells Jo he loves her in a different way, in the book he tells her she and Amy have simply switched places in his heart and I feel like that changes the entire meaning.
Also thought I’d add this from chapter 41: “he smiled, and glanced up at the picture of Mozart that was before him... "Well, he was a great man, and when he couldn't have one sister he took the other, and was happy." Laurie did not utter the words, but he thought them, and the next instant kissed the little old ring, saying to himself, "No, I won't! I haven't forgotten, I never can. I'll try again, and if that fails, why then...” Excerpt From Little Women Louisa May Alcott Why couldn’t he find anyone else in all those years? He HAD to marry her sister?? Idk just thought this was kind of weird. (Don’t get me wrong though I love Laurie and Little Women is actually my favorite book lol) just thought this might be relevant to the topic.
I read the book before seeing the movie. I knew that they ended up together (thank you, FRIENDS) but I saw the slower journey of their love and so I saw how he and Amy wound up together. I was worried that people who saw the movie without the book wouldn't be onboard with Laurie and Amy, but I'm glad that Gerwig was able to include essential moments that kept true to the story. I love the book and this movie.
Honestly I don't see how anybody could read Good Wives and come off it shipping Jo and Laurie. Amy and Laurie's Europe storyline was so well written and full of emotion and wholesome/poignant moments. for example, amy gives laurie little white roses from a garden and later we find he has carefully and tenderly saved them, along with her letters. In literally every scene he falls a little more in love with her. Jo and Laurie have the appeal of a teenage rom-com but amy and laurie are going to actually be that old married couple I love to see.
I like the couples that came out of the story. I think Jo was right in saying she and Laurie would make each other miserable. They both had a childish streak to them that they brought out in each other. They would always be a young boy and girl together throwing tantrums. Where are Laurie and Amy were much more a man and woman with similar ideals about love and life. There’s a childhood charm to their relationship that’s fun and lighthearted as opposed to jo and Laurie a intense childish feel. The childhood friendship between them breaks the otherwise very formal and economic relationships that their expectation in life would have given them. Amy and Laurie just fit into each other’s already existing lives so perfectly. The man Jo ends up with whose name I can’t remember is also so much more suited to Jo. His lifestyle is more free and fun and away from the societal norms that Jo hates. So they too fit into each other’s already existing lives so well. Also Jo is a bit over imaginative and excitable so it makes sense that as a woman she ends up with a very grounded realistic man who can bring her back down to earth but without crushing her dreams. Though so does have a good go at accusing him of it. Everyone gets exactly what they want and need.
First video I've watched of yours and subscribed at once !! Your explanation as well as articulation is very good and well done. I agree completely, just that, i found it a teeny bit weird for Laurie to marry the little sister of the woman he thought he was in love with (i don't say loved cause i feel he confused being comfortable with a person with romance, which though complementary, are different, especially in this case). He had much more sensual chemistry with Amy. To her, he was a man. To Jo, he was a boy, a brother even. Anyway, great work🙏❤️
Meg - Doesn't find anything wrong with the society. Later on realizes there are some things she wishes she realized back then that are wrong. After a moment of reflection, she thinks about all that she has and feels grateful for them. Jo - Finds everything wrong with the society and wishes to changes it. But grows up to realize that it's a lonely fight and that it's difficult to bring any effective change as an individual. After a brief pause, she goes back to fight again, owning her situation. Beth - Doesn't ponder if things are right or wrong and she strives to live a life of altruism and peace. (Unfortunately, she dies an untimely death, which actually is caused by an act of altruism when she reaches out to a poor family who apparently have been down with a severe illness) Amy - Doesn't care if things are right or wrong and just does what she wants to. But she has a lot of vanity and entitlement. She is soon humbled when she goes out to the society. She realizes that life isn't as easy as she thought and finds a lot of things unfair with the society, which just cannot be changed. So she chooses to live her best life with what she's given. The reason why Jo and Amy seem to quarrel a lot is because Jo strives to act fairly while Amy tends to do whatever she wants to even if it isn't fair. This would really provoke Jo who would scold Amy, but at somehow Amy would win the fight with her charm. So Jo always felt that life favored Amy more than herself. But, then, as both grow up, Jo realizes that a fair life is a lonely one and fighting for justice all alone can be extremely saddening. Amy too realizes how entitled and delusional she has been all these days when she goes out to the society and understands her own place amongst other talented people. Eventually, both Jo and Amy reach a middle common ground and find each other relatable. I also felt that this story is basically about a rich orphan who has a hard time trusting people and their intentions, but soon befriends his neighbors - a warm, trustworthy but poor family and wants to make this family his own. His relationship with each member of the family is covered in the entire story.
Thank you so much for this video and analysis! It honestly really changed my perspective after not being fully satisfied with who each character ended up with. But the points you made proved me wrong and offered more insight! Thanks again.
I never had a problem with Jo and Laurie not being together because all they had was a beautiful friendship the thing is why did he have to end up with Amy her sister
This was an utterly beautiful video essay. Masterfully written, succinct and to the point and yet, it considered so many views that I had never even thought to explore in relation to this theme and this movie. Honestly, I commend you on this truly inspiring piece of analytical literature. I learnt a lot from the way you put this together. Well done.
When Jo writes her love letter to Laurie she says “My dear teddy, I miss you more than I can express. I used to think that the worst fate was to be a wife, I was young and stupid. But now I have changed. The worst fate is to live my life without you in it.” I think Jo finds it hard to express her feelings without going against her believes/ideas about what women should and shouldn’t be in the world. Like when Jo tells her sister Meg that she doesn’t need to get married to John and that she will get bored after 2 years. Later on Jo telling her mum that she is sick of women having their only purpose of to love. Jo realised that women are more than that. To all the people saying Jo felt ‘lonely’ and needed to fill a void that’s why she confesses to Laurie her love that was not the reason. When Jo left to go to New York she left her sisters behind. And when her sister Beth got sick she came back in a heart beat. Stopping everything that she was doing her dreams and ambition for her sister. When her sister Amy burned her papers Jo got angry at Amy and even said she will never ever forgive her and then when her sister nearly drowned she went back to talking to her in a heart beat realising that her sister was more important. Similarly as soon as she rejects Laurie she kept writing to him but he was the one that was not answering to her letters. Jo truly did care for him. She just didn’t have herself figured out yet. Jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time in the end she realises she can when she marries the professor. She realises this before however and wanted to tell Laurie by confessing to him through the letter but it was to late. Jo wanted it to be Laurie that she marries. Jo even admitted to her mum that when she gets angry her anger can blind her. Like when she rejected Laurie because of her anger blinding her to thinking women should be independent and never married, but she doesn’t realise women can be both. Jo is a strong willed character who refuses to back down but then she does on all of these occasions she does it for the people that she loves. She did that when she rejected Laurie. She was angry because she had dreams she wanted to pursue and marriage was not on her radar back then. However after loosing her sister for good this time she realises the mistake she made rejecting Laurie. She realises death is her worse enemy and it can come in the way of things even when she thinks she is in control. She steers the wheel of her life, she is independent, unmarried, in New York writing doing everything she ever wanted but death still has a way of ruining things. When she comes to this realisation she cannot bear to loose Laurie in the same way without telling him how she truly feels. Because Jo finally realises that the love she holds for him is greater than whatever it is she wanted to do as a single women.
I’m talking about the movie btw. The 2019 movie adaptation. Laurie fell in love with Amy’s beauty. Constantly calling her beautiful and admiring only that about her. That’s even what he notices about her when he speaks to her. You look beautiful, you are beautiful. Whereas with jo he has loved her ever since he met her. Watching her live out her passion for acting and supporting her by being part of her play. Watching her fall in love with writing and even him inviting her to the theatre to watch a play because he knows that’s what she lives for and loves. Laurie fell in love with jo for her soul and everything she is. So for the people saying that laurie would never have supported jo in the way the professor does in her passions that is so false. What Laurie and jo had was ethereal.
For some reason I always felt that Laurie and Amy are a much better match than Jo and Laurie, they truly would destroy each other and i felt like Jo only wanted to go back to Laurie because she was scared of being alone. Amy always loved Laurie and in the scenes we see of them you can tell that the love is there. Jo would be better with the professer because he can see her talent and potential but isn't afraid to be cynical about her work and because Jo is so tough and independant she needs someone like her instead of someone who will always be soft towards her
i didn’t necessarily want Jo and Laurie to end up together, i just felt so sad for Jo when she realises that maybe she should have said yes to Laurie’s proposal but he consequently shows up with Amy. but i think everyone should understand that Jo values her independence as a woman, as she said she doesn’t want love to be “the only thing a woman is fit for”, and by marrying Laurie she would be restricting herself and live as an extension of Laurie. i think viewers find her rejection fo Laurie, however, infuriating, because she ended up marrying anyway.
I want to thank you for your insight into the dynamics between Jo and Laurie and Amy and Laurie. Yours is the second commentary I watched which prompted me to watch this adaptation which I thoroughly enjoyed because of its practicality and realism
My sister said that she thought this adaptation really showed the complexity of relationships. And I thought that was the most sophisticated summary of the movie I've heard thus far. The only thing I can say that I think might give you food for thought is that Louise Alcott self identified with Joe. She also never married, and possibly would have been a lesbian had she been born in a different time. I think I heard she had wanted to give Joe that angle, but of course no one at the time would let her. Which is where the part in this movie comes from of Joe not wanting to marry her character off to a man. I believe it was supposed to parallel what Louise wanted for Joe and for herself.
I didn't watch the film yet but I watched a ton of clips and I actually loved their pairing and I also read that in the books he really fell in love with her so I don't get why ppl don't like their pairing xD
Technically in the 2019 version, Joe didn't actually 'get together' with the professor, but rather it was just the ending of her book, not her actual life, with Gretta Gerwig wanting to stay more true to Louisa May Alcoott's own life. (As the book was loosly based on her own coming of age).
They portrayed the Amy and Laurie love story beautifully in this adaptation. I remembered how pleasantly surprised I was when Amy gets mad at Laurie and confesses she's been in love with him for years. Such a great insight I never considered that really helps you to root for them to get together.
When i read the book i was so mad jo was not with Laurie but when i saw the movie everything pretty much made sense now that i think about it i can't even imagine Laurie with jo lmao
You should review JoJo Rabbit. I found it to be a vary insightful movie. It was a mix between satire and melodrama. Truthfully it is one of those rare movies that is in a category all on it's own.
It's hard to criticize this video because it's so lovingly made, and really, your insight that it isn't a love story is the central insight. This is one of the best films ever made. It will affect the lives of viewers for many years. I suppose it's a paradigm of liberation.
They play off of each other beautifully in the way that they love. They are both hopeless romantics. And I love how the 2019 movie did it unlike the version that shows primarily a relationship between a 12/16 year old or so and instead shows a love story between adults that references when they met.
Amy and Laurie don't need a defense, because they were meant for each other. I am a strong believer of this. He loved Jo, but it wouldn't have worked out and she knew that. She tried to feel for him but she couldn't. Then Laurie fell in love with Amy. She and Jo switched places in his heart. Also I feel like if we had had enough time to see their relationship in Europe, it might be more clear that they were in love. Neither of them were settling, and Laurie would have never married Amy if he was still in love with Jo.
Please leave comments telling me why I’m wrong! I did think it was weird that Laurie decided to go after Jo’s little sister after being rejected by her. I definitely overlooked it because Timothée Chalamet played Laurie. Laurie wanted to be a March so bad.
Im not gonna tell you wrong but i wanna recommend something to read while it rains ryuuma no gagou and it truly embodies the term you die twice once when you body dies and the other when everybody who knows you forgets your name
I agree with Amy and Laurie being a better romantic match than Jo and Laurie, however the way they went about it was completely wrong and the timing was horrible and Laurie jumping from one sister to the other is nastyyyyy
Maybe given the context it wasn’t uncommon . She other than jo was the most suitable and he had spent many years knowing her and he knew the family.
You are not wrong. But it is clear that you have only seen Gerwigs version. She makes it clear that these are the right matches by showing Amy and Laurie first. This is not clear in any other version.
Please make a video on after the rain!!! Please please
Can I just say how much I love Florence's performance in this film? Amy is so distinctly different in Paris, she's grown up and that transition is do so masterfully.
It's clever how we see Amy in a new light because the movie deliberately makes an effort to force us to do so. By first meeting an adult, we see someone whose petulance has given away to even-tempered stoicism, whose pettiness has sharpened into ambition, and whose childhood stubbornness has become the sort of steeliness that one admires.
Allowing us to see the type of woman that Amy becomes and, more importantly, spending time with that woman allows us to more easily see her faults for what they were - childhood flaws and foibles that one grows out of - and forgive her for them.
It gives Amy the sort of treatment she probably should’ve had the whole time - the same treatment the narrative and all its adaptations have afforded to Jo.
@@elamplough1 this is so well written ! literally exactly my thoughts but you've said it so well :)
jo wants to run back to laurie towards the end of the movie because he's familiar, even if she doesn't realize it. laurie represents childhood and all the good memories jo holds with him and her sisters. jo even admits it: she's lonely! beth has just died, and how could we blame her for longing for the past, longing for simpler and joyful times when she didn't have to worry about making money, feeling lonely, or beth's sickness? i'll admit, the first time i watched this movie, i was upset that they didn't end up together, but after i digested it and watched it another time, it is so clear that they would have crashed and burned as a couple. they would have held each other back.
amy & laurie and jo & friedrich supremacy luv xo
Amy is so misunderstood as a character. She has such a good character development and arc- she is always been my favourite of all the sisters. And the romance with Laurie...I love it!! I found it very convincing- to be honest they were perfect for each other.
I too love their romance! Couldn’t explain why, but it just was nice to me
Can u help explain I pissed my girlfriend off this morning because I’m not understanding her character and honestly dislike her as a character. We watch the movie it’s one of her favorites. It was my first time viewing it. I definitely enjoyed it nine out of 10 style but I do dislike Amy.
if im honest with myself i perfectly know that i only wanted jo and laurie to end up toghether because im jo, im lonely and i want to be loved. i understand her point of view perfectly, but i rationally know that laurie and amy are a great couple, and jo didint know how to love him properly
Jo loves Laurie differently is the right word not "not properly"
@@o.b.c.6377 she wouldn't love him properly in the romantic sense
Idk why but this comment made me smile, figured I'd let you know :)
@@shannonreynolds3719 aww🥺
This- yes.
The thing is I feel like in the book it makes sense. Yes, she did reject him, but in the book, she is constantly saying how she feels and saying she thinks Laurie should be with Beth or with Meg. She realizes early on in the book that she doesn't want to be with Laurie and that she loves him as a friends. Also, in the ending of the film in the part when Laurie is saying how she loves Amy in a way he could never love Jo, Jo completely agrees with him. I think the book represents Jo's feelings a lot better and makes the decision to have Amy and Laurie end up together make so much sense.
I was a kid when i read the book (or a version of it) and always rooted for Laurie. It felt like he "lost" when he didn't end up with Jo, and that bothered me as a kid 😂 looking back with what I know now, it makes better sense he ended up with Amy. No one lost.
Edit: typos.
Yea the book probably fleshed it out much better than the movie
I think the writers are Jo+Laurie shippers bc the book is very clear in the part that Jo doesn’t love him and that she’s just lonely and wants to be loved when she writes the letter. It’s very clear she doesn’t love him, while the movie makes her seem in love with him, or at least more so. And I don’t believe she really was supposed to love Fredrick, but the sexist editors and publishers and the societal standards caused them to make the author have her get married
Yeah, I think the book shows Jo's feelings better. To be honest, I totally shipped Jo and Laurie in the first book, but in the second part, you can perfectly understand why she doesn't love Laurie that way. Also, I don't know why in the movie they made it seem as if she regrets rejecting Laurie and she going with Fritz like a consolation prize when it wasn't like that in the book at all. Anyway, for me, it would have been a more satisfying ending if she had stayed single but Alcott was forced to marry Jo.
@@marybr5154 i agree her going w fritz like a cheap consolation was kinda lame
Shipped Amy and Laurie, when I read the book and when I watched the movie. Jo and Laurie didn't make sense, they are more fitted to be best friends than a couple. For starters, Jo never wanted to get married to Laurie or anyone else. She only got married, because Louisa Alcott was forced to change the ending. However, Amy and Laurie made a lot of sense. Amy made Laurie grow up. She made him a man. She was the only one who had the guts to tell him to stop fooling around. Laurie loves her for that. And, in the book you could see that they got along as a couple as they did when they were just friends. I don't think Jo and Laurie would have gotten along if they got married. Considering that Jo doesn't want to get married and that she doesn't bring the man out of Laurie. Some people may call Amy and Laurie's relationship unrealistic, but I think that it is real and it make sense.
rainbow barf yes!!! i always see people saying laurie was jo’s but like... she didn’t even want him until she was lonely
And she also said it herself if they got married they’d drive each other crazy and in the end they’d resent each other. I don’t think a marriage that she didn’t even want in the first place is worth losing such a beautiful connection.
@@ymirsgf4646 true!! laurie was never jo's. i mean, she never loved in the way that laurie wanted her to love him. and, they never made sense to me ever.
@@karisdietrich1964 yeah!! i mean, some people may get along as best friends, but once they include marriage and all that stuff into the equation, it messes things up. jo was never the person who was 'domesticated', and that would have messed up their relationship a whole lot.
When reading the book, I shipped Laurie and jo. Jo’s ending was rushed and I didn’t like her with the professor. In the movie, I love Amy and Laurie AND jo and freidrich.
if you think laurie should’ve ended up with jo, you didn’t understand the core message of the movie.
I did not see him with anyone in this family. Never liked him.
What would the core message of the movie be? Genuinely asking
@@jazzstew3108 that you can have your own future that you genuinely want for yourself; to be confident and strong enough to live by your own beliefs. she told us from the beginning that she does not want to marry anybody, that she doesnt see herself getting married. she has this burning passion and she really wants her dream to become a writer happen. yes, she had thought about going back to laurie but these are the times where she felt lonely and has this void. it made her feel even emptier when she stopped writing. she wrote that letter to him not that she loves him in a romantic way, but to fill her emptiness.
I know I am replying many months later but I personally believe its not up to you to say whether he understood the core message or not. Movies are all about personal interpretation and I share the same opinion as him but someone else might not and that doesn't make any of us right or wrong.
No its bc the movie set it up for them to be together and flopped building up amy and laurie
High school me was devastated that Jo and Laurie didn't end up together. I believed that their sameness is why they were soulmates. When in reality that thought process was just because I was naive and lacked romantic history. As an adult, I understand why Laurie ended up with Amy. Jo and Laurie's sameness would cause them to burn each other up. Their romantic relationship wouldn't help either of them grow into better versions of themselves like good romantic relationships should. Jo encouraged Laurie's childish and selfish behavior, while Amy pushed him into becoming a more mature version of himself. Laurie needs Amy's pragmatism. Amy also enjoys Laurie's way of life. A way of life that Jo would have resented and wilted under.
I agree that they might have burned each other up, but Jo was always correcting Laurie. She was constantly telling him not to play billiards, that the joke that he played on John and Meg was nasty, that he should be grateful for his opportunity to go to college. Amy just fit in better with his world because she likes high society, as you said.
@@dynesteefields4396 correcting people and effectively pushing them into better versions of themselves is not quite the same thing. Amy's temperament could manage it with Laurie, Jo's could not
Jo's conversation with Marmee was really similar to my conversation with my mom about love. I said I wanted to find someone who loves me more than I do but my mom said I was wrong. When my mom was young, she was going through the Vietnam War, so in a sense marriage is an economic proposition for her. But the way my mom spun it, she believes love is about sacrifice and compromise, which means you have to accept each other's flaws and support them with either your economic wealth or your emotional support. I guess that's what "to be there in sickness and in health" means.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm Amy!"
i honestly find their relationship very sweet. i’ve known of people who ended up dating/ marrying their older siblings best friend after they had a crush on them when they were younger. tbh i don’t even think laurie and jo were really actually in love, i think they were just close and thought that they should be
You have the most amazing voice ever, it just makes me feel so calm
And with the rain sound in the background.... so calming.
MissMiia LOL exactly I was thinking
The reason why every woman in Little Women ended up with someone was because Louisa Alcott was pressured by her publishers to have all her female characters married by the end. Which is why Jo’s storyline focused a lot on sexist publishers telling her how she has to write with the intention of encouraging women to get married. So even with critics stating Laurie and Amy’s relationship makes no sense or has no thematic relevance. Keep in mind the times and how the author herself probably wasn’t too happy about it either. Considering being a “sPiNsTeR” was treated like a swear and deemed a crutch on society for women to refuse marriage and children. You can criticize it but honestly it’s pointless to do so, disregards the context, and invalidates the importance of her work. She encouraged a whole generation of Women to live there lives for themselves. We would probably be set back decades if it weren’t for her trailblazing. Show some respect.
Making Women more independent
Facts
How does critique invalidate the significance of a work? Nothing is perfect and trying to put something on a pedestal just because it was ahead of its time is dumb. Hell trying to put anything on a pedestal is dumb.
Corksucker Fair enough, I grasp her novel isn’t perfect but criticizing aspects of it that were out of the authors control isn’t right to me. Criticism isn’t wrong in fact people offering different perspective’s on fiction should be welcomed. We shouldn’t ignore when certain good pieces of work have problematic elements, no more or less than should we ignore objectivity with fiction that helped in positive social change. This is coming from someone whose an aspiring author and a feminist.
Corksucker Bottom line, one can think Amy and Laurie not being romantically involved would have been objectively better for the story. However keep in mind it was out of Louisa’s control and said uncontrollable minor flaws shouldn’t be ammunition to diminish her work.
I think what some people miss is how selfish Jo is in regards to Laurie and how possessive. I love Jo's character and also because it is flawed. She wants Laurie to love her and not to return that love and for that to be enough for him. Yes I know what it is like to be lonely but to push your loneliness on someone else is not a good thing. Also Laurie being unavailable is what frees Jo from the idea and sets her off to pursue her career instead of giving in to her selfish desires after Beth's death. I know exactly what it's like to be in Jo's position. And Laurie did the best thing for her in moving on.
In the script, after Jo and the Professor first meet, he says "No one gets ink stains like yours just out of a desire of money."
It reads 'Jo feels the intense pain and pleasure of being seen by someone, of knowing that they know you.'
I agree too! Amy and Laurie are meant for each other. Like Laurie said in the movie, the love he felt for Jo is different. For him, Jo was a crush, but once he fell in love he realized that his love for Jo wasn't romantic, while his love for Amy is!
Jo does not own Laurie!!! They don’t need to be together!!! Let Amy and Laurie be together!
This is such a HUGE thing that a lot of Jo stans dont seems to understand. Jo does not have a monopoly on Jo. Amy didnt STEAL Laurie from Jo when Jo stated multiple times she didnt love Laurie (until she got desperate and lonely) and Laurie grew up and out of the boyhood crush he had on Jo. Amy just happened to be the sister of his first crush. That is IT. Amy and Laurie are a romantic couple and partners in life while Jo and Laurie are platonic soulmates. These are FACTS that Jo stans just dont want to admit.
Jenna Wallace and even if you don’t like the Amy and Laurie pairing, that doesn’t mean that Amy stole Laurie, he’s a person (character) capable of making his own decisions.
It's not that Jo owns Laurie, it's just that the first book specifically builds their relationship. Jo introduces Laurie to the March family. Jo is best friends with Laurie. Meanwhile, Amy comes off as shallow in the first book. By the time that it's over, it's almost inconceivable that suddenly it would by Amy and Laurie. The writing was extremely in depth for the first pairing.
@@dynesteefields4396 if i am not wrong, Louisa May Alcott, based the book on herself and her sisters and she wrote herself as Jo. it's from her point of view and majorly set in their childhoods where admittedly she was friends wih Laurie first and introduced him to her family and they hung out together all the time. but time spent together doesn't equal love. Amy and Laurie, they fit better because they want similar things from life and better each other by being together.
when i first saw the movie in theaters, my opinion strictly was that jo and laurie should have been together. but the more and more i watched the movie and read the book, i realized, amy and lauries ending was perfect. it made so much more sense that they ended together than say jo and laurie. so i 100% agree with you.
When Jo writes her love letter to Laurie she says “My dear teddy, I miss you more than I can express. I used to think that the worst fate was to be a wife, I was young and stupid. But now I have changed. The worst fate is to live my life without you in it.” I think Jo finds it hard to express her feelings without going against her believes/ideas about what women should and shouldn’t be in the world. Like when Jo tells her sister Meg that she doesn’t need to get married to John and that she will get bored after 2 years. Later on Jo telling her mum that she is sick of women having their only purpose of to love. Jo realised that women are more than that. To all the people saying Jo felt ‘lonely’ and needed to fill a void that’s why she confesses to Laurie her love that was not the reason. When Jo left to go to New York she left her sisters behind. And when her sister Beth got sick she came back in a heart beat. Stopping everything that she was doing her dreams and ambition for her sister. When her sister Amy burned her papers Jo got angry at Amy and even said she will never ever forgive her and then when her sister nearly drowned she went back to talking to her in a heart beat realising that her sister was more important. Similarly as soon as she rejects Laurie she kept writing to him but he was the one that was not answering to her letters. Jo truly did care for him. She just didn’t have herself figured out yet. Jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time in the end she realises she can when she marries the professor. She realises this before however and wanted to tell Laurie by confessing to him through the letter but it was to late. Jo wanted it to be Laurie that she marries. Jo even admitted to her mum that when she gets angry her anger can blind her. Like when she rejected Laurie because of her anger blinding her to thinking women should be independent and never married, but she doesn’t realise women can be both. Jo is a strong willed character who refuses to back down but then she does on all of these occasions she does it for the people that she loves. She did that when she rejected Laurie. She was angry because she had dreams she wanted to pursue and marriage was not on her radar back then. However after loosing her sister for good this time she realises the mistake she made rejecting Laurie. She realises death is her worse enemy and it can come in the way of things even when she thinks she is in control. She steers the wheel of her life, she is independent, unmarried, in New York writing doing everything she ever wanted but death still has a way of ruining things. When she comes to this realisation she cannot bear to loose Laurie in the same way without telling him how she truly feels. Because Jo finally realises that the love she holds for him is greater than whatever it is she wanted to do as a single women.
Boudourou Bou boo we don’t need a full explanation of the movie we saw it. Just because jo was lonely does not mean she was in love with Laurie in that way. She was just lonely she expressed that many times and she missed her friend. She felt like she needed to except Lauries proposal because of society’s shame to unmarried women.
This video was what I needed to see. I am currently in the works for creating a video essay for my film theory class and the topic of "gaze" was discussed too. I was trying to find out what angle to take my video since I chose to compare 1954 vs 2019 versions of Little Women, and your discussion of "gaze"/"look" helped, thank you!
Good luck on your essay!
🙏🏻🌹🙏🏽
I finally got to this movie on my "to watch" list last night and spent the whole second half of the movie in tears. It was beautiful- and like you I went into this movie blind as I had not seen any other films or read the original novel. I loved what you pointed out about how love and good partners should be honest and push you to be better- this is so true. The scene where the professor reads Jo's work and comments on it was so powerful to me- as he said "has no one taken you seriously before?" because that is so true. To take someone seriously is to be honest with them and point out any flaws you may see in their work, not to just say "oh it's lovely!" and keep any criticism or comments to yourself xo
Monica AP absolutely, criticism it’s so important, and even more so from loved ones. I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did!!
@@SagesRain 🥰🥰
I like your analysis. I believe Laurie fell for Amy after the whole, "Marriage is an economic proposition" conversation. He was used to seeing the childish Amy but after that moment he saw her in a different light. He realised that it was not Jo whom he loved romantically but Amy. After all, if Laurie and Jo were to be married, they would prove to be incompatible to each other.
Also, I think Jo didn't get together with the professor at the end, she only wrote it that way because of the publisher. Jo never wanted to marry someone, all she wanted was to be with her family. I think the slight romantic looks given by Jo were added to the story on the demand of the publisher.
Jo and Laurie is the MOST unrealistic and irrational pair (if they were ever paired) I don't understand the literary dunces who ship them! Laurie and Amy on the other hand go as smooth as soft butter on crusted bread.. It just goes so well, you don't even need to doubt. Both compliment each other so well!
Just because you disagree with someone’s favorite pairing doesn’t mean you have the right to insult them, there’s no need to be rude
I again i was actually shocked to hear that people were upset that Jo didn't end up with Laurie. Jo was always honest with her thoughts of settle down and playing the wife role she wanted to write and spend her life with her sisters. While Laurie was always trying to avoid life. Like the narrator said Jo wasn't concern about Laurie's potential she liked him because he loved to break the rules like she did. I love Jo and Laurie's relationship, but i was happy the way the story ended especially knowing that the publisher pressured her into finding love in the end. It was refreshing especially because i couldn't understand why with a lot of tv couples especially i got annoyed with a lot of them after they got married the main reason was because of the unnecessarily drama made just to play with the audiences emotions some storylines were reasonable but the unnecessary affairs and love triangles.... I am SOOOO tired of love triangles!
I so am defiantly Jo know marriage is not for me. I'm not against people that go that route but for me that is something i rather die without. That doesn't mean i don't want to have relationships or fall in love, but having a legal contract with someone finically tell divorce or death is not for me especially because am going Jo's route and looking for my owe success not marry into success like Amy. No shade to her i love her character growth, but I'm a Jo and it's nice for us Jo's to get a story about get our dreams come true without a love interests overshadowing our success.
@@lstarsabb Its not all too shocking when you consider the time period that this came out. Things were very simple then. Girl meets boy. Girl has significant interactions with boy, girl marries boy. The readers of Alcott's time just could not fathom Jo having such an important and close friendship with a boy if she wasn't romantically connected to him. The only way readers could have understood was if another suitor was courting Jo, but at the time of Laurie's marriage proposal, Jo hadn't even met her actual love interest yet. Its like growing up your whole life being told Peanut butter had to ALWAYS be served with jelly, no question, and then after growing up this way and finally going to a restaurant only to be served a peanut butter sandwich with no jelly in sight. Its not that it CAN'T happen, its just that for you its NEVER happened.
I have never loved a comment section more than this one seeing how everyone has literal paragraphs about this book and movies and how everyone is just in love with Amy and Laurie which is so true. Jo and Laurie were something else but in a different way. Amy called each one of Laurie's bullshit even after being in love with him she didnt hesistate in pointing it out fearing that she might lose him. Now thats the kind of love a relationship needs. THIS WOMAN MADE HIM A MAN. #amyandlaurieforever
And also Flo's performance in this movie. HOLY SHIT. That scene where laurie confessed oml her acting there and in this movie is MARVELOUS. no wonder she got an oscar nomination. She is going to RULE the world here i predict future now
I really love the last part where you clarify the true importance of the story, and the warm parts of childhood versus the cold separation of adulthood, because it brings words to the reason why I love this story so much as someone who grew up with two sisters (albeit with not such a rosy childhood, but we were together all the same), and all still trying to figure out and pursue our ambitions in our 20s and 30s, separately and somewhat alone.
jo will forever be coded as a lesbian to me
she may be ace tho
She is. Louisa may alcott was said to be queer and she never married and jo was based on herself. Jo only gets together with the professor in the end bc the original publishers refused to end the story with Jo being a spinster with no love interest
How cool would it have been if LMA had only referred to The Professor as such or just as Bhaer, no pronouns and no first name, and Bhaer’s gender could have been left up to interpretation? The publisher would probably have just assumed Bhaer was a man (as would most of the readers of the time) and published it without a second thought, but it would never actually be canon. Dang, now I want an adaption where Bhaer is a woman, especially if she was portrayed as ultra feminine so that when she’s introduced as Bhaer, people are really thrown.🤷🏻♀️
@@theliteraryspinster when we get frieda bhaer >>>>
Or aromantic
6:30 "Jo and Laurie's relationship shows the power of platonic relationships and even their importance." My favorite line in your video. ❤
Honestly....I DON'T think you're wrong. Louisa May Alcott originally didn't want Jo, the her heroine in her novel, to marry AT ALL. But much as we see in the movie's ending, the publisher insisted that Jo marry because that's the way things were done. So she had Jo marry the good Professor Bhaer. Laurie and Jo are best friends.....and in a way, she DOES consider him to be the brother she never had. The love each other and she leans on him for support during her moments of greatest emotion (like when Beth fell sick and when Amy burned her manuscript) but she's not IN love with him. I DO agree with you.....when Laurie proposes to Jo, she turns him down, but then, when Beth dies, there is a hole in Jo's heart and she feels she needs to be loved, so she wants to marry Laurie, but just for the sake of having someone to love her. When Marmee asks her if she loves Laurie she even says "Its more important for me to BE loved" And in this new movie, I DO like how they expanded Amy and Laurie's relationship. Amy is different from Jo. Her dreams are different. Jo is a free spirit. She wants to be a writer and be independent. Amy wants to be rich and be the elegant and refined lady and marry into high society and pursue her dreams of being an artist. And Laurie supports those dreams. He is a bit lackadaisical when it comes to fulfilling his duty and what's expected of him (from both Amy and his grandfather) but in the end, he's willing to change to prove himself worthy of her. He's not afraid of her ideals and her ambitions. I think all the March sisters consider Laurie to be their affectionate older brother, but as they grew up, that relationship between Amy and Laurie changed into love. They make a good match.
Your assessment is pretty correct. In "Little Men", Amy continues to challenge Laurie, he works to make her proud of him, and he and Jo are best of friends. Jo can write without feeling guilty.
Jo and Laurie are more like Harry and Hermione. but Amy and Laurie were made for each other. she was the one who was able to control him and bring him to the right part. I don't understand why people hate on Amy. she is really the beest.
I loved Amy and Laurie together in the book as well as in the movie. I first read “Little Woman” when I was in my sophomore year of high school and I related a lot to Josephine March. We both liked writing and didn’t really focus on marriage. Like Jo I had a friend who I could be myself around. We thought of each other as protectors. We wanted the best for one another but we didn’t need nor want each other, if that makes sense. I think that’s why I understood Jo’s and Lauries relationship.
Amy and Laurie I also understood. I wanted to be able to love someone as she did. I wanted to be able to see some ones potential and help them reach it. I called her the supporter of dreams. I think her and Laurie needed the extra push that can only come froM a gentle push in the right direction. And the gentle push is so hard to get right, it literally takes the right people.
As to Jo and professor Bear, I understand why some would say it doesn’t make sense but for me, that was the only logical choice. Sometimes we have a talent so rare and beautiful that when we know it’s good, it’s hard to see the flaws. I also believe that when people care about us and pay attention they can see when we are not being true to ourselves. Jo never needed nor wanted a romantic marriage. I think she needed something honest and helpful. Since she didn’t want to be alone I think being with Bear was an option that offered her a companionship that wouldn’t result in Juvenile behavior. It was simply more her speed. I believe Allotcott chose a suitor who wouldn’t take away Or add to Jo’s gifts or personality. He would simply support her.
I think there is something to be admired in all of the relationships including Alcott’s relationship with the world. It tells you a lot about the time in which she was living but it also tells the reader how important and different relationships can be. Love is not always a fairytale nor is it always a person! Love has many faces and many dances! I think her work reflects this beautifully and to criticize is to only criticize the many different flows of life.
I related so much to the scene where Joe said: "I just want to be loved". I was once loved truly, But I wasn't in love. It is an Isolating feeling but when you are completely alone it seems like it's the only alternative. I found it powerful that Amy ended up with Laurie because It stopped Joe from being completely alone with a man she didn't LOVE. Friendship is very powerful, but Laurie wanted more, It would lead to both of their hearts being broken. However, In my imagination I really wanted Amy to marry someone who showed her the emotions Laurie showed Joe, So that for once in her life she feels like the First choice.
When Jo writes her love letter to Laurie she says “My dear teddy, I miss you more than I can express. I used to think that the worst fate was to be a wife, I was young and stupid. But now I have changed. The worst fate is to live my life without you in it.” I think Jo finds it hard to express her feelings without going against her believes/ideas about what women should and shouldn’t be in the world. Like when Jo tells her sister Meg that she doesn’t need to get married to John and that she will get bored after 2 years. Later on Jo telling her mum that she is sick of women having their only purpose of to love. Jo realised that women are more than that. To all the people saying Jo felt ‘lonely’ and needed to fill a void that’s why she confesses to Laurie her love that was not the reason. When Jo left to go to New York she left her sisters behind. And when her sister Beth got sick she came back in a heart beat. Stopping everything that she was doing her dreams and ambition for her sister. When her sister Amy burned her papers Jo got angry at Amy and even said she will never ever forgive her and then when her sister nearly drowned she went back to talking to her in a heart beat realising that her sister was more important. Similarly as soon as she rejects Laurie she kept writing to him but he was the one that was not answering to her letters. Jo truly did care for him. She just didn’t have herself figured out yet. Jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time in the end she realises she can when she marries the professor. She realises this before however and wanted to tell Laurie by confessing to him through the letter but it was to late. Jo wanted it to be Laurie that she marries. Jo even admitted to her mum that when she gets angry her anger can blind her. Like when she rejected Laurie because of her anger blinding her to thinking women should be independent and never married, but she doesn’t realise women can be both. Jo is a strong willed character who refuses to back down but then she does on all of these occasions she does it for the people that she loves. She did that when she rejected Laurie. She was angry because she had dreams she wanted to pursue and marriage was not on her radar back then. However after loosing her sister for good this time she realises the mistake she made rejecting Laurie. She realises death is her worse enemy and it can come in the way of things even when she thinks she is in control. She steers the wheel of her life, she is independent, unmarried, in New York writing doing everything she ever wanted but death still has a way of ruining things. When she comes to this realisation she cannot bear to loose Laurie in the same way without telling him how she truly feels. Because Jo finally realises that the love she holds for him is greater than whatever it is she wanted to do as a single women.
@@boudouroubou9790 I think it's up for interpretation, it's art.
I’m talking about the movie btw. The 2019 movie adaptation. Laurie fell in love with Amy’s beauty. Constantly calling her beautiful and admiring only that about her. That’s even what he notices about her when he speaks to her. You look beautiful, you are beautiful. Whereas with jo he has loved her ever since he met her. Watching her live out her passion for acting and supporting her by being part of her play. Watching her fall in love with writing and even him inviting her to the theatre to watch a play because he knows that’s what she lives for and loves. Laurie fell in love with jo for her soul and everything she is. So for the people saying that laurie would never have supported jo in the way the professor does in her passions that is so false. What Laurie and jo had was ethereal.
@@boudouroubou9790 I agree it was special and someone else here said the they were "Platonic soulmates" which is quite accurate in my opinion. However, in the movie you can just tell that Laurie is not as passionate about his work as Jo and when she meets the prof' she feels like she has something to learn. Yes, Laurie loved her deeply of course he would be supportive but Jo is competitive by nature and she needed someone to challenge her! She needed to feel feminine and ladylike where's with Laurie she felt like he would do anything she says and she felt like she had the power, there was no challenge. Love isn't just about supporting each other But it's about finding a partner that pushes you to be the best version of yourself.
In the movie I think she may have found it difficult maybe to admit to her mum that she is in love with him, perhaps because she was shy. Besides she never says she doesn’t love him she says “I care more to be loved.” She shows her love through her actions she doesn’t need to say the words. In other words she loves differently. She’s not one to be lovely dovey like her sisters she has a different love language. Hers isn’t like Meg or Amy’s, jo shows her love differently through acts of service. She didn’t want to be with Laurie because she was lonely she kept in contact with him even after rejecting his proposal it wasn’t at beths death that she realised she wanted to be with him because she was lonely. She has always wanted to be with him but just that she didn’t have herself figured out yet. He loved her to early she loved him to late. Besides Laurie does push her to be her best self. In different ways. He doesn’t need to critic/challenge her to push her to be the best possible version of herself. Sometimes all it takes is just support being there for the person. Being part of their dreams and ambitions and passions. He did that, he did all of that. Jo yearned for Laurie before her sister Beth dies. In the movie when she comes back from New York she tells her sister that she kept writing to him but he won’t answer to her letters. And her sister asks her do you miss him. And jo says “i miss everything” she misses the love he showed her and what they had. It wasn’t loneliness that prompted her to want to be with Laurie because she says all of this before her sister dies. she loved him way before she even realised.
I feel that when Amy says to laurie that”[she] believes she has power over who she loves” she is saying to laurie that love is something she can develop through time not that she still has feelings for laurie.
For me it was the Laurie misconstrued platonic love and desire to be in Jo’s family’s life with romantic love.
I wasn't aware that this needed to be defended, I would have hated it if Jo and Laurie had ended up together.
this is absolutely perfect, so spot on!! Every time someone keeps on insisting that Jo and Laurie should have ended together I'll just send them this video and won't be bothered
wow... i was definitely one of those people that HATED that amy and laurie ended up together (i think lowks just cuz i love timmy and saoirse together lol) :”)) after watching your video i definitely agree with the fact that amy and laurie were right to end up together, but yes, jo and laurie are definitely platonic soulmates
Thank you so much for talking about this film. I didn't expect to love and feel for the characters and their stories as much as I did.
Me: I'm not going to cry for Little Women anymore
Also me: *cries for a video essay about it*
I remember watching the movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I have never read Little Women nor have I seen another adaptation. I went into it blindly, just wanting something to watch. Naturally, I fell in love with the story, BUT the moment Amy cried out to Laurie in Paris in the beginning, jumping off the carriage, running in her dazzling puffy dress to engulf him in a bear hug, I immediately said "Oh! I hope they end up together!!" And while Jo and Laurie's relationship is very heart warming romantically they could NEVER work, and so I was very excited by the ending with Laurie and Amy getting married.
Nope, laurie and amy will forever be shipped for me. For ever.
You speak beautifully. I feel like crying after watching this and I don't really know why.
Your voice is so relaxing and has so much gravitas. I'd love to hear you narrate an audiobook.
Never seen this movie before but I love how your making this have more depth which peeks my curiosity about the nature of the main heroines
"even though it isn't romantic, their platonic love can still be powerful." this is a really well written video. fantastic job, you convinced me
You never disappoint, Sage. This makes me wanna rewatch it :') 💕
Anyone who thinks Jo and Laurie shot have been together has provided seen too many bad romcoms where a guy obsesses over and finally wears down an unwilling woman into accepting him. In what world is ir either healthy or romantic for somepne to propose by saying "I'll changs everything about myself so yoz would want me, now you must accelr me!' or for the other person to eventually go "I should marry my childhood friend because I'm really lonely and I don't want to lose him as frirnd/faux-brother, even though I'm not in love with him and never wanted to marey him in general and him specifically"?
How does "I'm not in love with him, but I'm lonely and want to be loved" a good reason to marry someone?
I think overall I like the original better but the actress who plays any did an amazing job. Also Meryl streep was a great addition along w timothee. The music and cinematography were also top notch
Hamza Hassaballa what’s the “original” little women supposed to be?
@@itsflowerside the version of the film from 1994 i think
I think Amy and Laurie makes sense but, I'm of the opinion that in the movie, Jo doesn't actually end up with Friedrich. There are scenes with her watching her book being made at the end and there, her expression is of love. I think that near the end of the movie, there's a shift where we see the ending Jo has written in order to be published, and then her true ending--where she is alone, but has found love in her own writing. That's how I interpreted it.
Patrick Cahoon this makes a lot of sense honestly
I think Greta wanted it to be up to the viewer to interpret. However, in the book, Jo does definitively end up with Friedrich.
Kira Miryam Yes! I think she did a brilliant job of walking that line! I saw in interviews that she wanted to be faithful to the real events and the book events so it was great way to tie them both together. Masterful directing and writing on her part. Should have had the Oscar nom -.-
I’ve never read the book, and this genre of entertainment doesn’t really grasp my attention. Yet I still loved the movie. On a completely different note Timothée Chalamet did fantastic and I’ve never loved anyone more.
I love this video so much! I've always had trouble explaining why I felt that Amy and Laurie were the perfect ending, and you've just put my thoughts into words.
the only reason jo and laurie didn't work is because jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time and when she realized she was wrong it was too late...HE LOVED HER TOO EARLY AND SHE LOVED HIM TOO LATE
Such a beautiful explanation. I hadn’t seen Amy and Laurie as making any sense!but your perspective has started to make me look at it from a different angle. Thank you for that.
THIS!! I’ve always shipped Amy and Laurie together. Jo and Laurie are best suited as bestfriends, nothing more.
As much as I loved Laurie. I don't think he deserved to be with Joe or Amy. From my perspective, Amy just feels like a second-choice or left-overs for Laurie. He was rejected, and she was there.
5:13 YESSS REPLAY!!! Amy and Laurie stans where u at?
Amy and Laurie make sense because they've always been the kind of people who knew what they wanted and always went after it, regardless of proving some point. They were passionate but level-headed, and both grew up into their own person and matured to want the same things in the same way. Very unlike Jo who, while meaning well, didn't really care for the same things Laurie did. She entertained the thought of romantically loving him because he loved her, but other than that, there was nothing there.
Having a boy best friend for 12 years I can assure sometimes you both are soulmates but not necessarily romantic, we had so many people even saying to our back "they are dating" "they are hucking up" or "tana i saw luca with some girl" like ¿? All this after we made clear we weren't dating, Even if we absolutely love each other we don't have sexual tension, we don't find each other attractive like that, it's just, not us, so I can tell why Jo rejected him and why they didn't end up together, they just weren't the love of each other life's amy is, that's it. (Sorry for my english)
this was so beautiful! and i love how you tied Jo & the professor back to marriage as an economic proposition.
I’m so glad you acknowledged that little women is not a love story. I feel like people skim over that. I disagree with end so much because I don’t feel like Jo should have ever fell in love, she spend the entire movie breaking the traditional role that a female of her time was expected to play. To me it felt liked her falling in love was just her giving in.
To be fair, it's because until the ending, Louisa had written the story for Jo not to marry a man but the publishers forced her to change it. Had the author had her way Jo would have either been alone or with a woman.
I first read the book when I was in elementary school. It was the first book that didn't have a completely happy ending, with beth dying and the main dude from the beginning did not end up with the main girl and it made me so upset, but as I grew older I totally started to understand how the different ending is consistent with the characters and what alcott was saying all in all. I really love how at the end you said the story is more about Jo finding her self and her relationships with her sisters rather than about who they fell in love with!
i think Jo brought out the Boy in Laurie but Amy brought out the Man in him
At the beginning i so wanted Jo to be with Laurie as they seemed perfect for another and it was so sweet to see how he accepted her for being so boisterous.
But the more i think to it He needed to mature to marry and Jo needed to truly be set for it maybe yes they could've married when she decided she did want to marry but Amy matured him and Amy deserved him and he deserved Amy as Amy loved him for so long and in a matter of weeks he was head over heels for her and forgot about Jo and like he said "this love feels different"
Jo and the Professor made me cry when I saw how she ran after him he is mature for her and still accepts her boisterous behaviour as a 1860 women he let her open a boys and girls school and continue this book about how Women shouldnt be seen as to live for love and that they have so many more chances in life it was truly uplifting. Would Laurie also let Jo do that? yes but was would he have to mature enough to be able to do that? yes Laurie became the person everybody wanted him to be because of Amy and he really does love Amy and Jo loves the proffessor.
I do not like Amy and Laurie together and it has very little to do with Jo. Also to all those saying Amy and Laurie were meant for each other I’ve actually read that Louisa paired them together as a sort of punishment to her readers at the time who wanted Jo and Laurie to be married. My main issue is with Laurie, he was absolutely determined to be part of the March family which is fine but it starts to seem a bit obsessive. Also in the movie the words were changed a bit when he tells Jo he loves her in a different way, in the book he tells her she and Amy have simply switched places in his heart and I feel like that changes the entire meaning.
Also thought I’d add this from chapter 41: “he smiled, and glanced up at the picture of Mozart that was before him...
"Well, he was a great man, and when he couldn't have one sister he took the other, and was happy."
Laurie did not utter the words, but he thought them, and the next instant kissed the little old ring, saying to himself, "No, I won't! I haven't forgotten, I never can. I'll try again, and if that fails, why then...”
Excerpt From
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
Why couldn’t he find anyone else in all those years? He HAD to marry her sister?? Idk just thought this was kind of weird. (Don’t get me wrong though I love Laurie and Little Women is actually my favorite book lol) just thought this might be relevant to the topic.
Beautiful insight. Nice to hear from a man!
I read the book before seeing the movie. I knew that they ended up together (thank you, FRIENDS) but I saw the slower journey of their love and so I saw how he and Amy wound up together. I was worried that people who saw the movie without the book wouldn't be onboard with Laurie and Amy, but I'm glad that Gerwig was able to include essential moments that kept true to the story. I love the book and this movie.
Well people saying that Amy and Laurie shouldn't end up together aren't saying that he should be with Jo . Even with this video I'm not convinced 💔
Honestly I don't see how anybody could read Good Wives and come off it shipping Jo and Laurie. Amy and Laurie's Europe storyline was so well written and full of emotion and wholesome/poignant moments. for example, amy gives laurie little white roses from a garden and later we find he has carefully and tenderly saved them, along with her letters. In literally every scene he falls a little more in love with her. Jo and Laurie have the appeal of a teenage rom-com but amy and laurie are going to actually be that old married couple I love to see.
I like the couples that came out of the story. I think Jo was right in saying she and Laurie would make each other miserable. They both had a childish streak to them that they brought out in each other. They would always be a young boy and girl together throwing tantrums.
Where are Laurie and Amy were much more a man and woman with similar ideals about love and life. There’s a childhood charm to their relationship that’s fun and lighthearted as opposed to jo and Laurie a intense childish feel. The childhood friendship between them breaks the otherwise very formal and economic relationships that their expectation in life would have given them. Amy and Laurie just fit into each other’s already existing lives so perfectly.
The man Jo ends up with whose name I can’t remember is also so much more suited to Jo. His lifestyle is more free and fun and away from the societal norms that Jo hates. So they too fit into each other’s already existing lives so well. Also Jo is a bit over imaginative and excitable so it makes sense that as a woman she ends up with a very grounded realistic man who can bring her back down to earth but without crushing her dreams. Though so does have a good go at accusing him of it.
Everyone gets exactly what they want and need.
i think i really fell for florence phugh in this movie. amy here feels real.
First video I've watched of yours and subscribed at once !! Your explanation as well as articulation is very good and well done. I agree completely, just that, i found it a teeny bit weird for Laurie to marry the little sister of the woman he thought he was in love with (i don't say loved cause i feel he confused being comfortable with a person with romance, which though complementary, are different, especially in this case). He had much more sensual chemistry with Amy. To her, he was a man. To Jo, he was a boy, a brother even. Anyway, great work🙏❤️
Meg - Doesn't find anything wrong with the society. Later on realizes there are some things she wishes she realized back then that are wrong. After a moment of reflection, she thinks about all that she has and feels grateful for them.
Jo - Finds everything wrong with the society and wishes to changes it. But grows up to realize that it's a lonely fight and that it's difficult to bring any effective change as an individual. After a brief pause, she goes back to fight again, owning her situation.
Beth - Doesn't ponder if things are right or wrong and she strives to live a life of altruism and peace. (Unfortunately, she dies an untimely death, which actually is caused by an act of altruism when she reaches out to a poor family who apparently have been down with a severe illness)
Amy - Doesn't care if things are right or wrong and just does what she wants to. But she has a lot of vanity and entitlement. She is soon humbled when she goes out to the society. She realizes that life isn't as easy as she thought and finds a lot of things unfair with the society, which just cannot be changed. So she chooses to live her best life with what she's given.
The reason why Jo and Amy seem to quarrel a lot is because Jo strives to act fairly while Amy tends to do whatever she wants to even if it isn't fair. This would really provoke Jo who would scold Amy, but at somehow Amy would win the fight with her charm. So Jo always felt that life favored Amy more than herself.
But, then, as both grow up, Jo realizes that a fair life is a lonely one and fighting for justice all alone can be extremely saddening. Amy too realizes how entitled and delusional she has been all these days when she goes out to the society and understands her own place amongst other talented people.
Eventually, both Jo and Amy reach a middle common ground and find each other relatable.
I also felt that this story is basically about a rich orphan who has a hard time trusting people and their intentions, but soon befriends his neighbors - a warm, trustworthy but poor family and wants to make this family his own. His relationship with each member of the family is covered in the entire story.
Thank you so much for this video and analysis! It honestly really changed my perspective after not being fully satisfied with who each character ended up with. But the points you made proved me wrong and offered more insight! Thanks again.
I never had a problem with Jo and Laurie not being together because all they had was a beautiful friendship the thing is why did he have to end up with Amy her sister
I am really loving this video, your thoughts, analysis, your voice. Thanks 🙏🙏😊
This was so beautiful especially the end part about how its not a love story
This was an utterly beautiful video essay. Masterfully written, succinct and to the point and yet, it considered so many views that I had never even thought to explore in relation to this theme and this movie. Honestly, I commend you on this truly inspiring piece of analytical literature. I learnt a lot from the way you put this together. Well done.
Thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it
When Jo writes her love letter to Laurie she says “My dear teddy, I miss you more than I can express. I used to think that the worst fate was to be a wife, I was young and stupid. But now I have changed. The worst fate is to live my life without you in it.” I think Jo finds it hard to express her feelings without going against her believes/ideas about what women should and shouldn’t be in the world. Like when Jo tells her sister Meg that she doesn’t need to get married to John and that she will get bored after 2 years. Later on Jo telling her mum that she is sick of women having their only purpose of to love. Jo realised that women are more than that. To all the people saying Jo felt ‘lonely’ and needed to fill a void that’s why she confesses to Laurie her love that was not the reason. When Jo left to go to New York she left her sisters behind. And when her sister Beth got sick she came back in a heart beat. Stopping everything that she was doing her dreams and ambition for her sister. When her sister Amy burned her papers Jo got angry at Amy and even said she will never ever forgive her and then when her sister nearly drowned she went back to talking to her in a heart beat realising that her sister was more important. Similarly as soon as she rejects Laurie she kept writing to him but he was the one that was not answering to her letters. Jo truly did care for him. She just didn’t have herself figured out yet. Jo thought a women cannot marry and pursue her dreams at the same time in the end she realises she can when she marries the professor. She realises this before however and wanted to tell Laurie by confessing to him through the letter but it was to late. Jo wanted it to be Laurie that she marries. Jo even admitted to her mum that when she gets angry her anger can blind her. Like when she rejected Laurie because of her anger blinding her to thinking women should be independent and never married, but she doesn’t realise women can be both. Jo is a strong willed character who refuses to back down but then she does on all of these occasions she does it for the people that she loves. She did that when she rejected Laurie. She was angry because she had dreams she wanted to pursue and marriage was not on her radar back then. However after loosing her sister for good this time she realises the mistake she made rejecting Laurie. She realises death is her worse enemy and it can come in the way of things even when she thinks she is in control. She steers the wheel of her life, she is independent, unmarried, in New York writing doing everything she ever wanted but death still has a way of ruining things. When she comes to this realisation she cannot bear to loose Laurie in the same way without telling him how she truly feels. Because Jo finally realises that the love she holds for him is greater than whatever it is she wanted to do as a single women.
I’m talking about the movie btw. The 2019 movie adaptation. Laurie fell in love with Amy’s beauty. Constantly calling her beautiful and admiring only that about her. That’s even what he notices about her when he speaks to her. You look beautiful, you are beautiful. Whereas with jo he has loved her ever since he met her. Watching her live out her passion for acting and supporting her by being part of her play. Watching her fall in love with writing and even him inviting her to the theatre to watch a play because he knows that’s what she lives for and loves. Laurie fell in love with jo for her soul and everything she is. So for the people saying that laurie would never have supported jo in the way the professor does in her passions that is so false. What Laurie and jo had was ethereal.
this is the video i needed in 2019 but im glad i found it at least
For some reason I always felt that Laurie and Amy are a much better match than Jo and Laurie, they truly would destroy each other and i felt like Jo only wanted to go back to Laurie because she was scared of being alone. Amy always loved Laurie and in the scenes we see of them you can tell that the love is there. Jo would be better with the professer because he can see her talent and potential but isn't afraid to be cynical about her work and because Jo is so tough and independant she needs someone like her instead of someone who will always be soft towards her
i didn’t necessarily want Jo and Laurie to end up together, i just felt so sad for Jo when she realises that maybe she should have said yes to Laurie’s proposal but he consequently shows up with Amy. but i think everyone should understand that Jo values her independence as a woman, as she said she doesn’t want love to be “the only thing a woman is fit for”, and by marrying Laurie she would be restricting herself and live as an extension of Laurie. i think viewers find her rejection fo Laurie, however, infuriating, because she ended up marrying anyway.
I want to thank you for your insight into the dynamics between Jo and Laurie and Amy and Laurie. Yours is the second commentary I watched which prompted me to watch this adaptation which I thoroughly enjoyed because of its practicality and realism
My sister said that she thought this adaptation really showed the complexity of relationships. And I thought that was the most sophisticated summary of the movie I've heard thus far.
The only thing I can say that I think might give you food for thought is that Louise Alcott self identified with Joe. She also never married, and possibly would have been a lesbian had she been born in a different time. I think I heard she had wanted to give Joe that angle, but of course no one at the time would let her. Which is where the part in this movie comes from of Joe not wanting to marry her character off to a man. I believe it was supposed to parallel what Louise wanted for Joe and for herself.
I didn't watch the film yet but I watched a ton of clips and I actually loved their pairing and I also read that in the books he really fell in love with her so I don't get why ppl don't like their pairing xD
Oh my god, your channel somehow managed to actually get better
Only people like Mr. Dashwood would want Jo and Laurie to be together, Louisa made her point.
Honestly
I agree with you buddy
It is a good explanation
i am: crying
Technically in the 2019 version, Joe didn't actually 'get together' with the professor, but rather it was just the ending of her book, not her actual life, with Gretta Gerwig wanting to stay more true to Louisa May Alcoott's own life. (As the book was loosly based on her own coming of age).
They portrayed the Amy and Laurie love story beautifully in this adaptation. I remembered how pleasantly surprised I was when Amy gets mad at Laurie and confesses she's been in love with him for years. Such a great insight I never considered that really helps you to root for them to get together.
When i read the book i was so mad jo was not with Laurie but when i saw the movie everything pretty much made sense now that i think about it i can't even imagine Laurie with jo lmao
Omg, i just little women and i remeber a i saw your video "kakashi the ninja who lost everything" and omg here i am again.love your videos.
Really fascinating and deeply thoughtful (as always ^^) analysis. Thanks again; didn't know the movie at all, by the way.
You should review JoJo Rabbit. I found it to be a vary insightful movie. It was a mix between satire and melodrama. Truthfully it is one of those rare movies that is in a category all on it's own.
that was excellently put. much love
Bro this was straight-up beautiful
very good video, opened my mind, highlighted things i missed and changed my perspective
It's hard to criticize this video because it's so lovingly made, and really, your insight that it isn't a love story is the central insight. This is one of the best films ever made. It will affect the lives of viewers for many years. I suppose it's a paradigm of liberation.
Jo rejected Laurie because she didn't love him
Amy rejected Laurie in spite of loving him
My excitement for this video is beyond anything!!
They play off of each other beautifully in the way that they love. They are both hopeless romantics. And I love how the 2019 movie did it unlike the version that shows primarily a relationship between a 12/16 year old or so and instead shows a love story between adults that references when they met.
Amy and Laurie don't need a defense, because they were meant for each other. I am a strong believer of this. He loved Jo, but it wouldn't have worked out and she knew that. She tried to feel for him but she couldn't. Then Laurie fell in love with Amy. She and Jo switched places in his heart. Also I feel like if we had had enough time to see their relationship in Europe, it might be more clear that they were in love. Neither of them were settling, and Laurie would have never married Amy if he was still in love with Jo.