MovieChat Forums > Anne of Green Gables (1986) Discussion > Why was Anne such a bitch to Josie?

Why was Anne such a bitch to Josie?

posted 10 years ago by VioletBarbie
10 replies | jump to latest

When they were off taking the exams, it seemed like Josie was trying to bury the hatchet with Anne, but Anne kept bad mouthing her: "Tell me, how are the first year students doing?" and when Josie tells Anne she's completely gotten over Gilbert (who wasn't even handsome or interesting, btw) Anne says "I'm surprised he could even insult you." What was that even supposed to mean? I know some will say it's because Josie was stuck up as a teenager, but Anne sort of brought that whole falling off the roof business on herself when she started getting catty with Josie, who was simply showing off and wasn't doing or saying anything to Anne. Also, Anne is always meant to be someone who's looked up to and admired, but when she was refusing to speak with Gilbert and playing hard to get, she still freaked out if she even saw him talking to another girl and was unreasonably cruel to him. I haven't read the book since grammar school, so if Josie was in some way worse in the book, maybe I could understand it better, but the movie just makes her look like a jealous, bubble headed fool with zero common sense.

[–] ilahilda 10 years ago

I think Josie and Anne were both wrong in their own ways.

[–] OmegaWolf747 10 years ago

In the books, Josie was mean to Anne on more than one occasion. Anne wasn't always mature in her responses, but remember she was only 11-13 years old.

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House. My room. Cant walk. My medal. My father. Father, dont!

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

It was a two-way street. Those two girls just didn't like each other.

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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

[–] Anhun 9 years ago

1. Pay attention to Josies' words, instead of her saccharine smile. Josie said "Are you ill? When your nose and eyes are red you look red all over." That was a mean-spirited insult, not an attempt to bury the hatchet. She was making fun of Anne for being home sick and calling her ugly in one swoop. Anne just responded in kind. That being said, Josie was much more obnoxious in the books. She took every attempt to bad mouth Anne, and she wasn't very nice to the other girls either. In the movie, she didn't get enough screen time to say half of her caustic lines from the book.

2. This is Anne of Green Gables, not Pollyanna. Anne is supposed to be a very flawed character, not some one to be looked up to and admired. In fact, when the first movie came out, the author was outraged because they had made Anne too sweet and good, she couldn't see any trace of her "gingery Anne."

[–] ilahilda 9 years ago

I saw the recently movie about the author of Mary Poppins, she really gave Walt Disney a hard time in the early 60's when he wanted to make a movie based on the book. She did not like the animated penguins. I always thought the animated animals were cute. I heard the author of the adult movie "The Thorn Birds" in the 80's starring Richard Chamberlain did not like the film either. Authors can be very picky.

[–] Anhun 9 years ago

I don't know anything about The Thorn Birds, and I never read the book of Mary Poppins, so I can't say how justified the authors were in their complaints. I know Disney performed a lobotomy on Alice in Wonderland.

But, if the author herself says that Anne is not meant to be a perfect paragon, she would know.

[–] rndgurl-971-654277 9 years ago

I remember in the books NO ONE liked any of the Pye girls... they were seen by their peers as mean and pretentious... Pye equaled thorn in the eye!!

[–] Popcorngal (4937) 5 years ago

What was the original Alice like?

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 8 years ago

I agree with your first point. Josie wasn't burying the hatchet.

As for your second point, I don't really see a big difference in the Anne of the movie and the Anne of the book, so I have no idea why the author was outraged.

Oops, I just realized you said the first movie. Lucy Maud Montgomery had already died in the 1942, so she couldn't have seen this one 

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

[–] beautifulnerd 9 years ago

This is a strange thread if you actually heard the conversation. Josie was making fun of Anne telling her she was "red all over"!
That being said however, I think Anne Shirley was an overrated pigheaded arrogant bad tempered PAIN IN THE ASS.