Adapting Side Characters: Charlotte Lu From Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012–2013)
As we speak of regressing back to old things we’ve once loved on the RemoteWatch podcast, I revisited Pride and Prejudice and its many adaptations. Whether it’s putting the 1996 BBC series on the background as I fold my laundry, or bingeing Bridget Jones with my mum, any adaptation makes my heart swoon. From Joe Wright’s idyllic score and cinematography in the 2005 adaptation, to even mediocre ones like P&P Zombies, I always come out of all P&P adaptations learning something new every time.
As much as I can talk all day about how Darcy and Elizabeth are the champions of the enemies-to-lovers trope, and how P&P is timeless in its portrayal of gender expectations and society, I will instead by exploring a side character who often does not get much limelight in most of these adaptations, Charlotte Lucas. Specifically, on how The Lizzie Bennet Diaries handled Charlotte in their adaptation. With the announcement of ‘The Netherfield Girls’ on Netflix, starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan from ‘Never Have I Ever’, it is the perfect opportunity to talk about a modern-day P&P Adaptation we can check out as we wait for more casting announcements and for the new adaptation to arrive!
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a 2012–2013 YouTube web series created by Hank Green and Bernie Su, starring Ashley Clements as Lizzie Bennet, a grad student who’s vlogging a year of her life as her thesis project, aided by her best friend Charlotte Lu, played by Julia Cho. The appeal of LBD is that Lizzie’s perspective is a key driving force of the narrative. Since most of the vlogs take place in her bedroom, it’s through her storytelling and play-acting of the events that have transpired, therefore we the audience are limited to Lizzie’s lens, both figuratively and literally.
When we start off LBD, Charlotte’s character is established to be a solid presence in Lizzie’s life. Charlotte can be heard off-screen making comments on Lizzie’s stories, adding funny edits onto the videos or being roped in by Lizzie to aid in her reenactment of events. We get our first real insight into Charlotte’s character in Episode 16, where Lizzie gushes to the audience about her best friend, who in her mind will in the future, be successful and happy in the pursuit of her film career. Charlotte then comes to the Bennet house later than usual, and they have a conversation that ends in a bout of insecurity: with Charlotte noting that success is dependent on many variables, namely luck.
This is a direct reflection of the original P&P, where we had a similar conversation where Charlotte says ‘Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.’ It’s a moment that’s often cut out of adaptations in favour of focusing on Lizzie and Darcy’s love story. By showcasing this in LBD, we can see that Charlotte is more pragmatic, while Lizzie is the idealist, and there is a build-up to the blow of Charlotte’s decision to be with Collins’ later on.
Book Charlotte marries Collins for the opportunity of financial stability and a home, all with the belief that love is not essential for a successful marriage. In LBD, Charlotte takes the job opportunity that was originally intended for Lizzie, by somewhat influencing Collins to hire her after Lizzie rejects the job offer. While her life goal might not be making a career out of making videos for Collins and Collins, she sees it as a means to get her family out of debt. Lizzie, with the assumption that Charlotte has the same values and wants the same things in life as her, is baffled by Charlotte’s decision and confronts her about this.
Adaptation-wise, I love many things about this- mainly in replacing Collins’ marriage proposal with a business proposal. In the context of LBD, if Collins was in love with her, Lizzie rejecting him as a romantic partner would not be an outlandish action. But instead, we now have a modern perspective of Lizzie turning down a lucrative job offer that could get her and her family out of debt, accurately reflecting on the insanity of her turning down Collins’ offer back in the Regency era.
In both the book and web series, we are made clear that Charlotte’s financial situation is more dire than Lizzie’s. In LBD specifically, there’s also the added layer of Charlotte in this adaptation being Asian American. As a member of the Chinese-Diaspora watching this, I can’t help but wonder if Charlotte’s decision has any cultural elements to it, given the larger emphasis on family debt and her own sister starting college.
With the culmination of Collins’ debacle, we get to episode 42, where we reach a turning point in Charlotte and Lizzie’s friendship, and the first truth unveiled for Lizzie: people around her might not share her values and ideals but they are by no means lesser, and for her to learn that her own version of what’s best for someone might not actually be what that person wants and needs. By the end of the episode, Charlotte leaves and we are unsure if their friendship will recover.
We later get some insight into Charlotte’s life after that event. As bonus videos to the original series, Charlotte’s sister, Marie, starts vlogging about her own experience interning at Collins and Collins, with Charlotte appearing in these videos adding more video ideas and hiding how much she misses working and being with Lizzie. With this minor storyline, Charlotte is further solidified as a realised character with her own desires and motivations.
Even after Charlotte and Lizzie make up and Lizzie visits Charlotte at Collins and Collins,(where we get the infamous Darcy and Lizzie confession and argument), Charlotte’s presence post-Collins & Collins is very much still a part of Lizzie’s life. Charlotte shows up in Lizzie’s Thanksgiving and Christmas vlogs and is mentioned frequently, unlike most adaptations where Charlotte is pretty much brushed aside after Lizzie leaves Charlotte after her visit and Charlotte is pretty much never heard from again.
Besides focusing on Charlotte’s life goals and keeping her in Lizzie’s life after, the writers of LBD have not only portrayed Charlotte in a way that was true to the book, but lets us viewers see Charlotte as a character of her own, not just a “growing device” to Lizzie’s character. As a result, LBD is an adaptation that not only stands on its own but also creates a standard that adaptation should strive to achieve- fleshing out side characters is equally important in storytelling as it helps your main character in their growth as well.
