Anne of Green Gables Goes Blond?! (Let’s judge a book by its cover)

Last updated on: February 8, 2013 at 10:00 am by Amy Lepine Peterson

Anne of Green Gables Goes Blond?! (Let’s judge a book by its cover) 2013-02-08T07:28:19-07:00 Amy Lepine Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Amazon.com Image

Few news items have caused such outrage among my peers this week as the revelation that on a new book cover, our beloved (and auburn-tressed) Anne of Green Gables has gone blond.

Maybe you, like my facebook friends, find this “terribly wrong,” “thoroughly disturbing,” tear-inducing, nausea-inducing, and/or rage-inducing; or maybe, like one of my fellow Christ and Pop Culture writers, you’re saying, “Isn’t Anne of Green Gables just Twilight for Canadians? Or for 5th grade homeschoolers?” (I was a fourth-grade homeschooler when I read it, thank you very much). Either way, this is a travesty of enormous proportions.

Girls growing up with a blond Anne of Green Gables will get their hair color stereotypes all wrong. They’ll believe that the definition of “auburn” is yellow, and that blondes, rather than having more fun, or being air-heads, are actually the feisty ones. Our deep-rooted belief in the red-head as spirited and creative will be overthrown; she’ll be blonde, now.

The cause of friction between young Anne and Gilbert becomes much more vague, given this new color. When he called her “carrots,” was it due to colorblindness? If so, wasn’t Anne’s reaction a bit mean-spirited?

Doubtless, young readers will also be confused about the definition of “puffed sleeves,” guessing from the cover that “puffed” must be a synonym for plaid. Readers may intuit that Canadians must mature much more quickly than Americans, given that the full-figured cover model is their best depiction of a scrawny preteen.

Look, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (an Amazon company for self-publishing endeavors), we get that Lucy Maud Montgomery’s books are in the public domain now, and anyone can print them. But if you’re hoping to make a profit on your publication, you might consider cracking the book before you re-print it. Or at least using Google to get your facts straight.

I get that every generation has interpreted Anne a little differently. But as Josie Leavitt at Publisher’s Weekly explained earlier this week, covers should at least display some sense of historical accuracy, textual accuracy, and appropriate mood. This Anne looks like “she’s the kind of kid who would sneak out of her boarding school to smoke cigarettes with the math teacher,” not the kind who would reenact “The Lady of Shallot”.

Or, like the atrocious new cover for Sylvia Plath’s classic The Bell Jar, maybe this is just what publishers think women will buy (though frankly, this cover seems to appeal more to the men I’ve shown it to than the women).

If our Anne-girl were here, she’d remind us: Every day is fresh, with no mistakes in it, even for you, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. It’s not too late to change, or at least to find a better stock photo to use. But as you’re searching the stock photo archives, remember this: we don’t need diamond sunbursts, or marble halls: we just need Anne.

Literature

Of the Moment

Previous Post

February 8, 2013

Now a More Mature Christian, Brian "Head" Welch, Teams up with Korn again

Next Post

February 8, 2013 Keeping the Science Accurate (AKA why Kevin Swanson is wrong about little corpses)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz