Emma Approved

“Emma Woodhouse: beautiful, clever, and brilliant. There are many intriguing female entrepreneurs in the love and lifestyle industry, but none are more dynamic or have more potential than young Miss Woodhouse.” The opening line of Emma Approved echoes the beginning of Jane Austen’s classic novel Emma, whom she describes as being “handsome, clever, and rich” and of which is the source material for this YouTube adaptation.

This Austen adaptation is another high quality production from the newly formed Pemberley Digital company that came about after the paramount success of their first classic literature adaption of Pride & Prejudice: the Emmy-award-winning series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (LBD). Just like LBD, Emma Approved remains true to the source material and seamlessly updates the story into the present day. Revered social positions of Austen’s day, such as reverends, are updated to senators, nannies become best friends, etc. One notable difference, however, is Mr. Knightley’s first name. In the original, it is George, while the YouTube series changes it to Alex as to avoid confusion with the detestable George Wickham from The LBD. Otherwise, the chain of events unfolds in a similar fashion to the novel, which arguably might not make much sense to those not familiar with the original story. There is a large ensemble of characters and because of the modernization, their relationships to each other are hard to keep track of at times. 

Furthermore, Pemberley Digital continues to cast a beautiful array of actors, many of whom are visible minorities. Not only that, their characters are established, well educated, and respected by the community, such as Emma herself. It is definitely a positive step towards fair representation in the media. From the start, Joanna Sotomura’s portrayal of Emma is spot-on. Her mixture of Clueless’ Cher and Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf is something to aspire to as a young professional woman that wants to make the world a better place. Stephen Chang as the flirtatious Frank Churchill is another notable character. He brings a great energy to the character, making him fun and likable on the surface, and just a little mysterious and mischievous underneath. Overall, the chemistry between the entire cast ensemble is magnificent to watch and makes one feel as if they actually know the characters. It is hard not to get invested in their lives.

Similar to the novel, Emma is a lot to take at first. She’s bold, rash, and stubborn. Her favourite thing to do is play matchmaker, reminding us that “[she] makes your life better, and never fails!” Because of this mantra and despite her good intentions, Emma finds herself getting into trouble on multiple occasions because of her misplaced, and semi-selfserving actions. It is established early on how scheming Emma tends to be so that things go the way she believes they should. To her credit, she is right with her intuition more often than not, otherwise, her easy-on-the-eyes co-worker Alex Knightley would not be in business with her. She is a matchmaker for the targeted couple and because she’s good at it and enjoys doing it.

The opening line of the show foreshadows Emma’s growth throughout the series, which is an integral point in the story. Austen herself described Emma as being a character that no one but herself would like much, so armed with this information about the main character and her foreshadowed growth, it is easier to put up with Emma at the start of the series. It’s entertaining to watch how resourceful Emma is when faced with seemingly impossible roadblocks and challenges that threaten her success. No matter how often Alex Knightley tries to discourage her and point out her follies, Emma proves that she’s capable of deep understanding. Furthermore, scenes between Emma and Alex are fangirl worthy. Their chemistry is undeniable and compelling to watch. Each of their scenes throughout the series show many nuances of wholehearted love for each other and leaves the viewer wanting more.

Arguably, the series’s biggest adaptation misstep is Emma’s mistaken assumption about Senator Elton’s attraction, which is exaggerated to the point of straining the viewer’s suspense of disbelief. In the novel, the misunderstanding is, well, more understandable to the reader as the actions of all parties involved are more subtle and easier to misconstrue; however, in the series, the gestures made by one Senator Elton are very obvious, yet Emma, the professional love and life couch, completely misses them. A bouquet of flowers is traditionally a more romantic gift than Icelandic yoghurt, after all, so don’t assume that the same person that gave you flowers and your assistant yoghurt is into your assistant! And if he’s going to bring you a decently sized wrapped holiday present while he just has a holiday card for your assistant… well, I think these actions speaks for themselves. This obvious mistake in judgement greatly humbles Emma, leading the way to her transformation, but it is still an unrealistic way to go about it, regardless of how essential this plot point is.

One of my favourite things about Emma Approved is the unexpected crossover between the show and its predecessor The LBD by bringing back a character to fill in the role of another. It’s rewarding for Pemberley Digital fans but does not alienate new viewers. The character established in the previous series fits perfectly into her new role, which is good in a frustrating way since the character is an antagonist. I won’t spoil it here, but it was very satisfying having the two worlds collide, and I hope for more crossovers should either story be continued past the source material.

A fundamental aspect of the online storytelling platform that is brought over from The LBD is the transmedia experience; although this time, viewers can follow along with more fashion looks, plentiful Twitter interactions from the characters, an advice blog, and even an online music club. This level of transmedia allows viewers to get involved with the story in new ways, such as with the music club, by giving viewers the opportunity to make their own artistic contributions. The Twitter interactions also have a lot to offer, keeping off-screen characters engaging to the overall plot. These interactions are not integral to what is seen on-screen, but they do offer a lot of clarity to some of the finer plot points, and without reading along, some relationships on-screen might not make the most sense.

Despite some awkwardness in storytelling here and there, Emma Approved brings to life that Austen charm in a loveable and admirable way. Even with her flaws, Emma is a superb role model for women by promoting self-confidence and attempting to empower those around her, even if she still likes her little shenanigans.

You can enjoy the story here.