[editor’s note: the following contains spoilers for “anne with an e” season 2, including the “world’s rising good” ending.]
great aunt josephine barry’s character in the “anne of green gables” books has always been a fan favorite because she seemed to truly understand and encourage the unique aspects of the orphan who transformed the lives of people in avonlea . In the Northwood Entertainment-produced Netflix adaptation of “Anne With An E”, it is revealed that her perception of and empathy for her come from her own personal struggles: Aunt Josephine (Deborah Grover) is gay.
You are reading: Was aunt josephine gay in the books
series creator moira walley-beckett (“breaking bad,” “flesh and bone”) spoke with indiewire about adding this extra dimension to the beloved literary character, as well as more realistic touches for canada in the edwardian period, and what is she looking for anne shirley cuthbert (amybeth mcnulty) in season 3.
“Reading [the novel] again as an adult, I wondered about Aunt Jo,” said walley-beckett. “In the book, she’s a spinster and a bit of a curmudgeon, and that’s about it. so i said, ‘well, she comes to barrys for a month and she’s grieving,’ so i decided to justify why she’s there: who’s grieving?”
That answer came in Season 1 when rich Aunt Jo revealed that she was mourning the loss of the person whom young Diana Barry (Delila Bela) thought of as Aunt Gertrude, Josephine’s partner. Although the term did not exist at the time, their relationship was a “Boston marriage”, the cohabitation of two women independently of the financial support of a man. While the Barrys saw this simply as a friendship, Josephine and Gertrude were actually a lesbian couple.
“It seemed like a perfect opportunity to immerse myself in the reality of a boston marriage that was secret, as it would have been at the time,” walley-beckett said. “So we talked about that in Season 1, and in Season 2 we can expand on it in a way that allows it to provide an accepting forum and a safe haven for Cole and the other people in his community.”
the queer evening
one of the roles that many feminist “new women” like aunt josephine played at that time was to promote social and cultural causes. For Aunt Jo, that aforementioned forum for acceptance took the form of the so-called Queer Soiree, a fabulous party that Josephine and Gertrude threw annually. In the seventh episode of the season, “Memory has as many moods as temperament,” Josephine hosts her first queer soiree since the death of her partner.
“It was very exciting for me and the writers to create that. We’ve been talking about queer soirée, which is how we refer to it, ever since we all first sat down together,” Walley-Beckett said. “It was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome to take the kids to Charlottetown to see Aunt Jo and have her restart her annual mid-winter queer soiree?'”
See Also: Best Catholic Books of All-Time
In one of the most visually stunning and entertaining scenes in the series thus far, Josephine’s stately home is transformed into a veritable flower-decked gazebo, which is then complemented by the flower crowns that most of the guests they put on if they are not already conspicuously attired. the guest list consists of people from all over the world, artists and many other bohemian types who are not explicitly tagged.
“everything we dreamed of, they achieved,” walley-beckett said. “I wanted one of the partygoers to wear a birdcage for a hat, and we wove it into her green hair and hung a bird there. And they made all these flower crowns out of paper and doilies, and just things that would have existed at the time, which is how we always shot.”
One of the artists performing at the evening is the show’s version of real-life pianist/composer Cécile Chaminade (Nathalie Toriel), who shakes up Diana’s worldview as an example of a woman who thrives. in an international lifestyle in search of his art. no husband.
“cécile chaminade is truly ripped from the pages of history. we didn’t actually make anything up about it,” walley-beckett said. “The actress we cast, we adapted her to look like Cécile, we played one of her compositions, we hired a real pianist for the role. she was a feminist and gay icon, as well as a composer, and she travels the world playing the piano. she that’s how jo would meet her.”
cole and mr. phillips
One of Anne’s good friends this season is Cole (Cory Gruter-Andrew), a budding artist who is constantly bullied at school by Billy Andrews (Christian Martyn) and worse, his teacher, Mr. phillips (stephen tracey). Cole would like nothing more than to be left alone to draw, but Anne, once abused, recognizes that loneliness and befriends him.
walley-beckett explained why she wanted to include a queer person who is one of anne’s classmates.
See Also: Best Poetry Books for Self-Care – Caring Crate
“It would make sense if there was someone in the class who was struggling with identity,” he said. “It was unimaginably difficult to do, especially during that period of time when it was illegal to be homosexual, punishable by imprisonment and the death sentence, and punishable in Canada until [1969]. I really wanted to include a story like that.
“also, in my opinion, your teacher, mr. Phillips has always been an unidentified hidden homosexual. he just has no idea that he was. I thought it would be fascinating to use Cole as a mirror for the discovery of the part of him and to see the two different journeys of those characters.
“but back to the dissenting views, it’s very hard for diana to deal with this sudden circumstance about her two aunts, basically. I felt like balancing things out, it was great for the kids to have a conversation about it and have conflicting viewpoints because those are the viewpoints that are within the families that are watching the show.”
netflix
In the same vein, walley-beckett hopes that, like Cole, viewers at home will watch the queer evening and find community. in fact, one of the key creative people who worked on “anne with an e” came to walley-beckett as a result of working on that sequence.
“I am so proud to be a part of something that can offer this to people and hopefully to all the kids who are struggling with their gender [and sexual] identity, who may not have the empathy or understanding to their around. that they need it,” she said, “let them see that it is possible to have it if they find the community, they see that it is possible to find a safe haven.”
continue to next page for gilbert, bash, jerry and season 3>>
sign up: stay up to date with the latest movie and television news! Sign up here to receive our email newsletters.
See Also: The Magicians – (magicians Trilogy) By Lev Grossman (paperback) : Target