Catherine Palmer

This version of Persuasion is an embarrassment. It’s filled with anachronisms — “He’s a 10, “She’s narcissistic,” and on and on. The popular effort to introduce characters of various racial groups into period English films has pushed Jane Austen into a world that couldn’t have existed. Where there people of color in England in the early 1800s? Of course. Was England such a melting pot that Caucasians were found in equal or even fewer numbers than the rest? And were the upper classes peopled primarily by non-Caucasian racial groups? Don’t be ridiculous. I was truly eager to see this version of Persuasion. I didn’t watch past the first hour.