The other famous Potter

The other week, in post-Curry-and-Catan languid girl-talk, Jbeany recommended Miss Potter, a romantic biopic of H. Beatrix Potter, author and artist of the Peter Rabbit children's books. Maybe it was Jbeany saying that she liked to movie so much that after watching it on dvd, she immediately went out and bought it. Or maybe it was because she recounted a scene that extolled the virtues of a single woman's life. Whichever, I knew that this would be the next film I wanted the girls to get together to watch.

So, there we were. Nine women. One married. One divorced. Most of us unmarried and single. One student. Three with master's degrees. Two and a half women representing minorities. Originally from four different states. Found out a little more about these women that I'm so interested in getting to know. Excited about my alternative Relief Society.

We potlucked it, then moved to the living room to settle in.

I really liked the film. It was ... charming. As much as I am generally indifferent to Renee Zellweger, I forgot her as she became Beatrix. I was smitten with her relationship with her publisher (played by an endearing Ewan McGreggor), and delighted with her friendship with her publisher's sister (engagingly played by Emily Watson). I was dumbfounded when tragedy struck, eventhough I half-way expected it to happen (no one gets to be that happy, not even in the movies). And I was inspired by all the other things that Potter did with the rest of her life ... caretaker, farm owner, conservator, sheep breeder, scientific artist. She did spectacular things during her life, even when it must have seemed like it was over.

In short, I wholeheartedly recommend the film. Watch it. Then watch the special features. Potter was a fascinating woman. And the Lakes District goes down on my list of places to visit ... along with Prince Edwards Island, the Secret Annex in Amsterdam, and the Austen estate in Chawton.