If you were a teenaged, female Christian homeschooler in the 90′s or early 2000′s, it’s pretty much inevitable that you had a crush on Gilbert Blythe at some point (right after Mr. Darcy).I recently fell in love with Gil all over again as I introduced the films to my little sister. The stories were unusual enough to feature a strong heroine who didn’t really need a romance to make her life interesting. When romance was there, it was secondary to the story of Anne's many harebrained adventures. Gil - and Jonathan Crombie, by extension - was gracious enough to never chew the scenery, never try to show anyone up, never try and be the leading man. He was more than happy to play second fiddle to the extraordinary Megan Follows. But in this graciousness, his gentle influence on theatrical, fiery Anne resulted in one of my all-time favorite romances.
RIP Jonathan Crombie (1966-2015).
I always thought Anne was almost unrealistically childish the way she held that grudge against Gil forEVER. It's like, "Come on, it's been what, three, four years? He teased you ONCE. Let it go. He's really nice and, like, terminally adorable, and he likes you. What are you complaining about???"
ReplyDeleteVery sad news. Nice to read about what a nice guy he was, answering to "Gil" on the street.
Her immaturity is part of why I love Anne so much. She's just so obviously flawed. And I just adore that about Jonathan Crombie. Many people (*cough cough* Christopher Plummer) would get kind of upset that they're only known for one thing.
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