I wouldn’t be anywhere without my sister. She’s the first person to have ever read my writing, and pushed me to share it. She’s one of the most important people in my life, and probably the one person that is most directly responsible for who I am today. Because of this, I have a major soft spot for how sisters are portrayed in media. To me, the best, most authentic version of sisterhood is found in the film Little Women (2019). I first watched it with my mom and my sister when it was released in theaters. Before then, I had loved reading the source material, the original book by Louisa May Alcott.Â
I think many women might relate to the feeling of reading or watching it for the first time and trying to see which sister you were the most like, a personality test of sorts (for me, there is no other character in fiction that makes me feel more seen than Jo). What ripped my heart from my chest the first time I watched Greta Gerwig’s 2019 interpretation was how she wrote each character. Every one of them, and all the side characters, are each complex, beautifully characterized, and deeply human.Â
Throughout all the movies and TV shows I’ve watched, as well as the books I’ve read, I’ve witnessed a lot of sister, and sibling dynamics in general, that felt careless. They either seemed like an oversimplification, or misunderstanding, as though they were based on another TV rendition and not the reality.Â
What I love about this particular set of sisters is that each of them are multifaceted. Individually, they each have dreams, ambitions and challenges they face. At the same time, they challenge each other, such is the nature of siblings. We push each other, often to our wits end, but even teetering on that end they’re still the critical center of your support system. The March sisters are a critical example of sisters who seem completely different but are all woven together by their deeply rooted care for each other and a knack for their creative endeavors.Â
One of the biggest reasons this film is so dear to my heart is Jo’s struggle with her writing. She falls in and out of love with her craft. I’ve personally dealt with that in waves with both my visual art and my writing. She wants to be great, she wants to be remembered. That’s been an aspect that has always hit so close to home. I also deeply connect with the sisters’ fierce loyalty to each other, it’s something I see mirrored in my dynamic with my own. Jo’s quote when Amy returns from Europe, “Life is too short to be angry at one’s sisters”, stays wedged between my ribs.Â
This film is beautiful, not just in visuals, but in the many layers of character dynamics and meanings. It’s such a beautifully constructed onion of a story that no matter how many times I rewatch, I step away with a new thought rattling in my skull. Watching it makes me reflect on my own ambitions and my mortality. It makes me want to call my sister, even if she’s rewatching it with me.Â