Cover art by @random.stuff.created on Instagram
by Frankie Fanelli
Dickinson was actually one of the first shows that turned me onto Apple TV+, Apple’s new streaming service. The trailer featuring a writer I loved and some pretty kick ass music definitely caught my eye and let me tell you, I wasn’t ready for how much I love this show.
Set in the late 1940s, the show features Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson, and she plays the part amazingly. I was apprehensive at first, honestly, because in the past Steinfeld’s acting has been a bit cringey and over-the-top in my opinion. However, the actress seems to have really come into her own and found her voice in the part of Emily Dickinson, and now I couldn’t really imagine anyone else bringing the same kind of stubbornness and youthfulness to the role as Steinfeld has. The show runners described the show as “celebrating the wild spirit of Emily Dickinson” and I think they achieved just that and so much more. Typically, along with period shows or movies, the viewers must also adjust to a lot of old fashioned slang and language, as well as the soundtrack being practically nonexistent. However, in Dickinson, these problems are nonissue. The show keeps modern language and slang terms, which works into the comedy aspect of the show. Emily’s pretentious older brother using the word “psyched” and Emily calling the fact that only she and her sister can do household chores rather than her brother being asked to help “bullshit” only helps us relate more to the characters.
And don’t even get me started on how great the soundtrack is. Despite being set in the mid 19th century, “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish, “Praise the Lord” by A$AP Rocky, and
“Boys” by Lizzo are just a few of the songs featured in the first two episodes alone. While upbeat pop and rap music may seem like it would clash with the old time-y setting of the show and the somewhat vintage visuals, you’d be dead wrong. The soundtrack definitely alters the energy the show has, but it mirrors Emily’s perseverant energy and just works to highlight the fact that Emily Dickinson was ahead of her time.
In my opinion, this show works hard to make viewers realize that whether you’re a teenager in the 1840s or the 1900s or the 2010s, we’re all not that different after all. Many teenagers have the same frustrating experiences of having what we want to do in our sights but for some reason not being able to achieve them, whether it be because we’re too young, too inexperienced, our family has other plans for us, or, largely in Emily’s case, simply because she’s a woman.
That being said, the show grapples with some pretty real themes and issues, both for Emily’s time and the viewers’. Death is a pretty central theme of the show, Emily’s best friend Sue’s entire family is dead, mostly due to yellow fever, and in episode one Wiz Khalifa guest stars as the physical embodiment of death who takes Emily for a carriage ride every night. This is a reference to one of her poems, and since Emily Dickinson wrote heavily about death and decay in her poetry, the show runners decided to make season 1 of Dickinson largely about the young poet developing a “maturing relationship to death.” Another issue the show dealt with bravely and tastefully was Emily Dickinson’s sexuality. While in reality Emily Dickinson never married, in the show Emily must fend off a few suitors that her mother attempts to set her up with. However, we find out only a few minutes into episode 1 that Emily in fact has a very real love interest: her best friend Sue. While there have been rumors practically since Emily Dickinsons died, unmarried, in 1886, that the reason she never took a husband was because she was attracted to women, Dickinson decided to handle this aspect of Dicksinon in a very real way. While the characters in the show seem to be very much infatuated with one another, they use the fact that they are best friends to hide their relationship and everyone assumes they are simply very close. This issue stands the test of time, and now may still ring true with any member of the LGBTQIA+ community who struggled to or simply doesn’t feel safe or comfortable coming out to their families or communities. The show also deals with the issue of slavery, while this is not so much a problem today, the racial discrimination featured in the show is still very prevalent in our world in one way or another, whether it be in the workplace or simply through lack of representation.
All of this being said, you can bet on the fact that I’ll likely spend the next six months anxiously awaiting the return of Apple TV’s Dickison for season 2.
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