One of my memorable pre-teen obsessions was the late 1980s TV adaptations of L.M. Montgomery’s books starring Megan Follows in the title role of Anne Of Green Gables. I was sad to hear about the recent death of the Canadian actor Jonathan Crombie who, along with Morten Harket of pop band A-ha, was one of my earliest crushes. My favourite scene is probably where the firey-tempered (and haired) Anne stubbornly attempts to re-enact the Tennyson poem The Lady of Shalott and half drowns herself. Instead of an onion-related cartoon, I urge you to view Waterhouse’s sublime painting of the same name, which I should’ve gone to see in person on my recent trip to London for my very first LadiesDoComics meet. I often confuse this with the submerged Ophelia by fellow pre-Raphelite Millais which you can also see in the Tate Britain. I re-read the Anne books a few years ago when I tagged along on my husband’s work trip to Toronto (only he got to go to Prince Edward Island) and still find them charming. Although, having only ever lived in terraces or semis, I’ve only just worked out what a gable actually is.
Honourable mentions for 1985: Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey as strong Southern (US) woman in The Color Purple. Also, Grace Jones as henchwoman made good in A View To A Kill, the first Bond movie I remember watching.
