Classic Alice is not, as I first thought, about Alice in Wonderland. It is about a girl named Alice, though. A girl who allows herself to be immersed in fictional worlds. But it’s about so much more than that.
Per the Classic Alice Indiegogo page, Classic Alice is the brainchild of series creator and star, Kate Hackett. When over-achiever Alice Rackham gets a bad grade on an essay because she isn’t emotionally connecting to material, she decides to live her life according to classic novels. Her friend, Andrew Prichard, uses the opportunity to make a vlog-style documentary about the process, and together they create ‘Classic Alice’.
When I began watching, I immediately felt a kinship with Alice. The bad grade she got on her essay sent her into an emotional tailspin and in that moment, I saw myself. I’ve obsessed over papers and cried when I got grades that weren’t As. Alice immediately freaks out because we are one and the same and sometimes anything that’s not an A feels like a failure.
Alice’s long-time friend Andrew not only films Alice’s exploits, he occasionally joins her. And throughout all of this, we get glimpses of other characters in Alice’s life: her roommate Cara (who is the absolute best), her cousin Reagan, and other students at her college. And they all get fleshed out. They get backstory and depth and motivation and interests beyond their role in Alice’s life.
Throughout Alice’s project to live her life according to these classic books, she’s forced to examine her values and her goals. She makes mistakes, and it’s so refreshing to see that they’re not simply glossed over. She struggles. A lot. And sometimes she triumphs.
There’s a love story, too. I’ve found it impossible not to cheer for it (he wears plaid a lot! he’s great!) and I don’t want to resist it. The chemistry, the story, all of it’s amazing. But the most amazing part of this love story is that, for once, the creators and the show itself believes that “A relationship should not, is not, the end of a human being’s story.”
Classic Alice is wonderful. It’s addictive. It’s fun and funny and thought-provoking. More than that, it was created by a woman, it’s feminist, and it has LGBTQ characters. In short, the show is delightful, and you should be watching.
The first run of the show is over, but the amazing, brilliant people behind Classic Alice want to make more episodes. I want it to make more episodes. You should want there to be more episodes. Luckily, there’s an Indiegogo fundraiser for the show. Please donate what you can. Support this beautiful little show.
Television Tuesdays: Classic Alice
Molly Kasperek 