The Anachronistic Joy of <em>Dickinson</em>
Emily Dickinson’s life, according to the show Dickinson, had a lot more gay sex and twerking than your middle-school English class would have had you believe. And, from what we now know of the reclusive poet’s life, at least half of that is true.
The Apple TV+ cult hit—now in its third and final season—retells Dickinson’s life by pairing a modern knowledge of her lifelong relationships with a modern set of anachronisms: The 19th-century residents of Amherst, Massachusetts, dance to hip-hop. They stay in for “novels and chill.” They hook up, curse, and use slang as if they were alive today.
But Dickinson’s not alone in its approach. With shows such as Bridgerton and The Great also blending the past few centuries, why is television using period settings to tell contemporary stories lately? Does the slant of that approach offer something direct storytelling can’t?
Listen to Atlantic staff writers Sophie Gilbert, Shirley Li, and Spencer Kornhaber discuss:
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Today we’re talking about Apple TV’s , now in its third and final season. The show is a reimagining of the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson’s life in the 19th century, but it’s not a period drama or a pure biopic. I think I as a “bonkers Gen Z fever dream.” It has a modern soundtrack. The dialogue is full of anachronistic 21st-century slang. Characters might say they’re “hella stoked” about the railroad coming to Amherst, or that they’re staying in for “novels and chill.” It’s
