intro

Out of all of Road to Avonlea's former cast members, Sarah Polley is probably the one who faces the most scrutiny. After all, she's the one that's in the public eye the most. But fans of the series, in more recent times, seem to have ripped her to shreds. Why?

In an interview published on the website Suicidegirls.com in October 2003, she said the following of the series...

DRE: How do they perceive you in Canada?
SP: I think it's a complicated relationship because when I was little I was on that sugary sweet horrible kid's show called Road to Avonlea. So a lot of people watched the show growing up. On the one hand they wanted me to stay that way but then I got political which isn't frowned upon there. Sometimes I think people just want me to shut up.
Suicidegirls.com interview; October 2003

In various other interviews, she has also chastized the show.

Matt Mueller: What did you do as a child actor?
Sarah Polley: TV stuff. I did The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen with Terry Gilliam when I was eight. And then sh*tty Canadian TV. I got locked into endless f*cking contracts. I had a contract from when I was nine until when I was 15 that I couldn’t get out of and all I wanted was to be at school. That was nightmarish, being sold into bad TV. It was a God awful series, The Road To Avonlea. It was like a spin-off of Anne Of Green Gables. It was sickly and sentimental and sugary sweet.
Total Film; published sometime in 2000/01

[Road to Avonlea] was, according to Polley, "the most sugar-coated, unrealistic depiction of Canadian history ever. It was like the white man's fantasy of what it was like at the turn of the century on Prince Edward Island." Polley's character, Sara Stanley, was a cute do-gooder, hermetically sealed away in a past era. Polley herself was having a more painful time, undergoing surgery to correct a spinal problem brought on by scoliosis. Avonlea became a huge success and a childhood ritual for millions of viewers. "You know a good way of describing how big it was for people who don't live here?" she says. "The ratings were even higher than Hockey Night In Canada."
The Guardian (UK); October 25, 2003; "Paradoxes of a beautiful life"

However, in others still, she has praised its high quality, and that it was a good show for kids. Yet, some fans are hard-pressed to remember her positive comments over her negative ones. Is it really an insult to the series' fans, as well as to her former castmates to say that a show she worked on for five of its seven seasons was, in her opinion, "horrible"?

the earlier years

On January 10, 1990--two days after Sarah's eleventh birthday--her mother Diane, a casting director credited with discovering Jonathan Crombie for the Anne of Green Gables miniseries, died of ovarian cancer. From her perspective, Sarah found it changed her acting quite a bit.

Sarah Polley: ....I was sort of, like, a cutesy little child actor until I was about eleven. And then my mum died; and then my acting got really, really good. And I think, there's something wrong with that, actually; you know, that's not acting. And all of a sudden, there's all these crying scenes on Road to Avonlea that I'm fantastic at; and it's sort of like, you know, there's something really, really wrong with that; and I'd sort of think that probably wasn't really the best way for me to be dealing with those emotions at that time.
Shelagh Rogers: But at the same time, just thinking about what you said earlier about how your activism allows you to express something, and your acting allows you to express something, that all, sort of, points toward being a full human being.
Sarah: Mmm-hmmm.
Shelagh: Maybe it's not such a bad thing.
Sarah: Well, I think the problem is, though, it's like, you can't have, like, a catharsis with those kinds of emotions if they're provoked by someone else. If there's thirty adults standing around, waiting to get on with their day and wrap up and making you cry, and there's pressure on you to cry, then it's kind of...like a forced experience and not necessarily a good one; and it's done under a kind of pressure. And even if it's a nice environment in the world, you can't take away the fact that, you know, you're a little kid, and you're looking for thirty adults' approval, and you'll kind of do anything to get it. And...there's also this thing of, you know, from a very early age, being congratulated and getting approval by being somebody else while you're still forming your sense of, like, identity, and growing up, and all that other crap....And often, you know, with young girls...whenever I see kids on set, it's like, young girls looking at directors, like men, older men,...and getting approval for becoming someone else. There's... something a little bit off about that, I think....
CBC This Morning; May 22, 2001

[Sarah] now regrets [starting acting at a young age], believing that what makes a child able to cry on film is not good acting, but unhappiness. "You know," she says, in her lovely, wonky Canadian accent, "I talked about this a lot with Nastassja [Kinski, who plays Polley's mother in The Claim]. She started work very young and for her it was a really good thing. But for me, the concept of it kind of bugs me, the idea of kids working, especially in something as corrupt as this industry, that plays with your sense of identity so harshly. I don't think it's healthy. I think I'd have been better off at school, I would rather have been at school then, certainly."
But she begged to be an actor, I say. Polley makes an unconvincing attempt at a chuckle. "A lot of kids want to be firemen, too, but you don't send them to fire drill when they're seven years old."
The Independent (UK); February 2, 2001

Polley was still working on Road To Avonlea at the time of her mother's death and has said before that she didn't get to experience a "standard grief". At the memorial service, she scampered about playing practical jokes. "I remember everyone humouring me and being aware that they were going along with something they didn't think was natural," she says. "You'd hear people saying things like, 'You're taking this too well.' Everyone's used to a little girl crying at her mother's funeral. I'm sure it happens a lot of the time but it doesn't happen every time...."
The Guardian (UK); October 25, 2003; "Paradoxes of a beautiful life"

While trying to deal with her mother's death, her father--actor Michael Polley, who for the first few seasons of the series portrayed the town doctor, and in a later episode was gossip Eulalie Bugle's husband--lent her little support. According to Sarah, he informed her that he didn't want to have an influence on her.

About a year after her mother's death, and at the height of the Gulf War, Sarah attended a ceremony honouring children's television in Washington, DC, wearing a peace sign. Disney executives who were there asked her to take it off. She refused. Disney never offered her work again. It was also around this time that she noticed Disney was flexing a lot more muscle in regards to the series. As well, it marked the beginning of her political awareness.

Because it was so popular, Polley saw Road To Avonlea as an opportunity to deal with what she considered to be real issues, such as the history of immigration in Canada and the treatment of native people. That was, until a certain multinational began financing the show. "In the first couple of seasons we did things like an episode on a strike," she says. "Then as soon as the Disney Channel got really involved, all that went away and it became, literally, a show about family values." Even at 12, it wasn't hard to see how much the tone of the series had shifted. Polley wasn't particularly politicised then, but the Disneyfication marked the beginning of her awareness.
The Guardian (UK); October 25, 2003; "Paradoxes of a beautiful life"

The "episode on a strike" was the third season episode "Aunt Janet Rebels". In this episode, Sara's aunt Janet is campaigning in the Avonlea area for women's suffrage after being inspired by a speech made by a famous suffragette. Meanwhile, workers at the local cannery are experiencing terrible work conditions and receiving low pay for their work. One employee loses her job because she can't perform it to the owner's standards. Inspired by Janet's campaign to give the vote to women, her fellow employees--many of whom are also female--go on strike to demand better pay and working conditions. It would be the only episode that would deal with an issue relevant to the series' time.

post-avonlea woes

After season two, Sarah wanted out of the series, as she was ready to move on to other things. However, she had signed a five-year contract, so she had to fulfill it. "I've sort of asked to be written down quite a bit, and eventually out. Maybe I'll never work for Sullivan Films or Disney [again] but I don't feel like I'm going to be crying a lot about that," she said in a 1994 interview for Performing Arts and Entertainment in Canada. She did two episodes after leaving the series: the sixth season episode "Comings and Goings" and the series finale "So Dear to My Heart".

Yet, even after leaving the series, she felt like she was still in the shadow of her Avonlea image.

....Avonlea was an instant success--not least because it appealed to the monstrously beige North American appetite for middle-of-the-road morality. Disney syndicated the show worldwide, bringing Polley into millions of homes.
While that early success might have thrilled a typical actor, it only intensified Polley's ambivalence about her own identity. After six seasons on the show, she became permanently saddled with the persona of the saccarine, perky Stanley character--a complete antithesis of her real personality....
Two years after her Avonlea stint, she is still regularly approached by mothers and their daughters--the show's core fans--who expect her to be as genteel as the TV Sara. She struggles not to disappoint. "I'm like, 'Oh, hi! That's really nice!' I'm so sweet to them," she says with a laugh. "I just become that person because I feel some sort of responsibility to these [fans]. Then I always end up walk away going, 'F*ck! Why do I do that? F*ck me!'"
Shift magazine; January 1998; "Sarah Polley Is Acting Up"

In an interview for CBC's The National Magazine which aired in January 1996, Sarah recalled another approach by a fan to reporter Laurie Brown. During a break in filming a movie, she was hanging out with the director, smoking a cigarette (it was required of her character; Sarah is not a smoker in real life), cursing up a storm, and "being really rude", in her words. She was then approached by a young girl who was brought to the set by her father to meet and watch Sarah.

As soon as I saw her, I just...put out the cigarette; and I was really, like, polite and really kinda like who I am on Avonlea; and I was sorta, like, embarrased by myself to myself...'cause I thought, 'Y'know, why do I have to do that whole little sweet thing?' But I guess I do feel some kind of responsibility to be, like, really pure or something.
CBC's The National Magazine; January 1996

Sarah also noted that she didn't expect to have the reaction she did upon seeing the young girl on the set.

These encounters were not restricted to Canadian soil, however. In 2000, Sarah was in Iceland filming No Such Thing. In another interview she mentioned she could not escape from fans of Road to Avonlea there, as it was a very popular series in Iceland.

It's somewhat understandable that she would have the reactions she did. After all, the character of Sara Stanley was a sort of inspiration to minions of young girls; and she is a favourite amongst series fans, past and present (myself included). This image has seemed to be ripped to shreds in more recent times, with some of the roles she has taken on since the late 1990s, along with her political activism, and--of course--with her recent statements about the series.

rappor with castmates

In various behind-the-scenes snippets filmed during the series' run, it is quite obvious that Sarah got along with her castmates very well.

Sarah Polley and I were childhood friends, best friends. Then we just kind of drifted apart. She left the show and we lost contact with each other. We talk now and then and I keep up on her through Cedric [Smith]. She’s extremely busy.
RTA castmate Zachary Bennett (Felix King), 1999

In more recent times, one could say she still has a fondness for her castmates.

In 2001, at the Gemini Awards, Sarah presented the Earle Grey Award to TV aunt Jackie Burroughs. During her presentation, she spoke of how the two of them got along, as well as of her recollections of stuff Jackie did during filming. While speaking of these experiences, Sarah's body language and tone of voice was upbeat, like she was having fun. In November 2005, Sarah had the opportunity to fête Jackie again, this time at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards held in Ottawa. Again, Sarah's recollections were positive.

In May 2006, she ~~will~~ was slated to be appearing with Jackie, as well as with co-stars Mag Ruffman and RH Thomson, and series creator/producer Kevin Sullivan (and others) at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto to discuss whether or not Road to Avonlea was accurate from a historic point of view. This "reunion" of sorts was organized by Mag, who used to do work at the museum. However, Sarah had to back out due to a press tour in Europe.

So why is it that she could still have fond memories of her castmates but have so much bile against the series--one that many say made her famous?

the fans

Many of Sarah's fans first saw her on Road to Avonlea. On learning of what Sarah has said about the series, some have concluded that her negative comments are an insult to everyone who has worked on the series--cast and crew alike--as well as to the series' fans, disregarding any positive comments and memories she has recalled and, perhaps, even her post-series success. At least one fan has vowed they will never view another project of hers again because of what she said.

However, one could say that she didn't start getting a larger fanbase until she broke out in the 1997 film The Sweet Hereafter, which won hoards of critical acclaim worldwide, introduced Sarah to an even wider audience, gave her her first two Genie nominations, and showed the fans of her work as a child that she could make the transition to adult roles successfully. To those newer fans, one can assume her thoughts of her Road to Avonlea days don't matter.

the deconstruction

I think her negative attitude toward the series was brought on by three main things...

1) Losing her mother, coupled with her anger toward having to draw upon any of the grief she felt during that time while acting out scenes on Road to Avonlea...and having all this happen during her formative years.

2) Her belief that Disney's involvement in RTA made it more sanitized, if you will, and less historically accurate than she believed was necessary.

3) Not being able to leave the show when she wanted to.

She and her castmates didn't have much input in regards to scripts and storylines, nor did most of them have much say-so when it came to their contracts. If I were a cast member, I would definitely be frustrated at least, angry at worst. In those regards, I think most of Sarah's qualms are justified.

Also consider the basis for the series: the works of Lucy Maud Montgomery, particularly The Story Girl, The Golden Road, Chronicles of Avonlea, and Further Chronicles of Avonlea. While all four books had a basis in history, none of them were necessarily historically accurate, either. Maud didn't choose to focus on historical events when writing them; many of the events in them--particularly in The Story Girl, which she considered her favourite book--stem from incidents that happened in her life at various times (visiting family in Park Corner, working for a newspaper in Halifax, etc.). (The only novel Maud ever wrote that had a lot of basis in reality was Rilla of Ingleside, which was set in World War I.) Taking this into consideration makes Sarah's criticisms even more valid.

As for fans' attitudes toward her remarks, generally speaking, I believe they're angry only because they don't want to accept the fact that Sarah does, in fact, have a critical opinion of the series--specifically, one that contradicts their own. I also think they have this unspoken rule that, because she is so well-known now (more so than any of her other castmates, in fact), she's supposed to paint a rose-coloured picture of a series she didn't like doing for everyone else, rather that allowing her to express the truth about her thoughts of working on it, even if they don't agree with what she says. Doing so, to them, would be tantamount to committing the "unpardonable sin". Lastly, to be blunt, deciding to boycott her work simply because she didn't like Road to Avonlea is an incredibly stupid thing to do.

finally...

Does one expect other actors to like every movie, series, or play they've ever done? Of course not. This should be no different. Last I checked, Sarah Polley is still a human being, just like you and I; and, like all human beings, she should be entitled to have her own opinions, even when it comes to Road to Avonlea. Also, the last time I checked, actors were supposed to be appreciated, respected, and admired for their talent...and Sarah is still superbly talented. Let's re-direct our energy toward that.