I want to start by saying that it's not creepy that I wanted these two kids to grow up and fall in love. Yes, I know that they're kids; yes, I know that they're fictional; and yes, I know that Frances Hodgson Burnett really didn't intend for me to find romance in the story of a 10-year-old orphan moving into a house on the moors of England.
Can't a girl just have an opinion?
Actually, I act like there's been much debate over this, when there's really been no discussion whatsoever. Let's open that up now, shall we?
For posterity, let's go over the basics. Ten-year-old Mary Lennox grew up living in India with her parents. When they die in an earthquake, she's taken in by her estranged, hunchbacked uncle in England, where she is left relatively alone. It sounds pretty innocent, actually, but what's great about The Secret Garden is how rude and surly Mary is for being a little girl. Absolutely no one finds her pleasant really, and sure, I guess we can excuse it as a result of being taken from her home in India, away from parents who neglected her anyway. It's actually pretty dark in the books.
I mean, everyone dies in the first few pages, except her! She lives off of the dinner set the night of the earthquake, taking pieces and hiding, so when she's finally found, she's not even pleasant to people. She stays this way for a good bit of the plot, feeling self-important, so when she meets her sick cousin, who's been catered to by everyone at the house during his father's absence, you just have two brats trying to take each other down. Or really, you have Mary taking none of his excuses, and Colin Craven constantly trying to bring her to heel. It's a very small power struggle, and Mary's usually the winner, mainly because Colin thinks he's resigned to a bath chair for the rest of his life.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't love Colin Craven. He's adorably nonsensical and selfish, and he makes great faces like this:
Side note, if you've seen this version, doesn't it seem like this boy can play a young Hugh Grant?
Right?
Anywho, what Mary needs is someone like Dickon. He's dependable and patient. He loves to garden and has a way with animals, again, patient! Granted, he's below her as far as station goes, but that shouldn't matter to them in a few years, because following the war, Downton Abbey has taught me that the old social structure will see changes.
And Colin's her cousin. I know that that was a different time and everything, but that in itself should put her off. In the movie version, Colin even proposes to her (sort of, for a ten-year-old anyway), and Mary looks appalled and reminds him of their relationship, which Colin scoffs at, claiming not to care. Okay, son, granted you've run Misselthwaite from your bed for years, but you can't just make something like marrying your cousin okay. Even Mary's upset at the idea.
Perhaps it's her harbored feelings for Dickon?
Maybe this is a non-issue. I'm sure there are many tumblrs and fan blogs dedicated out there to Dickon and Mary being the OTP, but I'm just upset over versions I stumbled upon that set up Mary and Colin as some sort of inevitable. Such as this scene from a 1980's version, where Colin Firth plays a grown up Colin. Warning: I do not support this.
Then there's the Return to the Secret Garden which stars Camilla Belle and her eyebrows. Though Colin and Mary aren't in it, they are mentioned to be married and traveling. Eugh! Hollywood get this straight, please!
Just because Dickon doesn't have the money or the mansion, Mary just ends up with Colin! Dickon's got freedom and he rides a horse without a saddle like a G. He knows how to talk to animals! And understands planting! Mary needs a guy she can depend on, not someone who would boss her around like Colin.
Oh well. They are ten and twelve and fictional, and I can always take comfort in this Mary and Dickon statue in Central Park. It's just proof that they are meant to be and also that I'm right.
Look at that maintained eye-contact. Feel that romantic tension. That swing can't hold all of that.