Melissa Gilbert revealed why she made an effort not to address Netflix’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie.
“I’m sitting here at a farm in Pennsylvania trying to enjoy my morning ritual. … I say trying to enjoy my morning ritual but something is really nagging at me this morning,” Gilbert, 62, recently wrote via Substack. “I have remained silent since the release of the new version of Little House on the Prairie.”
Gilbert said there were “two reasons” she didn’t speak out about the project.
“Honestly, I’m afraid that I am unable to be fully objective because I am too deeply involved to weigh in without emotion,” she noted. “Second, I really don’t think it is my place to weigh in. The audience’s reactions should speak for themselves. Critics and pundits be damned.”
Based on the beloved book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie follows the Ingalls family, who live on a farm on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the late 1800s.
Gilbert starred as Laura on the original series alongside Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and Melissa Sue Anderson, decades before the Netflix version introduced Alice Halsey, Luke Bracey, Crosby Fitzgerald and Skywalker Hughes.
Though she initially kept quiet, Gilbert wanted to join in on the conversation about the latest take on the childhood classic.
“If you are like me and still crave the actual, real, one hundred percent truth, then I suggest you watch, what I consider to be the definitive documentary on the subject of Laura Ingalls Wilder,” she continued. “That documentary is PBS Laura Ingalls Wilder; From the Prairie to the Page.”
Gilbert urged fans of the series to form their own opinions on new versions of the story.
“I hope this helps to clarify things a bit. I truly believe there is lots and lots of room for many stories to come out of the Little House universe for decades to come,” she wrote. “Maybe some day, someone will do a version that is word for word and scene for scene the books Laura wrote. Maybe someone will take the whole thing in a different direction and in a different timeline. Who knows.”
She continued: “The important thing is that the core tenets of Laura’s stories continue to resonate today. Those are, to be kind, to be charitable, patient, tolerant, open, curious, loving. To support those in need. To care for, nurture and love one’s family. To respect nature. and be grateful for her bountiful gifts. To love God and each other.”
Little House on the Prairie is streaming now.
