From Mav: So a few weeks ago I made a random observation on Facebook about the upcoming Crow movie. Basically, I argued that if you were really and truly upset with the redesign of Eric Draven then you were being old and out of touch. Because the weird androgynous goth mime that barely made sense 35 years ago would be non-sensical as a character design if this were a new character today. The Crow is a counterculture superhero. And if he really had his origins in 2024, then he SHOULD look more like Twenty One Pilots than Nine Inch Nails. You don’t have to like it… but that’s how it is. Just like in 1995, we were updating the look of the X-men from what they looked like in the 1960s. That’s just how cool works! And that’s how current works. If you want to make a movie “new” then you can’t make it “just like it was the first time” because that’s what “new” means.
But that begs the question, “why do we need to remake movies anyway?” This is sort of an extension on the episode we did about cover songs a few weeks ago. But I want to consider it for movies. Because somehow, it actually feels a little different?
There have always been movie remakes. Actually, there have always been story remakes… adaptations. When I’m teaching adaptation theory in class, I always point out that even for the most famous stories, it really has never been about “the original”. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a remake of Arthur Brooke’s Romeus and Juliet, which is an adaptation itself. Even if we want to stick to famous films, The Maltese Falcon from 1941 is actually a remake of a 1931 film adaptation of the 1930 book and Gaslight from 1944 is a remake of a 1940 adaptation of the 1938 play, and anyone who tells you any different is lying to you!
Sometimes it’s easy to understand the frustration. When you have a situation like the recent race swapping The Little Mermaid for the live adaptation or the all female reboot of Ghostbusters in 2016, I get it. When you can say “ok, sexism and racism” and the people complaining are pretty good about confirming that they are sexist and racist, there’s not really much mystery. And I also understand the outrage (well, such that it is) with something like the recent animated reboot/continuation of Good Times that Netflix released. It just feels… well, minstrelish in a lot of ways. It misses the mark and doesn’t nail the underprivileged representation target the way I think it wants to.
But that’s not really the case for something like the Crow. Or is it? Do we really care that much one way or the other about representation for emo, edge lord, goth white male youth? Maybe we do! Because now that I’m thinking about it, there was backlash like this against my beloved Riverdale for being too edgy and sexy and not “the real Archies” even before it premiered. And that turned out out to be the best show on television. Right? Right?!?!
So is it just that we fear change? Or maybe there’s more to it. What other examples can you think of good or bad? Why do you think we do this? Is there value in it, or is just pointless cash grabs based on vaguely recognizable IP? Let us know your thoughts in the comments so we can talk about them on the show.
I think there’s value in it if you’re able to modernize it or tell a story in a more mature way than you could previously, stuff like that. I really dig adaptations and/or reboots to see what people do differently.
While not a film, Final Fantasy 7 is currently doing something along these lines with their “remake trilogy” of the original playstation game. Taking the time to weave in story elements from all these spin-offs and “expanded universe” things that didn’t exist in the original to make a cohesive whole. I think it’s especially cool but there are plenty of people who dislike it because it changed too much or doesn’t play the same.
I think there’s a big reluctance about change but I think people revisit these things because it’s like a nostalgic comfort food. If it changes too much or in a specific way (ie character design, gender swaps, etc.) that shatters the nostalgia for them.
I think there’s value in it if you’re able to modernize it or tell a story in a more mature way than you could previously, stuff like that. I really dig adaptations and/or reboots to see what people do differently.
While not a film, Final Fantasy 7 is currently doing something along these lines with their “remake trilogy” of the original playstation game. Taking the time to weave in story elements from all these spin-offs and “expanded universe” things that didn’t exist in the original to make a cohesive whole. I think it’s especially cool but there are plenty of people who dislike it because it changed too much or doesn’t play the same.
I think there’s a big reluctance about change but I think people revisit these things because it’s like a nostalgic comfort food. If it changes too much or in a specific way (ie character design, gender swaps, etc.) that shatters the nostalgia for them.
I think there’s value in it if you’re able to modernize it or tell a story in a more mature way than you could previously, stuff like that. I really dig adaptations and/or reboots to see what people do differently.
While not a film, Final Fantasy 7 is currently doing something along these lines with their “remake trilogy” of the original playstation game. Taking the time to weave in story elements from all these spin-offs and “expanded universe” things that didn’t exist in the original to make a cohesive whole. I think it’s especially cool but there are plenty of people who dislike it because it changed too much or doesn’t play the same.
I think there’s a big reluctance about change but I think people revisit these things because it’s like a nostalgic comfort food. If it changes too much or in a specific way (ie character design, gender swaps, etc.) that shatters the nostalgia for them.
I think there’s value in it if you’re able to modernize it or tell a story in a more mature way than you could previously, stuff like that. I really dig adaptations and/or reboots to see what people do differently.
While not a film, Final Fantasy 7 is currently doing something along these lines with their “remake trilogy” of the original playstation game. Taking the time to weave in story elements from all these spin-offs and “expanded universe” things that didn’t exist in the original to make a cohesive whole. I think it’s especially cool but there are plenty of people who dislike it because it changed too much or doesn’t play the same.
I think there’s a big reluctance about change but I think people revisit these things because it’s like a nostalgic comfort food. If it changes too much or in a specific way (ie character design, gender swaps, etc.) that shatters the nostalgia for them.