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| Dirty Dancing-1987 |
The way I see it, there are two ways to be certain that a film is great; one, you can pin-point the exact moment you first saw the film and in a sense, the film literally leaves an imprint in both your memory and even your life. You remember how old you were, who you were with, and where you were when you first saw it. Or, you never remember a time in which the film wasn't part of your life. Some films are so significant that it seems that there was never a time in your life when you weren't watching it. These characters have become best friends, with whom you've fallen in love with, traveled with, and even spoken with, as you can remember by heart the lines and dialogue from the film, that you have recited on countless occasions. It is very difficult to say which way is more powerful, but both become indicative of representing truly amazing and classic films.
With this thought it mind, I couldn't help but think about my growing frustration with the recent bombardment of recycled films. The Karate Kid, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, About Last Night, and Grease...all films that hold a cherished place in my heart and are significant in one of the ways I originally discussed. These classics in my mind are now being ripped to shreds by the film industry and for what reason? To make more money. All of these films have become iconic pop culture films, that have been re-released half a dozen times, and continue to make the film industry millions of dollars. Why can't this be enough?
The reason why we love these films are for there originality! There ability to take chances and give audiences story lines that haven't been done before! By remaking these films we are taking away there imagination and brilliance. It's as simple as that. And not to mention characters that can't be replaced by other actors. These films have become so ingrained in our minds that we can not picture other actors playing these iconic roles. In a sense, they have become stereotyped. Can you imagine Justin Timberlake saying, “Nobody puts baby in a corner?” Or the cast of Glee singing songs like, “Summer Lovin'” or “Grease Lightning” together on the big screen for anything other than an episode on there show? No. Because not only does it not make sense, no one can take it seriously! What happened to our imagination's or lack there of, that we are now being forced to carbon copy the classics?
Dirty Dancing was innovative for it's time because it featured a woman who not only got pregnant out of wed-lock, but also had an abortion. Patrick Swayze's character is close to thirty, while Jennifer Grey plays a seventeen year old girl. Do you think that parents want to take children to theaters to see a movie, made by the creators of High School Musical, I might add, and watch Selena Gomez get it on with Matt Damon? No, because even to adults that is creepy, not to mention that in today's society it would be considered robbing the cradle! And changing just a few of the story lines would change the entire film, taking away from the film's original integrity. And what would we be left with, another teeny bopper High School Musical...because I can see why we would need more of those.
As a moviegoer, I can not criticize the film industry for re-releasing films in the theaters to make more money, because I love going to see these classic films in the theater over and over again. With this it gives viewers an even bigger sense of comrodery. Yesterday I sat in a theater, filled with over a hundred people, from ages of about one to sixty-five, while everyone sang the song “Hakuna Matata” together like a chorus line. As a lover of film it gave me goose bumps and sent chills down my spine. It makes the film all the more special to it's viewers.
With that being said, it's not necessary to remake these films. Simply follow along in the footsteps of Disney and re-release it in theaters for a short length of time. In classic works of literature like Shakespeare and Jane Austen, no one would ever dare say, “Wow, we've really made a lot of money in the past from these works, let's find someone to re-write them and we'll re-release them to the public.” That would be insane! And like those classic novels or poetry, classic films also shouldn't be rewritten. Let moviegoers have imprints of there favorite films, characters, and quotes in there minds. Don't try to reinvent them. They are classics for a reason.
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| The Lion King-1994 |
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| Grease-1978 |
I agree and disagree with your assessment of remakes/reimaginings/re-releases. I'm not a huge fan of the "originality" argument when it comes to remaking things, because 1.) Everything is based in something else, it's just the way creativity works and 2.) Hollywood has very rarely had an original idea, and when they did no one wanted to see it.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most popular movies of all time, that many people think are original stories, aren't. Wizard of Oz? Based on a book. Jaws? Based on a book. Gone with the Wind? Book. Citizen Kane? Orson Welles would swear it's original, but it's based off of William Randolph Hearst's life. And the list goes on...
People also like to talk about spin-offs, or remakes and reboots happening too soon. That's been happening since the early days of film. When the sound boom hit almost every popular movie was remade. Alfred Hitchcock directed a few movies late in his career that he had already done early in his career. Charlie Chaplin used the same character in all of his films, so does that make each one a spin-off? What of the Abbott and Costello films? Those are considered classics, and certainly they have a certain merit, but in reality it was just two comedians being put into movies with other famous actors/brands and going from there.
As for Footloose, or The Karate Kid - you have to think about the generation that is growing up now. Sometimes these things are remade in order to introduce the story/character/themes to a new generation of people that are too young to have seen the original, and may have an aversion to "old" movies (90% of the general population, that is). This gets right to the heart of your article - What 13 year old would go see a re-release of The Breakfast Club unless their parent's introduced them to it? I would even venture to say they wouldn't go see a re-release of something like The Goonies, even though a movie like that is tailored for them. Instead, they get Super 8 with all of its updated effects and its popular director. Which was basically what The Goonies was in the 80's. How would a youth of the new generation even relate to re-releases of those films when they were made for the previous generations?
There's also the case for better filmmaking techniques. A lot of movies are remade simply because the filmmakers of the original didn't have the resources we do today. Sometimes this is a good thing (The Fly remake as opposed to the original The Fly with Vincent Price), other times it's a disaster (the new Day the Earth Stood Still). Some movies will never be remade or rebooted, such as Casablanca because there's no need to. It stands on its own. The writing, acting, and effects all hold up. Same with Wizard of Oz.
Sorry to rant, but it's been a pet peeve of mine for a while when bloggers and the general public act like remakes or a general lack of originality in Hollywood is a new thing. Not to mention, at the end of the day, the consumer is the one who decides what Hollywood makes with their money. We just keep telling them to make Transformers movies instead of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Our bads.