Remake Mistake

Hey, did anyone see The Great Gatsby movie? No, not the one from 1926, or 1949, or 1974, or even the one from 2000, I’m talking about the one that came out about a week ago. And if you did see it, then please try to retain yourself from spoiling the ending for me.

I think the problem with the entertainment industry is that they keep reviving old ideas or even more recent ones. I do want to say that it’s because of a lack of creativity or a need for money, but that’s not very specific, so I broken it down into three categories.

One: Is the writers’ strike over yet? I’m not sure what’s going on at the writers’ department. Maybe the intern kept forgetting to make the pot of coffee each morning and the team could not be asked to come up with an original concept. So they decided to reach into a dusty bin labeled “old, famous titles” took out the first show reel they grabbed, redecorated it with makeup, shiny lights, and Leonardo DiCaprio, and called it a day. Almost like they’re afraid of creating something new at the risk of losing their jobs and being burned at the stake, so they take the safe and easy approach of reusing an old idea that was made famous by someone who WASN’T afraid of creating something new at the risk of etc etc etc.

 Two: The writer is a massive nerd. Like I said, I’m not a fan of fan fiction (hehehe seewhatIdid?) because it shows how much of foamy-mouthed spastics people can be and we can see what happens when foamy-mouthed spastics grow up to be film writers. It almost seems like the writer is too in love with the franchise, trying to redesign their favorite stories into a film in the way their convulsive minds envision it. I mean, it’s exceptional for books since using your imagination is the sole purpose of reading, even if you’re redesigning an old existing idea into a new medium, that’s fine too, but when you’re making a film based on an existing film with the same medium, well, it just doesn't seem necessary. Someone already proved that they could turn a book title into a film, and when you make a film based on a book when there’s already a film that’s based on the same book, then all you’re trying to prove to everyone is how much prettier you can make it.

Three: The George Lucas effect. I hate myself for coming back to this and I know that a lot of you are going to hate me too, but fans, the ones that make fan fictions, are foamy-mouthed spastics who will buy anything if it has their favorite franchise stapled onto it. Film executives understand this and of course will want to manipulate it for some extra dosh. This includes remakes, reboots, redoes, revivals and, of course, sequels, prequels and fecal. Even if they’re bad, people will still pay to see them and then buy the products. Although I don’t blame the executives as much as I blame the fans for influencing the executives into making half-hearted films based on popular things. If there were no fan bases in the world then writers will have to try harder to create something fresh, something to make fictional characters more relatable to the audience. But, like I said before, people are suspicious and uncomfortable when they are introduced to something they aren't familiar with.

I’m not saying that the new Great Gatsby movie is bad, I’m just saying that it’s an old story that mostly everyone read in school. Nobody went to this movie to see what happens, but instead what it looks like, and that’s kind of a step backwards and an insult. It says Hollywood thinks that their audiences all have the attention spans of humming birds and that we need special effects or a naked woman to appear on screen every 5 minutes just to keep us interested.

I talked about the subject to some people who said “Who cares about original content? As long as you’re making money then why bother?” So that’s it then? We've passed the era of art and inspiration and moved on to an era of consumers and commercialism? Because the way I see, I think that society should give more credit to someone who made something new rather than one who merely made a copy, especially in a day and age when trying to come up with new things is becoming more and more difficult. So here’s another question I want to ask you: Would you rather die rich, a wealth that was gained through taking the ideas of others, or would you die poor but content knowing that you successfully created a message that reached a generation?