Lazy remakes and everything in between

Illustration by Brooke Berry

Reboots of movies or television programs are sometimes welcomed with open arms or shunned with closed eyes, but they are made regardless. Their success with audiences can be measured by the quality of the script, the quality of the cast or by how easily they can slip into the recesses of the viewers’ mind to bring about fond memories.

Rivkah Gamble is the coordinator for the Office of Inclusion, a self-proclaimed Disney fanatic and a general movie lover. Gamble said that the issue with Disney reboots in particular is that the movies aim to be too realistic.

“Art is imitation and that’s supposed to be flattering, but I really would love to see something new,” Gamble said. “I watched all of the originals and I loved them and I don’t want to see them again 30 years later.”

Sometimes Gamble enjoys the remakes of beloved Disney classics, however, it’s a rare occasion. Gamble believes that content should usually be left alone and that remakes tend to be lazy.

“I know there are people on the complete other end of the spectrum and they say that it’s re-contextualizing for a new generation,” Gamble said. “No one really expects a mermaid to come out of the ocean ever, so you don’t have to fix that part of the film. With ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ that wasn’t Stockholm syndrome, it was a fantasy.”

Gamble also gave her opinion on the fourth remake of “A Star is Born,” which stars Stefani “Lady Gaga” Germanotta and Bradley Cooper.

“[Jackson Maine] is successful band director, his career starts to stagnate,” Gamble said. “He finds this new, fresh talent and takes [Ally] under his wing. They fall in love, they’re alcoholics, his career fails and her’s doesn’t. He falls into a slump and kills himself. How many times can you keep making this movie?”

Senior Willy Torres is passionate about all areas of film, but said he feels that sometimes the creators of biopics, for example, simply aim to win an Academy Award, rather than try to capture the essence of the character that is being portrayed on film. He said he wants all reboots to succeed, but for that to happen, a new element has to exist that wasn’t present in the original.

“I feel like sometimes those reboots and remakes happen because Hollywood knows it’s a good time for nostalgia,” Torres said. “It’s a good time to get people back in the seats because it reminds them of a certain era.”

Even though Torres said he sometimes questions the intent of a movie or television show reboot, he wants these films and shows to succeed when they’re created. Torres said he’s an optimistic filmmaker because he had to learn to be able to find the qualities that are attractive in all films, even if they aren’t deemed as anything spectacular.

“I do really love when you get to sit back and watch a dumb comedy movie that doesn’t take itself so seriously,” Torres said. “I think that’s the merit of all movies, there’s always something good in them. That’s my hope with the reboots and remakes, even though maybe their biggest problem is capturing the one signature quality that makes the original so great.”

Senior Kameryon Grey is also a film student and self-proclaimed movie and television connoisseur. He said that he’s always excited to see the outcome. However, there is a “Scarface” reboot in the making and Grey said that it’s a classic film that should just be left alone. He said that because he is a fan, he’ll probably go see it for curiosity purposes, which is what draws most people to the theaters to see reboots.

Grey believes that in terms of Disney television, everything is the same. He said the only difference now is in the way that the scriptwriters present characters and concepts to young viewers.

“They are educating children in a more sophisticated way,” Grey said. “I think it’s the same, actor-wise, propaganda; it’s the same stuff.”

Torres also said there are ways to create a reboot without completely copying the original. He said filmmakers just need to look in other places sometimes.

“Take ‘Creed,’ you didn’t have to make another ‘Rocky,’ all you had to do was take that universe and add a whole other character to it from a different perspective,” Torres said. “All the ‘Rocky’ sequels that happened after the first one, no one really cared about them. It took ‘Creed’ for everyone to be like ‘finally, a new story.’”

Despite Gamble, Torres and Grey’s stances on remakes, they all agreed that they are extremely excited for the “Lion King” reboot because of the filmmakers involved, the cast and music that they hope will be similar the original soundtrack.

This article was originally published in The Lumberjack Newspaper and on Jackcentral.org