I know most of us have made fun of, or lamented, the various forms of media and their obsession with making new forms of the same story over and over. Whether it’s yet another adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, or DC Comics pushing the reset button on darn near their whole continuity, or a carefully constructed Biblical allegory, all of this has happened before (and all of this will happen again). But it shouldn’t be a bad thing!
The fact that a new version of something is made does not damage any previous expression of it…unless YOU let it. Author Daniel Abraham, when commenting on this subject, uses Batman (and especially the Joker) in his examples. Does the Adam West/Cesar Romero 60s camp somehow invalidate the darker/’grittier’ portrayals in the Nolan movies? Does Peter Jackson remaking King Kong (again) mean that Fay Wray was never taken to the top of the Empire State Building? If you want to get upset at the latest remake (say, Footloose or Dirty Dancing), wait at least until you know if the movie or show or book is actually BAD. Why miss Batman Begins or The Dark Knight, because of what Joel Schumacher did in his movies? So the next time you hear about yet another reboot of a favorite movie, try and keep an open mind about it. You could be pleasantly surprised. And if it sucks, there’s plenty of time to get angry. Just don’t start there.
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