Rebooting films reflects a lack of creativity
It seems that television and film are always finding new and inventive ways to deliver something great to the audience. Even before the phenomenon that was “Infinity War,” “Endgame” or even the “Game of Thrones” finale, there were groundbreaking television specials and films that brought audiences into a mass frenzy of communication.
Although this may still be the case, nowadays it still seems like we’ve taken a step back when it comes to new ideas and in doing this, the media we consume seems to be declining in quality.
The ’80s and ’90s were cherished decades with recognizable characters and television personalities. It is during these times that ground-breaking areas of film and television were achieved. We were given a wide collection of timeless Disney films,iconic cartoon characters and timeless shows like “Friends,” “Roseanne,”Alf” and Seinfeld.
While there is no doubt that these films and shows have become legendary in their respective areas, why is it that we are now seeing a trend of reboots and remakes of these beloved franchises?
Disney has been one of the leading forces behind this new trend of classic animated features getting live-action remakes. Starting off with Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” the company has been putting out a new live-action adaptation each year after this and even sometimes a few each year.
On top of these, we have seen remakes of “Ghostbusters,” “Men in Black” and “IT,” with even more on the way. In television, we’ve had reboots of “Rocko’s Modern Life,” “Roseanne,” “Grease” and even plans for a “Rugrats” reboot in the nearby future.
When it comes to these reboots, there is a very clear lack of creativity within them. Companies are relying on the nostalgia of the audience by simply polishing up something old and reselling it as something new. Where then do we place the originals in comparison to these remakes? Are they just pieces of old media that needed to be redone to where we eventually in the future refer to only the remakes?
Society and box office reports beg to differ, however. If you check Rotten Tomatoes and compare films such as “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” to their respective remakes, there is a significant drop in their ratings. Along with this, there have been many debates among fanbases concerning these reboots and even controversy upon their arrival.
The biggest examples of this are within the Disney live-action remakes. There is outcry against the changes made to “Mulan” and “The Little Mermaid” alongside the backlash of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” These fans don’t want to see changes done to their beloved franchises especially since societal views have drastically changed since then.
While not all of these reboots are bad, they are still a staple in today’s media. As long as people continue to feed into nostalgia, these companies will continue to reuse and recycle their old franchises. However, there will come a day when nostalgia is simply not going to be enough anymore.
People are always in demand for something new and exciting and one day the media will not have anything to reuse again. Whenever that time comes, I look forward to seeing what new and innovative ideas are brought to the table in the mainstream. However, until then, we reside in the court of reboots.
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