Nerdy nostalgia and a
quick and easy way to produce a new show or film means reboots are becoming an
increasing go to for media producers. After all, you already have a proven
recipe for success and a presumed established fanbase that will already flock to
the new creation. Win, win, right?
Well, let’s just say
not every fan is quick to rush to praising a reboot - and there have been
definitely poorly executed ones as well. But I think there’s also an almost
reflexive resistance; that same nostalgia that can make reboots so attractive
can also make devoted fans demand a level of purity which a reboot both can’t
achieve - but shouldn’t. It’s similar to the same purists who turn out every
time a book is turned into a film - just look a the Lord of the Rings fans who
demand everything - including the endless, songs and Tom Bombadil added to the
Lord of the Rings Movies. This should be proof that a dedicated purist is
willing to suffer for their faithful adaptation
I am actually a fan
of reboots. As a lover of long series - both in terms of books and television
series. But eventually everything reaches an end - and we’ve all seen series
that should have ended so very very long ago. A reboot gives the opportunity to
explore this world and characters but without quite so much of the baggage that
any long running series is dragged down; it gives these concepts chance to
return, chance to be updated and chance to explored in new directions - after
all, every storyline taken inevitably cuts off other possibilities. A reboot
allows the exploration of the path not taken.
It can also be used
directly to revitalise a long running series: like we just saw on Once Upon
a Time trying to revitalise the series (albeit unsuccessfully), recognising
when these characters’ storylines and this particular meta is done and it’s
time to see what else can be done with this world.
But it has to be done
well… and people have to approach them correctly.
Reboots are not
Sequels
Or, aren’t usually.
Sometimes they follow on from the original series, like the various Star Trek
reboots (and I know there are people even now rushing to tell me that Star
Treks are not reboots - but they rather clearly are. Taking the same world, the
same concepts, even if not (necessarily) the same characters and building
something new. The foundations are the same, the concepts are the same but the
characters and plot is rebooted - and even if they take place in the same world
there is enough time and space between each production of the franchise to make
them decidedly separate entities. They’re not sequels - which seems to
disappoint fans.
Whenever a reboot is
proposed one of the regular complaints I see is fans of the original wanting a
continuation of that. Look at the drama around the Charmed reboot, many
people are upset because the new Charmed witches are not the Halliwell sisters
and not continuing their story. And no matter what was produced, ultimately the
fact they’re not those original sisters means fans rebel. We’ll see something
similar with Buffy - they don’t need a reboot, they want the old story to
continue. But I ask you to take off the rose coloured glasses of nostalgia and
ask… really? Because, well, really? Do you remember late season Charmed
and Buffy? These weren’t Firefly, cancelled before their time
 |
| (never forgive, never forget) |
No, these shows ran
on and on and on and on and ended because WE STOPPED WATCHING THEM. If the
ratings were still high, if the producers were still coining it in, if we were
truly that excited about seeing their stories continue, then they’d still be on
air until the sun explodes
 |
| It's the show that never ends, it goes on and on my friend |
But they’re not. They
were cancelled; clearly these original stories weren’t doing it for us. But
maybe new stories in the same world could bring you the same joy that that nostalgia
clings to without the crushing disappointment that an actual continuation of
those storylines we apparently long since lost interest in could bring.
Which also brings me
to another way reboots can go very wrong:
Don’t be shackled by
the old
You’re making
something new with this world/concept/characters - right. Do it. Make something
new; because if you’re clinging too much to the old? Well, as I said, there’s a
reason we stopped watching. A reboot shouldn’t look like a bad copy - it needs
to be a fresh start; go big or go home. And this is one of the main issues that
Once Upon a Time’s reboot had: we got a new story working on the same
concept, new characters - Adult Henry, Jacinda, Lucy, Tiana, Alice, Victoria,
Drizilla, Gothel with which to tell this story… and then you had to drop
Regina, Rumple, Killian and Zelena in there
I love these
characters, of course I do, they’re fan favourites. But this is a reboot and
I’m supposed to be investing in Henry, Jacinda et al but they can’t possibly compete
with the more compelling, more established characters. These new characters
never had a chance to establish themselves or attract a following because the
scene was stolen by these old favourites. The show wasn’t brave enough to do a
true reboot; followed the fan favourites around while still maintaining the
fiction that Henry and Jacinda are the protagonists.
This applies to the
audience as well - as fans we need to approach these shows without all the
expectations and demands of the previous incarnations of the show. Just as you
can’t what Next Generation while also pouting that there’s no Spock and Kirk.
No we’re not going to get the old Buffy or the Halliwell sisters and maybe no
Willow can match Allison Hannigan for you - but the reboot is not the old show;
and out memories of these old shows are fraught with our rose tinted nostalgia
glasses. Especially when we talk repeatedly (as fandom often does) about how
much these shows meant to us, how important they were, even how revolutionary
they were: that is a bar nothing can compete with and we’re going to lose shows
that could be as awesome - or revolutionary to someone else - because we refuse
to accept this concept can be reworked unless it matches our skewed memories of
the original show
And on being
revolutionary...
Updates are Necessary
This is especially
true of shows where one of their major selling points was how original and
progressive they were. Being the first is important and, again, nostalgia makes
us look back on a lot of shows with happy rose coloured glasses. But being the
first ages really quickly- and just like a lot of millennials binge watching Friends
have discovered, old beloved shows can come with a whole lot of really nasty, bigoted baggage with an overwhelming amount
of homophobia.
We’ve all read the
many many many pieces on how limited Joss Whedon’s feminism is and, looking
back, there are definitely issues with Willow and the show’s pretty much
non-existant racial inclusion.
And I can perfectly
understand why Holly Marie Combes takes issue with the Charmed reboot
being described as “feminist” Charmed implying that the old Charmed wasn’t.
And clearly we had a story with 3-4 powerful sisters whose sister relationship
defined them and was the overwhelming powerful theme of the show, of course
that was central. But those sisters also spent an awful lot of time focusing on
the men in their lives (my gods how sick was everyone of the Cole storylines or
Phoebe desperate to get pregnant storyline by the end?), the show had pretty
much one token POC who was there for utility more than characterisation and,
despite being set in San Francisco, covering 8 seasons, 178 episodes and
innumerable characters, still managed only one dead lesbian for LGBTQ
inclusion.
This isn’t say these
old shows are terrible - but just like the original Star Trek was hailed for
it’s progressive nature in the 1960s but looked through a modern lens has
several…. Rather glaring problems, so to do many of these revolutionary shows
we remember with nostalgia. Rebooting can make take these concepts we fell in
love with, bring them back for a new audience - and not just a younger audience
but also a more diverse audience. I can’t think of many of my peers who didn’t
watch Friends - but those who didn’t (myself included) were LGBTQ people
who were just TIRED of the homophobic nonsense (and no, this wasn’t just young
millennial outrage, there were plenty of LGBTQ people back in the day who were
unimpressed as well - but no-one listened to us). What was revolutionary,
personally defining and vitally important to you deserves a chance to be
important to others - even tro be accessible to others who were previously
driven away. You loved this show and it was defining? Well let’s have the
chance to remake it so it is as defining and powerful and meaningful to others.
