I don’t doubt that part of it is simple smugness, in that some unknown little journalist from some minor outlet no one reads in 2023 can feel like they’re superior to the long-dead famous author of the beloved work that’s being “updated for modern audiences.” Same again with the directors and actors of the updates. You can also sense that what they really want to say is “we made this better!”
And I feel like they are so deep into the cause that they are honestly surprised and think you are a bad person if you want to see a more faithful adaptation. Also they are honestly shocked when all those things fail
I almost don’t even think there is a fail state though, they’re so deep in the cause as you say, that if a woke-ified movie bombs they can’t admit defeat but take recourse in the argument thst it bombed because other people are racist and need even more “modern audiences” adaptations to fix them. The movement did seem to acknowledge that its attempted Hogwarts Legacy boycott backfired, but I’ve never seen such a moment of clarity around movies/TV generally as opposed to games, or around anything where they supported the thing rather than opposed it.
We live in a time where knowing the source material is considered "problematic"
I know! Add to that the shill media with articles like “this show craps all over the source material and that’s a good thing”
I don’t doubt that part of it is simple smugness, in that some unknown little journalist from some minor outlet no one reads in 2023 can feel like they’re superior to the long-dead famous author of the beloved work that’s being “updated for modern audiences.” Same again with the directors and actors of the updates. You can also sense that what they really want to say is “we made this better!”
And I feel like they are so deep into the cause that they are honestly surprised and think you are a bad person if you want to see a more faithful adaptation. Also they are honestly shocked when all those things fail
I almost don’t even think there is a fail state though, they’re so deep in the cause as you say, that if a woke-ified movie bombs they can’t admit defeat but take recourse in the argument thst it bombed because other people are racist and need even more “modern audiences” adaptations to fix them. The movement did seem to acknowledge that its attempted Hogwarts Legacy boycott backfired, but I’ve never seen such a moment of clarity around movies/TV generally as opposed to games, or around anything where they supported the thing rather than opposed it.
the point isn't just that it's "source material from a prior era" but that the source material actually made sense. this doesn't.