Current Events > Diversifying old stories is hard.

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Batman is the easiest story to diversify. Even if you set the story in the 1940s, New York City (Gotham) has always has been the most diverse location in America. I've no doubt that Bruce Wayne could have a Japanese karate instructor, a Black auto mechanic, and a lesbian Latina friend even then.

Frankenstein is probably the most difficult story to diversify. If you're going by the movies, Henry Frankenstein lived in 1800s Germany. If you're going by the novel, Victory Frankenstein lived in 1800s Sweden. What are you gonna do, give the monster green skin and have him portrayed by a Black actor under all of that makeup?

Everything else falls somewhere in-between.

I keep coming back to thoughts of what the cast would be like if I could do a film adaptation of Dracula, Robin Hood, or King Kong. I generally prefer changing character ethnicity to introducing new characters, but I understand the latter is sometimes necessary as well.

Sure, people get mad when characters change ethnicity between adaptations. They also get mad when you introduce original characters for reasons of inclusion. If it's all the same, I'd just as soon keep the original cast and have some of the characters look different than to displace old characters for the sake of including new ones. I'd rather Dracula have an Arthur Holmwood who's Black than to replace Arthur with Joe from America.

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If it were easy, it wouldn't be a story worth telling.

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I can appreciate a bit of a challenge.

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You shouldn't diversify your story if it doesn't make sense to...

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Or just make a new movie instead of painstakingly remaking everything simply for the sake of diversity. Everything is some kind of remake now. Are game/movie/TV writers really so bad that they cant just make something new? This is the most unoriginal time in US history.

southcoast09 posted...

Or just make a new movie instead of painstakingly remaking everything simply for the sake of diversity. Everything is some kind of remake now. Are game/movie/TV writers really so bad that they cant just make something new? This is the most unoriginal time in US history.

Sadly, it's not a lack of creativity.

At least I don't think so. I think it's about keeping money out of the hands of people who don't have it already. All of the superhero movies are based off of properties that are more than a half-century old. That keeps the money in the pockets of those who already have it. If you or I came up with the next Star Wars, that would mean the studio would have to share some of the wealth. And I think the producers would sooner recycle the same properties without having to pay for new ones.

It's pretty disgusting, but that's where I think the business model has gone.

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Hamilton seemed to do it pretty easily.

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That said, there's plenty to be gained from remakes if they're done well.

One justification of remakes is simply sharing a story with people who don't want to go back and watch old movies.

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BilalPowell posted...

Hamilton seemed to do it pretty easily.

Hamilton is literally musical theater with the founder fathers singing R&B and Hip Hop. It's a little different than a faithful adaptation of Frankenstein.

If you are going for a realistic take in order to immerse your audience in the setting, then you should be faithful to the demographics.

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