Shabbat Shmooze ~ Messin' wid our memories, yo
A trivial, semi-ranty, insignificant post addressing yet another instance of grossly taking liberties with the lovely classic entertainment embedded in our hearts ~ yeah, add this one to our fear of the potential Disney/Yellow Sub remake disaster:
What eppylover calls
The Rape Rap of Mister Kotter
(Original source here)
By a Heeb Magazine columnist who calls himself JEWDAR
To a certain type of Jew (fine, to Jewdar), Welcome Back, Kotter represents a high point in Jewish TV.
It’s not just that Kotter and (Juan) Epstein were both Jews, but with all the Jewish jokes and Jewish references (like the episode where Kotter helps Epstein quit smoking by recounting the story of his own knish addiction), it has perhaps the highest JQ (that’s “Jew Quotient”) of any show on TV.
So when we hear there’s a cinematic remake in the works, we’re angry. When we hear they are de-Judaizing the character, we’re enraged.
And when we hear that Kotter will now be played by anti-Semitic rapper and Nationalist of Islam Ice Cube, we are ready to take back all the snide remarks we just made about Steven Seagal, if only he’d take every single human being involved with this monstrosity for an express ride on the pain train.
http://www.heebmagazine.com/articles/view/117
Counterpoint: Gabe Kaplan (also see gabekaplan.com), the original Mr.Kotter, apparently has the opposite viewpoint.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/431720/original_kotter_ice_cube_great_pick/
Original 'Kotter': Ice Cube Great Pick
Thursday, 16 March 2006
NEW YORK - Former "Welcome Back, Kotter" creator-star Gabe Kaplan says rapper-actor Ice Cube is a great choice to play his old role in the big-screen remake of the hit 1970s TV series.
In an interview was to air Thursday (March 16, 2006), Kaplan tells "Access Hollywood" he thinks Ice Cube "is the perfect guy... He has shown what kind of crossover appeal he has."
In the TV original, Kaplan portrayed compassionate teacher Gabe Kotter, who returns to his former Brooklyn high school to teach a new generation of troublemakers, including John Travolta's Vinnie Barbarino.
That formula will be updated in Ice Cube's version, which Kaplan feels "will totally be acceptable. I think that the setting is going to be in South Central L.A. He is going to be just like how I was in Brooklyn."
Besides starring as the young teacher, Ice Cube, 36, will also produce the movie, Bob Weinstein, co-president of The Weinstein Company, said in a statement earlier this week. No other casting or release date has been announced.
When "Access" asks about his ideal cast, Kaplan, 60, jokes, "Well, I think Snoop Dogg will play Horshack, Vanilla Ice would play Barbarino... I don't know."
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
Besides, according to RottenTomatoes.com, we should have no worries for several reasons ~
~ just one example among those reasons,
~*~*~ (attention Allison!) ~*~*~
is that the very lovely John Sebastian (see also JohnBSebastian.com) seems to have eagerly jumped on board with a new urban remix of his original theme song for the show.
Ice Cube's Welcome Back, Kotter Waiting On Weinsteins
Meanwhile, John Sebastian preps new "Welcome Back" urban remix.
by Jeff Giles | January 15, 2008
Okay, so maybe John Singleton isn't completely sold on the idea of Ice Cube as B.A. Baracus in his A-Team adaptation. That's fine. You know what? Ice Cube has his own television adaptation to do.
We're talking, naturally, about Welcome Back, Kotter. It makes all kinds of sense -- Cube's already rocking the Gabe Kaplan 'fro -- and, as Cube tells MTV Movies, he knows just how he wants to bring the '70s sitcom into 21st-century cineplexes:
"The names will be saved, don't worry about it. Everybody will have the same name. To me, it's still a comedy, but it's real. It's more of a 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High,' not so much 'Up your nose with a rubber hose.' How could I do [the movie] remotely like the series? They're still Sweathogs, the people that nobody wants to teach."
Cube's Kotter has a script in place -- written by The Hot Chick's Tom Brady -- but what with the strike and all...well, you know. Asked about the film's current prospects, Cube tells MTV to "ask the Weinsteins" -- which might not be a bad idea, seeing as how the Weinsteins are two of the only film moguls in town with the ability to hire union writers.
Oh, and don't worry, original Kotter fans -- Cube was a fan of the show. Matter of fact, he wants to reunite the original cast for old times' sake:
"I want everybody. I want Travolta for a cameo, I want Gabe Kaplan for a cameo. I want Epstein, Horshack, Washington. If they do [make the movie], I want 'em in."
You may have noticed some of these links are to articles dating back a couple of years.
However, according to IMDB, the new Welcome Back, Kotter movie is still a work in development, aiming for a 2012 release.
A movie taking many years to make? Wow, that does feel familiar ~ seeing as our movie The Fifth Beatle is still going strong after several years in pre-production ~ yet people still kinda doubt the legitimacy of the project because its details must understandably be kept invisible to the general public, in part to avoid other moviemakers from stealing and slapping together an inferior movie using the same idea, and also because Vivek definitely has no time to deal with stupid rumors which would no doubt be flying rampant if he let details become public.
These reasons are simply in addition to the fact he is being very, very, very, very, very careful and meticulous about making it JUST RIGHT. Yay for OCD-ness! xD
Another reason people might look warily upon the authenticity of The Fifth Beatle movie is the apparent (and thankfully fortunate, IMO) failure of Jude Law to follow through with his Brian Epstein movie.
To this, eppylover breathes a huge sigh of relief because Jude Law's Eppy movie was threatening to become a smutty disrespectful wankflick
~*~*~
Notwithstanding.
Re this new conception of Kotter, the eppylover cannot help cringing and shuddering at the idea of converting the cuddly-yiddishness into hiphop-rappiness.
Just as she cringes and shudders at the high probability possibility of an unforgivably tragic Disney eff-up of Yellow Sub.
How daaare they mess with our vintage memories.
Dagnabbit! Get off my lawn, whippersnappers! *shakes fist*