Is imitation the most sincere form of flattery?(Assignment #3)
Throughout the years timeless classics have been adapted and worked into modern settings in order to be better recieved and understood by current generations. I think this is almost ridiculous because that's the thing about timeless classics, they're timeless.
It's one thing to incorporate the themes and influences of a great literary or film classic, it's another to take a brilliant work like Hamlet and redo it with mermaids or some other silly gimmick just to appeal to a target demographic who have not been exposed to the work and will think it to be your tale. It's one thing to pay homage to a great work by letting it influence the story that you have to tell in subtle, respectful ways, it's another to turn something beautiful into a massacre for the sake of money and fame.
Keeping this in mind, i think that although Mel Gibson seemed to have good intentions, creating the Passion of the Christ also seemed like a wonderful gimmick to obtain obscene amounts of money from a very devoted fanbase. West Side Story, on the other hand, is what i think of as a respectful homage to a great work. It is a classic textbook expamle of bringing a masterpiece to the everyday people so that they can share in it's message.
It's one thing to incorporate the themes and influences of a great literary or film classic, it's another to take a brilliant work like Hamlet and redo it with mermaids or some other silly gimmick just to appeal to a target demographic who have not been exposed to the work and will think it to be your tale. It's one thing to pay homage to a great work by letting it influence the story that you have to tell in subtle, respectful ways, it's another to turn something beautiful into a massacre for the sake of money and fame.
Keeping this in mind, i think that although Mel Gibson seemed to have good intentions, creating the Passion of the Christ also seemed like a wonderful gimmick to obtain obscene amounts of money from a very devoted fanbase. West Side Story, on the other hand, is what i think of as a respectful homage to a great work. It is a classic textbook expamle of bringing a masterpiece to the everyday people so that they can share in it's message.