Reboots are particularly prominent in the last, say, five years, aren't they? Then it occurred to me that cinema wasn't around for this long, either, and it got pop-ized (for lack of a better world) only very recently. Still: there aren't as many new titles as there are various continuations, are there?
It's funny though, books have been around for a LONG time and you don't see any "reboots" of Huck finn come out? But there are variations on things like the Odyssey etc. I guess..
That's true, which makes one wonder. It's not like writing a book in your own literary voice is any more difficult than making a movie (just look at the number of people involved). Maybe it's because books are somehow sacred, a "work of art" as opposed to movies being a "pop thing"? Videogames are still considered child's play, even though there have been plenty of games to inspire emotional engagement with virtual characters (much like what cinema or books do); you'll know exactly what I mean if you've ever played The Last of Us (I haven't, but I've seen Markiplier play all the way through, and my heart stopped quite some times because of the events). Maybe the cinema hasn't yet "proven" itself and is therefore considered a toy rather than a real tool of art. And what about Odyssey? Has someone rewritten it?books have been around for a LONG time and you don't see any "reboots" of Huck finn come out?
I think what thenewgreen is referring to are different translations, abridged versions, etc. When it comes to works that are translated or retold, various authors have benefits over others. For example, you could have two different authors translating the same epic poem. One author might produce a translation that is seen as more poetic and easier to read while the other author might produce a translation that is more literal. Both are arguably true to the spirit of the original works, but both have different strengths and weaknesses. Since we're talking about rewriting works, you might want to check out the graphic novel The Infinite Horizon is a sci-fi retelling of The Odyssey, and a semi-decent one at that, that shows how you can take another's work and tweak it. Another great example would be Wicked, which is a series that retells The Wizard of Oz from a different perspective.And what about Odyssey? Has someone rewritten it?
The Coen brothers' movie "O Brother Where Art Thou?" is a retelling of Homer's "Odyssey" which concentrates on the comedy elements present in the original - basically, Odysseus is a massive egotist who thinks he's far smarter than he really is, constantly tells unnecessarily elaborate lies, and only appears to be clever because everyone around him is clinically thick - set in America in the 1920s. George Clooney is perfectly cast as a half-smart fool who never has the slightest doubt that he's the cleverest person in the room, even if that room is collapsing around him and it's his fault. It's also a really good film. See also James Joyce's Nobel prize-winning novel "Ulysses", in which all the major events in Homer's epic tale are mirrored by the totally unimportant things that happen over one day in the life of a Jewish shopkeeper living in Dublin in 1901. Oh, by the way, the movie "Forbidden Planet" is a loose remake of a play called "The Tempest" by some guy called William Shakespeare....