I feel as though today, we are in an age where nothing is really new. Everything is a recycled version of something that has come before, however good or bad that may be. Maybe this is inevitable – they say trends always come back around, but is it also simply down to a lack of creativity? I’m fully aware I sound very naive through this question, but I am genuinely curious. Obviously lots of hard work and creative thinking does go into making a book, movie, theatre production, etc, and I’m not trying to dispute that at all.
However, something I am increasingly realising is that it is becoming almost impossible to watch something that isn’t a sequel or spinoff in some way, and this is starting to become a problem.
Take this week’s (Saturday 14th Feb) cinema listings for example:
• Wuthering Heights – based on a book
• Goat – based on a true story (I don’t have a problem with this but thought to mention anyway)
• Crime 101 – based on a book
• Send Help – original
• The Housemaid – based on a book
• Zootropolis 2 – sequel
• 28 Years Later – sequel
• The Day the Earth Blew Up – A Loony Toons Movie – sequel
• Primate – inspired by real events
• Whistle – based on a short story
• Shelter – original
• Stitch-head – based on a book
• Kangaroo – based on a true story
• Marty Supreme – loosely inspired by true story
• Iron Lung – based on a video game
These are just the Hollywood listings for this Saturday at my local cinema, but as you can see, out of all of the choices, only two are completely unlinked to anything else. As I’ve said already, I don’t have a problem with films that are inspired by true stories, so really the tally goes up to about 5, but my point still stands.
So many of these films are either sequels, sequels of sequels, or based on a book or previous film. Even outside of my listings for this week, film producer Stephen Follows says that although perhaps the number of films being produced is not made up entirely by sequels, the percentage of domestic box office (US and Canada) has increased exponentially for sequels since the year 1974. This shows that in fairness, audiences are liking sequels much more than they used to, so why wouldn’t Hollywood continue to produce them?
Clearly this statistic is worthwhile as I still plan on going to watch Wuthering Heights tonight, but nonetheless, from an audience standpoint, it does concern me. I feel that it’s almost impossible to write a movie review anymore without having to compare it to something else, even if I haven’t seen its predecessor.
For example, I recently went to watch Friends! The Musical Parody. Quite clearly, going into this, I knew it was based on the 90s hit TV show Friends – that part is fairly obvious. However, I think part of the problem is that when things keep becoming sequels, spinoffs, parodies (the list goes on), they have a tendency to get confused about what their outcome is.
So often in the creative sector, we have to think of fresh ideas in order to stay relevant. With a world that is fully reliant on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and algorithms, new perspectives are crucial, especially in mediums that rely on reviews. Although I knew Friends! The Musical Parody was based on Friends and that it was intended to be a parody (obviously), it felt as though the creators had so much weight on their shoulders to get it right – whatever ‘it’ is. Yes, it did have parodic elements, mocking rather unhinged sections of the original show such as Fat Monica and Gunther’s pining after Rachel, but aside from this, it felt as though it was simply a re-creation of the show. We still saw Monica propose to Chandler, Rachel ‘get off the plane,’ etc. Moments like these aren’t original – you’re essentially just showing me some of the ‘best-bits’ of the TV show, which is when a lack of creative thinking really takes centre stage (no pun intended). If the show was fully created in the style of a true parody, it would’ve hit the mark that bit more but because they were tied to the success of the original Friends, it meant that they were always trying to recreate it, instead of thinking of new ideas. I understand where this concept comes from, but as a viewer, it is a little disappointing.
Again, I don’t want to sit here and say that all sequels, parodies, spin-offs and more, are always bad, because that is simply untrue. I watch so many movies and theatre productions that are based on something else, that are actually really good. Just as I have seen many original movies that are not great at all (sorry Marty Supreme).
However, I am still left wondering where all the original ideas are hiding. Sometimes I want to sit at the cinema to watch a movie with no context, no prior book or film to impact my experience, just taking a film in for what it is. Obviously original films are still here and maybe it simply means I need to branch out into more niche markets like those shown at film festivals, but regardless, I hope it’s something that starts to return.
