Every family has their own Christmas traditions. In my family, it was going to see a movie on Christmas Eve. The reason for this, my Dad recently told me, was to kill time as kids and Christmas Eve are a dangerous test of patience for the exciting morning to come. As I now have a kid of my own, I have continued the tradition. This year we took our kid to see the new Mary Poppins.
My daughter loved it. She is familiar with the original and loved the new one. For us the parents, it was enjoyable, and there are a few heart string moments in it. All in all, it killed two hours for us, created a wonderful family memory, and was worth the price of the ticket.
As we drove home, there was something that didn’t sit right with me. It was the same feeling I had after watching “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and “Star Trek Into Darkness.” They all were a new reconfiguration of the old that was clearly trying to hit the same points of the original.
There are lots of ways of looking at this, but I think the economics of making movies comes into play. Such as, you can’t make anything too new with old characters because it might turn off the audience, so you have to keep the familiar present to guarantee the return on investment. You don’t need people to love the movie, just not hate it to the point of openly complaining.
But most importantly, there is the nostalgia factor. These movies, such as the ones named above, are being made for an audience (Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials) who grew up with these movies, and the goal is clearly to try to recreate that felling all over again. My gut tells me this is a futile effort, as nothing can take you back to the time, as it is a feeling, and is specific to each individual.
It does bother me that there aren’t new stories being created that capture kids’ imaginations. That inspire them explore and go out and create their own stories.
I would prefer inspiration rather than nostalgic imitation.
