People Who Hate Remakes are Homophobic
That headline you are reading is exactly what I read on Tumblr from AMC Movies Editor in Chief John Campea and boy is it some great click bait. So good in fact hear I am writing about it.
John Campea whom I like a lot and respect currently has a hard on for movie fans who insist on trashing remakes. According to John Campea those of us who hate horror movie remakes are homophobic or at least he is making a comparison between remake haters and people who hate homosexual people. He writes quote;
“Ok I get it, you don’t like gay stuff. But who cares? How does it effect YOU in any way if Man A and Man B want to get married? How does it impose anything upon you if somewhere in the city 2 men are having sex? How does 2 women in love having the right to marry have ANY impact on you and your life?”
John then goes on to make the comparison that being homophobic is the same as hating remakes writing quote;
“Ok I get it, you don’t like remakes. But who cares? How does it effect YOU in anyway if Studio A or Studio B want to make a remake of a classic? How does it impose anything upon you if somewhere in the city 2 people want to watch a Gone With The Wind remake? How does a remake of a movie you like impact on you and your life?”
I like John Campea a lot and actually he makes a very interesting comparison here but I still think its off base and sure to piss off movie fans.
As much as I like the comparison in that it makes you think I think comparing love or hatred towards a remake to a homosexual relationship is like comparing my love of movie prequels to me being a racist.
I love prequels but I am far from a racist.
I like remakes when they offer a new vision on the original and I hate remakes that do nothing but destroy my memories with overuse of cgi and leading ladies that offer nothing but youth, big breasts and pearly white veneers.
John makes a great point on why do movie fans hate remakes and I think the answer is simple. As horror fans in particular we have fond memories of the first time we saw Friday the 13th, Halloween and Evil Dead to name just a few and the concept of somebody trampling on the magic of that experience by recasting, rewriting or altering the story upsets fans.
We treat our movie experiences as treasured life experiences and expect that the generations after us including producers and directors will honor them as much as we do.
Horror remakes do not impact me in any way but they do alter the landscape of the genre that we all love. There are droves of young horror fans who never experienced the original Nightmare on Elm Street and there only memory of that great icon is the abomination that was released in 2010.
I do not like the comparison John is using but I do think he is onto something and if anything it will drive some dialogue.
Do you find the comparison of horror remake haters to haters of gay rights thought provoking? Do you find it nothing but click bait? Or like me do you think it is a little bit of both?
