Suprised to see ANOTHER remake?
Of course you aren’t. In today’s popular culture they are remaking films left and right, even unsuccessful films. There seems to be a trend for rebooting horror franshises in particular. Friday the 13th, The Last House on the Left, The Amityville Horror, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and most recently Nightmare on Elm Street are all horror films redone to cater to a new audience. The question is, why do we as an audience keep watching what their giving us?
As a nation we are always looking for bigger better NEWER ideas, and a remake tends to be far from original. Dwight MacDonald mentions, “…like a family each of whose members has his or her own special place and function while at the same time sharing the group’s economic aims, traditions, sentiments and values.” Even though we are individuals, as a culture we still share the same values and traditions.
As much as we adore anything fresh and new, we would much rather enjoy things that make us comfortable, something familiar. By blending these two ideas, of old and new, a remake mixes the best of both worlds by taking the familiar and making it better.
Sources:
Dwight Macdonald.”Masscult and Midcult”
A Nightmare on Elm Street in HD Trailer 2010. Youtube, 27 Sep. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009 .
