The new trailer for Jem and the Holograms - see it here: JEM and the HOLOGRAMS trailer - is a travesty at best. For anybody who watched the series there are so many red flags I don't even know where to start my diatribe! I suppose I will have to manage so, in no particular order, my initial complaints with the Jem trailer. Oh, and I'm going to use some awesome pics from the show to illustrate my point....I do not own these images, all of the rights belong to the amazingly awesome people who created Jem and brought her to TV for all of us 80s kids to enjoy.
1. NO MISFITS! How can you have a Jem and the Holograms movie sans the Misfits? Who is the villain? Who drives Jerrica to become Jem in the first place?
2. NO SYNERGY! Seriously? One little nod to the holographic entity does not bring her to life, does not do justice to Synergy. Not in the slightest. Who didn't love seeing Jerrica say "It's showtime Synergy" and transform into the pink-haired wonder, Jem????
3. This brings me to my next point. Where is Jem's signature pink hair? The purple star earrings Jerrica uses to contact Synergy? Jem's iconic look has been dumbed down and washed out in a pathetic attempt to modernize it. Part of the draw of a live action Jem SHOULD HAVE been the awesome 80s rock/punk style.
4. Rio. Yes, this cute little actor is likely to make young teens giggle and blush, he does not have purple hair or any real style at all. He may as well be another studio exec in a suit. BORING.
5. How come Jerrica does not own Starlight? Isn't that the point? She inherited it from her father and has to fight Eric Raymond for control.
6. NO JEM THEME SONG!!! Really? A One Direction song? How can they not even be using the Jem theme song for JEM?!?!?!
There are sure to be more issues as more information is released but even my 9 year old daughter is outraged at the ridiculously watered down version of Jem we are being shown. I remember the first time we watched an episode of Jem and the Holograms with my sister (who incidentally named her bike Synergy in tribute to our love of the show) and how excited my daughter was. We've been planning to see it together since we heard it would be made into a live action film. I don't think my kiddo could be more disappointed. I know I couldn't be. And sadly, it does not seem that Hollywood intends to stop with Jem and the Holograms. Must they warp and destroy every character from my childhood?
I'm not saying all reboots are fodder but the track record is not good. The new Turtles barely resemble amphibians. The updated Clash of the Titans could have been incredible - if they had stuck with the original story line. Every time I get excited for a reboot I find myself incredibly disappointed by the tripe that makes its way to the big screen.
So again, I say, PLEASE stop destroying my childhood.
I think the directors have run out of ideas that they have to go back in time. It's a pathetic attempt. I am angered by this. Why can't they leave things alone. Look what they did with Dirty Dancing. Where did creativity go that they can't come up with fresh ideas? It's a HUGE disappointment. Then there's cartoon series, My Little Ponies. What is that? They are freaky looking and nothing I remember. I could go on, but I would never get off of here. Rant over.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I actually had a much deeper post in mind when I started this but quickly realized that the superficial alterations were infuriating enough without adding the offensive alterations to the subtext of these shows/films. Hollywood is watering everything down to make it utterly generic.
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