Do We Really Need a ‘Clueless’ Remake?

At this point, you might have heard the news that Clueless is getting a reboot, with Tracy Oliver (writer of Girl’s Trip) producing and Marquita Robinson (writer for Netflix‘s comedy series Glow) on the team. I don’t know how to feel about this. On one hand, it’s an adaptation of Emma by Jane Austen, and I always appreciate movies with a book as its source material. On the flip-side, hasn’t there been enough ruined reboots, giving us the hint that we should just stop? Let’s take a look at the evidence.

Dirty Dancing

Image via Odyssey

If you didn’t catch this travesty of a remake, consider yourself lucky. The new Johnny (Colt Prattes) has none of the sex appeal and star quality that Patrick Swayze had. Abigail Breslin, as Baby, is miscast, seeing as how she couldn’t dance and looked really awkward and uncomfortable in the scenes. Yes I know Baby doesn’t know how to dance, but this is a movie, not reality. Don’t show me a movie with awkward dancing when I am expecting dirty dancing. This was an ultimate FAIL. I had to watch the original movie afterwards so as to erase the reboot from my mind.

Flatliners

Image via Student Edge

For this movie, the original was already quite divisive in terms of reception, redeemed mostly because of a talented cast. This is not to say that the cast of the remake aren’t decent. I am a massive fan of Diego Luna, and both Ellen Page and Nina Dobev are well-known actresses.

This remake failed because it brought nothing new to the story. Same recycled plot with a different group of actors. The film holds one of the lowest ratings/scores on Rotten Tomatoes, with a measly 4% telling you all you need to know.

Ghostbusters

Image via Time

Out of all the movies on the list so far, this reboot doesn’t fill me with horror or disdain. I quite enjoyed the movie, and found it funny and entertaining enough. Unlike the rest on the list, there are changes made that could have resulted in a meaningful discussion.

For example, the women are scientists, which is empowering to see considering the stereotype of women not being good at STEM subjects. Instead of a dumb woman secretary, we get a dumb male version instead, and I actually thought Chris Hemsworth delivered a decent comedic performance.

Image via letterboxd.com

The problem with this movie is not so much the remake itself, but more so about the people who are protective of the classic, and just cannot bear that it was remade. It has become fashionable to do a gender flip in Hollywood, creating a movie with more or less the same premise but being led by a mostly female cast instead of a mostly male one. We see this in Ocean’s 8 as well. While both Ghostbusters and Ocean’s 8 are decent movies, I don’t see why we have to revisit male spaces to tell women’s stories.

Even Lord of the Flies is in the process of being made with all girls instead of boys. How would that even work? Golding’s source material is basically a commentary on masculinity in our society, so this reboot is more unnecessary than the ones I mentioned.

Clueless

Image via The New York Times

As always, I will wait for the product first before judging whether or not it succeeds. In my opinion, Clueless is iconic, and is a reflection of the era it was created in. The fashion, the portrayal of high school and dating, is just so stepped in 90’s culture. A reboot cannot replicate this. So then, is it really a remake or just a regular high school movie? A skeptical part of me feels they are using Clueless as a publicly vehicle for the story they want to tell.

However, it is important to note that not all announcements of reboots actually come to fruition. An example of that would be the remake of The Crow, which has been in the works for the past 8 years, but has lost its legs recently with both director Corin Hardy and lead actor Jason Momoa leaving the project this year.

So yes, I shall reserve judgement for now, and wait to see what becomes of this project. But the gloves are coming off if I ever hear about a Mean Girls remake.

Thank you for reading! What are you thoughts on a Clueless remake and remakes in general? Comment down below!

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