The remaking of classics, and why it has upset the fans

Naima Muminiy
Staff Writer 

​    It is only May, and 2016 is shaping up to be the year of remakes. Film classics, such as Ghostbusters and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, are being rebooted starring popular modern Hollywood stars. This has sparked controversy about the new films possibly ruining the sacrality of the original productions and fans of these classics are outraged.
     The Ghostbusters trailer currently has the most “disliked” rating on YouTube as well as a plethora of negative comments. The new Ghostbusters film will be replacing the iconic cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson with female cast members Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. Ghostbusters fans have criticized this casting by calling it sexist. Danika Massey (also known as Comic Book Girl) is an internet celebrity well known for her commentary on comics, books, televisions shows and films. Massey expressed her views on the remake by saying, “You have a remake of a nearly perfect movie that you’re never gonna top in a million years, and then you just put a bunch of women in it and then everyone’s just gonna blame that and think that women suck more. That sucks. That’s not good.” Multiple film commentators have already vowed not to watch the film claiming that it is not worth doing.

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     The remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show was announced last October, and that has instilled nervousness and anxiety in fans and the actors alike. Laverne Cox, American actress and LGBT advocate, is casted to be Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who was portrayed by Tim Curry (who is also to star as the criminologist in the 2016 production) in the 1975 production. The controversy mainly comes from Cox accepting the role of a cross-dressing cisgender man due to her being a transgender woman. These two gender identities have sparked confusion within the mainstream culture. LGBT advocates have questioned this due to the belief that playing a “sweet transvestite” may send the wrong message to people who recognize Cox for her advocacy work. Cox responds to this criticism by saying, “People can be very challenging and critical, but I put everything I had into this.”
      The 2016 remake of Ghostbusters is being made with a $154 million budget while The Rocky Horror Picture Show is being made with an estimated $20 million budget. Will these films be better than they are portrayed to be? All will be found out this year.