To reboot or not to reboot, that is the question
Yasmine Elsayed (she/her) // Contributor
Valeriya Kim (she/her) // Illustrator
Recently, reboots became quite famous, and I don’t exactly know why. The remaking of certain shows can really ruin the nostalgia that a lot of people have while watching the originals. The problem with remakes is that writers and producers try to reshape the original story and match it to today’s standards. 90 per cent of the time, the plots are forced and don’t have heart. With reboots, all they have going for them is the name. Like jumping on a trend, it spreads like wildfire. Everything now has a reboot, for example, Charmed or Gossip Girl.
I, for one, heavily opposed the remaking of Charmed, a show debuted in 1998 about three sisters, Piper, Phoebe and Prue — finding out they are witches, and thus the story begins. The original cast and plot hold a special place in my heart, and I associate that show with many bonding moments I had with my friends and family while it was first airing. Waiting every Friday night, picking snacks, and getting cozy on the couch was a ritual of ours. The 2018 Charmed has a similar storyline, set design, and love interests, but Charmed should have stayed a stand alone original.
The remake didn’t ruin my memories, but I felt that the classics should just remain that. Classics. I believe that the purpose of the reboots is to attempt to bring something “new” to the audience and relate it to the people who watched the original shows or movies. The 2007 Gossip Girl is a fantastic show but had its share of problems — primarily the problematic romanticism of elite students during a recession.
However, the 2021 Gossip Girl attempts to pick up where the original left off — with a new generation going through the same cycle that the original cast went through. Was this “remake” necessary? Not really. One Gossip Girl show is more than enough. What’s funny about this situation is when you google Gossip Girl or Charmed, the original shows pop-up, not the remakes.
The beauty of having original ideas is that you are introduced to new adventures, new characters, new mysteries, and the list goes on. Re-using these ideas ruins the excitement of it all. However, if new generations want to watch a good show, I would definitely recommend the original series since going “vintage” is a trend right now.
I’ll admit, I have liked a reboot in the past. Granted, I didn’t know it was a remake until recently, but I did get sucked into the 2012 film 21 Jump Street. I found out that it was originally a show made in 1987 with an incredible cast that was a lot more diverse than the film. The film is great but, just as suspected, the original is much better. Looking back with my newfound knowledge of the 1987 show, I have to appreciate that some of the original cast did make an appearance in the 2012 version.
With reboots, there is a high possibility that you might dislike it. If you weren’t aware that there is an original, like myself, the odds for disliking the show are in your favour. Either way, you can never go right with reboots. Unless it’s 21 Jump Street.