I thought that, being a staunch supporter of the 80′s and the whimsy it engendered within me, it might be a good idea to discuss the profusion of remakes of my childhood. But I also don’t want this medium to be one of ranting and complaining about how gone the good old days are, and unfortunately, that’s what it would turn into if I discussed most remakes from that wondrous time. MOST, I say, for one is not only holding own a respectable position on the box office numbers, but is worth seeing, whether or not you’ve seen the original.
I am of course, talking about Footloose. I know, I know. You’re wondering why me, who rarely gives in to the urge to dance, would like such a film. Funny enough, this isn’t the first dancing movie to really captivate me. The original Japanese Shall We Dance is actually in my top five films of all time. Why? Like both renditions of Footloose, the films champion a central aspect to Libertarianism that I think any man, of any faith can embrace: If you enjoy doing something that doesn’t harm others, do it. Love it. Practice it. Craft it. Hone it. Do it with loved ones. Do it every day, for hours on end. Take a break. Rinse. Repeat. It makes life worth living. And most of all, don’t take that right from someone else.
So why should you see this film? Well, let’s look at the two things a remake must succeed at to succeed. First: is it a good/relevant/fun/thoughtful/well-crafted film. Second: does it capture the spirit of the original without blatantly ripping it off, or changing it to suit commercialism, or altering it because “doing this scene this way would be way cooler.” Most films need only struggle with the former, but remakes must compete in both leagues. Adaptations as well, but that’s a whole other post I’ll get to some other day.
Lets talk about the second thing first, just for jollies. I am a die hard fan of the original. My parents edited a music/dance scenes-only version of Footloose on our old Beta machine, thus sparing me the more mature subject matter in my younger years. To this day, I still know most of the lyrics to Let’s Hear it For the Boy. I resent any other film that uses “I Need a Hero” for any reason whatsoever. Despite being pudgy in every other film he was ever in, when someone says Chris Penn, I can only imagine him as Willard learning to find the beat and dancing about farm equipment. I knew Kevin Bacon before the seminal trivia game based on his body of work. To put it simply, I am that stuck-in-the-past asshole they need to please.
It’s all about first impressions – let’s be honest, everyone looks for reasons to discriminate, since it’s easier to write something off than be invested in it. The new Footloose has a fantastic beginning, paying suitable homage to the dancing feet of the original film, BUT brilliantly using the opening to show a crucial plot element that was only talked about in the original. ”Show, don’t tell” is at the core of good cinema storytelling, so the fact that this movie in the first five minutes featured a missing piece from the original lets you know it means business. And mercifully, they used the original Kenny Loggins version of the title song to boot. Yes, I said boot because the film is in Texas. Wordsmithing! And the movie did a fantastic job incorporating aspects of the original, preserving the same structure but updating as needed. After seeing Bumblebee’s original form literally discarded in the Transformers remake, I love, love, that Ren drives the old bug in this update. In fact, he fixes it up and brings it back to life – surely we can infer some sort of commentary or film theory analysis on self-reflexiveness. Or some other scholarly term. Pretty much everything shines – the nods to the original were sincere and well-placed, and the changes were thought out and relevant to the present day.
Which brings us into the film itself being good on it’s own. Sometimes remakes and adaptations have those moments that totally leave out the first time viewer, and this movie didn’t go out of it’s way to reference its predecessor. I feel like it took the high road in that it held onto the elements that were still relevant, and updated the ones that weren’t. What was a cigarette in the original became a joint. Walkmans became iPods. They still drink from a garden hose. Bomont is still a small town where everyone knows each other. I could go on and on about the subtle differences between then and now that show the differences between today’s kids and those of the eighties, but I’d rather hone in on an interesting point that surprisingly resonates more now than it did then. On the shallow end, you could probably watch the film and say, “Religion is too controlling/binding/pointless.” Not just because I’m a spiritual man, but I don’t believe that was the point of the film. You could argue it, sure, but you’d be missing something much more poignant, that transcends religion, or faith, and trickles down into pretty much every aspect of our lives.
Here’s my take on it:
In fear and in anger and in shock, a community still reacts very aggressively to a tragedy. Their solution? Outlaw those things. That’s sort of a band-aid without actual treatment, or ointment, or anything. The fastest way to get someone to do something is to tell them not to do it. Especially kids. Does that teach them responsibility? Accountability? Thinking about their actions? No, of course not. It either creates an irresistible mystique about said foreign object, or it teaches us to blindly ignore it. Or even hate it.
The one thing I did miss from the original (SPOILER ALERT) was the book burning scene, where our esteemed Reverand sees the fire he kindled within his flock literally ignite before his eyes. Yeah, it was on the nose and over the top, but it illustrated a fine point. Not that faith is bad, but that misguided faith is dangerous. Extremism in any form, on either side, is bad. People need to learn from their mistakes, and not just get told “hey that’s wrong; NO!” They need explanation. Understanding.
Lack of understanding breeds intolerance. We need tolerance, but tolerance really isn’t enough anymore; I think for humanity to function at the rate it’s growing, we need to go one step further, and teach acceptance.
Now, back to show don’t tell: people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, family situations, social status denominations, and tax brackets dancing together to songs from decades before they were born?
That’s acceptance.
And this movie teaches it, and entertainingly so. So go see it!
