It was bound to happen sooner or later; might as well get it over with now. Allow me to wax social and political for a moment: The revisionist revolution has reached its slimy tentacles far and wide to reform the planet (well, mostly here in the culturally crippled U.S.) into its idea of the new normal, erasing established tradition in its path (if you haven't noticed this, I've got a bagful of nouns adjectives to use, but won't) and leaving scorched earth in its wake. This is no more apparent than in education, entertainment and literature. Let's just stick with movies for now.
A glaring example is superhero movies that have been fodder for gender-bending and social flip-flopping because they have been under the influence of filmmakers who assume this will appeal to the wider viewing audience and screw the rest of us that grew up with these beloved characters. Another twisted viewpoint is the self-proclaimed anarchist and occultist masquerading as a comic book writer, Alan Moore, who has recently declared that adults who get immersed in comic book culture are "infantile" and this trend will "lead to fascism". Sounds really profound, Alan, but the truth is, your hypocrisy is showing -- in case you haven't noticed you're an adult writing comic books and guess what -- you're stories are not usually aimed at -- nor should be read by -- kids these days. Sanctimonious and subversive stances like these permeate the entertainment industry like so many poisonous mushrooms in a dank forest, but hey, don't worry, the media's got your back.
And now to today's topic: I heard that -- wait for it -- a new Tarzan movie is under development. I briefly thought, Cool!, and then my senses returned a moment later. Based on what has gone before, I shuddered to think what they might end up doing to Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle lord. Of course, it will be just another great opportunity to "re-imagine" another male-centric, white-privileged, world famous character written by a misogynistic, bigoted and xenophobic white man, so have at him, guys.
The particular studio in question is Sony Pictures, whose only major successes for a number of years have been superhero movies. They not only plan to re-imagine the character, but create a "total reinvention" of him. This quote from ActionNewz.com pitifully sums it up:
"Throw in the fact that recent years have seen Burroughs' books come under scrutiny for their ideas of colonialism, white saviour, and racial and gender stereotypes that are no longer acceptable today, and it's easy to see why Sony is looking to completely overhaul the classic character and property.It will be no easy task, that's for sure, and Sony has something of a spotty track record, so only time will tell how this new take pans out."
I, for one, am not looking forward to this and personally, I hope it stays forever in the flames of development Hell.