“The Twilight Saga” television series reboot, “Wonka,” “Mean Girls” (2024), “The Percy Jackson” TV series, “ The Chronicles of Narnia” (2025), “Gossip Girl,” “The Office reboot,” “The Harry Potter series,” and all of those Spider-Men in their Spider-Verses. What is going on with Hollywood and this recent trend in remakes and reboots? Perhaps if we examine the history of cinema, we may find that remakes have existed since the birth of the film industry. From the 2000s Rom-Coms to Disney movies to classic films, covert adaptations have been present. However, we may now be evolving into a new stage of development in media where new adaptations are based on existing adaptations.
This question can be explored through the French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s book, “Simulacra and Simulation.” The early 20th century initiated the “Modern” era, where media began to be mass-produced. There was an emergence of films and pictures that more accurately reflected reality, rather than something like a painting in the “Pre-Modern” era. Baudrillard called these “simulations” because, for the first time, media began to resemble reality.
A fitting example of Baudrillard’s simulations is found in late 90s-2000s romantic comedies. These iconic pop-culture movies seem to have been inspired by classic literature. For instance, the cult-classic movie, “Clueless,” is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s “Emma” set in the wealthy Beverly Hills. “Clueless” gives us trailblazing 90s fashion and famous quotes, but it also follows the plot of “Emma” to a T. Another example is how “She’s the Man” accurately adapts Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” about twins, cross-dressing, and love triangles into a modern setting. All the character names are kept the same, and even Duke Orsino is translated to a high school boy named Duke Orsino. The only shift is from the royal court to the soccer court. “10 Things I Hate About You” is another retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” where one Patrick is paid to go out with the eponymous shrew, Kat, so her sister can date.
This same retracing of source material can be applied to Disney movies and fairytales. Fairytales such as “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Rapunzel” have been recreated into animations of the original stories collected by The Brothers Grimm. Similarly, “The Little Mermaid,” “Thumbelina,” and “The Snow Queen” have been remade from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytales. Even “Mulan” is based on the “Ballad of Mulan,” a Chinese folk legend that arose during the Northern Wei dynasty, while the rags-to-riches story of “Aladdin” is taken from the fairytale in “The Arabian Nights.” The films in Disney’s animated Princess Collection are all simply recreations of fairytales that have been told for centuries, only with a “happily ever after” ending (and maybe an animal sidekick).
However, Disney has now taken to remaking their previous animation films into live-action films. Live-action movies such as “Maleficent,” “Cruella,” “Aladdin,” and “The Little Mermaid” have now become simulations of other simulations. Jean Baudrillard would call these simulacra, meaning remakes of existing simulations. In the “Post-Modern” era, Baudrillard also asserts that at this point, the new cultural productions inevitably reference other pieces of culture. What does this mean for the modern film industry? Does reboot culture indicate a depreciation of new ideas and stories? Are we entering into the “Post-Modern” era of cinema?
Retrospectively examining the “Golden Age” of Hollywood may reveal the presence of simulacra within that era as well. Take, for instance, the 1964 film “My Fair Lady” starring Audrey Hepburn. It was adapted from the 1956 musical, which was based on the 1938 film “Pygmalion,” which was itself an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion.” And it doesn’t even end there. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” was inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Pygmalion, who fell in love with the sculpture he created, which came to life with the goddess Aphrodite’s blessing. “My Fair Lady” is a classic example of simulation upon simulation that existed even in Old Hollywood. The simulacra continues to progress in media since the original Pygmalion. The popular 90s rom-com “She’s All That” is another modern adaptation of both “My Fair Lady” and Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” There was even a recent remake of this film in 2021 called “He’s All That,” which gender swaps the characters.
Ultimately, what are the reasons behind the latest undisguised remakes and reboots? According to Baudrillard’s “Simulacra and Simulation,” “Post-Modern” media content cannot help but be referential to other existing art. In an interview with “Cosmopolitan,” Dr. Matthew Jones, Professor in Cinema and Television History, informs us that “remake and reboot culture is not new. It's often framed as something novel and unique to our “Post-Modern” times, but there is actually a rich tradition of remakes in Western film culture that runs back to the earliest days of cinema.” Jones also explains that by producing remakes and reboots, film studios are ensuring that their project will make a profit rather than gambling on an unfamiliar story. It is the same concept as producing Rom-Coms based on the storylines from Shakespeare or Jane Austen—it is a guaranteed hit. Yet now, it seems as if studios are intentionally marketing their remakes to be recognizable rather than keeping them latent, like “Clueless” or “She’s The Man.” It capitalizes on the audience’s nostalgia for beloved film and television series, but the quality is deteriorating. “Wonka” cannot compare to the magical whimsy of Gene Wilder’s “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” or even to Johnny Depp’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Nonetheless, “Wonka” still topped the box office charts by betting on manufactured nostalgia, beating out both former films at 534.7 million USD.
As evidenced in “Pygmalion,” Disney fairytales, and romantic comedies steeped in classic literature, stories have been recycled and revived into new media from ancient times to the contemporary film industry. This current trend of remakes and reboots continues to build upon Baudrillard’s simulacra, propelling the film industry into its “Post-Modern” era where cinema is filled with reimaginings of preexisting narratives–but will it come at the cost of quality art?
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.