If you follow me on Facebook, then you probably know that I have repeatedly lambasted J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson for what they’ve done to both Star Trek and Star Wars. Both of them seem to be congenitally incapable of honoring the source material. Period. End of Sentence.
In a nutshell, both of those clowns decided to take someone else’s toys, pissing all over them, and then recreating an old property in their own new image. I simply cannot express how disrespectful, disingenuous, and outright criminal this sort of thing is. The first victim of such crimes is the creator who came up with the source material to begin with. The second victim–and this one is the most egregious–is the fanbase who devoted themselves to following and honoring something they thought was great.
I now have a perfect example of when a creative plays in someone else’s sandbox and gets it right.
It’s Halloween, so Vicki and I decided to give The Thing a chance… not the 1982 version by John Carpenter (which I think is the best sci-fi horror movie ever), but the 2011 version directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and written by Eric Heisserer.
It was clear from the get-go that the creators of this secret gem of a film knew how to write a suspenseful script. After about 20 minutes, it was clear they knew how to write science fiction horror. By the end, it was crystal clear that one or both of them were committed, devoted, and honorable fans of John Carpenter’s masterpiece. For the first time in a very long while, I got to enjoy the fact that the creators of a book or movie derived from someone else’s work enjoyed, appreciated, and respected the original as much as I did.
I think it boils down to one thing. If you’re creating something original, then you pour your heart into it. You draw upon every scrap of creativity and genius you might possess and craft a work as skillfully as you can, making certain to make it your very own, so there’s no question who created it.
When you’re playing with someone else’s toy, you do something very different. You take all of that creativity, genius, and skill to make damn certain that when fans of the original property are exposed to the work, they will come out the other side knowing you love the original as much as they do. That’s your job, first and foremost, and without exception: HONOR THE ORIGINAL, because if you don’t, you’re just pissing on someone else’s work and expecting the fans to pay you for it. Read that last sentence again, and really let it sink in.
Creatives have no business whatsoever making other people’s IPs their own. Their job–their only job–is to study the original… study the voice, the characters, the world, the “physics,” and stay true to those without fail. To do otherwise is a slap in the face to everyone who was ever exposed to the original.
So, I’ll say it again, J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson seem to be congenitally incapable of honoring source material. Having said that, I might just enjoy an original sci-fi action movie undertaken by J.J. Abrams. He’s got some chops when he’s not yanking the wheels off of Lucas’ or Roddenberry’s Tonka truck.
Finally, let me offer this one recommendation. If you loved Carpenter’s The Thing, then give the 2011 version a chance. It’s not perfect (what movie is?), but the creators did everything they could not only honor the original film but leave the door open to a sequel… vis-à-vis the Russians…. But you’ll have to watch the movie to get that reference.
Keep reading, watching, and writing!
~ Q
