A Stalker's Guide to EITA
Remakes: Yes or No?
A short question, but how to answer?
I got the idea for this article a few weeks ago, after reading a comment here in the article section or on my feeds. One of my friends complained about the trailer for the US version of Good Doctor not giving any credits to the Korean original.
Good Doctor Korean Vers. & The Good Doctor American Vers.
Here we go: Credits! Is that all we care about? Nope, I don't think so.
We all have that drama that was our first and absolutely nothing can hold a candle to it. We don’t let anyone criticize it because for some reason that drama is just awesome, unique and untouchable….
Since my childhood, I've had problems with remakes of all kinds.
The bookworms will understand - the film can never beat the ‘original’ (book).
Covered songs were garbage in my eyes… erm, ears.
For me, it kind of felt like an assassination. Or stealing as I called it most of the time.
Stealing original stories, songs or ideas was something I could not approve of, no matter what.
For example, in my teens, my manga/anime friends would write stories and ask me to give them feedback.
ME: Where did you get the idea from?
HER/HIM: It’s my work. It is my idea.
ME: Wrong, you got the heroine from ‘blabla’ and the power from ‘blabla’ …etc….etc…
Is any of this your own thinking??
Understandably, this way I lost a few friends, but I was young and a fanatic in a way.
Up to 2001/2002 many movies/ songs/ books and all the other artworks were quite unique. Nearly no movie that was made after the millennium really gave me a feeling of ‘Yay, thank you for this gorgeous watching experience’.
Giving in to the fact that our parents and grandparents really left us with nearly nothing to discover, find, experiment on or imagine we are left with nothing else but copying the old masterworks?
Copying isn’t as bad as we think. With the years I myself came to accept that fact.
What would all the high schoolers do if they couldn’t go out looking like the starlets they admire. What would we do if all boys weren’t using their hair in the same style and colour? What if on campus all girls ran around in different styles instead of looking like coming out of the same toaster??
Copying Isn’t Bad as Long as You Do It Right
Yes, you can make a remake and turn a masterpiece into something bad, but you can also turn a mediocre work into gold!!!!
Now, I think it is time to get into our drama world!
Meteor Garden & Hana Yori Dango & BoF
One of my first favs was and is Hana Yori Dango. Guess what?
I hated and still can’t stand the Korean remake Boys over Flowers. Sorry, but how could they even dare remake it?!?!?!?
I couldn’t accept it.
Just so you know, I tried Meteor Garden, too, even though it was the original (manga not counted) I couldn't like it much.
Later with You’re Beautiful my view on remakes changed.
You're Beautiful & Ikemen desu ne & Fabulous Boys
See, I watched the Japanese version of You’re Beautiful AND the Taiwanese version. Yeah, the Japanese version wasn’t as good as the original, though they gave us a sweet mother/son relationship.
The Taiwanese version got a 10/10 from me!!! Of course, this is my opinion and I know that many of you didn’t like it.
With the years, I've become a sucker for remakes.
Hana Kimi T & Hana Kimi JP & Hana Kimi K
Itazura na Kiss
Watched 3 versions of Hana Kimi, and nearly all remakes of It started with a kiss!!!!
Some people might think that I’m mad, but if I like a story I love to see it again. Just as I can read the same book over and over again I can watch the same story over again as long as I can find some new details.
Don’t blame me for being a maniac, but with age, I came to understand that buying the rights to something isn’t stealing…so it is nothing bad from the get-up. You can turn it into c*** as I mentioned before, but you can turn it into something beautiful, too.
Here in Turkey the last few years they just make remakes or live-adaptions of books, legends and retelling historic events. Most are really badly made, but some few made me go ‘ Ah, this isn’t that bad’.
Two examples are Full House (yeah the Korean one) and She was Pretty.
Full House & Ilişki durumu: Karışık
For Full House (İlişki durumu: Karışık) they managed to get it really nicely done, with the mains and setting and the wits. It really was funny.
Seviyor, Sevmiyor & She was pretty
She was Pretty (Seviyor, Sevmiyor) has so far been extremely funny and so well mixed into our own culture. It was a hit for me. They managed to get a super funny version for Shi Wons character and the guy acting as Si Seong Jun nailed it for me. And believe me, the actress acting as Kim Hye Jin is just adorable and she is living her character.
Maybe we should just give those dreadful remakes a chance in order to find some gems.
And don't forget as long as the rights to our beloved drama/movies are bought by others the drama industries will continue producing new drama.
Thanks for reading so far, and have a nice day!
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