Out of Pod Experience

Annie

What's the point in changing the character's racial identity ??

What is this pasty-faced ghoulish Vampire that is Cameron Diaz doing histrionics that are worthy of an insane asylum ??

When did Annie ever take acid and visualize crazy images out her window ??

Why is there a chorus backing her up during the showstopping solo number "Tomorrow" ??

....and the lesson of it takes money to be happy (but that was part of the original story anyway, so...) ??

Ugh.


ed: If in need of a palate cleanser after that, here's an essay about "American Psycho".

Yeah. And this is the 2nd "weird" film version of "Annie". It is still unfathomable to me why in 1982 they handed over the reigns for the film of a Broadway Musical to Robert Altman ("Nashville", "MASH"), who specializes in serious dialogue, extended takes, improvised dialogue, and simultaneous characters talking at once.

It was weird to me at the time, and I had only seen one of his films. But the film of "Annie" turned out to be a lifeless and bizarre snoozer.

And seriously, in this new one, I can't believe there is a backing chorus for the song "Tomorrow", as it was famous on Broadway for being a solo performance show-stopper.

This time, instead of lifeless and bizarre, we get hyper-kinetic and bizarre.......and a racial change. At least they are not using a white actress in black-face (Joan Crawford).

What's next, and all White version of "A Raisin in the Sun" ????

They did that years ago, 90% of their output is now remakes, sequels and DMCA takedown requests.

WARNING: Please don't read my post if you don't want spoilers on American Psycho.


This is an interesting article. I know of only one other person IRL, besides myself, who's made it through the book. I thought the film departed from the book in a few ways.

The ending devalues Bateman's experiences and instead makes it seem like he was just hallucinating the terrible things he did. The book instead made it clear that Bateman's actions were very real, but they were meaningless because society just didn't care. There was no exit for him, no catharsis, no transformation because he'd be locked doing things that are invisible and inconsequential to anyone else.

The actresses in the film were neutered in sexuality (Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Sevigny, Samantha Mathis). They are wonderful actresses of course, but they really don't convey the sense in which their characters existed in the book.. as sexual objects who fit in with society's view of what a person like Bateman would be involved with (a girlfriend, a secretary, an affair). I think this happened because maybe this would have been a distraction, but it also neuters Bateman as a character. I think the book was trying to show how these relationships are twisted and superficial, but at the same time totally acceptable (and expected) by society.

I thought the film wasn't bad though. Christian Bale is perfect as Bateman and in my opinion his best role to date.

I do wish some scenes from the book were in the film, such as Bateman going to the U2 concert, or running into Tom Cruise in the elevator, or his monologue on Whitney Houston.

/蘭

You're one of the last people I'd expect to be upset about the Annie not being white.

Reminds me of the whole Thor thing


As to the question of why they changed Annies ethnicity.

They didn't

Annie is fictional. She never had an ethnicity.

You are kidding me right? Not that there were not successful and rich black people in the States in the time period in which Annie takes place, but I seriously doubt the black population in that position would handle or portray themselves in the light that the population the story mimics did.

How about a movie like ROOTS or the Color Purple be remade using white people as slaves, I mean white people have been enslaved and the movies were fictional, therefore a remake using white actors would make sense right?

God only knows they tried in the earlier days. Watching the old TV shows on our "Old TV Show Netowrk"......good grief, white folks played everything from African-Americans, to American Indians, and the Asian.

I never knew American Indians were so hairy and blue-eyed. On top of it all, it's obvious, and stupid looking.

...and an otherwise fine film like "Breakfast at Tiffanys" can be utterly ruined and be embarrassing now (Mickey Rooney in yellow-face).

Apparently it's not.

Too bad the creator of "Annie" as a comic is long, long dead and cannot comment.

Part 3 (final): The reality of American Psycho isn’t as compelling as the conversation

Was it all real, or just in Bateman's head ?


"Both sides have ammunition. Here’s why it isn’t worth fighting the war.

“This obsession with finding the ‘answers’ frequently skews film conversations into fruitless tangents.” The American Psycho argument has become one of those fruitless tangents, because the people arguing it are too often getting bogged down in the most literal version of a highly metaphorical argument. They aren’t really debating the movie, so much as they’re dueling over their emotions—and about issues surrounding film in general."

I purposely said "owner" and not "creator" because who created the work is irrelevant if the rights to it have been transferred.