The conversation that actually sparked part of the rant previous, which I now think may need to be a little revised/reworked. In retrospect its weaker then I would like. We'll see. But for now: here is part of the e-mail conversation between myself and a good friend considering this trend
D - Do you think this craze about 'reimaginings' of previous work will soon start spilling over into books and history?
Will there soon be a Re-imagined book of Socrates writings where he's a hard-as-nails veteran trying to re-align his ethical compass by killing a mess of ninja who raped and killed his family?
Will Moby Dick be 'reimagined' so it’s about a great space-whale and Captain Ahab needs to capture it without going under 50 light years per hour or the Stellar Pequod will explode, and Ishmael has to make the hard choice to help or hinder the Captain.
Perhaps Nietszche's "Ubermensch" will feature him training to be some kind of genetically-enhanced super human to the rhythms of Kanye West's cover of Daft Punk's 'Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Harder"
Personally, I can't wait till they 're-imagine' WWII: When the telepathic alien brain-bug named Hitler invades the planet Poland and the Space Marines are sent in. It can feature a covert double-agent deep behind Space-Nazi lines named Anne Frank.
S - Hahahaha, If I were a publisher I would leap on those book ideas like a beast! And then gently have my way with them.
A Christmas Carol: After the Armageddon. The cold winter wind blew bitterly outside the slavers office, it had been 15 years since the last summer, the summer when fire rained from the skies and the death knell of so many was the screech of ICBMs and the grinding boots of marching soldiers. "Hello Mr. Scrooge." The man who greeted Scrooge was followed in by the chill of nuclear winter, however, this was not the most unsettling thing about Bob Cratchet's entrance. He had caught the Blight and was now a husk of his former self (which was not much even in the before days), and his left arm was constantly seething beneath his clothing; thanks to the boils which waxed and waned under his ash covered rags. "Shut the door Cratchet, you're late and the slaves are restless, hurry up and give them a touch of your truncheon!"
D - I love it! Post-nuclear apocalypse Christmas Carol. I think it could also use a touch of Jules-Verne-esque Steampunk. Maybe one of the spirits haunting Scrooge (By which I mean assassins sent by the secret charity organization SPIRIT) can be in a suit of steam-powered armor.
Maybe I'll write a work combining my love of Huck Finn and grim fantasy and 're-imagine' the story as one about Huck trying to seek out redemption for his years as a demonologist along with his black-hearted voodoo comrade Papa N----- Jim.
S – Ha ha, Wuthering heights as a solitary hide-out on the British isles following the release of the Rage Virus
A Tale of Two Cities as a story about two robot cities with giant metal legs for locomotion which meet at dusk everyday to do robot-city battle.
D - Lord of the Flies where the children are trapped on an isle and hunted by a terrible wild boar-man.
'If Androids Dream, Do They Dream of Electric Sheep' Done as a Japanese Anime where Deckard is a twelve year old kid who collects cards that turn into giant robots which he pilots into battle against feral 'replicant' cards which have taken human form and infiltrated humanity. Roy Batty is no longer a replicant, but a rival Blade Runner who you find out at the end IS a replicant.
That last one makes me want to cry. I'm sorry for saying it.
Lolita will take out that edgy pederast kind of stuff and make it more of a romantic comedy.
Of Mice & Men is going to be re-imagined as a comedy about the bumbling tales of two kind-hearted, but retarded, drifters.
S - AWESOME! Sign me up for that future screenplay!
(It is here that for a time the conversation degraded into one about blow jobs, Hollywood’s hiring policies, and video games)
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