Revival, Reboot or Remake it all needs to be Re-leased from our lives

It’s been 23years since the release of Freaky Friday and someone convinced Disney we needed a sequel, hence the birth of Freakier Friday. Staying true to its initial plot, Freakier Friday follows a mother and daughter duo who switch bodies, once again, to better understand one another. Which in the early 2000s was deemed revolutionary but has been reiterated over and over again that it’s reached redundancy.  

I didn’t enjoy the first movie, imagine my shock to see it get a revival. Personally, if I wanted a Freaky Friday, I’d go on a trip with my aging parents who have forgotten I’m the child. Or, for a Freakier Friday, I would organise a family reunion with both sides of my family, where everyone KINDLY interacts with one another. The same group of people who would find a way to argue about the Sun being in the sky and if said sky is Blue. Putting that aside, the reboot news put a thought into my head, about the oddly and unwanted increasing number of reboots happening.

I shouldn’t knock revivals and reboots too much because in hindsight it’s somewhat a great marketing tactic, one that’s safe and emphasises focus on two groups with the most combined and ever-growing spending power: Millennials and Genz.

Though at what point is it too much? Cause Freaky Friday certainly isn’t the first and nor the last of its kind for example, prospective movies such as Rush Hour 4 and Legally Blonde 3 and released media such as Enchanted, Sex and the City, ICarly & That’s So Raven are examples of said trend. These all undeniably had significant roles in pop culture at their initial releases but is this all the mainstream entertainment industry can provide?

Which is a shame because the arts and entertainment fields are a place for creativity to flow, whether it’s inspired by others or something that feels organically original. That the lack of utilisation of both feels lacklustre.

Instead of the industry creating or upholding the spaces solely for; children, teenagers, young adult and mature audiences, it seems that there is a further push in satisfying nostalgia for specific viewers, rather than creating moments that INDUCE nostalgia. I’m not saying this choice of media cannot do that but rather believe that it shouldn’t be the only thing that encourages or piques people’s interests into becoming viewers. Instead, I believe the same energy and effort should be put into more original storytelling devices, to create and uphold a viewing culture. As it is, said culture feels stagnant and the push for reboots is playing a large role in such energy.