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| An Open Letter To The Cinema Industry After announcements regarding the current War Of The Worlds film project, I feel that I must speak out. Often one hears of Filmakers complaining about criticism they receive from fans of original work, novels comics and the like, that they are turning into film. Perhaps it is time to view this dilemma from another perspective. Certainly many fans will quible about minor alterations to their beloved favourite work of literary or graphic art, a change of hair colour or an error in continuity is the sort of thing brought up as examples. Is the criticism fair? What may seem minor things on the surface, such as a location change from London to L.A. can have a dramatic change on mood and subtext. Frequently books turned to film do not even have primary characters and plot come through intact, frequently the finished product has barely anything in common with the original. Is this important? Well actually it is very important, film has a massive impact on popular knowledge and awareness, with an author and their work judged for a whole generation or more by the film. Because of this it could be said that filmakers have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that the principle concepts and subtexts of a piece make it into the film version. What occurs in the majority of cases however is that the film is a thin guise of the original over tired cliches and a hodge-podge of the filmakers own ideas. Sometimes this is done in a respectful manner, Oh Brother, Where Art Though for example did not claim to be a film version of Homer’s Odysseus but recognised that it was based upon it. If only this was always the case, instead the name of the Author and work are used as a drawcard for audiences who are instead treated to the filmakers own ideas of what the original work should have been about. Classic literature is distorted and grossly misrepresented, influential works that have changed the course of history are turned into diluted action films. No wonder the ‘fans’ complain. As the filmgoing demographic is changing with the ageing population of the developed world, more and more are complaining about vacuous entertainment. Visual spectacle, violence, some one liners and a dash of romance are just no longer enough. They’ve seen it all before. Isn’t it about time that filmakers began taking responsibility with the creative material that they have gained the rights to use? I call on them to stop prostituting the works of others for their own benefit. According to reports in the media the scriptwriter for the new War of the Worlds film David Koepp, is the same as that of Spiderman. The theme of which is that with power comes responsibility. If that concept has any meaning to him then I call on him to honour it and be true to H.G. Wells work in his script, no matter what the producers ask of him. If any book or comic that you have held dear has been butchered and abused to make money at the cinema, or if you fear that it may yet happen, if you long for films that you can recognise as being a quality representation of the source material, then I urge you to pass this message on to anyone you know in the industry or anyone you know who may feel the same. Bayne MacGregor |