One theme of the industry that boggles my mind, however, is the tendency to remake movies. You take an old movie that was popular, perhaps change the time aspect of the setting, and then use modern technology to bring the story to the 21st century. Being a person that enjoys variety and thrives on surprising twists, the general idea of remaking a film bores me.
And with the recent examples of The Karate Kid and Footloose, and upcoming copies of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Robocop, I feel as though my childhood is being personally attacked by those remaking these films. I hate to be the old guy that always defends the old stuff, but geez, some things just need to be left alone. Seriously, raise your hand if you can think of a single remake that was better than the original. See, that’s what I thought. (Note: If you just raised your hand, chances are we aren’t that close anyway. So what do you say, no hard feelings?)
I get almost as frustrated when I see my Christian brothers and sisters constantly trying to make up for the mistakes they have made or re-do a missed opportunity. Many people seem to think that the only way to have a bright future is to overcome the past. If I am interpreting the Bible correctly, it seems pretty clear that, once I accept Christ as my Savior and acknowledge Him as my Lord, my past is not only forgiven but forgotten. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 NIV)
Sure, it is very difficult to move on from your mistakes and even to forgive yourself sometimes. But when you start putting your focus on who you were, it becomes increasingly more difficult to become who God wants you to be. Until you can accept His forgiveness and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in His plan, you will spend all of your time spinning your wheels.
Just like it was a horrible idea to remake Footloose just to teach somebody how to Dougie, you will be making a huge mistake if you spend time trying to make up for your past. Seek God’s face and submit to His will. When you find yourself doing these things every day, you will quickly realize that the past is nothing more than a weapon the enemy uses to distract you from your eternal journey with the Creator.
So I plea to all Christians (and movie producers), please stop working on remakes. Nothing good can come from it.