Credit: Legally Blonde
Well, one thing that is known about this version of Goldilocks and The 3 Bears that is being funded by Reese Witherspoon is that it won’t be horror; it might be a drama, and it might even be something that will be up for discussion in the days to come. In other words, there isn’t much known apart from the fact that this will be an animated movie that will feature Goldilocks as a strong and empowered woman that will likely take charge of this movie in one way or another and become the main point. Seriously, that’s not too terrible to think about since the titular character has been the lead of the story for as long as it’s been told, but it does feel as though emphasizing the fact that she’ll be ‘strong’ and ’empowered’ could very easily mean that things will go so far over the top that people are going be split in their opinions as to whether it’s truly seeking to show empowerment, or if it’s an effort to remind people in a needless way that women are powerful and deserve respect no matter if they earn it or not.
A ‘modern’ take on this fable could go in a number of different ways.
Old stories and fairy tales have been told again and again and with as many variations to them as people can think of, but in some cases, this has been a huge mistake, and in others, it’s been a success that has the ability to divide the fans in a tremendous way since not everyone fully enjoys the act of bringing old tales into the modern era. One big issue with this, even in animated form, is that by bringing these stories into the current era it can change things in ways that didn’t need to be changed or in ways that will alter the story to such a degree that it will be virtually unrecognizable as the original story. It’s true that griping about it doesn’t do anyone any good, but it’s not entirely surprising to think that there are a lot of people that don’t want to see the old fables treated in a manner that could be deemed as disrespectful. Given that this is an animation, it’s best to reserve judgment before really digging into the story without due cause.
The need to emphasize female empowerment doesn’t always bode well.
It’s not uncommon for people to cringe when they hear the words ‘female empowerment’ since over the past five or six years these two words have been seen as both positive and exceedingly negative. The positive note that comes from female empowerment is obvious and easy to talk about since it involves the idea that women can and do control their lives in every way and are treated equally in everything they do. But the negative connotations that come from this term are just as easy to talk about and tend to put a lot of people on edge since while it should denote equality, female empowerment is sometimes taken to a level that makes it appear as though empowerment is being used to give women leave to do and say as they please in all things, whether they’ve earned this ability or not. Thinking about female empowerment in Goldilocks and the 3 Bears is kind of funny to think about anyway since one has to remember that this is the story of a little girl who essentially invaded the home of the three bears, at their food, sat in their chairs, and then laid in their beds. In other words, it was a home invasion with property damage that carried no punishment for the individual that was guilty of the acts. True, she was a little girl, but one would think that in this day and age these acts would be mentioned.
Credit: Wild
Retelling old stories isn’t such a bad thing until one messes around too much with the source material.
One thing I’ll continue to harp on until the day I can no longer write is the need to keep to the source material when recreating a story. There are instances in which the source material might need to be used as inspiration instead of the bedrock that a movie or show is built. But there is a definite need to refrain from changing things too much, especially since doing so creates another story instead of building off of the old story. It’s all well and good if one wants to use inspiration to create their own tale, but the need to alter something so much feels like a compulsion rather than the need to tell a gripping and convincing story.
It feels fair to wonder if Reese will distance herself from this project if it doesn’t perform well.
There’s no lack of confidence in her business skills, but if this animated feature doesn’t perform well it’s a wonder as to whether Reese will admit as much or if she’ll foist the responsibility onto someone else. People might actually feel incensed at such a question, but it’s fair enough to ask since some folks don’t like accepting that they’ve helped to create a failure. Hopefully, that won’t be the case, though.
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