Paperback's Pondering's is a weekly discussion when I take a topic and well, ponder about it! This week's topic is all about my opinion on book/tv show revivals.
More and more revivals have been hitting it big recently. Between Fuller House, Gilmore Girls, Harry Potter, everyone's been feeling a bit nostalgic. However are all these revivals REALLY necessary? Unless your favourite book or tv show ended on a cliffhanger, did you not get the closure you needed?
Many people have feeded off of J.K. Rowling's tweets about hidden Hogwarts secrets, revealing new wizarding schools and more. The world certainly does not want to let the Wizarding World go, including me. What first made me develop negative feelings however, was reading the Cursed Child synopsis. It is revealed that Harry "might have been helping Voldemort all along" and that Albus will be "struggling with the family legacy". These statements kind of shocked me because I was looking forward to Harry just living a normal life. There is no more Voldemort to worry about, the past will be put behind. Clearly, Harry's life will never be normal.
These revivals kind of annoy me because they seem quite forced. It seems like writers are just trying to make the character's lives even more eventful than they were before, and make it seem like they can never move on. I was perfectly fine with how the Harry Potter series ended, so I'm not really jumping at the chance to find out more. GIVE THE POOR GUY A BREAK ALREADY!
I guess revivals are just a way for people to relive the nostalgia and amazement that they had towards whatever was hyped at the time. People DO NOT WANT Hogwarts, or Stars Hollow, or the Tanner family to be forgotten, which is perfectly fine, but personally all this new information does bother me. Maybe that's just me.
I know revivals can be a great thing, as fans can come together and relive their childhood's, but what I'm trying to say is, it's not for everyone. As a fangirl of any revival, you ARE NOT OBLIGATED to see the revival. Some people are ok with the information they received, and some people want more, and that's ok too.
My personal opinion is that I could have done without this sequel. Of course, I will pick up the book because I am a hopelessly curious fangirl, but I won't be happy about it, if that makes any sense. I believe that the only important thing about a book or tv show fandom is to not let the legacy die, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to find out more.
All this being said, it is to each their own and I hope that Cursed Child will live up to the expectations that Harry Potter left behind.
How do you feel about sequels/revivals? Will you pick up Cursed Child?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
As a comic book lover, I had to get used to reboots, revivals, reimaginings, retconning, multiple timelines, and alternate universes a *long* time ago. These days I just kind of go with it.
ReplyDeleteSure, I might love a new version, spin-off, adaptation, whatever of my favourite characters. Or I might hate it. The trick is trying not to let the new stuff affect your appreciation of the old stuff.
Stories morph and change - it's what they do. It's why we have myths, and why we still have Thor and Loki running around doing Lord knows what. The best stories will survive (how many 'out of the box' adaptations of Romeo & Juliet have there been? Yet the original is still worth reading/seeing.)
On the other hand, I can totally get that you're worried that the new stuff might colour the old stuff in a different shade (will we feel the same about Harry if we see how he is as a father? Do we want to feel the same about Harry? Or is this just further character development?)
I think the best advice is to take a deep breath, and try to enjoy the stories you love!
That's some great advice! I think for me, it's just the constant worry that characters aren't going to be like they used to. I don't like change. But it's great that you're used to revivals, I wish I could say the same!
DeleteI've really had no choice - Marvel's AUs are now numerically coded. The main universe is Earth-616 (yes, I know how geeky it makes me that I know that) - it was basically accept that sh** happens, or stop reading comics (and no way can I stop reading comics!) ;)
DeleteLol of course you wouldn't want to do that! And don't worry, we're all a little geeky ;)
DeleteI so agree with you. Revivals/sequels are most of the time unecessary. Most of the time, there is nothing left for those characters to do or they should just be left alone. I will definitely not be reading the next Harry Potter book because for me it doesn't need to be spread out anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that my curiousity always gets the best of me and I know that I will just want to know what happens. But I didn't think it was needed.
DeleteOH MY GOD YES EMILY YES.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for articulating everything I feel in such an articulate manner, in such a non-offensive manner (I swear, if I wrote this, it would be filled with so much stuff that would get everyone mad at me hahah)
But no, honestly, I think HP wrapped up really nicely, and I've hated how there's been so much revival of it. It's all great and all - but I like having everything just set in my mind you know? Like, I love reading fanfiction, and thinking "THJATS CANNON NOW SOZNOTSOZ" - but then recently, with all the developments, it's almost like my worldview has changed (that's really drastic, but that's the only way I can really explain it?)
THANKS ONCE AGAIN <3
wow all those typos haha - sorry! xD
DeleteLol no worries, when you get passionate, typos do not matter! Thank you so much for sharing your opinion! Honestly it was so hard to keep my composure when writing this!
DeleteI think that fanfiction is definitely easier to read because it's not official, and everyone has their own opinions. But when these new ideas come in, you're right, it really does change your worldview. Thanks Geraldine!
Oh yeah, I totally feel you on this one. A lot of the time I feel like revivals are all about making money, because they know it will be successful no matter what. The same thing happened with James Patterson's Maximum Ride series. It was my favorite series of all time at one point, but it was ruined because it was dragged out so long. By the time James Patterson released the ninth book, it was almost a joke. But yeah, I'm definitely still going to read Cursed Child hahaha.
ReplyDeleteIt is a money grab at the end of the day. Sometimes I think that people don't even care about the series anymore, it's just about knowing that they'll be successful.
DeleteOh yeah, I totally feel you on this one. A lot of the time I feel like revivals are all about making money, because they know it will be successful no matter what. The same thing happened with James Patterson's Maximum Ride series. It was my favorite series of all time at one point, but it was ruined because it was dragged out so long. By the time James Patterson released the ninth book, it was almost a joke. But yeah, I'm definitely still going to read Cursed Child hahaha.
ReplyDeleteI got my copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book today.
ReplyDeleteI brought it off Amazon and I got it in just 2 days!
Here's the link:
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2