Let me first say that I have zero confidence in a Footloose remake. The director Kenny Ortega directed the High School Musical films, and while I enjoyed those for what they were (teen pop musicals) I didn’t see a real paralell to those and Footloose so I feared for its direction.
But it seems that Kenny Ortega has moved on from the project citing creative differences.
Kenny Ortega has left the film over disagreements with Paramount’s production prez Adam Goodman over the tone and budget. Ortega, who has directed the High School Musical movies, wanted to make something with big musical numbers and spend a bunch of Paramount’s cash. Goodman, meanwhile, wants something ‘edgier’ and more of a drama – probably closer to the original than to the Broadway adaptation.
I think every last quality that made it great in the 80s is exactly why it wouldn’t work now.
In the 80s, dancing and music were not a part of pop culture, they WERE the culture. I can think of no other fad, style or mentality that dominated so many subcultures as music in the 80s did. No matter what you listened to, it defined you. This generation is still influenced by its music but not nearly to the degree that it did in the 80s.
So to have a film about a rebellious young hipster who moves to a small town where all that is banished, and actually illegal? That had REAL value. An updated story where they had a town where any one popculture influence was illegal, today’s youth wouldn’t relate. Remove any one popculture reference, and there are a dozen others to satisfy the crazed defining qualities of todays youth.
And that Ortega was directing implied to me they would be adapting the stage musical with the characters breaking into song and dance much like High School Musical. While that still had its appeal, it lost the message of Footloose to begin with. At least that is steering back towards the point of the original film.
Bottom line for me is that Footloose taught me how to dance. Not literally, but it gave me a deeper meaning to going to school dances and clubs. It wasn’t an activity or show. It was an outlet and expression. Today I don’t dance at all. Its just not the same. And frankly I would look like a retard to dance like I used to.
I worry that this remake would also look like that to me. Just not the same.
At all.
