I’m a lifelong fan of cinema – most of it predating my own birth. The memory of seeing these larger than life creations in a darkened theater for the first time shaped who I am. While these characters, and the writers, actors, directors and special effect artists that created them, are formative to our being, we can’t help but recognize they are properties owned by corporations… a corporation’s job is to produce a product, at a profit, to the benefit of their shareholders. These decisions are based on market research – not emotion. Corporations are not emotionally attached to century old characters. They will continue to update, remake and reimagine their properties ad nauseum. We are the minority. We bought the VHS, then we rebought the DVD, then the boxed set and the blue ray and the t-shirts and the action figures and model kits… they’ve made their money from us. They want new money – and to introduce their property to new audiences that are born everyday.
What they can never do is erase our memories. They’re not going to come into our homes and steal our VHS and DVD copies. Sure, they’ll make new versions – they have to or those characters will wither and die. The best you can do is introduce a kid to the originals and respect their fandom of what’s new. They’ll do the same to their children… different concepts, themes and methods appeal to different generations and that will continue to evolve. But those original pioneers remain to inspire new generations of creators. So, never forget the past, never let it be forgotten, but for God’s sake, stop hating on the present… let them learn for themselves what speaks to them. No one is erasing your past, just adding to their own voice to the chorus.
-Rod Zirkle
Monsters After Midnight 