I have a problem with the current state of the film industry. With every passing year, it seems that my local theaters are crowded with the next big sequel in a franchise, a remake of a film I’ve seen already, or another Marvel movie. It’s exhausting and leaves no room for an original story to flourish.
This is why I was so attracted to last year’s Parasite. This film exploded in popularity on social media overnight and it had no connections to a pre-established franchise. After I walked out of my screening, I was stunned and my love for film was reinforced.
I wanted to tell my friends and family how amazing Parasite was the day after and how they should see it as soon as possible. However, I stopped myself because I knew that they would dismiss it as soon as I told them that it was a South Korean film and that they would have to read while watching it.
This is unfortunate because I think the film tells a well-crafted story about classism and family, with extremely likable characters, while effectively combining elements of drama, thriller, and comedy. I still told them to see it anyway: “Trust me. It’s really good.” Even if they didn’t want to see it, I was happy the film was getting the attention and recognition that I believed it deserved.
Fast forward to this past weekend at the Oscars where Parasite won almost every category they were nominated for, including Best Picture. This is the first time a film not in the English language took home the biggest award of the night.
While it is exciting and satisfying to see this film make Oscar history, there is still some news that I am not at all excited about. After winning a bidding war against Netflix, HBO won the rights to produce an adaptation of the film for the small screen.
Adam McKay – best known for writing and directing Anchorman, Step Brothers, and more recently a biopic about Vice President Dick Cheney titled Vice – will most likely be spearheading the upcoming HBO adaptation.
This news broke out when Parasite buzz was high, which makes this announcement feel like it was trying to cash in on the film’s hype and popularity. The fact that HBO and Netflix were duking it out for the film’s rights shows that they were thinking of the potential money that could be made by retelling this story for American audiences.
I have an idea; if American audiences would like to experience this story, they should just watch the film. It’s a shame that words at the bottom of the screen are a barrier between foreign films and U.S. audiences.
But HBO’s adaptation reminds me of my problem with the film industry. Why does it heavily rely on endless sequels and, in this case, remakes? Are filmmakers creatively bankrupt, or is this the only way they can make a quick buck?
Maybe the problem is with audiences. Every year, big-budget franchises rack up record-breaking numbers at the box office. Why? It’s because the average movie-going audience is giving franchises like Star Wars, Fast and Furious, and Avengers their money to see the next installment, which advertising and marketing promises will be “bigger and better” than the last one.
Not to mention, this adaptation is a huge middle-finger to foreign films. How are films supposed to reach an international audience if we can just adapt the original film? Is this story less valid because it isn’t an American story?
Despite all of this, I don’t think this upcoming project is completely hopeless. Director Bong Joon Ho will be heavily involved in the television adaptation. In a recent interview, he stated that he could use this project as an opportunity to expand on the ideas he set up in the original film as well as include elements he couldn’t explore in a two-hour film.
If HBO’s Parasite is a flop, at least it will give viewers an incentive to watch the original if they haven’t already. Who knows, McKay and HBO could prove me wrong. I want to be proven wrong. However, I still stand by the fact that original stories, especially from another country, should have the opportunity to shine in an overpopulated market and shouldn’t have to be Americanized to become acceptable.