Imprinting on media

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Which is why some of the best received reboot/sequels have been ones for lesser known properties like Battlestar Galactica or recent movie The Fall Guy. Nobody is worried about folks getting those right. Its taking an idea and going to the next level with it.

Hilariously, there were people determined to be mad at the new series who tried to stir everyone up against it. They were greeted, of course, with stony indifference.

I owned most, maybe all of the original Battlestar Galactica toys -- I may still have a battered Daggit action figure somewhere -- but I'd never try and claim the original was anything special.

 

[Ryujin]

Age wise? For a lot of folks im sure it does. There has been music studies about folks who stop building their taste around 20 years old and then thats it for the rest of their life. These types of folks look for a specific execution and if its lacking will be an impossible sell.

I agree with @Ryujin that a well received piece of work is going to be a hurdle. The bar has been set high and every misstep is going to stick out like a sore thumb. Which is why some of the best received reboot/sequels have been ones for lesser known properties like Battlestar Galactica or recent movie The Fall Guy. Nobody is worried about folks getting those right. Its taking an idea and going to the next level with it.

Battlestar was one of the things in my head when I wrote that.

 

[MoonSong]

Absolutely. The Star wars prequels are the best example. I grew up with those and still love them. The OT I also like, and saw as a kid, but they don't land the same way. They're not for me--they're my dad's movies.

The larger scale reevaluation of the films also coincides with people who saw them as kids growing old enough to play a role in the discourse.

Kinda. The first Star wars movie I saw was the Empire Strikes back (and it was mostly parts on TV), but I didn't really watch any of these in its entirety until I had already seen Episode I in the theater. Between Episodes I and II, I was hooked. Not even the rerelease in 95-96? I think? made me a fan. The original Star Wars, as groundbreaking as it was at the time, was just too slow-paced for kid me. Maybe I think that Episode I was just right for me because it is the most fantastical and least sciencey of the bunch. (I'd be in the market for a Lego palace of Theed and maybe Otho Gunga)

I guess it isn't a surprise that I didn't like Episode 7 (It is very antiprequels).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Do you think when you saw a movie/tvs how/read a book impacts how you view reboots/remakes/sequels?

Absolutely, and for many of the reasons Morrus cited explicitly.

FWIW, I know I have different opinions about sequels & reboots of certain IP than those outside of my age group, and even within my circle of peers if they were more or less into a given property than I was. For example, I have a different take on the BSG series remake than my friend who was a HUGE fan of the original. I was more casually involved…though I did have a Viper & a Cylon Raider. (Neither of us cared much for that final season, though.)

The same goes for music. I’ve noticed that a lot of music fans enjoy the first few albums they’ve heard by a musician they love than most of their other releases.

 

[payn]

The same goes for music. I’ve noticed that a lot of music fans enjoy the first few albums they’ve heard by a musician they love than most of their other releases.

I've noticed a few things on this outside of imprinting about music. Some musicians just never adapt, and some others try, but are not really able to do it. The 80's turnover for instance, changed a lot of classic rock bands and not for the better. I think many producers tried to sell these artists on trends and it wasnt in their wheelhouse. Dont get me wrong, lots of artists are great with a synthesizer, but suddenly it was everywhere. Dare I say auto-tune was similar in the aughts.

There is also what i've come to call the legacy effect. Sometimes you have an act so strong in their formative years, that they are given a lot of leeway when it comes to criticism. Their later works are high in production value (who doesnt want to work with a legend?) but the art itself is dull and ordinary and not much to note. Yet, it sells enough to keep doing without having to change course. The pillow of commercialization is pretty comfy I suppose if you get used to it.

There are film directors I would certainly put in the "legacy effect" bucket.

 

[Staffan]

The same goes for music. I’ve noticed that a lot of music fans enjoy the first few albums they’ve heard by a musician they love than most of their other releases.

I mean, that makes sense really. You hear a few songs by an artist and they strike a chord (heh) in you, so you look for more of that artist. Works they make close to the first ones you hear will probably sound fairly similar, and you already like that stuff. But if they change later (or if they already had changed and you first heard their later works), well... that stuff's different. That's not what attracted you in the first place. So it makes sense that you might not like that as much.

In other words, someone who likes I Just Can't Get Enough might not necessarily like Personal Jesus (and vice versa), even though both are by Depeche Mode. Or if they do, probably not for the same reasons.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Literally just crossed my path this AM:

The person posting it was musing about Live’s Throwing Copper (their 3rd album).

It wasn’t like their first two albums. It wasn’t like what followed. But it was chock full of hits & went platinum.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some musicians just never adapt, and some others try, but are not really able to do it.

My first thought was Rush’s dipping their toes in rap.

But if you look VERY closely, you’ll also find a lot of bands & musicians who had to take time to really find their characteristic style.

Rush is also an example of this. See also Killing Joke, Trent Reznor, Radiohead, and more. Even Mozart evolved over time.

And coming full circle, you’ll find the same going on in the visual arts as well. It’s the vanishingly rare director or actor who gets it right the first time and continues from there.

 

[Mallus]

My first thought was Rush’s dipping their toes in rap.

I already regret asking, but what album was that?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I already regret asking, but what album was that?

It was 1 song, and it wasn’t bad (lyrically), per se. But it wasn’t good compared to the stuff Rush were usually putting out, and rap/rock fusion was already being done better by a lot of other performers.