Imaginary Friends and Movie Remakes – Your Thoughts?

Posted by RJ Licata | September 28, 2010

I never had an imaginary friend when I was younger. I’m not really sure how I feel about the whole thing, either. I mean I’m all for creativity and imagination in a kid, but there’s something about it that I think is a little bit creepy. Who’s to say they really don’t see someone there? They’re usually pretty convinced themselves.

I think if my son ever tells me about his imaginary friend, I might ask him to go play in the other room with him/her. I don’t know if I could handle wondering if the imaginary companion was looking at me or not.

Anyways, the reason I bring this up is some random thought popped in my head the other day and it inspired me to head over to Google and do a search for one of my favorite movies ever. I don’t remember exactly what I wanted to find out, but the movie I was looking up was ‘Drop Dead Fred’, an early 90′s movie starring Phoebe Cates as a young woman whose childhood imaginary friend revisits her and causes havoc in her adult life, just as he did when she was a young girl.

In my search I found out a few things about that movie. First, it wasn’t well-received at the time – it only made about $14 milliion, and the critics didn’t like it much at all. However, since then it has developed a sort of cult following, albeit on a much smaller scale than the ~~weirdos~~ devoted fans who set up conventions for Star Wars, A Clockwork Orange, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Still, these fans of the movie might have a problem with the second bit of info I found. There’s going to be a remake of Drop Dead Fred. Coming out in 2011 and starring Russell Brand. Cult followers hate imitators.

I don’t have much of an opinion either way when it comes to remakes, other than I think it’s a cop-out by the “creative” people who work in the entertainment industry. You mean to tell me after only about 70 years of making movies we’ve run out of all possible ideas? So much so that even spinoffs are too much work and the only way to come up with something is to completely recycle what someone else did?

That’s the only complaint I have. Remakes don’t ruin the original. They are a different interpretation – nothing more, nothing less. If you loved the original – whatever movie it may be – look at a remake as a chance to either put the original on an even higher pedestal (when the remake sucks) or enjoy a slightly different take on an old favorite (when the remake is good or *gasp* great, even). Even if the remake sucks, it won’t change a single scene in the original. The first version will always be the same movie you loved, no matter what.

I’m actually pretty excited to see how this one turns out. If you’ve seen the original and know who Russell Brand is (a hilariously unpredictable Brit), then you’ll probably agree that this remake has some serious potential. If you’ve never seen the original, pick up your rock, take a peek out at the world and have a look at this awesome scene: