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The Case for Remaking Teen Wolf
Nov. 24th, 2014 01:39 pmContent Notes: I will be getting a touch personal with this article and a touch political.
Teen Wolf was, to me, a fun, charming romp through a typical child/teen fantasy. It spoke to me, personally, as I wasn't cool, wasn't a jock, wasn't smart enough to be a nerd (by the problematic 80s sit-com view of intelligence), and was, all in all, just an unpopular kid. Plus, I like werewolves. Werewolves are cool, cooler than bowties. Teen Wolf has a kid that is, in general, unpopular with few friends, turn ultimately cool. I guess what I'm saying is that, for where I was when I first saw Teen Wolf, Teen Wolf could have been my Twilight.
Looking back on it now, this is one of those times that I flinch on behalf of my younger self. There's a metaphor for race that I didn't get at the time. I didn't notice it on my own, by the way. A Cracked podcast pointed it out (link below). Once I saw that, I saw that, even were I to continue to ignore the race metaphor, this movie just has a bad message.
Let's look at the plot. The movie starts out well. It gives us an intended "Typical American Teenager" (which has its own problems in framing) in the form of Scott Howard. We're given a few early scenes hinting at the eventual reveal, played for disorientation. This isn't an analogy for adolescence, though, because the urges he has (to howl), the senses he has (he can hear the high-pitched tones of a dog whistle), and the abilities he has (to make his eyes glow and growl in a way that is unnatural to a human throat) are very much *not* what his classmates are going through.
The transformation scene and resulting talk between Scott and his father are handled very well, I think. The horror of the transformation (Lovecraftian in its way), the comedy, and the talk between Scott and his father on the topic of being a werewolf.
But, it follows up with Scott being dog piled during a basketball game (both a ref-fail and a coach-fail, there) and the situation causing him to turn in full view.
The movie progresses to show that turning into a werewolf grants Scott sports prowess (specifically Basketball) and a natural ability to dance. (Uncomfortable, yet?) He becomes popular and is fetishized by the young ladies of his high school (getting there, yet?). Under the influence of the popularity, Scott engages in flashy, attention getting stunts, including showy moves while playing Basketball. (Please tell me you're uncomfortable.)
In the end, Scott rejects the werewolf and is rewarded with the love of his primary love interest.
In their series "After Hours", Cracked called this an example of "80s Movie Racism". (Link below)
This shouldn't be a comedy. Scott's association of the werewolf aspect of himself as only a personification of bad behavior should be a tragedy. Remember, Scott Howard can't, according to this movie's mythology, decide not to be a werewolf. Even if he develops perfect control, the instincts will still be there, the sensitivity to high pitched sound waves will still be there, and the full moon will still rise.
This movie has just set Scott Howard up for a lifetime of quiet self-hatred.
A remake to address these issues could either be a remake or a sequel in which Scott Howard has grown up, married, had at least one child, and said child is now a teenager. Either way, we have a better story to be told, one based, in part, on the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Check out the following YouTube clip. It's only a couple minutes and you won't be disappointed.
http://youtu.be/z7ihNLEDiuM
That's the plot of the remake. Young teen discovers own lycanthropy. Either through purposeful revelation or some kind of accident, the world discovers the young teen's lycanthropy. Young teen has an interest in (field of science, history, law, something counter to the stereotype, astrophysics by preference and in deference to Mr. Tyson's story) and community puts up many road blocks (often unintentional and thinking themselves to be well meaning) with encouragements to stereotypical ambitions.
This could even include the protagonist's werewolf parent, having internalized many of the harmful notions about werewolves as exemplars of bad behavior.
The story, complete with love interest, would be less about choosing between the cheap/easy and the truly "good", but coming to terms with what being a werewolf means within the main character's self and learning to at least start to divorce self-image from the images that society will try to foist upon one.
I think this would make a better movie with a better message.
I hope I've been sensitive on the topics just over which I've just barely touched.
Podcast: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/dumb-movies-theyll-study-in-future-history-classes/
After Hours Episode: http://www.cracked.com/video_18409_the-3-worst-lessons-rocky-movies-taught-us.html (Jump to 3:50 to get right to funny talk of Teen Wolf racism.)
Teen Wolf was, to me, a fun, charming romp through a typical child/teen fantasy. It spoke to me, personally, as I wasn't cool, wasn't a jock, wasn't smart enough to be a nerd (by the problematic 80s sit-com view of intelligence), and was, all in all, just an unpopular kid. Plus, I like werewolves. Werewolves are cool, cooler than bowties. Teen Wolf has a kid that is, in general, unpopular with few friends, turn ultimately cool. I guess what I'm saying is that, for where I was when I first saw Teen Wolf, Teen Wolf could have been my Twilight.
Looking back on it now, this is one of those times that I flinch on behalf of my younger self. There's a metaphor for race that I didn't get at the time. I didn't notice it on my own, by the way. A Cracked podcast pointed it out (link below). Once I saw that, I saw that, even were I to continue to ignore the race metaphor, this movie just has a bad message.
Let's look at the plot. The movie starts out well. It gives us an intended "Typical American Teenager" (which has its own problems in framing) in the form of Scott Howard. We're given a few early scenes hinting at the eventual reveal, played for disorientation. This isn't an analogy for adolescence, though, because the urges he has (to howl), the senses he has (he can hear the high-pitched tones of a dog whistle), and the abilities he has (to make his eyes glow and growl in a way that is unnatural to a human throat) are very much *not* what his classmates are going through.
The transformation scene and resulting talk between Scott and his father are handled very well, I think. The horror of the transformation (Lovecraftian in its way), the comedy, and the talk between Scott and his father on the topic of being a werewolf.
But, it follows up with Scott being dog piled during a basketball game (both a ref-fail and a coach-fail, there) and the situation causing him to turn in full view.
The movie progresses to show that turning into a werewolf grants Scott sports prowess (specifically Basketball) and a natural ability to dance. (Uncomfortable, yet?) He becomes popular and is fetishized by the young ladies of his high school (getting there, yet?). Under the influence of the popularity, Scott engages in flashy, attention getting stunts, including showy moves while playing Basketball. (Please tell me you're uncomfortable.)
In the end, Scott rejects the werewolf and is rewarded with the love of his primary love interest.
In their series "After Hours", Cracked called this an example of "80s Movie Racism". (Link below)
This shouldn't be a comedy. Scott's association of the werewolf aspect of himself as only a personification of bad behavior should be a tragedy. Remember, Scott Howard can't, according to this movie's mythology, decide not to be a werewolf. Even if he develops perfect control, the instincts will still be there, the sensitivity to high pitched sound waves will still be there, and the full moon will still rise.
This movie has just set Scott Howard up for a lifetime of quiet self-hatred.
A remake to address these issues could either be a remake or a sequel in which Scott Howard has grown up, married, had at least one child, and said child is now a teenager. Either way, we have a better story to be told, one based, in part, on the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Check out the following YouTube clip. It's only a couple minutes and you won't be disappointed.
http://youtu.be/z7ihNLEDiuM
That's the plot of the remake. Young teen discovers own lycanthropy. Either through purposeful revelation or some kind of accident, the world discovers the young teen's lycanthropy. Young teen has an interest in (field of science, history, law, something counter to the stereotype, astrophysics by preference and in deference to Mr. Tyson's story) and community puts up many road blocks (often unintentional and thinking themselves to be well meaning) with encouragements to stereotypical ambitions.
This could even include the protagonist's werewolf parent, having internalized many of the harmful notions about werewolves as exemplars of bad behavior.
The story, complete with love interest, would be less about choosing between the cheap/easy and the truly "good", but coming to terms with what being a werewolf means within the main character's self and learning to at least start to divorce self-image from the images that society will try to foist upon one.
I think this would make a better movie with a better message.
I hope I've been sensitive on the topics just over which I've just barely touched.
Podcast: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/dumb-movies-theyll-study-in-future-history-classes/
After Hours Episode: http://www.cracked.com/video_18409_the-3-worst-lessons-rocky-movies-taught-us.html (Jump to 3:50 to get right to funny talk of Teen Wolf racism.)
