#modernizing

[ineffableaddiction]

Aziraphale is modernizing.

[princesssarisa]

I've been looking over the information I can find about various modern-day retellings of Little Women: the nearly-forgotten 2018 film, the graphic novels Jo and Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, the middle grade novel More to the Story, and the two web series versions, The March Family Letters and The Attic.

They all make interesting choices to bring the story and characters into modern times. But I was just thinking of one in particular: the way they handle Beth's illness.

Now that scarlet fever is rare and easy to treat with antibiotics, Beth's illness obviously needs to be changed. Most modern retellings use cancer, although the two web series are exceptions: The March Family Letters gives her aplastic anemia, while The Attic opts for a congenital heart defect. But one thing they all have in common? Unlike the scarlet fever the original Beth contracts by caring for the Hummel children, none of these illnesses result from her kindness and care for others. All these retellings remove the tragic irony that her death results from her greatest virtue.

I wonder... is there some way a modern retelling could still include that aspect of Beth's illness?

Obviously, if it were set within these last three years, then she could contract COVID-19 from the Hummels, but setting it in the current pandemic would create a whole other slew of story complications.

Or maybe she could be babysitting the Hummels when their toddler runs into the street and is almost hit by a car; she could push him out of the way and be hit instead, become paralyzed, and several years later die of complications from a bedsore. That would certainly tie her fate back to her selfless love for others! But maybe that would be too melodramatic.

Maybe the original tragic irony of Beth's illness is too melodramatic for modern, realistic retellings anyway. After all, as fresh, realistic and relatable as Little Women still is in so many ways, the fact remains that it's a work from a different time, and there's still an aspect of sentimental 19th century melodrama about it. Maybe having Beth die as a direct result of her selfless care for others is too soppy for a modern setting, as opposed to a completely random illness like cancer or a congenital disorder.

Looking over these retellings, I've also noticed that Amy's near-fatal mishap is usually rewritten to be much less directly Jo's fault than the original thin ice incident. (The 2018 film changes it to a horseback riding accident, in Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy she almost gets hit by a bus, in The March Family Letters she gets lost in a freezing cold forest at night, and in The Attic, with its college setting, she gets trapped in a building with a gunman.) This change I also think I can understand, even if it does dilute the lesson Jo learns about anger. The fact that the original Jo almost deliberately lets Amy die has always struck me as a bit disturbingly melodramatic.

I do think it's interesting to notice which themes from the original book the modern adaptors choose to keep and which ones they choose to ignore.

@littlewomenchannel, @thatscarletflycatcher

[brother-hermes]

EPIGENETICS AND LIVING WATERS: The Impermanence of Trauma

Trauma isn’t some lasting thing that gets to define us for the rest of our lives right. It certainly isn’t the gateway into the generational curses your local fear mongers sold you. Yehoshua spoke of a living water throughout his teachings because life is fluid. Nothing is fixed or permanent. Rock with me as we take the journey within.

[choppedcowboydinosaur]

Another way to modernize GI Joe would be to update the time period it’s set in. You can change the background from the Vietnam War to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars since most of the characters from the Larry Hama comics had their background in Vietnam this update would help the characters. Also, the recession that radicalized Cobra Commander could be updated to the 2008 recession instead of the one from the late 70′s.

[raekuul]

The Ten Rules of the Fair-Play Whodunnit, Updated For The Modern Era

1. The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow. 2. All futuristic, supernatural, or preternatural elements must be explored and explained over the course of the investigation. 3. A secret passage may only be in a house or building for which it is appropriate by age or purpose, and must be uncovered during the course of investigation. 4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used. 5. There shall be no "Scary Minority Suspect" 6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right. 7. The detective must not himself commit the crime. 8. The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader. 9. The detective must have a legitimate reason within the story to explain their reasoning step-by-step. Should a "Watson" be used for this purpose, they must act as a partner, not as a rubber duck. 10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

Comparison to the original Knox Decalogue below the cut

Unchanged

Supernatural/Preternatural elements are becoming more common, and one of the handrail franchises I'm using as a guide (Turnabout Court) has Preternatural elements as part of the overall setting in addition to as critical parts of climactic confrontations. Therefore, the Law of Conservation of Detail takes precedence - allowable, but must be explained sufficiently as to be conductive to the reader independently solving the mystery.

There is no reason to limit the number of secret passages to just one. However, it must make sense within the normal operating use of the building (think maintenance floors/"slave's quarters")

The prohibition against undiscovered poisons stands but is functionally meaningless in stories set in the present day. The prohibition against appliances needing specific exposition has been combined into Rule #2 (named "Futuristic") since such necessary exposition would fall in with those other elements.

Reworded to not use a racist term, though I'm looking for a phrasing that doesn't require potholing to TVTropes.

Unchanged

Unchanged - though it should be pointed out that this specifically means "the viewpoint character" and not "any detective investigating the case." If they're using their authority to cover up their crime, that leaves clues too.

Unchanged - this rule is the crux of the Fair-Play Whodunnit and really should have been Rule #1.

I have reason to believe that this wording preserves the spirit of the rule while removing the subtle requirement that the Watson be stupid by comparison. (Also I have the not-unreasonable expectation that my audience is smarter than I am)

Unchanged - though one of my handrail franchises violates this for drama towards the end of the first installment, the clues were still there from the beginning. You just don't have the right information to make the clues make sense until long after (which... still means its a violation. If you know what I'm talking about, I'm vagueposting about it because I don't care to learn how to spoiler-tag stuff and the underlying principle doesn't actually require me to be specific about which franchise it applies to).

[rvexillology]

Modernizing the state flag of Pernambuco (Brazil)

from /r/vexillology Top comment: I really like the way you used the space here.

[francesthetraveller]

Ladies and gentlemen

so I was talking with my friend @usernose , and we had the idea/petition/challange of modernizing disney’s House of Mouse (since it’s pretty old). This would include the newest animated studios disney got (Blue Sky Studios, Pixar, etc.), New things that happened to disney, and alot else. I also thought of having the mickey mouse characters look like the ducktales design! I think this modernized series could be called: House Of Mouse: Reordered

(HAHA FOOD JOKE-) If anyone else wants to join this petition, please reblog or love this!