Oh, MTV. The meaningless acronym channel that killed
Daria
in favor of
Date My Mom
has latched onto the 1985 Michael Fox classic
Teen Wolf
. The film that taught us all about the joys and compromises of male puberty is in the hands of the network that made “Speidi” a household name. Happy Wednesday!
Yeah, I know, it makes sense. Just not to my heart. Mythological creatures are in, particularly the blood-sucking variety. (See:
True Blood
,
Twilight
.) Everyone likes a bit of
escapism when the Dow is in the doldrums
. And tweens have always loved their fantasy narratives. Junior high is dull. It’s much nicer to fantasize that the wan pixie stick of a boy in the corner has fangs a la Robert Pattinson rather than a serious case of social anxiety.
But when I read the
network’s “vision” for the
Teen Wolf
remake,
I can only see dancing feet on the grave of a sacred childhood gem:
It has a fresh take and is very different from the original,” said Liz Gateley, senior vp MTV series development. “It has more of an ‘American Werewolf in London’ feel to it. It’s a dramatic thriller with two best friends in the center who provide a great comedy element: They are two very relatable characters on the outer circles of popular cliques.”
Oh, phew. A fresh take. I’m picturing Hills -style narration, coupled with constant teen-to-wolf morphing montages to reworked Lady Gaga songs like “MYMYMYMYMYMYMY Hairy Face.” Accepting silver bullets to the heart now, please.
Image is a screenshot from the Teen Wolf trailer.
