过去11个月总有一种似曾相识的感觉。我们穿着同样破旧的运动服，绕着同样的当地公园和运河重复同样的步行路线。我们的文化餐也开始有一种熟悉的味道。过去6个月，有关衍生剧、复活剧或重启剧的消息纷纷传出。深呼吸！简单举几个例子，包括《欲望都市》《绯闻女孩》《权力的游戏》《嗜血法医》《史密斯夫妇》《灵动：鬼影系列》和《欢乐一家亲》。
2020年重启剧《失恋排行榜》的编剧韦罗妮卡·韦斯特说，影视剧制作人正在利用我们对舒适感的集体需求。她说：“备受喜爱的角色和剧情给人亲切感，人们乐于重温。”
重启影视剧更加深了这种情绪。《重启电影》一书的编辑之一丹尼尔·赫伯特说：“看着这些熟悉的角色如何成长或改变，或者认识他们的新面貌，又增添了几分乐趣。”
韦斯特编剧的重启剧《失恋排行榜》当然也是这样，原版是由约翰·丘萨克主演的小众影片，于2000年上映，距今20年。但文化敏感性发生了天翻地覆的变化。丘萨克塑造的终日无精打采却自命不凡的罗布·戈登——他对伴侣不忠，还称前任为“贱人”，却结局圆满——在2021年根本站不住脚。
重启影视剧还面临主题上的挑战。在今天新型社交媒体平台面前，《绯闻女孩》里的博客圈显然是老古董了。尽管《欲望都市》里对性的放纵态度在上世纪90年代有些惊世骇俗，但对Z世代而言，那些就连卡丽和另外几个女主角都难以启齿的限制级内容早已司空见惯。另外，该剧主演的年纪也长了20多岁。制片方承诺，重启版将探究五十几岁女性“复杂的生活和友情现实”。对于这个在荧屏上缺乏代表的年龄群体，《欲望都市》重启本身就具有变革意义。（刘白云译自3月7日英国《星期日泰晤士报》网站）
There has been a sense of déjà vu about the past 11 months. We walk the same routes around the same local parks and canals in the same shabby tracksuits. Our cultural diet， too，has begun to feel familiar. The past six months have brought news of spin-offs， revivals or reboots for — deep breath —Sex and the City， Gossip Girl， Game of Thrones， Dexter， Mr and Mrs Smith， Paranormal Activity and Frasier， to name but a few.
TV and film-makers are tapping into our collective need for comfort， says the screenwriter Veronica West， who worked on the 2020 TV reboot of High Fidelity.“There's a cosy familiarity to beloved characters and worlds that people are excited to revisit，” she says.
Rebooting takes this sentiment one step further. “Seeing how those familiar characters develop or change， or being introduced to some new version of them， adds to the pleasure，” says Daniel Herbert， co-editor of the book Film Reboots.
This is certainly true of West's take on High Fidelity， which was released 20 years after the cult Noughties film starring John Cusack. Yet cultural sensibilities have evolved hugely; Cusack's portrayal of the mopey， self-obsessed Rob Gordon — who cheats on his partner and calls an ex a bitch， yet still manages to get his happy ending — simply wouldn't stand up in 2021.
There are thematic challenges for rebooting too. The blogosphere of Gossip Girl feels positively ancient in the face of new social media platforms. And while Sex and the City's unbridled attitude to sex felt radical in the 1990s， Gen Z are accustomed to explicit content that puts Carrie and co to shame. The main cast are also 20 years older. Creators have promised to explore the “complicated reality of life and friendship” for women in their fifties. For a demographic that is woefully underrepresented on screen， this is radical in itself.
来源：参考消息网
