One of my favourite movies as a child was harriet the spy. I could hardly wait to get that neon orange case home and delve into the lives of strangers along with harriet. I didn't just stop with the movies. I read all the books and I wanted to start spying myself. Sadly suburban winnipeg just didn't really provide me with a great spy stage. Eventually I moved passed never turning down an opportunity to re-watch the movie. I've seen it a number of times and I realize that I have even been inspired by the movie/book. One of the reasons that harriet spies is because she wants to see and know everything so that she can be a writer one day. I don't want to be a writer one day (although I would love to be a professional blogger, and stay in my jammies all day - pipe dream though) but I love writing everything down. I have a lot of thoughts and my blog does give me an outlet. Sometimes for those I don't feel deserve a whole blog entry I'll just jot it down in my notebook.
This weekend I decided it was time to watch the film once again. When I went to download it I also noticed there was something called Harriet the spy; blog wars. I realized that there was now a disney channel remake. I figured that as such a dedicated fan I should at least give it a try. It was horrible!!! Everything about it made me want to cringe.
I will give you 8 reasons why I hated it.
1. Blog wars- are you serious. As soon as I realized Harriet was competing against her nemesis (night)Marian for being the school blogger as opposed to editor of the school newspaper I could see right through it. I felt that disney was trying to teach children about social media and the importance of buzz.
*I forgot to mention above (I'm on a computer I could just go back and edit) I used to love Marian. I feel that I can often identify with the bitch character...another point blair waldorf from gossip girl. I like that preppy snob character. That's what I used to want to be when I grew up. Maybe I felt like these people could be more successful because they had the guts to get out there. But this seems more like a jumping point for another blog!
2. I feel like disney movies perpetuate someone's character way to much. Like they give someone's entire character away upfront. Like if you are an environmental person they are going to make up the fact that you can't go somewhere next weekend because you are working on building building eco-lodges for western chinese immigrants working on organic farms in guatamala or something over the top like that.
3. The main character was that girl from wizards of waverly place. Like the dumb one that can't do anything. Yes I have watched that show on few occasions. I'm comfortable enough with myself to admit it. But I could act better than this girl. She has such a whiny voice. I feel that she exemplify the harriet character very well. The original harriet the spy story takes place in new york (which this one does) and the character is very much a part of the city. She is very individualistic, and a little bit of an oddball. She is also happy with her independence and doesn't whine. Someone needs to tell disney costume designers that putting converse sneakers on someone doesn't make them an individual. This girl also didn't have anything mysterious about her. She wasn't a very good sneak. She also put on glasses everytime that something was about to go down. That doesn't mean anything!
4. I think the fact that it's a disney movie encompasses so many of my issues with the movie.
5. They didn't stick to the original plot. Like the character was similar but it was just so so cheesy. It's about harriet's dad
6. In disney movies movie star characters are always egotiscial pricks and seem dumb on the outside, but we really don't know them, they're just like other people! This happens
7. The character of ole golly. Ole golly is a wonderful nanny. In the original she was harriet's confidant that just told it to her how it is. Didn't ask those provoking questions or use a patronizing voice. She was very simple and to the point. In the new version she remains a confidant, however I find the way that she communicates much to flirty. I would almost compare it with the character of willy wonka. In the new one he's much more flirty. The character of ole golly also uses a lot of quotes. In the new movie she just said them like not seeming contextually. I felt that I needed an explanation as to why she used the quote in that exact moment. This was a huge let down for me.
8. It bothers me when someone hides in disney movies. They don't make it more obvious. If I'm going to hide behind a couch I'm not going to jump as high as I can to land on my stomach. I can't really discuss this better.
oh my goodness. i totally loved that movie when i was a kid too, but i never read the books. however, i was also inspired to spy. like, for real. a friend of mine and i actually assembled our own spy kit and spied on neighbours. i lived in a rural town...and i wasn't afraid to trek a distance to spy on people....i'm a born creep, yikes.
ReplyDeletegood points all around tho. here here!