Innovation, originality; these are the things we’re looking for in cinema. Sometimes someone comes along with an idea that’s so out there, you can only applaud it. Other times, the ideas are tragic. We’ve come to one of those times. In the latest edition of Remakes & Reboots, Warner Bros. have announced that a female-led Lord of the Flies adaptation is in the works.
Lord of the Flies was born in 1954, a novel by William Golding who subsequently won a Nobel Prize for Literature. The book then saw two English language film adaptations; Peter Brook‘s 1963 film, and Harry Hook‘s 1990 film. A third adaptation isn’t really necessary, but the now fashionable twist is certainly uncalled for.
The whole premise of Lord of the Flies is toxic masculinity; after becoming stranded on a desert island, a group of boys are forced to fend for themselves, but develop into savage little beings who bully and eventually kill their own persons. There are no female figures on the island, and the boys’ animalistic tendencies are innate behaviours. This all changes when girls, with natural maternal instincts, replace the boys.
Scott McGehee and David Siegel (What Maisie Knew) are behind the project, which they will write and direct. It’s yet to get rolling but the pair are definitely committed to the idea. Siegel commented that the pair “want to do a very faithful but contemporized adaptation”, a bit difficult when changing the very nature of the book – boys also still exist, Siegel, as have women for a very long time.
There is no problem in creating more roles for women and girls in Hollywood, but the efforts to ignite a fire that shouldn’t be burning are getting too much. The news is undoubtedly met with controversy which is more warranted than the hate toward the all-female Ghostbusters (2016) – a film which both added something new to the franchise, and I didn’t at all hate.
As said above, the project is still in very early talks, and there certainly isn’t a cast attached. If the public response reaches unprecedented heights, the project might even fall through. Here’s hoping it does.
#Peace.Love.LordOfTheFlies
