I'm a big fan of the David Suchet Poirot on TV, but I haven't always been a fan of the Miss Marple portrayals. I think of her as really small and tiny, almost frail. There have been some actresses who are just not right for the role, at least for how I think of Miss Marple.
Anyway, so Disney is coming out with a new Marple movie/movies - probably sequels if the first one does well. Okay, so who's playing the famous Miss?
Now, for those of you not familiar with Miss Marple, in the books she is described as a fluffy, pink and white old lady. Someone who is sweet, charming and very Victorian and ladylike. She acts fussy and fluttery, but has a shrewd brain.
The actress they cast as Miss Marple: Jennifer Garner. She is not elderly, nor pink and white and fluffy! (Nor small, either) Apparently, the picture is to be some kind of re-boot of the Marple story. And, it is set in the present, so it is a contemporary piece!
So why call it a Miss Marple film at all? Miss Marple is elderly, and she detects crime in England from the 1930's through to the 1960's. The new Disney-Garner production has neither of those things. (Although, to be fair, the film might be set in England; but contemporary England!) So, again, really, what's the point? You've taken away everything people love about the character to replace it with a new character who's not actually the character. Just invent some new detective lady for Garner to play, and leave poor Miss Marple alone! It's not Miss Marple, so why market it as Miss Marple? This is another character, with another set of stories, that the filmmakers are calling Miss Marple. But all the true fans know this character isn't Miss Marple. I definitely won't be seeing this movie. Are any of my readers interested? Or are you, like me, horrified at the desecration of a beloved character?
(Also, as a ranty aside to my rant, why does Blogger keep eating my paragraphs? It is super annoying to post, see no paragraphs, and then have to go back in to re-paragraph my whole post, and have to insert the paragraphs with html tags. Further annoyance!)
I think Disney was inspired by the Sherlock Holmes re-boot (not the Robert Downey Jr. movie, the BBC show). I'm not sure Miss Marple is either iconic enough (for most people today, not devoted Christie-ites) or "vintage" enough that an overhaul/re-boot on this scale will appeal either to a broader audience or to Marple fans.
ReplyDeleteBut Jennifer Garner???? Great actress but not even borderline Marple-y.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Geetabix! It's a terrible idea all around. Even if the script is fantastic (which I kinda doubt), they would have been better off creating an entirely new character. Even "borrowing" from Christie (if that was so essential to them) to create the new character would have been better than outright appropriating a character that's beloved by a mass of Christie fanatics (myself included) and turning it into a travesty of itself. They shouldn't underestimate the wrath of the mystery novel fandom, LOL!
ReplyDeleteBut I am still hopeful that this will either turn out to be a huge misunderstanding, or that someone will have second thoughts ... and not a moment too soon.
Maybe they could make it like a prequel ... the Young Miss Marple like the Young Indian Jones or something?
ReplyDeleteAdina - I see what you mean about a "re-boot" - Marple probably isn't beloved enough for such treatment. Thank goodness! I like her just as she is and don't really care too much about her origins.
ReplyDeleteGeetabix - sadly, I don't think a prequel is what they have in mind: from what I've read it sounds like they plan to update the character and move her to a contemporary setting. To me, that makes the character not Miss Marple. The only fans who will be drawn by the name Miss Marple will recoil in horror once they find out the plot of the movie, so they're just alienating their fanbase right off the start. So why even make it about Miss Marple? Just create a new character.
Or, if you're looking for a female detective, what about Nancy Drew? Garner is a lot closer to her in age than Marple!