It has been reported that Walt Disney has purchased the rights to Miss Marple, and that they are planning a new film franchise set to star Jennifer Garner, who is 38 years old. Many are calling it a re-invention of the character. Defenders of the change, while conceding Hollywood's age bias, have even said that the "old lady" version has already been successfully portrayed, and that it's time for a different, even sexier take.
Let me explain why that is wrong. On so many levels. After the jump.
Please, listen to the lovely Miss Marple Theme as you read.
Tenacious, tweed-wearing English detective Miss Jane Marple was one of Agatha Christie's finest creations. Star of 12 of Christie's novels, and later featured in countless films and television productions portrayed by the likes of Dame Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes, and Angela Lansbury, Miss Marple became something of a 20th century cultural icon.
Basically, Agatha Christie considered the 19th century stock character of an old, narratively useless spinster and discovered the ideal detective: an intelligent yet, by the nature of her age and position, effectively invisible, non-threatening persona with a keen understanding of human flaws. Without Miss Marple and Murder, She Said there would be no Jessica Fletcher and Murder, She Wrote, or even, quite possibly, Jane Tennison and Prime Suspect. That is, there would be even fewer fabulous roles for our finest, most experienced actresses.
What the previous paragraph should have made clear to even the dullest creatures running the Walt Disney Company is that it is not that Miss Marple happened to be an old woman, it is that the point of Miss Marple and her unique advantages and insights stemmed from her being an apparently "dotty" old woman. In addition, her advanced age granted Miss Marple a wise view of human nature and an understanding of human mortality -- she was staring into the abyss as only the nearly dead can -- and this gave her an underlying gravitas and darkness that made the whole schtick work.
In short, Miss Marple is not Alias. She is Miss Marple. She must, like cheese and grandmothers, be at least a little aged. Without that, not only is she boring, not only is she unoriginal, but she is also unable to do her job effectively.
Good day.
Let me explain why that is wrong. On so many levels. After the jump.
Please, listen to the lovely Miss Marple Theme as you read.
Tenacious, tweed-wearing English detective Miss Jane Marple was one of Agatha Christie's finest creations. Star of 12 of Christie's novels, and later featured in countless films and television productions portrayed by the likes of Dame Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes, and Angela Lansbury, Miss Marple became something of a 20th century cultural icon.
Basically, Agatha Christie considered the 19th century stock character of an old, narratively useless spinster and discovered the ideal detective: an intelligent yet, by the nature of her age and position, effectively invisible, non-threatening persona with a keen understanding of human flaws. Without Miss Marple and Murder, She Said there would be no Jessica Fletcher and Murder, She Wrote, or even, quite possibly, Jane Tennison and Prime Suspect. That is, there would be even fewer fabulous roles for our finest, most experienced actresses.
What the previous paragraph should have made clear to even the dullest creatures running the Walt Disney Company is that it is not that Miss Marple happened to be an old woman, it is that the point of Miss Marple and her unique advantages and insights stemmed from her being an apparently "dotty" old woman. In addition, her advanced age granted Miss Marple a wise view of human nature and an understanding of human mortality -- she was staring into the abyss as only the nearly dead can -- and this gave her an underlying gravitas and darkness that made the whole schtick work.
In short, Miss Marple is not Alias. She is Miss Marple. She must, like cheese and grandmothers, be at least a little aged. Without that, not only is she boring, not only is she unoriginal, but she is also unable to do her job effectively.
Good day.
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