There is a growing trend of movie studios remaking popular movies of the past, but to better “reflect the times” by being more progressive, diverse, and politically correct—less “problematic” to the “current sensibilities.” These politically correct remakes cause a fervent backlash among fans of the original movies, and despite cheerleading from mainstream media critics, audiences reject them at the box office (or streaming queue). Woke remakes are not what most people want to see—they are what woke people want most people to want to see.
Progressive people see “problematic” things in popular movies of the past and think those movies caused the real world to become problematic in the same way. This is why they think they must remake those movies to be politically correct—so the world will then become politically correct as well. But the PC movies are not as popular as the originals—because they are not as good—because they are not true.
What the woke misunderstand is that those classic movies didn’t make the people who watched them become problematic. The real world was already “problematic,” and filmmakers were simply reflecting reality and portraying human nature honestly. Political correctness is an attempt to put a pretty veneer over the ugly truths of human nature. But to deny the truth of human nature will always ring hollow in audiences. Politically correct movies won't make the world politically correct, just artistically bankrupt.
The new Lord of the Rings series is perhaps the most glaring and damning example—as is any recent Disney movie. J.R.R. Tolkien, a devout Catholic and conservative, would be rolling over in his grave if he saw Rings of Power. The woke filmmakers behind that series are supposed fans of Tolkien—except for the Christian conservative parts, despite Christianity being at the core of Tolkien’s being—and of Middle Earth’s. To remake The Lord of the Rings without its Christian essence—to be more progressive—is akin to making high-budget fan fiction, not art. Tolkien wrote mythology embedded with timeless truths; Rings of Power is propaganda to support the Current Thing.
Fiction at its best is true, even an epic fantasy or fairy tale. The story is true in the way it represents human nature—at least the good fairy tales that have withstood the test of time do this. Which is why it is especially absurd to remake movies based on classic fairy tales such as Snow White to become politically correct. Hollywood is turning timeless true stories into fake fleeting propaganda. Human nature is not, never has been, and never will be politically correct. This is why woke movies are doomed to fail. Wokeism itself is doomed to fail in the long run because it is not true. Human nature can be denied with propaganda for only so long—eventually the truth of nature will crush the lies of humans.