Criticizing something for Missing The Point kind of Misses the Point

I started thinking about this more when I saw the title of a Cowboy Bebop video I didn’t watch, essentially saying the Netflix remake missed the point.  But I have seen similar sentiments all the time about remakes and reboots and sequels and adaptations or even things not actually officially attached to the same brand but just being dismissed as a “shameless rip off”.

Even when such an accusation is accurate, I really don’t think it’s the deep meaningful criticism these people want it to be. Because to me part of the point of having a new take on older stories and characters is to have a different point, maybe a mutually exclusive or contrary one if that’s what the artist wants to do.  Heck the “Point” of Knights of The Old Republic II is that The Force is bad actually yet I don’t see a lot of Star Wars fans being morally outraged by that. 

I’ve already said most of my piece on Netflix Bebop in two posts I made last March.  The gist here is that the Netflix version has Points, some of them I like and the ones I don’t I can easily ignore.  If they are the same or not as the original Anime’s point means nothing to me, the Anime is still there for you to watch if you just want the exact same point, on the same Streaming App even.

Again the same criticism exists for everything that is perceived as a trend follower rather than a trend setter.  But I often like certain of the trend followers more precisely because they have a “point” that appeals to me more than the original.  In this context some people often don’t mean an ideological point but a misunderstanding of why the original “worked”.  But the same response applies, maybe for someone like me Maodka didn’t “work” as well as Yuki Yuna Is A Hero or Daybreak Illusion or Blue Reflection Ray.  

Of course I have a different opinion on what the difference between Madoka and its alleged Copycats are.  To me of the four “Dark magical Girl Shows”” named above Madoka is the least optimistic and hopeful, and no that’s not because of Rebellion, even off just the original 12 episode series something still never sat right with me about its alleged Happy Ending.  The Madoka Clones I hype up are not ones being even darker and edgier than Madoka, they are the opposite from my perspective at least.

I also watched a YouTube video recently where someone (among many other things) complained about how often modern Hades and Persephone retellings vilify Demeter, because to her Demeter is the actual protagonist of the original myth.  The fact is the entire appeal of reclaiming this myth in the modern world is the desire to reframe Persephone's apparent “Abduction” as actually a liberation, and so reframing Demeter as an overbearing controlling parent is the natural outcome of that.  And I don’t even think there is zero basis for that reading in the original myth, it’s just not the most natural conclusion when Demeter is framed as the protagonist, the fact is no one bothered to ask Persephone how she felt about marrying Hades and that’s the oversight of the original myth these modern retelling want to fix, because other myths definitely present them as happily married.