Age of the Geek

By: 
Travis Fischer

Go Go Gritty Rangers
 
Net Neutrality scored a big win last Thursday.
     Last week the FCC voted 3-2 in favor of using Title II of the Communications Act to officially declare the Internet a public utility, giving them the authority to apply and enforce the net neutrality regulations that the courts struck down last year.
     This is a huge deal and I really should go into more depth on the topic, but this week I really want to talk about Power Rangers.
     Earlier this week a 15-minute Power Rangers fan film took the Internet by storm. Of course, “fan film” may not be the appropriate term. Produced by Adi Shankar, directed by Joseph Kahn, and starring Katee Sackhoff and James Van Der Beek, the short movie had all the production value and talent of a major motion picture, making it stand apart from the amateur fan films that occasionally pop up.
     But what really made this movie the talk of the virtual town wasn’t its high end special effects or big name talent. It was the content. Shankar’s “bootleg universe” of Power Rangers was a far more graphic take on the concept, at times looking more like a Quentin Tarantino movie than a Saturday morning kids show. (In fact, more than a couple scenes in the film look like they were directly inspired by “Kill Bill.”)
     Filled with blood, drugs, torture, and death, this ‘realistic,’ for lack of a better word, applied real world logic to the premise of Power Rangers, showing what might really happen if a group of teenagers were drafted into a war against alien robot invaders.
     Reaction to the fan film has been mixed. Some enjoyed the novelty of seeing a darker take on the concept, while others were repulsed at the idea of creating R-rated material out of something made for children. Both viewpoints have their merit.
     The movie is certainly looking at the franchise through a lens that it was never intended for, but is that a good or bad thing? Can you take the silliness out of Power Rangers without undermining the spirit of the show? Should everything in Power Rangers be limited to the children’s demographic, or can the franchise grow up with its audience?
     Some franchises have managed it. For instance, there is a Batman for everybody. Next year we’ll see Ben Affleck portray the brooding dark knight in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The year after that, Will Arnett will voice a silly LEGO version of the character. The 1960s “Batman” show covered the punches with silly looking sound effects. A few weeks ago on “Gotham,” a character plucked out their own eye.
     As a fan of Kevin Conroy, the one true voice of Batman, I have been able to enjoy his work for my entire life. In 1992 I was the target demographic for “Batman: The Animated Series,” when he first voiced the character. Today I’m still the target demographic for his most recent performance, the upcoming M-rated video game, “Batman: Arkham Knight.”
     So it’s certainly possible for a franchise to transcend its original audience, but does that mean it’s possible for every franchise? The concept of Batman lends itself well to a wide range of demographics, but not every property can transition itself that easily.
     “The Smurfs” may be kid friendly on the surface, but there are many aspects of Smurf society that would be very disturbing if looked through a more critical lens. Sometimes it’s better to just not go there.
     Even Shankar admitted that his Power Rangers fan film is something of a parody about Hollywood’s recent habit of creating “gritty and realistic” adaptations of children’s entertainment.
     And he’s right, his fan film may have been an interesting take on the franchise, but I certainly wouldn’t want to see anything so dark from an actual big screen release. I hope Hollywood takes the correct message from this movie. Bad enough we already have movies that feature Superman and Optimus Prime executing their foes in cold blood. I don’t need to see the Green Ranger covered in blood after decapitating Lord Zedd.
     Maybe there’s a place for a dark and gritty Power Rangers, but that place might just be the occasional internet fan film.
 
     Travis Fischer is a newswriter for Mid America Publishing and is awaiting the gritty reboot of “Garfield and Friends.”

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