The Origin Story/ Of Ever Old Stories

I think it's safe to say that as a society, we never really get tired of origin stories. Every year there's some new advertisement or trailer that's ready to showcase it's new spin or retelling of that extra special story you grew up with and decided to live your life by (I'm still waiting on Alpha to come along and turn me into the next power ranger. And yeah, I don't mind being the green one).

We see it all the time and sometimes we grumble about the new direction this new director or writer has decided to go in. But you know what? These reboots don't necessarily have to be such awful or contrived attempts at getting our attention. In fact, if it weren't for our friendly neighborhood necromancers resurrecting our favorite stories, it'd be a lot harder for us to translate why these stories touched us in the first place. 

Some narratives have no doubt proven that they're able to stand the test of time; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Homer's Odyssey, George Lucas' Star Wars, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Go over to YouTube and check out all of Marvel's new movies that they probably have scheduled for the next twenty years. Then, go over to Wikipedia and find out how many times those stories have already been told. Spider-man nearly had two separate trilogies over the course of two decades with different people involved with both iterations. 

Now, without resorting to a debate over which entry is ultimately the better one (I've cast my ballot anonymously on this one) it can't be denied that audiences worldwide have simply been given two opportunities to get excited about their resident high flying, web slinging hero. Every hero and heroine has to start somewhere and as an audience, we love watching them make their heroic, or even clumsy climb towards their destiny.

If you're reading this then it might be safe to assume you've absorbed enough social media to know how industries love capitalizing on nostalgia. Most everyone can appreciate a compelling narrative that spoke to them at just the right moment in their lives. I'm sentimental enough to have a few of my own well guarded moments of inspiration. So trust me when I say I understand why it seems so important to appreciate something the first time we saw it. But trouble starts brewing when our own origin stories get in the way of someone else's. 

Allowing new versions of our favorite narratives to poke their heads around the proverbial corner is great. For the older crowd, it'll drop us into two possible camps. There will be people who hate it and come to understand what captivated them the first time around and then there will be the people who love it and have their faith in humanity's story telling restored. And the younger crowd seeing this new version will get a reason to dig into the history of what made that kind of story even possible.

We won't always see eye to eye but that's why it's important to have a clear picture of what we're getting into when someone stands up and says, "I'm going to tell Peter Pan over again!" There's nothing wrong with that sentence but like any good relationship, communication is key. As a blooming and delicate flower of a writer myself, I've come to understand that as soon as you put your work in someone's arms, you're signing a contract. You've agreed to tell them a story, and they, in their blessed naivete, have agreed to read it. That comes with certain promises, even in fiction. If I tell a story about Captain America, it'd better well be about Captain America, or even a dimension about Captain America that hasn't been explored (I'm looking at all the people who ship Bucky and the Cap'; nice job guys).

Also, if you're going off the rails somewhat, you should be honest about that intention. After all, that's somebody's childhood in your hands, and it's quite delicate so handle with care. And if you're making so many changes and alterations that it barely looks like the original, you should really consider making it its own unique thing; loads of successful of stories have been developed like that.

Hey, remember that guy who stood up and said he wanted to retell Peter Pan? Well, that was me and I'll be honest, I wanted to take it in a new direction that I hadn't seen yet. Some of the names have changed, even the setting and direction of the plot in some ways. But for most part, I tried to make sure it was all still Peter Pan, albeit in a short story version. For the sake of the discussion I'm even going to link it just below so that we have our very own example of a reboot to examine and dissect. Take a second, put up your feet, and see if this version of Peter Pan does anything for your sensibilities. 

Of Ever Old Stories

Alright then, from here on out I'm just going to assume you've processed my literary work. If you have, thanks for reading! I'm always open to comments or critiques. If you haven't, no pressure. I'll fill in the blanks for you and if you like what you hear; that link isn't going anywhere.

So here we have an example of a rebooted children's story about childhood itself. Peter Pan has always been a playful and fascinating coming of age story mixed in with a more innocent version of Lord of the Flies. Now, what are some of the changes I've made? Well for one, we never actually get to see Neverland. That in it of itself, is a pretty big distinction given that its the primary setting of the original story. In this version, Wendy's character is an orphan as opposed to having a wealthy and overbearing family. Wendy's name is also changed, as well as Tinkerbell's and those are only two of the three main characters in this story (minus the Hook Easter egg). 

In my defense, I only ever intended to make this a small isolated short story version of Peter Pan. But still, I could've had the story take place in Neverland and kept it just as short. The reason I made these changes are ultimately due to my whims as an author (which normally you'd never get to hear as the audience). But I'm here so I don't mind explaining my thoughts. 

Despite being a more dismal setting and taking place over the course of one stormy night, many of the original elements are still in play; Wendy finds Peter at her window, Peter flies around and amazes her dreary existence, and the two bond (even lightly flirt) over the idea of growing up. Peter lacks maturity much like he usually does but he is able to translate some of the misgivings about his life through telling stories to Willow (Wendy). In fact, the subject of stories is vital to this short narrative. 

Peter Pan has always celebrated the notion of freedom and our two central characters do that through the escapism of literature, something I think we can all relate to at some level. For Willow and Peter, stories represent a second mode of living that transcends the more dismal aspects of reality; being an outcast, growing up, the struggle of being loved. These are all elements that the original Peter Pan explored as well.

Ultimately, what we have is a version of Peter Pan that's more grounded in contemporary settings while trying to suggest that we don't have to leave home to feel at home. Basically, I've skipped the middle man (sorry Malcolm) and written only the beginning and end of Peter Pan. Wendy goes to Neverland, has her fun, and then goes home. Some other versions of Peter Pan suggest that Peter will also one day return to the real world and find a reason to grow up (Hook 1991).

Willow (Still Wendy, but now through the magic of symbolic imagery i.e. Autumn or turning over new leaves. Never underestimate the power of names, kids) ends up writing Peter's adventures in her book so that he'll be able to remember all the facets of his life; fun or otherwise. It implies the story of Peter Pan lives on despite actually ending differently. It's also open ended to the point where maybe Peter and Willow can have future adventures that parallel Neverland but in the real world.

Nothing about this story defeats our traditional viewing of Peter Pan. Rather, it adds another dimension for us to examine and inspect all the inner workings to see what really makes Peter Pan so fascinating. It still has the dynamic we all know and love but with a swerve that tries to get you thinking. That's what narratives are there for in the end; to get us immersed in a whole other world and let us understand where we might fit in. So long as we don't forget where these stories come from, I don't see the harm in telling some stories over again (Even that horrible movie adaption of The Last Airbender couldn't ruin my love for the original cartoon). I hope my writing has in some way smoothed over the idea of rewriting origin stories, because I'm going to be doing a fair amount of it in this blog to explore various literary techniques and concepts for as long as I can manage.

Of all the stories out there, thanks for reading mine for however long it took you. I plan for this to be the first of twelve posts where I examine a theme or focus of fairy tales and give you an example of my own work to see for yourself. If you like what you've read, follow my blog! And comment down below if you have a nostalgic narrative near and dear to your heart! See you next time folks and thanks for stopping by!

- Pygmalion