So, recently the news broke that the oft-rumored Evil Dead remake is in the works and Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody is set to work on the screenplay.
And yet…hark, the fanboys are enraged! Diablo Cody! She wrote that ultra-quippy hipster movie, that one with the preggo chick! She can’t write an Evil Dead movie! She’ll ruin it! And OMG, did you know she was a stripper!?!?!
This is the kind of outrage that has been expressed on Twitter, in comments, and on forums. What’s up with this anti-Cody backlash? I mean, okay, her dialogue in Juno is a little grating at times and a lot of people disliked Jennifer’s Body. But this is still a well-known, Oscar-winning writer who is obviously dedicated to the genre: in addition to writing a horror movie, she filled Juno with references to gore flicks and Herschell Gordon Lewis. This is a woman who could potentially introduce splatter horror and The Evil Dead to a new audience. So, what’s the deal? Well, as usual the answer is sexism. Here are some choice quotes I gathered from Twitter:
Quote:
“Please be a joke, PLEASE…”
“Diablo Cody you are wanted in the Champagne Room…not remaking Evil Dead…” (GEDDIT! CAUSE SHE WAS A STRIPPER!)
“Kill. Me. Now.”
“My reaction is not so much about Evil Dead being remade…But Diablo Cody? Really? Honest to blog.”
“Diablo Cody is writing the Evil Dead remake, in case you were getting your hopes up.” (Even though sources say she’s only revising it.)
Think about it for a minute. How many truly awful remakes of beloved horror flicks have come out in the past few years? Tons. But how many times has there been this much backlash when someone is brought in to revise a script?
Now, if you don’t like Juno and Jennifer’s Body that’s fine. But the immediate outcry over Cody’s involvement just reeks of sexism. Where was the outrage over screenwriter J.S Cardone’s involvement in the Stepfather remake? This is a man who penned the remake of Prom Night, for God’s sake! Why isn’t anyone singling out Eric Heisserer’s script as what will tank The Thing prequel? (His crowning writing achievements? The Nightmare on Elm Street remake and Final Destination 5.) Countless (predominately male) screenwriters with shitty horror track records are attached to remakes of beloved classics all the time and no one says a thing. There might be caterwauling over the remake in general, but no one singles the writers out.
What’s going on? Why is it that a woman who won a freakin’ Oscar her first time up to bat (for a movie that is about pregnancy…you know, a lady issue) is condemned for trying her hand at an Evil Dead remake? I know that some of it has to do with the fact that Diablo Cody is extremely famous and pop-culture was over saturated with Juno-esque quirkiness for a while. I get that. But you can’t just sit there and pretend that her gender doesn’t have something to do with this. Most of the arguments that I’ve seen against Cody consist of “She wrote Juno.” The implication being that a woman who writes a good depiction of a female character’s painful high school experience wouldn’t be able to write a good horror movie. Because, you know, there aren’t any horror movies about that.
Diablo Cody’s written two films and has tons of untapped potential. But this ridiculous outraged fanboy mentality is practically disowning the movie before the script is even written. This woman is one of the most well-known female screenwriters right now and she is unabashedly a horror fan. She made Juno spout horror trivia, and the fact that she’s involved in any way with the Evil Dead remake means that she’s probably a huge Raimi fangirl. What I’m getting at here is that Diablo Cody is obviously one of us; she’s on the side of horror nerds.
The idea that Diablo Cody is a bad choice just because she’s known for writing quippy comedies is ridiculous and downplays the versatility writers have to offer. Automatically dismissing Diablo Cody is ultimately self-defeating for horror fans because she obviously loves the genre and can actually write. But I guess it’d be better to have some no-name, talentless screenwriter who will bring no new audience to the project and treat it like yet another soul-sucking cash machine. So long as it’s not a lady and there are no hamburger phones!
I haven't read anything remotely sexist about her involvement. The concern is more likely that the 'Evil Dead' is considered a sacred cow and most of that came from a young imaginative Raimi. Discussing the remake of such a defining genre film in comparison to the slew of other lesser 80s films mentioned here is akin to apples and oranges. If anyone was to remake it, I'd say every fan out there would want Raimi (and not just in a producer role). Cody's horror genre work seems to be everything the Hollywood remake system does wrong by way of the fans: marketing, writing, trying to be hip to younger crowds, and casting (Megan Fox might be terrific to look at, but her acting leaves a lot to be desired).
Do I personally care that Cody is a woman or an ex-stripper ? Not at all. I think it's terrific what she's accomplished and that's pretty damn inspiring. Do I think she's the right person to be involved in an 'Evil Dead' remake ? No. Only one person should be allowed to bring an updated version to the screen and that is Raimi.