UC Santa Cruz

For as long as people have been telling stories, they have been re-telling stories.Every time details change, sometimes small, sometimes larger. Some stories remain in their original medium, others change and expose themselves to new language and new audiences. In theory, the audience for these works are already present and the beats that make the original story work have already been made, the only work needed is modernization.

In spite of this, many modern adaptations feel as though they are missing something.Critical reviews vary greatly, audience reception is tepid, and many adaptations find themselves in obscurity. Netflix shows with only a season, musical adaptations with their run cut short, films with empty audiences. What is to be done about this? What can we as those that partake in adaptation do in order to improve this? The adapturgist, the one partaking in the adaptation as creator or consumer, should consider three components when working with an adaptation: capitalization, connection, and critique.

For capitalization, one might consider "what do we change without isolating theoriginal audience? where is the money involved here?" For connection, one might consider "what new ideas can we connect to this old story?" For critique, one might consider "how can we use this adaptation to critique the source material?" or rather "how can we use this new version of an old story to speak upon an older issue?" With these components in mind, modern adaptations can be improved for the better.