Re-Invention of an Iconic Character

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:00 pm

I ranted on one of my blogs this morning about yet another WTF moment brought to you by Hollywood.

For those of you who haven't heard and don't feel like reading my rant, Jennifer Garner has been chosen to portray Miss Marple in a re-invention of the iconic British detective created by Agatha Christie.

Is anyone else as outraged as I am?

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:05 pm

Must admit my heart sank when I saw this, and I'm not even a Christie fan! It's not like it's never been filmed before......why?

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:07 pm

As I said on my blog I've read only a few of her books (thinking on it now they were all Hercule Poirot), but to change such an iconic character so dramatically is just wrong.

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Tue March 29th, 2011, 11:25 pm

There was one season of "Miss Marple" on "Mystery!" (with Geraldine McEwan in the title role) with a brief flashback to a younger Jane Marple played by a different actress in one episode.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Wed March 30th, 2011, 3:48 am

Nothing against JG but that is just so wrong!

Sintra · Post by **Sintra** » Wed March 30th, 2011, 9:30 am

This is just wrong.
It's like there's no more ideas or stories despite the fact that, well, there are. Looks like original scripts are now only written by Christopher Nolan.

I love Agatha Christie. I think i've read about thirty of her novels (mostly about Poirot though, i ilked him more). I don't think she'd be happy about it!

SGM · Post by **SGM** » Wed March 30th, 2011, 5:51 pm

I am not a Christie reader myself but I have friends who are who say that Joan Hickson and David Suchet actually reflect Marple and Poirot as Christie wrote them. But Margaret Rutherford and Peter Ustinov most definitely did not. I never really saw the Margaret Rutherford films properly but the scripts seemed to mix up parts of different books rather than deal with them individually.

I have to confess that Peter Ustinov might have created a rather different Poirot than Christie intended but I adored him (particularly in interview) so didn't mind too much. I might have done if I had read the books.

I watched (rather belated) all the Joan Hickson Marples and she became so definitive for me that I couldn't take to Geraldine McEwan or Julia McKenzie.

Marple has been played by Americans before, ie Helen Hayes and Angela Lansbury (alright, I know Angela Lansbury is really English but she did the part with a US accent). But they were definitely not as young as JG.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 1:22 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Nothing against JG but that is just so wrong![/quote]

Yup, I think she'd be more like Nancy Drew!

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 7:22 pm

[quote=""Sintra""]This is just wrong.
It's like there's no more ideas or stories despite the fact that, well, there are. Looks like original scripts are now only written by Christopher Nolan.[/quote]

I agree! Hollywood is getting very unoriginal!