#modernizing

They all make interesting choices to bring the story and characters into modern times. But I was just thinking of one in particular: the way they handle Beth's illness.

Now that scarlet fever is rare and easy to treat with antibiotics, Beth's illness obviously needs to be changed. Most modern retellings use cancer, although the two web series are exceptions: The March Family Letters gives her aplastic anemia, while The Attic opts for a congenital heart defect. But one thing they all have in common? Unlike the scarlet fever the original Beth contracts by caring for the Hummel children, none of these illnesses result from her kindness and care for others. All these retellings remove the tragic irony that her death results from her greatest virtue.

I wonder... is there some way a modern retelling could still include that aspect of Beth's illness?

Obviously, if it were set within these last three years, then she could contract COVID-19 from the Hummels, but setting it in the current pandemic would create a whole other slew of story complications.

Or maybe she could be babysitting the Hummels when their toddler runs into the street and is almost hit by a car; she could push him out of the way and be hit instead, become paralyzed, and several years later die of complications from a bedsore. That would certainly tie her fate back to her selfless love for others! But maybe that would be too melodramatic.

Maybe the original tragic irony of Beth's illness is too melodramatic for modern, realistic retellings anyway. After all, as fresh, realistic and relatable as Little Women still is in so many ways, the fact remains that it's a work from a different time, and there's still an aspect of sentimental 19th century melodrama about it. Maybe having Beth die as a direct result of her selfless care for others is too soppy for a modern setting, as opposed to a completely random illness like cancer or a congenital disorder.

Looking over these retellings, I've also noticed that Amy's near-fatal mishap is usually rewritten to be much less directly Jo's fault than the original thin ice incident. (The 2018 film changes it to a horseback riding accident, in Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy she almost gets hit by a bus, in The March Family Letters she gets lost in a freezing cold forest at night, and in The Attic, with its college setting, she gets trapped in a building with a gunman.) This change I also think I can understand, even if it does dilute the lesson Jo learns about anger. The fact that the original Jo almost deliberately lets Amy die has always struck me as a bit disturbingly melodramatic.

I do think it's interesting to notice which themes from the original book the modern adaptors choose to keep and which ones they choose to ignore.

EPIGENETICS AND LIVING WATERS: The Impermanence of Trauma

1. The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow. 2. All futuristic, supernatural, or preternatural elements must be explored and explained over the course of the investigation. 3. A secret passage may only be in a house or building for which it is appropriate by age or purpose, and must be uncovered during the course of investigation. 4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used. 5. There shall be no "Scary Minority Suspect" 6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right. 7. The detective must not himself commit the crime. 8. The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader. 9. The detective must have a legitimate reason within the story to explain their reasoning step-by-step. Should a "Watson" be used for this purpose, they must act as a partner, not as a rubber duck. 10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

Comparison to the original Knox Decalogue below the cut

Modernizing the state flag of Pernambuco (Brazil)

so I was talking with my friend @usernose , and we had the idea/petition/challange of modernizing disney’s House of Mouse (since it’s pretty old). This would include the newest animated studios disney got (Blue Sky Studios, Pixar, etc.), New things that happened to disney, and alot else. I also thought of having the mickey mouse characters look like the ducktales design! I think this modernized series could be called: House Of Mouse: Reordered