I was a bit surprised when I recently came across the trailer for the remake of Death at a Funeral. (After all, the first one only came out in 2007.) Just to see how the films compared, I made a mashup trailer out of the two trailers—and, yeah, there are a few similarities. (For one thing, Peter Dinklage stars in both films.)
Minor spoilers below. But, heck, I’m talking about stuff that’s in the trailer(s) anyway.
Admittedly, I haven’t seen either film, but on a more serious note, one thing that struck me was the wafting homophobia in each of the trailers. The unmashed-up version of the trailer for the 2010 remake, for instance, includes a shot of Martin Lawrence’s character in a full-body grimace upon learning of his dad’s sexuality. For cripes sake, who cares if your dad is gay or straight? Family is family, no?
(To be sure, I’m not in favor of outing nor blackmail, but I don’t think either of those factors fully explain away the “eww—teh gay” vibe from each of the trailers.)
On a lighter note, though, if I get some recommendations to see the 2007 film, I might consider adding that to my Netflix queue. On the other hand, I think I'll be staying far, far away from the 2010 remake.
I saw the original “Death at a Funeral” and thought it was really funny. I don’t plan on seeing the re-make.
The original was pretty good.
I think any insinuation of a parent’s sexuality (gay or straight) is a bit of an unwelcome thought, at least for me. A parent’s infidelity would certainly cause me to grimace (again, gay or straight).
You make a good point about the infidelity—that wouldn’t be fun to hear about either way. Still, it almost seems to me like Martin Lawrence’s character has more of an “oh, yuk” reaction rather than the type of disappointment and so on that such news would typically bring about. (Or maybe it’s just me?)
About the homophobia thing, I thought that when Martin Lawrence did the grimace it was from seeing his dad in a sexual way. I wouldn’t care if my dad was gay but gay or straight I don’t need anyone to draw me a picture… I really loved the original and I was kind of excited because I thought that the new one would add something but after seeing the trailer they’ve basically remade it EXACTLY. It’s such a cop out.