Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase trailer

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

Oh dear.

Questions and observations:

1) Black girl is George. Ok, so which one’s Bess? None of them are plus-sized or any more attractive than the others. (I’m now aware that neither of them
2) Nancy grew up in River Heights. Even the 2007 movie got that part right.
3) What is Nancy wearing? Not only is it tomboyish but I’ve also seen it referred to as being from the 90s. If much can be made about how Stacey McGill is fashion-forward in a small fictional Connecticut town (she does visit New York but that can’t be all the time), surely we can still make the concession for Nancy Drew doing the same in a small fictional Illinois town?
4) SHE CAN DRIVE.

[musicgeek]

[QUOTE=Jusenkyo no Pikachu;1994964]Oh dear.

IMDB page for movie

1) Bess is played by Mackenzie Graham. I'm guessing that the filmmakers thought that "somewhat geeky" is a more acceptable character quirk than "slightly overweight" (or "pleasantly plump," as the novels often had it).
2) I agree that the "new kid in town" thing is overdone. I think it's a convenient plot device to set up conflict and make excuses for clumsy exposition.
3) Kind of a weird choice - I think it's building on what they're going for with #2.
4) Yeah, I've got nothing.

My mother came from a family of three girls - consequently, my two brothers and I (all the sisters had all boys, in an interesting bit of generational balance) grew up reading my mom's/aunts' old Nancy Drew books (we had almost the complete collection), and only read the Hardy Boys somewhat later. I can see why filmmakers would want to update Nancy Drew for modern audiences, but this trailer doesn't convince me that they've done it successfully.

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by Jusenkyo no Pikachu

4) SHE CAN DRIVE.

Her roadster was pretty much a main character in the books.

At least, in the books I read.


(And I don't think a felony stops being a felony if it's committed by a minor. The person may not be tried as an adult, and may wind up with a different sort of sentence; but I don't think that makes it not a felony, unless we're talking about Romeo and Juliet laws. I am, however, not a lawyer.)

[Tootsie Plunkette]

[QUOTE=musicgeek;1994978]

Originally Posted by Jusenkyo no Pikachu

I can see why filmmakers would want to update Nancy Drew for modern audiences...

The books themselves were updated fairly often.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_...n_of_character

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by musicgeek

I'm guessing that the filmmakers thought that "somewhat geeky" is a more acceptable character quirk than "slightly overweight" (or "pleasantly plump," as the novels often had it)..

Oh, and let me throw in here that I think that's an obnoxious change.

It's an improvement that not everybody has to be white. It is very much not an improvement if everybody has to be thin.

[erwins]

Originally Posted by thorny locust

(And I don't think a felony stops being a felony if it's committed by a minor. The person may not be tried as an adult, and may wind up with a different sort of sentence; but I don't think that makes it not a felony, unless we're talking about Romeo and Juliet laws. I am, however, not a lawyer.)

This depends on the laws of the jurisdiction. (I didn't see what the context is, so I'm not sure if I know anything more specifically).

Here, there are distinct terms for juvenile cases. You would say a juvenile was adjudicated responsible (vs convicted) for conduct that would be a felony if committed by an adult. But a juvenile does not commit a felony, or get convicted of a felony, technically, even if the conduct involved would otherwise constitute a felony.

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

Well, I earlier placed River Heights as being in Illinois, so let’s go by their law…

https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/leg...justice-system

For example, you committed an offense when you were 17. You would be considered a juvenile if it was a misdemeanor [with the cutoff being 18]. If the offense was a felony [the cutoff age here is 16], you would be considered an adult.

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

Edit window expired while I was trying to find stuff for this one, so:

Originally Posted by thorny locust

Oh, and let me throw in here that I think that's an obnoxious change.

It's an improvement that not everybody has to be white. It is very much not an improvement if everybody has to be thin.

Bess has previously been played by Jill Ritchie, Amy Bruckner, Jhene Erwin and Ruth Cox. I don’t know about the last one (or Bruckner, as she’s only briefly featured) but Ritchie and Erwin, both playing adult Bess (although Ritchie was 28 playing 18), are slim. I’m as miffed about Bess not being plump as anyone, but it’s not without precedent.

[erwins]

Waffles . . . . . . .

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by Jusenkyo no Pikachu

I’m as miffed about Bess not being plump as anyone, but it’s not without precedent.

OK, it's not a new problem. Doesn't mean it's not a problem.

Thanks for the info, though; I hadn't seen any of the non-book versions.

[musicgeek]

[QUOTE=Tootsie Plunkette;1994988]

Originally Posted by musicgeek

The books themselves were updated fairly often.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_...n_of_character

Yep. And they also continued to modernize the character in subsequent series - I remember the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys "Casefiles" team-up being quite different in tone from the original books.

[Jusenkyo no Pikachu]

So I just today stumbled upon a new, somewhat darker comic book of the series (It’s actually about 7 months old, but that’s newer than the Papercutz take). Bess is overweight in this version, but I’d actually attribute that just as much to awesome things like Aja and Stormer from Jem And The Holograms.

Of course, there are a myriad of other changes, like:
• Everyone’s from Bayport now, and Nancy has only been in River Heights for seven years after her mother died mysteriously.
• George is a lesbian now, with a girlfriend named Danica. She’s also not shy about it, much to Bess’ chagrin.
• Bess and Nancy now have romantic interests in the Hardy Boys.
• Carson is absent.

I actually like this approach.

[Kermor]

• Bess and Nancy now have romantic interests in the Hardy Boys.

Nothing new here. In the TV series, Nancy and Frank Hardy shared some belligerent sexual tension, and even a kiss in one episode. At least, according to TVTropes (AFAIK, the series never aired in France).