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I think Lost in Space is very much a period piece and a snap shot of the sensibilities of a different era. It's also a show that essentially developed two identities. What it originally started out to be, evolved into a treatment follower once Batman became such a OTT hit. So a straight ahead sci-fi drama filmed in black and white, suddenly became a colorful (and comedic) excursion into the surprisingly cozy unknown where costume actors could virtually wear paper mache-like heads as long as they were psychedelic.So depending on which season someone was introduced to the series, largely weighs on what they think about the show in it's entirety.
So it's with this very diverse base that you have a extremely niche market to try and build a Netflix show around. I'll certainly give it a look. Anything that caters to this license certainly deserves a chance, but I'm less than enamored with what I've read thus far. It's completely understandable why fans would want someone closer to the popular profile of Dr. Smith since he was one of the most iconic characters of the show. For me, it has nothing to do with a general attitude about gender in roles, so much as where gender change could become problematic in finding the core of what made that original character work. Hollywood has a bad problem with inserting stereotype motivations with gender and a Dr. Smith that suddenly uses her gender as a tool to manipulate surrounding characters is straying from the source material.
I think you find more fertile ground to explore social themes if you place the show in the period it was created and let the material virtually write itself. When you have to force feed change into iconic characters, I think the writers are not understanding the charm which has allowed the show to endure for so many decades. This IS a character driven show, not just any family in space. It's a show with a 50's style conservative profile of family values and social sensibilities that often include lesson lectures at the end.
John Robinson is the head of the family with that "Father knows best" meets "Capt Kirk" meets 'Little House on the Prairie" morality play. He sets the standard from which Dr. Smith contrasts in such dramatic fashion by being a unethical weasel who prays on the innocence of the kids to cover up his unwavering pride in being a coward. Will is the dotting son who wants to make his dad proud, but too often gets himself in trouble because of his incessant curiosity to understand how everything works. Maureen Robinson is the proud wife and mother who lives to care for and protect her family whether it means washing clothes or picking up a laser rifle. Penny is that inquisitive little daddy's girl who is the female equivalent of Will who, for those reasons, always finds herself in constant competition with her brother. Don West is the classic pilot with James Dean-like looks that screams every inappropriate thought that can be conceived by the Robinson's oldest daughter Judy. And in the middle of all this you have a robot with even MORE personality looking for his place in this family network.THIS is the show. The gadgetry, campy monsters, and wobbly space ship is the environment they operate in.
So it's my initial thinking that the dynamic is once again getting lost on this idea of "today's family" in space with new effects to wow modern audiences. Like the movie, that would be missing the point. Lost in Space is the story of THIS family on that journey. Just like the re-imagined Star Trek, those most iconic characters must be attuned to what came before. So if they want to tell the story of the Robinsons in space with Dr. Smith, then tell the story everyone knows like they're doing with Star Trek. If the people making this project are somehow ashamed of the original property then make their own space adventure and call it something else.
So it's with this very diverse base that you have a extremely niche market to try and build a Netflix show around. I'll certainly give it a look. Anything that caters to this license certainly deserves a chance, but I'm less than enamored with what I've read thus far. It's completely understandable why fans would want someone closer to the popular profile of Dr. Smith since he was one of the most iconic characters of the show. For me, it has nothing to do with a general attitude about gender in roles, so much as where gender change could become problematic in finding the core of what made that original character work. Hollywood has a bad problem with inserting stereotype motivations with gender and a Dr. Smith that suddenly uses her gender as a tool to manipulate surrounding characters is straying from the source material.
I think you find more fertile ground to explore social themes if you place the show in the period it was created and let the material virtually write itself. When you have to force feed change into iconic characters, I think the writers are not understanding the charm which has allowed the show to endure for so many decades. This IS a character driven show, not just any family in space. It's a show with a 50's style conservative profile of family values and social sensibilities that often include lesson lectures at the end.
John Robinson is the head of the family with that "Father knows best" meets "Capt Kirk" meets 'Little House on the Prairie" morality play. He sets the standard from which Dr. Smith contrasts in such dramatic fashion by being a unethical weasel who prays on the innocence of the kids to cover up his unwavering pride in being a coward. Will is the dotting son who wants to make his dad proud, but too often gets himself in trouble because of his incessant curiosity to understand how everything works. Maureen Robinson is the proud wife and mother who lives to care for and protect her family whether it means washing clothes or picking up a laser rifle. Penny is that inquisitive little daddy's girl who is the female equivalent of Will who, for those reasons, always finds herself in constant competition with her brother. Don West is the classic pilot with James Dean-like looks that screams every inappropriate thought that can be conceived by the Robinson's oldest daughter Judy. And in the middle of all this you have a robot with even MORE personality looking for his place in this family network.THIS is the show. The gadgetry, campy monsters, and wobbly space ship is the environment they operate in.
So it's my initial thinking that the dynamic is once again getting lost on this idea of "today's family" in space with new effects to wow modern audiences. Like the movie, that would be missing the point. Lost in Space is the story of THIS family on that journey. Just like the re-imagined Star Trek, those most iconic characters must be attuned to what came before. So if they want to tell the story of the Robinsons in space with Dr. Smith, then tell the story everyone knows like they're doing with Star Trek. If the people making this project are somehow ashamed of the original property then make their own space adventure and call it something else.
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