Review of Everything is a Remix – Episodes 1 and 2

Everything is a remix – it only starts with music. Now anyone in any field can do. This week for the Praxis philosophy module part of our lesson is watching a series called Everything is a Remix. It’s the fascinating analysis of pop culture and how ideas are far more intertwined than we’re often led to believe.

The series starts with the story of the Led Zeppelin band, and it’s music, how much of it is covers or remakes. What’s most interesting is that when others remixed there work they fought back against it. Music is often switched around, speed up, slowed down, or cut and pasted throughout various songs. It’s what we think of when we hear remixed.

According to the series, 74% of blockbuster movies in the past 10 years have been remakes, sequels, book adaptations, etc. Movies copy film sequences, styles, lines, and character traits. It’s nearly all original filming, but the ideas are often rehashed. Producers go back to what has already been successful, it makes logical business sense, really. Take for example the James Bond series, there are more than 25 movies featuring the character, but people still love them.

I think of all the TV series that people love, including myself, how we’re so frustrated when a show ends. even if it’s been going on for a decade. Even though we’ve seen the same characters, and sets over and over again.

So what does this trend teach us? That even the most successful people have been “copying”, to a certain extent, what they see in the media. That there is a lot to be said for something that has stood the test of time and remakes – because it usually means people like it. That people sometimes like the familiar and comfortable, and sometimes that’s okay.  And that it’s okay to splice different successful elements together. But more on that later.