So I was watching TV earlier today, and I saw a promo for the movie Disturbia. Plot synopsis:
A teenager on house arrest starts to spy on his neighbors. He spies on a pretty girl neighbor who gets caught up in his spying, and they begin to suspect that one of their neighbors is a (gasp!) serial killer.
Sound familiar? It should. It’s pretty much the plot of Rear Window. Which is what came to mind when I saw the promo, so I headed to IMDb to check it out. There’s a snarky debate going on in the comments section about whether it’s a remake or an homage, or whether everyone should just shut up and get over it already.
I headed over to the official site, and saw that the screenwriter had this to say:
“One night, as I was driving home from my sister’s place, this idea just popped into my head–a story about a kid who is stuck in his house and begins to notice bizarre things happening across the way. He eventually comes to suspect that his neighbor is a serial killer.”
Uh huh. And you’ve never seen Rear Window.
It’s not that I’m opposed to remakes on principle…yeah, they’re rarely as good as the original, and they’re usually about Hollywood types making a quick buck instead of coming up with something original, but whatever. I only have a problem when a writer pretends the idea was original when it clearly was not.
People adapt screenplays all the time. There’s a whole category for it in the Oscars, after all. But taking someone else’s idea and pretending it was your own? That’s just wrong.
But taking someone else’s idea and pretending it was your own? That’s just wrong. – exactly.
Even if the screenwriter didn’t know, someone somewhere along the way knew. When I first saw that trailer on TV, I literally yelled at my TV that it was, I believe I said, “Rear Fucking Window.” Only without Grace K’s fabulous wardrobe.
It sounded to me like The Window:
The Window (1949)
At the age of 9, Tommy Woodry has a reputation for telling tall tales — the latest one being that his family is moving from Manhattan to a ranch out west. When the landlord interrupts the Woodrys at dinner to show their about to be vacated apartment, the Woodrys tell Tommy enough is enough.
Then that hot summer night Tommy decides to sleep on the fire escape — outside the Kellerton’s apartment, since it is a story higher and gets more breeze. Tommy sees the Kellertons kill a man. Tommy’s parents and the police won’t believe his story. But the Kellertons want to silence him.
and there’s a legal term for improperly using copyrighted material without the owners permission ==> copyright infringement
I was thinking “Rear Window” as soon as I saw the trailer for “Disturbia” too. Some pictures should just not be remade, or homaged, or whatever. Jimmy Stewart is dead, Grace Kelly is dead, Alfred Hitchcock is dead. Rent the DVD and see the quality version of the concept would be my advice. And “Rear Window” was chilling without it being a gore fest like so many movies are today.