Mining the box: Adaptation, nostalgia and generation X

Abstract

This article identifies the television to film phenomenon by cataloguing contemporary films adapted from popular television shows of the 1960s and 1970s. This trend is located within the context of Generation X and considered within the framework of nostalgia and Linda Hutcheon's (2006) conception of adaptation. The history of re-visiting existing texts in screen culture is explored, and the distinction between remakes and adaptation is determined. The specificity of the television format is discussed, as are aspects of audience engagement with television in terms of identity and identification. Acknowledging television as the collective experience that binds Generation X, the broader trend for nostalgic engagement with the past is shown to be an impetus for the trend in contemporary films and further shown to provide an opportunity for active audience reflexivity. Get Smart (2008) and The Avengers (1998) are discussed in terms of such reflexivity; and issues of gender are highlighted to demonstrate the role of filmic adaptations in contemporary negotiations of past and present ideals. In doing so, this article confirms the socio-cultural significance of the television to film phenomenon beyond industrial considerations, and posits the critical appeal of mining the box.