What's with all the remakes?

I deal in creativity; where a cake maker can make delectable treats out of flour and eggs and sugar or a potter can transform unwieldy lumps of slimy clay in to beautiful vases or sculptures, I use ideas. Some of these ideas I may formulate with a pencil and others I may sculpt with a computer, but even now, as a student, doing my course and dabbling in web design to make ends meet, I know the sweetness and value of a fresh original idea.

And I'm not alone, a lot of people I know possess wonderful creative minds. I have colleagues who can create astounding things in Adobe Illustrator, friends who can conjure whole new worlds through the written world, a husband who wields a stills camera as an artist wields a brush and a mother who can construct whole carnival floats using paper and glue! And wonderful and talented as my friends and family (and hopefully myself) are, my elite little circle can not be unique! So why, with the whole kaleidoscope of imagination at their feet, do the studios insist in making remake after remake?

Now I'm not talking about adaptations here, How To Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter and Iron Man are all adaptations from other formats, and I don't take issue at reworking something for the big screen. I can even tolerate the long parade of sequels due to hit the screen this year - Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2, Shrek Forever After - but surely Gus Van San's 'Psycho' and this years 'Clash Of The Titans' should serve as a warning that remaking the classics isn't always the best idea? And yet a just as last year made us witness an updated Fame and Last House On The Left, so this will show us a new look Freddy Kruger and Karate Kid, as well as a 21st century take on Short Circuit, Westworld and Footloose.

I did not set out to use this blog as my soap box, I do not want to rant but I have to say this here... LEAVE THEM ALONE!! There has to be wonderful, talented, creative people who can come up with new and exciting ways to thrill and entertain audiences with their original ideas. So come on Mr Producer Man in your Studio office, take the risk and bit the bullet, leave the classics alone, and, to borrow from Sainsbury's ad campaign for a moment, "try something new today!"