I said it!…
If you don’t agree with me, so be it. If this 2021 version of West Side Story fails to exceed the
Oscar nominations and wins of the original West Side Story, Spielberg’s “reimaging” was made in vain.
1961’s West Side Story is my favorite movie of all time. This is one of those once in a generation type film’s that changes pop culture forever.
Truth be told, when West Side Story premiered in theaters in 1961 I wasn’t even born yet. I hadn’t actually seen the movie until the early 80’s. My grandmother picked up some movies from the bootlegger one night on her way from work. (Three movies for $10.00.) Her third pick was between Ghostbusters and West Side Story and since we’d already owned Ghostbusters, West Side Story won by default.
That VHS tape sat on top of the of our TV for months… And then I got sick. The fever was bad enough for me to have to stay inside, but not enough for me to be taken to the hospital. Bored to death inside our little Bed-Stuy apartment I decided to watch Ghostbusters again, but my lazy ass had forgotten to rewind the tape. I was not about to waste 7 minutes of my life rewinding Ghostbusters, so I threw in the musical that would change my life.
First off I was fucked up that one movie could have me go through so many emotions. Riff and Bernardo’s death had your boy on a serious Kleenex moment. The dance at the gym had me nodding my head even before the word, “Mambo” was yelled. Not to mention the anxiety I felt when Anita stepped into Doc’s to warn Tony about Chino… And then there is Rita Moreno.
I gonna go ahead and say this out loud. Rita Moreno is a bad mother fucker! The way she
subtly conveyed her emotions through her eyes and facial expressions had me shook. This was not the woman I remember from “The Electric Company” when I was younger. I was facing a serious dilemma. Rita Moreno was single handedly breaking up my, “Wifey List!
When I was a kid, my closest friends and I all had a list of our top five hottest girls to become our wives. My list stayed intact and unchanged for years. Some of the guys switched up weekly but my list was strong…
My top 5 “Wifey List”…
Bern Nadette Stanis
Jayne Kennedy
Vanessa Williams
Debbie Sledge (from Sister Sledge)
Irene Cara
One of the above mentioned was about to fall out of the top 5 and Mrs. Moreno was gonna slide right on in. SPOILER ALERT… (Vanessa Williams got bumped to 6th.)
As a 50 something year old man I can honestly say that West Side Story is still my go to, stay in the bed “sick day” movie. Some shit don’t need remixing and West side Story definitely fits the bill. I wonder how Steven would feel if a mother fucker remade Schindler’s List? Better yet, Jaws.
What if, to become a master movie maker you had to present to your peers one film project that decided if you would become inducted or not? Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise would no doubt present their film, West Side Story. Spike Lee would roll out, Do The Right Thing. Orson Welles would hit’em in the head with Citizen Kane, but I guarantee you Steven Spielberg would not go with his 2021 version of West Side Story… I know it, you know it and that nigga Steven knows it too!
Let’s leave perfection alone. If you can not improve upon the the original don’t fuck with it! I’m not out here trying to get the nigga Steven canceled, but if I woke up one morning and the powers that be decided to remake The Color Purple, I’d consider it justice served.
