Pumpkin & Pecan Tart/RRp

Rhetorical Review Paper

Better Than the Original?

The show The Honeymooners was created in the 1950’s, and only aired for 11 months, from 1955 to 1956. After the last episode, everyone thought it would be the last they saw of Ralph and Alice. However, in 2005, someone decided that they wanted to create a movie that was a reenactment of the tv series. The movie was made as a modern version of the sitcom. There were a lot of emphasizes on diversity included in the movie also. The movie was very funny but there many scenes that were tear jerking. The main character, Ralph, on the movie showed way more compassion towards his wife than Ralph from on the sitcom. The violent outbursts and threats that Ralph made towards his wife in the show, were not put in the movie. The movie that was adapted from the sitcom, The Honeymooners, was a successful remake. The creators made the sitcom more into a family movie instead of just an adult television show.

The original show, The Honeymooners, was created in the 1950’s by older Caucasian Americans, for older Caucasian Americans. All of the casting members were of course white. There were not many African Americans casted on tv during this time and there were no African American film producers or creators yet. If a black person was casted in a film, they would usually not have important parts. They were commonly casted as slaves or maids. Minority faces were not accepted on tv then. For example, on the show I Love Lucy, if the husband had not been a light skinned hispanic, the show would not have been aired on television. However, the creator of the movie version thought out of the box and chose to cast all of the important characters of the remake, to be black people. The movie was released in 2005, so in modern times, this was not controversial. There were now many qualified black actors that could have been chosen to act the different parts in the movie. Cedric the Entertainer is an actor and a comedian and he bought a lot of press to the movie. His natural funny personality and great acting is what caused him to get a lot of support in his career, which caused a lot of people to support the movie. He was a great fit for the part because of his size and shape that is just like Ralph from the sitcom was of a larger body size. The other actors were also great fits and played their parts very well also. Gabrielle Union did a great job in recreating the caring and loving wife, Alice. Mike Epps, is also a comedian and also added his funny personality to the show just as Norton was there to assist Ralph to bring comedy to the show. And Regina Hall, another successful African American actor did a great job of recreating Trixie, only popping in when Alice needed a cosigner to go against their husbands.

The movie was far more amusing compared to the sitcom. They also changed traits of the characters to give them better qualities. In the sitcom, they included a lot of satire and violent outburst and threats from Ralph towards other characters for humor, while the movie did not. There were just jokes and silly replies and situations that made the movie a comedy. The creators of the movie did not have to make Ralph seem as a deranged person who would take his anger out on any one around him as the sitcom did. He would not threaten his wife to hit her whenever they got into an argument. Ralph was portrayed more as a family man who wanted nothing more but to become financially stable to be able to take care of his family better. While on the other hand, the sitcom made Ralph seem as a money hungry selfish man. Also, instead of making Norton out to be to an imbecile, he was seen more as a man who believed in his best friend and wanted to help him anyway he could. So anything he did, it was because he thought it would better their chances in succeeding. In the movie they showed Alice and and Trixie to have jobs working in a cafe instead housewives unlike the show. They were helping bring in money to their households also instead of depending on their husbands to bring home all the money. They even made Alice’s mother as a mother who was willing to assist Ralph and Alice in improving their living situation. The mother still showed her dislike of Ralph, but she was willing to give them money to help them buy their dream home that they could not afford.

Ralph on the movie was compassionate towards his wife. The creators did not portray them as a couple that had many arguments that lead to violent threats. They showed that they had disagreements that were talked out and fixed. When Ralph would spend their savings on different schemes to become rich, Alice did not rub it in his face that she knew it would not work. Ralph would be remorseful and apologize for disappointing his wife. However, Ralph on the tv show would just argue with his wife and tell her to be quiet and be a wife. And he would only apologize after the fact, when he had been proven wrong. This is where many people did not agree with how the husband treated his wife because they creator portrayed the couple to have domestic violence traits that were picked up by viewers and made people believe that they were accepting domestic violence and that it was now okay to display it on television. While in the movie, there were no hints of domestic violence or abuse in any scenes or when they got into disagreements. Ralph on the movie never raised his hand to Alice or threatened to hit her for speaking her opinion on a situation. While Ralph on the sitcom did.

The movie that was a remake of the show of The Honeymooners in 2005, was far more enjoyable to watch than the original sitcom. It was a great decision to remake and transform the show. There were a lot more comedy that was actually funny and it was family friendly. The people that created the sitcom originally was only thinking about older white people that would watch the show. While the creators of the movie put in effort to improve the show all around. From the character’s qualities to the interactions of the them also. The characters in the movie had a goal of buying a house and release the stress of renting while the show just portrayed them as wanting to live wealthier. They also thought about the audience and how they could have broaden the audience instead of focusing on the intended audience of the original. After the movie was released, it received less bad reviews then the show actually did. They did not portray and scenes that could have possibly been perceived as domestic violence or abuse which made the movie much more entertaining to watch.