Gender Swap: Disney to Relaunch High Fidelity with Zoe Kravitz for Streaming Service
Walt Disney will be relaunching High Fidelity as a 10-episode series on its upcoming streaming service starring Zoë Kravitz as the lead.
If you are unfamiliar with High Fidelity, it was originally a novel written by Nick Hornby. It would eventually be adapted into a feature film starring John Cusack as Rob Gordon. The film followed Gordon, a record store owner, who recounts his top five breakups including his current one.
The new Disney series will see Cusack’s Gordon replaced by Zoë Kravitz. In a report from TVLine, Kravitz will “will play the ultimate music fan, a record store owner who’s obsessed with pop culture and Top Five lists.” Not only will she star in the show, but she will also executive produce.
The story will be written by Bull’s Veronica West and Sarah Kuscerka. They will also be Executive Producers alongside Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg.
For fans of the movie, the addition of Zoë Kravitz as the lead is funny since her mother, Lisa Bonet, co-starred in the film adaptation back in 2000. She played Marie De Salle.
High Fidelity joins other announced Disney Streaming Service shows which include a live-action Star Wars series, a High School Musical series, a Monster’s Inc. project, and a number of Marvel-related projects, which include the rumored Loki and Scarlet Witch series.
Initial reaction to the announcement had many on Twitter questioning the decision to relaunch the series.
But…but why are they rebooting High Fidelity?
— moritz (@neo_bryce) September 24, 2018
gender flipping is just as bad as race flipping. (not to mention, 9/10 boring)
black women deserve stories that didn’t originate in whiteness, maleness https://t.co/smMGisXr0M
— Maya ☔️ (@mayascade) September 24, 2018
High Fidelity being gender-flipped to be about a woman is as stupid as Heathers being “flipped” so that we’re asked to root for the killing of the fat and queer kids. Zoe Kravitz deserves so much better and Hollywood is failing her.
— Inkoo Kang (@inkookang) September 24, 2018
I adore both the movie and the original source novel for HIGH FIDELITY…and I think it’s great Zoe Kravitz is turning it into a series. However, I’ve never once met a female version of the Cusack character in real life…and I’ve been looking for a very long time…
— Robert Meyer Burnett (@BurnettRM) September 24, 2018
News editor of The Wrap didn’t understand why Disney was bringing back the IP at all. He condemned the decision stating the film “is a toxic masculinity story.”
I love the meta casting (Zoe is v good) but High Fidelity is a toxic masculinity story with extremely crucial relevance in the MeToo era, it is NOT a romantic comedy and it is not a pop culture lark.
FWIW the movie also failed to understand this which is why it’s terrible. https://t.co/H9AKp43Ih5
— Ross A. Lincoln (@Rossalincoln) September 24, 2018
Some people were happy with the announcement:
OK, I am super here for a reimagined High Fidelity with Zoë Kravitz as the Rob Gordon character. https://t.co/uym8FHXW1x
— Summer Anne Burton (@summeranne) September 24, 2018
which of these makes me the biggest nerd?
1) my excitement at zoe kravitz in a gender-swapped disney remake of high fidelity
2) my excitement at bob odenkirk cast in greta gerwig’s little women remake
3) my excitement at weird al in the weezer toto video pic.twitter.com/7tt1XvOQsR— Sachi Ezura (@misstrionics) September 24, 2018
Zoe Kravitz in a High Fidelity remake for the Disney streaming service?!?! YES!
— Kerri Kaleidoscope ❄️ Guillette (@Kerr_Frost) September 24, 2018
As for me, I have to ask. Is Hollywood trading in one style of remakes for another? Just gender swapping a character doesn’t mean that it’s going to be much different than the original. It seems like a strange place to be where you’re too different to rein in nostalgic viewers, and not original enough to bring in new viewers.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this type of decision set a trend moving forward. You will have reboots where almost nothing is changed except the gender or race of the main character.
What do you think, does gender-swapping High Fidelity make you interested in the Disney streaming service? What do you think of gender swapping roles? Could it be a fun way to remake new shows? Or should Hollywood move on to new IPs?
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