Harriet The Spy Ditches Pen And Notebook, Opts For Laptop And Blog

First came Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh’s classic, award-winning story about Harriet M. Welsch, an 11-year old aspiring writer who doesn’t leave home without a pen and her notebook. Thirty-two years later, Nickelodeon took a stab at a remake, a movie that starred Michelle Trachtenberg as Harriet. It's one that, I admit, I’ve never seen, but from what I’ve read it sounds like Nick did stay in line with quite a bit of the original plot.

Well, now the Disney Channel is premiering their new Harriet the Spy remake next month, and it's called Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars. That's right, folks: in this version, our beloved Harriet has pitched her trusty pen and notepad in favour of a laptop and and a blog.

The synopsis, in a nutshell: Harriet, now a high-school student (played by Jennifer Stone, of Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place), and a classmate have been nominated for the position of Class Blogger. Harriet sets out to beat her competition by exposing a hunky, chiseled teen star for who he really is; a blog war ensues. How far will Harriet go to win the coveted position?

Harriet the Spy, Blogger. I'm not so sure about that. There's something about the thought of Harriet pulling out all the stops to win the blog war that I'm not jiving with. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm fairly resistant to change; there's a part of me that cringes when I see my favourite literary classics get 21st century makeovers. Maybe I feel a little protective of the Harriet that I know - the quirky eleven-year-old girl from New York who wants to be a writer, not the one who tails a hotty pop star so she can win the Blog War. Or maybe it's the term blog wars that's rubbing me the wrong way, because since when was it cool for high school kids to wage online wars upon one another?

If it ain't broke, Disney, then don't fix it. Some things are best left alone, and in my opinion, Harriet the Spy and her trusty notebook fall under that category.

What about you? Are you feeling as crotchety about the latest Harriet remake as I am?

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Comments

[Carrie]

I think for it to be relevent to today's youth they have to do SOME updates. This movie is directed towards a pre-teen to teen audience I imagine so a laptop at the very least would be expected. Do reporters now-a-days use notebooks and pens?

[Issa]

I think in this day and age it makes sense. I just now wonder how long I can keep my blogging a secret from my children, once they see this movie, which I'm sure they'll want too. Sigh.

[mamatulip]

It does, I admit, make sense in this day and age. I guess I'm just feeling all, Hey Disney, hands off my classics! You know?

Issa - my six-year-old daughter is just cottoning on to the fact that I have a blog. I spent so much time worrying about my family finding out about it in the beginning, I never really thought about the day when my KIDS would know about it. Ack!