Buckle up.
Little House on the Prairie is set for a 21st-century makeover, and Michael Landon Jnr. doesn’t appear to be involved.
Netflix announced they were ‘reimagining’ the 80’s faith, family, and freedom classic, which was written by Lauria Ingles Wilder, and based on her iconic, somewhat autobiographical, recounts of life in 1800s America.
Instead of Landon Jnr., a Christian, writer, director, and producer, in his own right, Netflix went with horror genre enthusiast, Rebecca Sonnenshine.
The Vampire Diaries writer and producer will be ‘shepherding’ the remake as showrunner, and executive producer.
Described by Netflix as being a “lifelong fan of Little House on The Prairie,” Sonnenshine said, she was “honoured and thrilled to be adapting these stories for a new audience.”
Sharing the news on her apparent Instagram account, Sonnenshine posted a picture of a worn Ingles book saying, “extremely well-loved.”
The remake, Netflix said will be a “transformed adaptation,” offering a “kaleidoscopic view of the struggles, and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.”
They did not explain what they meant by “transformed,” nor did Netflix expand on what they considered to be a ‘kaleidoscopic’ reimagining.
Netflix also made no clear commitment to remain faithful to either the books or to what made the 8-season original series so great: a blatantly strong Christian backbone.
That backbone was something 80’s Little House alum, Victor French, and Michael Landon Jnr’s, flawed father, Jewish actor Michael Landon, were seemingly keen to preserve.
Together with French, Landon played Charles Ingels in the 80’s original, and also directed, and wrote many of the scripts for the much-loved TV adaptation.
Michael Landon Jnr’s notable absence contrasts with, Trip Friendly, son of Little House producer, Edwin Friendly.
Both spent time in the 80s hanging around the set of the original series with their dads.
Friendly now owns the rights to the Ingels books, as well as the trademark, and will play a role in the 2020 remake.
Vice President of Friendly Family Productions, Rebecca Friendly, posted a few words on Linkedin and said, they were ‘excited to be on this epic journey with a talented team.’
In a statement cited by Netflix, Friendly said, “It’s been a long-held dream of mine to carry on my father’s legacy and adapt Wilder’s classic American stories for a 21st-century audience.”
Reassuring fans, Friendly added, that he wanted to remake Little House, “in a way that brought together fans of both the books and the original television series.”
Despite this reassurance, Netflix’s adaptation is already off to a rough start.
Netflix’s flowery, ambiguous language has fans wondering what they mean.
Amplifying these concerns is the company’s Woke tendencies which disrupt and corrupt the content of sound classics.
As is the company’s lack of open commitment to maintaining the Christian integrity of the series.
Leading the revolt, Megyn Kelly warned Netflix on X, that if they “Wokeify Little House on the Prairie,” she would “make it her singular mission to absolutely ruin the Netflix project.”
Robby Starbuck, a conservative commentator, whom the Wall Street Journal considers largely responsible for American businesses ditching DEI, shared the sentiment, saying he would do the same.
Replying to Kelly, Walk Away campaigner, Brandon Straka didn’t hold out much hope, or hold anything back, stating, “I look forward to the episode where Doc Baker begins transing all the kids and Mary teaches us that blind people can’t see gender.”
Likewise, the majority of comments on Netflix’s X announcement expressed serious doubt the company was capable of not corrupting the content.
Australian, Sal Grover quipped, “Will Caroline be non-binary?”
Another user asked, “Will they still be white?”
Two accounts also called out Netflix on their ambiguity, arguing, “‘Kaleidoscopic’ and ‘reimagining’ were code words for Woke!’
Confirming these concerns, 80s Little House actress Melissa Gilbert, defended Netflix, claiming on her Instagram account that the original series was as “Woke as it gets.”
Gilbert’s wrong.
It wasn’t Woke, and here’s why:
Landon’s Little House on the Prairie tackled those issues from a blatantly Christian and biblical worldview.
This is far from Woke, which grounds its core claims on Critical Theory, not Christian morality; aka Karl Marx, not Jesus the Christ.
There’s a BIG, BIG difference. In Christianity, the oppressor and oppressed meet and are reconciled.
Under Marx, the real oppressors masquerade around as the oppressed.
Woke isn’t justice, and forgiveness. It is revolution and perpetual retribution, and therefore not, what Melissa Gilbert seems to think it is.
The irony in Gilbert’s “Woke” apologetic defending Netflix’s remake is that she’s confirming all of the justifiable concerns being expressed in the comments of Netflix’s X announcement.
