Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the brand new animated collection primarily based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels, is out on Netflix. The eight-episode collection reunites the voice forged of the 2010 live-action film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and is a hilarious mix of the collection’ fast wit and well-measured popular culture references. All of this seems like a recipe for fulfillment, proper? Properly, it’s a little bit extra sophisticated.
You might need heard across the web that some followers usually are not too proud of the brand new anime, however you may not perceive why. It’s a protracted story that requires us to look at Scott Pilgrim as a textual content, its fandom, and the precise approach Scott Pilgrim Takes Off subverts expectations. So seize your big hammers and bass guitars, it’s time to unpack the story of Scott Pilgrim, its fandom, and what it’s wish to reckon with all of that in 2023.
What’s Scott Pilgrim about?
For these simply tuning in, Scott Pilgrim is in regards to the titular 22-year-old who likes video video games, performs bass in his band known as Intercourse Bob-Omb, and is relationship a 17-year-old lady named Knives Chau. Put a pin in that final one. In the meantime, he meets a extra age-appropriate lady named Ramona Flowers who simply moved to Toronto and is not too long ago out of a foul relationship. Scott begins a relationship with Ramona earlier than ending his relationship with Knives. There’s at the least one downside right here: He should defeat Flowers’ seven evil exes earlier than they will date.
What follows is huge, flashy, stylized fights with the evil exes alongside Scott coping with his interpersonal drama, attempting to nurture his relationship with Ramona, and loads of quips, gags, and guffaws. However regardless of the over-the-top, typically slapstick nature of the writing and presentation, the Scott Pilgrim books actually dug into the ramifications of Scott’s chaotic, damaging nature.
A lot of Scott Pilgrim’s popular culture persistence is attributed to the 2010 movie adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which, regardless of a disappointing field workplace efficiency, has gone on to be a cult basic. Arrested Growth star Michael Cera appeared like an odd selection for our titular fuck-up, however I can’t even learn the comics today with out listening to his voice in my head when Scott speaks. The film captures plenty of the humor, character, and elegance of the supply materials, elevated by a top quality forged that’s sort of arduous to consider 13 years later.
Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead play Scott and Ramona alongside another now-huge names, like Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Evans. However the film isn’t a 1:1 adaptation of the graphic novels, and as such, it suffers some blind spots in its overarching narrative. The Scott Pilgrim books happen over the course of a number of months, and the movie condenses the entire drama into a number of days. Complete relationships, emotional arcs, and story beats are both haphazardly shoved into the film’s brisk two-hour runtime or, as is the case with like Stephen Stills’ coming-out story, omitted totally. So regardless of the film being beloved, some followers (possibly even myself) haven’t felt like Scott Pilgrim has gotten a correct adaptation that absolutely explored all its nuance.
Now we’ve Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. It’s eight episodes lengthy, with a complete runtime about twice so long as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This new present might have, theoretically, higher explored the graphic novels’ authentic story. However Netflix’s collection doesn’t try this. It flips the unique story on its head and examines it by way of the eyes of Ramona whereas Scott…takes off for half the present’s run.
Why Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is efficient and crucial
Whereas sure, I felt some preliminary disappointment that we weren’t getting a extra fleshed-out adaptation of Scott Pilgrim, I got here round in a short time on the present’s subversive, metatextual tackle its story. This twist is a good way to present Ramona, who the movie adaptation did particularly soiled, an opportunity to look at her personal points with abandonment, demonizing her exes, and absolving herself of the ache she had prompted…simply as Scott bought to do within the authentic story. And whereas I, and different followers, would possibly’ve wanted some convincing, it seems like O’Malley was wholly bored with doing a rote retelling of the supply materials, telling telling Selection that doing so would have felt “like dying.”
As an alternative of recounting Scott’s fights with Ramona’s exes, Takes Off has its main woman investigating our hero’s disappearance after his obvious loss within the first combat in opposition to evil ex Matthew Patel, who dated Ramona for per week and a half in center faculty. Scott’s supposed “dying” sends the complete story of the unique books right into a tailspin, and Ramona spends the vast majority of the present reconciling together with her exes and determining that, regardless of the branding, none of them have been actually “evil” in spite of everything, and she or he was simply as a lot an “evil ex” to them.
Whereas Ramona will get her time within the highlight, Scott, in his considerably restricted display screen time, remains to be a focus within the present’s second half. It seems he didn’t lose the combat in opposition to Matthew, however as a substitute was pulled out of it by a 37-year-old future model of himself who’s going by way of a messy divorce with Ramona. To previous Scott, defeating the evil exes and being with Ramona was the largest mistake of his life, as a result of if he’d by no means been together with her, he wouldn’t be going by way of the ache he’s experiencing from the divorce.
This concept weaves nicely into Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’s themes whereas analyzing the inherent damaging selfishness that has been a part of his character for the reason that graphic novels. Although Ramona spends the entire present reckoning with how exes demonize one another, ceaselessly they’re simply different, regular human beings attempting to make it work like the remainder of us. In the meantime, Scott’s older self has not come to that realization, and views Ramona and his prior, loving relationship together with her as nothing however a waste. He’d fairly it by no means occurred than combat to put it aside, which doesn’t paint a flattering portrait of the elder Scott. He facilities his personal ache whereas ignoring the harm he’s prompted others, and it’s solely after younger Scott sees this model of himself that he displays on among the heinous shit he’s already finished, like relationship a excessive schooler.
All of this makes for some actually intelligent metatextual commentary on the premise Scott Pilgrim is constructed on. The unique graphic novel examines these concepts in its six-issue run, nevertheless it feels just like the film lets many of those conflicts fall by way of the cracks, boiling concepts like Nega Scott, a bodily manifestation of all of Scott’s flaws, right down to brief gags. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off manages to interrupt down all Scott’s flaws in new methods, so whereas it’s not a direct adaptation of the graphic novels, the brand new present is certainly in dialog with all the things that’s come earlier than.
Why are some followers dissatisfied with Scott Pilgrim Takes Off?
So what’s the issue? There are a number of sources of attainable ire. Pushing apart with all our would possibly that there’s probably a contingent of followers who simply hate ladies—which can be mad Ramona took the highlight this time, accredited of Scott Pilgrim’s detestable habits, and mentioned “he’s identical to me, FR” as a result of he speaks in online game references and has the hots for girls approach out of his league—there are at the least some arguments to be made.
A part of the problem stems from Netflix’s lack of transparency about what Scott Pilgrim Takes Off could be. It is a recurring theme for metatextual work like Remaining Fantasy VII Remake and the Rebuild of Evangelion movies: initially they’re introduced as retellings of beloved tales, just for it to turn out to be clear at some later level that they’re going to take various liberties and inform a special story totally. Moments like Scott seemingly dropping his combat in opposition to Matthew Patel are efficient as a result of they subvert your expectations. They’re a twist simply as a lot as another in storytelling, however they occur when returning followers anticipate consolation meals. That disruption, particularly one which makes you rethink one thing you’ve liked for a very long time, creates a particular friction that may be troublesome to handle.
Talking personally, I’ve had completely different reactions to this sort of twist relying on the venture. Rebuild of Evangelion felt like a creator reflecting on how his personal ache put characters by way of the wringer within the authentic work, however Remaining Fantasy VII Remake has me much more hesitant largely as a result of I haven’t loved Sq. Enix’s makes an attempt to additional develop varied Remaining Fantasy universes, so I’m much less wanting to see that firm’s tackle a metatextual reexamining of its basic RPG. However hey, Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth might reassure me.
Tales like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off are supposed to push in opposition to long-held fandom perceptions. All the level of taking a longtime story off the rails is to make you rethink what all of it meant. Was it too refined the primary time about Scott being an absolute shitbag? I wouldn’t have thought so, however that hasn’t stopped the franchise from being among the finest examples ever of the “Wow, cool robotic” meme, in that its humor, nerd references, and flashy battles are among the solely features some followers internalize.
O’Malley has even mentioned in interviews way back to 2015 that the graphic novels have been a time capsule of his early 20s, and that his view on Scott’s story modified as every concern got here out. It’s solely pure that as folks develop up, their work will too. Scott Pilgrim’s closing concern dove deep into why its titular hero wasn’t a lot of a hero in any respect, whereas the film was solely capable of reckon with that in rushed shorthand. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off explores these concepts as nicely, nevertheless it doesn’t should retread previous floor to do it.
However even past metatextual retellings, media creators have gotten extra snug with being much less clear about what they’re placing out, typically underneath the pretense of avoiding spoilers. It’s not totally a current improvement, as Metallic Gear Strong 2’s advertising and marketing hid the large bombshell that Snake wasn’t the sport’s important character up till it launched in 2001. Extra not too long ago, Danganronpa V3: Killing Concord marketed itself because the collection’ first female-led homicide thriller, just for it to swap protagonists and turn out to be a metatextual reexamination by the tip. The Final of Us Half II’s trailers included scenes that didn’t exist within the recreation to cover its inciting incident. Even Avengers: Endgame, the second-highest-grossing movie of all time, had actors whose characters “died” in Infinity Battle swearing their characters have been gone for good throughout the movie’s promotion, even when they have been resurrected by the tip of Endgame.
The knee-jerk response to that is to declare false promoting, and whereas I can charitably sympathize with that criticism in some contexts, I do want we might cease viewing every bit of artwork we watch, play, or learn as a strictly transactional expertise. If media firms didn’t really feel this compulsion to market all the things they put out to the purpose the place everybody thinks they know what they’re stepping into earlier than they really watch, learn, or play, possibly the ensuing mystique would make audiences extra open to experiencing foundational twists that don’t should be born out of misleading advertising and marketing.
Would Scott Pilgrim Takes Off have performed higher to sure folks if it had been positioned as Ramona’s story from the outset? Perhaps. Would there nonetheless have been very loud folks mad {that a} girl took the highlight from a personality they solely ever noticed as themselves regardless of the textual content outwardly criticizing him? Completely. As somebody who actually loved Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, even when I had my very own disappointment that we’ve nonetheless but to see elements of this story correctly tailored, I do hope that some people can look previous their preliminary expectations and see how the collection is additive to the Scott Pilgrim story, fairly than simply parroting what we will already discover within the books.