I don't post my opinions on here mostly because I usually don't have anything big or influental to say. But now I just have to get my opinion out because this is starting to get just a little ridiculous.
So, for those of you who don't know what's going on the new Titans show is being released and fans have had few good things to say about it. I'm in that margine of fans that is actually excited for this show. I've been a fan of the Teen Titans for a long time. I saw the original animated series on Cartoon Network and when I heard that they were making this, I was more than happy to know that one of my favorite teams would be brought to the small screen. First, the Robin and Hawk and Dove suits came out and looked fantastic. They were straight out of the comics. This got a lot of us excited for what was going to come for Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy. Then the pictures got leaked and... well, suffice to say, people had a few choice words about them.
Then the trailer came out. I watched the trailer and was even more hyped. Yes, it was grim and dark, but at the time I didn't care. I was just happy to finally be seeing the Titans in their TV forms. And in the trailer it seemed like they had fixed some things. Raven was grey in some shots, Beast Boy was green, and Starfire, while still in that costume, looked orange. And than all of the comments started rolling in and people starting to voice their opinions. I read some of them and found myself just disagreeing with some of them. I was also on Instagram and saw many posts about the show, with some comparing it to the animated series. Here are my counter points to those opinions.
1. It's too dark for the Teen Titans.
This is an argument that I can understand. It is really dark, not just in color but in tone as well. Raven using her demon powers, Starfire burning people alive, people getting shot, sliced, and hit in various ways. It is dark but at the same time I, and some others, find myself not caring. This isn't meant to be the stuff of cartoons. This is hard superhero stuff. And a thing about this comic is that it seemed to be more based on the original comics which did have mature moments. Nothing on the level of burning people alive but my point still stands. And keep in mind that I'm trying to say that it looks amazing. It certaintly doesn't. I'm just saying that for me and others it isn't a problem. And Geoff Johns has stated that the whole dark and edgy thing isn't going to be the whole show.
2. It isn't like the animated series.
Who said it had to be like the animated series? The people who are producing this show are under no obligation to make it like the cartoon. And honestly, why would you want it to be like the cartoon? Wasn't the cartoon its own special thing that shouldn't touched? It should be kept as its own thing? I don't know. And I get why people make this comparison. A lot of how people know these characters is from the cartoon series. I watched it and I've rewatched a little bit of it and sorry to say but it's kind of cheesy now. And this will lead into my next point.
3. The blatant nostalgia worship of the original cartoon series.
Something that really grinds my gears is that people seem to hold the animated series on a pedistal to the point where if anything dares to be different from it than it is instantly bad and should be shunned. Why do people put it on such high ground? Because of the good characters? Well, fair point. The characters in the animated series are good but often times feel just a little too quirky. Even Cyborg sometimes and he has to deal with the fact that he's half machine. Is it because that it dealt with serious issues? My argument to that opinion is that so what? There are tons of cartoons that have dealt with serious issues. Take Batman: The Animated Series for example. It dealt with a lot of heavy themes such as abusive relationships, moving past guilt, personal fears, and finding bravery in even the darkest of places. Batman: The Animated Series was highly acclaimed by both fans and critics alike and look at all of the live action and animated movies. The character of Batman has changed all over those types of mediums and no one has a second thought about that but if the Teen Titans are different in any sort of way from the animated series then it's instantly bad. I'm just saying. Like whatever you want to like but please, don't hold it to such high regard. That's what makes stuff like the recent Titans thing happen.
4. Robin kills People.
No he doesn't. If you look closely in the trailer you can see that he shoots above the thugs. This is further suggested as we can see the thugs ducking. Notice how none of them fall over and there's no brain or blood splatterings. And the whole stabbing thing, I'm pretty sure that was the thug's collar bone. And finally, the whole neck thing. Robin didn't step on the guy's neck he stepped on his jaw which is painful yes but nowhere near as fatal as getting your neck broken.
5. Raven isn't Grey.
Like I said before, this show seems to be based more on the original comics. In the original comics, Raven was not grey, she was Caucasion. Here's some photo evidence:
6.
Starfire doesn't look good and her fire isn't green.
I can agree on the costume. It doesn't look good but it has been confirmed that her look will change during the series so yeah. And about her fire. In the original comics her fire powers were red. Some photo evidence:
(Here it's purple but still.)
Conclusion:
Overall, I think that fans are aloud to have these opinions but I also believes that they're overreacting. Not all Teen Titans stuff has to be like the animated series. There is room to tell new stories with the characters that we love. I'm not saying that this is going to be a perfect adaptation but I also think that it could be creative and there are lots of good ways that this new show could go. But fans really shouldn't attack the actors or the production just because they did something that they didn't like. That's just a jerkish thing to do and only makes our fandoms look bad.
I know this post probably won't matter in a countless sea of opinions but who knows? Maybe someone will read this post and have some different thoughts.
That's all I can say. Have a good night, folks.