Kayla's Pick: "Gremlins"
Kayla's Pick for this week is the 1984 film "Gremlins."
Graphic by Emma Ayers
Kayla Harris, senior cinema major, is a big fan of all things 80's— particularly the decade's movies.
Now, every other Wednesday, she's sharing that passion with Lee Clarion readers in the form of Kayla's Pick: a detailed review of a film from the great 1980's that you don't want to miss.
Are you full of the Christmas spirit even though it’s only October? Do you love Halloween almost as much as you love Christmas? Do you want to indulge in something that will satiate your passion for both of these holidays? Might I suggest a Spielberg classic from 1984: “Gremlins.”
I tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible, but be warned—there may be a few spoilers here and there.
The Breakdown
As he searches for a Christmas gift for his son, a struggling inventor named Randall Peltzer stumbles upon an antique store in Chinatown where he discovers a furby-like creature called a mogwai.
The shopkeeper’s grandson secretly sells the mogwai, later known as Gizmo, to Randall, telling him three important rules: the mogwai cannot be exposed to bright light or sunlight or it will die, it cannot get wet, and (the most important rule of them all) it cannot eat after midnight.
Spoiler alert: rules are made to be broken and mischief ensues. The plot thickens when Gizmo accidentally births mogwai who are mischievous, violent, and looking to cause trouble.
Why Gremlins Matters:
This film was one of the reasons the "PG-13" rating was created. Producer Steven Spielberg initially released this film with a PG rating. This upset many people, since some content isn't exactly kid-friendly like the rating suggested.
To avoid an R rating, Spielberg suggested adding a new rating between PG and R: PG-13. Later in the year, Red Dawn (1984) became the first film to receive a PG-13 rating. Ratings can make or break a film, so having a midway point between PG and R created a little bit of wiggle room for filmmakers.
And many critics argued that Gremlins is filled with negative stereotypes of non-white people; it was included in Complex’s “50 Most Racist Movies” list in 2012. The character of the shopkeeper (whose name is revealed in the sequel to be Mr. Wing) seems to play on Asian stereotypes—a mystical, sorcerer type.
There have also been debates on whether or not the gremlins are meant to represent black people. Patricia Turner wrote that the gremlins were displaying many black stereotypes, like eating fried chicken with their hands, wearing newsboy caps and sunglasses after dark and breakdancing.
The Good + the Bad
Honestly, this film is super fun. Keep in mind—it's a black comedy, which is one of my go-tos. The darker the content, the better the humor for me. But the script is well-written, with funny bits sprinkled neatly throughout the chaos.
But there was a decent amount of violence throughout the film. Maybe I’m just a bit of a squeamish person, but there was some gremlin blood that was unsettling. On a separate note, the gremlins are super ugly and made me feel physically ill every time they were on the screen. But I think that I’m just a sensitive soul, so you are likely to have a different response.
Furthermore, there is a lot of talk about death/murder. The film was originally meant to be darker (gremlins eating humans and dogs), but the filmmakers didn't want it to be that violent. Still, there’s a lot of death mentioned and insinuated throughout the film. If that’s not up your alley, you might want to avoid this film and opt for a more family friendly Halloween-Christmas mashup.
The Fun Facts
CGI did not exist when this film was made, so the gremlins and mogwai you see are puppets, but initially they were to be played by monkeys with headdresses on. Since the monkeys panicked every time the headdresses came on, that idea was scrapped. There were multiple puppets of each mogwai/gremlin—some were enlarged in order to capture details when the camera was up close.
The gremlins themselves are based on fictitious creatures that have popped up in various fairytales and mythologies.
There's a sequel (Gremlins 2: The Next Batch) that is also set around Christmas, but is meant to be lighter than the original film.
There are plans for a third film! The screenwriter for the original film, Chris Columbus, has finished the script for this new film and he says that it is “twisted and dark.” Though he has not given extensive details about the new script, Columbus says that it addresses one very important question: if the birth of Stripe in the first film was caused by Gizmo getting wet, then would the elimination of Gizmo stop the cycle? Minimal CGI will be used; the mogwai and gremlins will be puppets just as they were in the original films. There isn't currently a set release date, but production should be starting in the near future.
Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for more of Kayla's Picks.
