Jumper is being made into a movie!
I freaking loved Jumper. At some point in middle school, I think (maybe high school), I sat down at a bookstore in the mall and read it from cover to cover, in one sitting– I suppose that at that time coming of age stories really spoke to my (pre?)teen existential angst. I don’t remember much more about it than the blurb on Amazon offers, except I recall thinking this was the first author I’d seen take the peril of teleporting into solid objects seriously. If I recall correctly, the kid ended up teleporting while enclosed in a phone booth for protection. Not as cheesy as it sounds.
Now the book’s being made into a movie, which I’m going to go see, despite the fact that it has Samuel L. Jackson in it, and despite the fact that the originality of the book will probably be lost in translation. Apparently they’re going to make it into a trilogy. I didn’t fancy LOTR, but I appreciate the impact it’s had on Hollywood– Jumper is not the type of book I’d have expected to be made into a movie, much less a trilogy.
Just found out there’s a sequel to Jumper, Reflex, so I’ll have to check that out too. Also, while looking up info on Jumper the movie, I came across this interesting examination of coming-of-age stories and gender stereotypes. He has a good point about Buffy and Xena: they do subvert gender stereotypes somewhat awfully. As he says, Buffy’s boyfriends were more like appendages than lovers– well, once she got past Angel–; for instance, Riley was just a big sex toy that she used and discarded; that’s definitely more in line with a male hero who gets a different gal every show (e.g. Captain Kirk, James Bond, etc. ad nauseum), except she went through them slower. Didn’t like that aspect of the show too much– I prefer my heroes to be monogamous, whether male or female. And Xena was definitely more concerned with ethics than finding a place to fit in– the whole theme of a guilty conscience leading you to fight the good side seems very masculine. I suppose the same kind of analyses apply to La Femme Nikita and Alias. Assuming that these vague arguments hold any water, maybe it was these subversions that made me love these shows so much.
Possibly relevant posts:
- TransAmerica (9/10/2006)
- The why’s and wherefores of Heroes (3/21/2007)
- School page is up (1/26/2002)