Let's Talk About the Steel Magnolias Remake!

As soon as Lifetime announced that it was remaking Steel Magnolias with an all African-American cast, one billion obnoxious blog posts asking "What's the point?!" were written. (I refuse to link to them! You can Google them! If you are so inclined!) Ha ha sure. What's the point? Once white people have done something, there's no point to anyone else doing it! Words for racists to live by.

I was very excited about it! Because I love Steel Magnolias, not so much for the story centered around the tragic Shelby, but because the characters are sort of great and they have something lovely to say about female friendship and they are gifts to great character actresses who are not in their 20s. And so many great actresses were attached to the remake! Phylicia Rashad and Alfre Woodard as Claree and Ouiser—YES PLEASE!

And they were all very good! The remake was not as good as the original, owing to the disparate budgets of a feature film and a television movie, a disparity which was reflected in fewer locations (e.g. the voice-overed ending with black and white stills vs. a big outdoor Easter party), and lesser-known actors cast as Drum and Jackson, who faded into the background even more than Tom Skerritt (though as equally as Dylan McDermott, virtually unknown in 1989).

But it was still solid, and I really enjoyed it. I particularly loved Rashad and Woodard, and I adored Condola Rashad (Shelby), who I'd not previously seen in anything else. I will never not cry at M'Lynn wondering how Jack Jr. will ever know how wonderful his mother was, and I will never not laugh at Ouiser snorting: "My secret's out—I'm having an affair with a Mercedes Benz!"

And I was not alone in my enjoyment! Steel Magnolias "delivered an average of 6.5 million total viewers in its premiere, according to Nielsen," making it #3 "on Lifetime's all-time most-watched list."

I complain bitterly about the entertainment industry lazily remaking everything under the sun, but, as long as remakes are de rigueur, this is the way to do them: Remake them with a purpose. Give proven material to a reimaigined set of actors, thus potentially introducing the material and the actors to new audiences.

Did you watch it? What did you think?