Mrs Doubtfire 2: It’s Happening!

Films buffs everywhere cheered last week as it was announced that classic Robin Williams fronted comedy Mrs Doubtfire is headed for a sequel. Why did we love the first film as much as we did and can we expect from this belated second instalment?

A 90’s Classic

Any kid growing up in the 90’s saw Mrs Doubtfire at some point in their young lives, it was practically mandatory viewing for the post Generation X set, and the light mix of comedy and heart inspired kids everywhere to learn that their parents are people too, a valuable lesson to remember through your mixed up teenage years.

Mrs Doubtfire tells the story of San Francisco based, recently unemployed voice actor and devoted father Daniel (Williams), whose wife Miranda (Sally Field) asks for a divorce due to his irresponsible and immature nature.

She won’t let him watch his own kids, but when he learns that Miranda plans to hire a housekeeper to do the job, he has a spark of inspiration. He adopts the drag persona of Mrs Euphegenia Doubtfire, and takes the job. What follows is a hilariously touching tale of a fathers struggle to prove himself to his ex and his children.

So why do 90’s kids everywhere love Mrs Doubtfire? I can think of several reasons…

· Drag: Robin Williams in drag as a Scottish nanny is simply too funny for words!

· Sally Field: An accomplished actress, Field brings a sense of gravitas to a story that might otherwise have been too rooted in its comedic nature.

· Real Life: Drag aside, this is a tale that a lot of children growing up in the 90’s could relate to. After all, two in three couples divorce now and many of their families struggle to deal with the aftermath.

· Cutting Edge: It’s was actually ahead of it’s time for Hollywood – the idea of a straight man in drag was pretty unheard of in this market before Doubtfire, and it hit home with a new, more tolerant generation.

The Curse of the Sequel

So is the second instalment of the classic comedy going to work, Oliver Rawlings readers? There is the curse of the sequel to contend with, but I think it could work, and here’s why.

It’s being directed by legendary Harry Potter director Christopher Columbus, who will no doubt bring his A-game to the film and it is so long after the first film came out, that the market hasn’t been saturated. People are ready for Euphegenia once again!

It’s a while until Mrs Doubtfire 2 is set to hit cinema screens – it’s not even in production yet, but I’ll be waiting anxiously to see whether the second film will be just as beloved as it’s legendary predecessor.

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The Rise of Wearable Technology

As a major tech buff, there are few trends that excite me as much as the wearable tech trend that has gripped the market over the past year or so. How might this trend play out and what could it mean for the future of smart devices?

A few years ago, I’m sure you were all like me, Oliver Rawlings readers. I was simply amazed at how quickly smartphone technology was moving, how it seemed to be diversifying every day. Suddenly you could bank with your phone, you could online date with it, you could even use it to get a (somewhat) accurate weather report.

What a difference a few years makes. Smartphones are only barely a decade old and suddenly we’re all talking about wearable tech. If you’re still stuck in the IPhone age, let me break it down for you.

Wearable tech is exactly that; smart technology that acts as a piece of clothing. Commonly we see it with the Google glass, a pair of glasses frames with ‘smart’ capabilities that you can wear as you would wear real glasses. We also see it with the new smart watches which perform similar functions.

So what are we dealing with here? Well, we’re really dealing with wearable smart technology. They perform the same functions as a smartphone and have the added advantage that they are more convenient, as they are on the body, as opposed to in your pocket.

But there are kinks still to work out. Namely, people aren’t out buying Google glass in droves yet, and experts are now partly putting this down to design. That’s why plans are currently underway to produce a version of the technology with Ray Ban.

So how might this trend play out? In the short term, it could go one of two ways and it depends entirely on the consumer. Wearable tech could remain the domain of tech buffs and millionaires. However, if it is marketed and delivered in the same way that smartphones were, wearable tech could become every bit as pervasive in society as the phone that changed communication forever.

In the long term, it’s clear that exactly this will happen. It’s actually something we see fairly often with technology; CD’s replaced cassettes, which were in turn replaced by downloads etc. It’s very much a natural progression.

It says something larger about the world in which we live. The tech age has blossomed, there’s no going back. Wearable tech is yet another sign that technology is our future. 

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