I remember reading “The Great Gatsby” in my high school AP English class. I was fascinated by Jay Gatsby’s character and by the book in general. You can only imagine how stoked I was when I found out there was a remake in the works. You can also imagine how jacked I was when I found out Leonardo DiCaprio was starring in it, too.

I hear a lot of chatter online about Hollywood “running out of ideas,” and “all they ever do are remakes.” Yes, there might be a glimmer of half-truth in there, but there have still been some great movies released the past two years. That being said, the same chatter revolved around “The Dark Knight” when it was in pre-production. Although it isn’t a remake, people were offended that Heath Ledger was going to be a horrible Joker.

Coming from arguably the biggest Batman fan on this campus, aside from Steven Herring, I think I’m credible enough to say what I’m about to say. In my opinion, comparing Jack Nicholson’s Joker to Heath Ledger’s Joker is like comparing apples to oranges. Both were excellent in their respective visions for the direction of the role.

Nicholson was the trickster. He wasn’t 100 percent insane, but he was extremely quirky. He had some amazing lines in that film, and I never thought that his performance would be topped. From time to time, I’ll still pop in my “Batman” DVD and watch it. I still find myself in awe of the incredible job he did in that movie.

Ledger was the semi-serial killer, psychotic, dark drug lord that I had always hoped to see in an interpretation of the Joker. There are many phenomenal scenes in “The Dark Knight,” but the magic trick is one of my personal favorites. I’ve read many an article that said he drove himself to an early death because he dove head first into the role.

Some reports online have said that he locked himself in a room and read books about serial killers all day. Others have claimed that he studied the life of psychos to nail down the physical attributes of his Joker. The makeup he wore was also terrifying.

I think it’s sheer stupidity to jump the gun by thinking a movie will be complete crap because it’s a remake, or that one actor won’t do as well as his or her predecessor. Trust me, I’ve seen my share of remakes that were so bad it would make you question your intelligence in movie selection. Robert Redford was incredible in the original “The Great Gatsby” flick, but Leo is going to own that role. He seems to own those serious, brooding male lead roles.

So, before you jump the gun and assume that a remake will be a train wreck, think about the great ones before the terrible ones come to mind.