The twist with the 2012 made-for-television version is that, as People magazine puts it, “This time, the women at the core of the Southern story, set in the fictional Louisiana town of Chinquapin, will be played by Africa Americans.” Aside from the racial politics involved in casting African Americans actors in roles that were originally occupied by white actors (which has recently become a trend on Broadway, particularly with Tennessee Williams’ work including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and most recently, A Streetcar Named Desire), this new Steel Magnolias seems to be getting beat by the gay blogosphere because it is not the 1989 theatrical version.

On its pedigree, no one can claim that this “blackening” of a beloved gay text is in any way “slumming it” in production values and talent. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the team behind the Oscar-winning adaptation of the musical Chicago, are producing the telefilm with direction by Kenny Leon, the acclaimed director of the television adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. The film stars Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, Alfre Woodard, and Jill Scott–together having won and/or been nominated for a slew of music, film and television acting awards. To borrow and paraphrase the New York Post‘s 1969 Stonewall Riot headline, why are the blogsphere’s queen bees stinging mad? What might lead OMG Blog to begin a piece on the debut of the telefilm’s trailer by incredulously asking, “Who told Lifetime it was okay to remake Steel Magnolias?!”

As a gay viewer myself, there is nothing inherently ghastly about this telefilm’s trailer. I argue that it is being trashed in the popular gay discourse because it is not the beloved 1989 “gay classic.” On the blog Joe.My.God, commenter “Elsewhere” concedes that he is unsure whether or not he will watch the telefilm because “the original film was imprinted on my (somewhat younger) gay brain with such ferocity that I love it more than my luggage” works to illuminate the ways in which the memory of Steel Magnolias and those that he presumably re-visits are too precious to disrupt by seeing other bodies in the roles. Another commenter “Jeremy” says, “I love me some Alfre Woodard and Mrs. Huxtable [Phylicia Rashad], but this just feels off. I don’t think you can remake a film that was originally done with three actresses that injected their HUGE personalities into their lines… To hear anyone else say the lines reminds you of the original and how much more superior it is.” The feeling of “offness” “Jeremy” feels seems to be rooted in its attempt to disrupt the way he remembers (and presumably re-lives, via DVD) Steel Magnolias. Additionally, I am not sure if this level of “offness” “Jeremy” feels can be traced to the notion that Steel Magnolias is being blackened. The telefilm is, after all, being billed not as simply a “remake of Steel Magnolias” but an “all-black remake of Steel Magnolias“, thus encoding its difference at the site of its industrial reception.

Furthering a discussion of the place incredulous nature of a remake of this text, Out Magazine staffer Max Berlinger is “not OK with [this remake] on so many levels… [because] Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton’s performances are so utterly perfect I’m flabbergasted that anyone would think this is a good idea. I mean, I’ll watch it, but I won’t be happy.” Berlinger in some ways crystallizes the tension some gay fans of Steel Magnolias feel. On one hand, they fully want to reject the text because it is not the theatrical (and most widely available) version of the text. On the other hand, because Steel Magnolias feels like it is a text “owned” by gay men, some are overcome by a desire to consume this (queered) text in any incarnation made available.

Certainly, there are voices who, like Joe.My.God commenter “Pepe” asserts that he will watch Steel Magnolias if only “for the opportunity to watch Ms. Rashad, Ms. Woodard, Ms. Queen and Ms. Scott all in the same room at the same time” or Advocate.com reader Scott Amundsen who concedes that the “trailer looks like it isn’t too bad.”

But the proof will be in the ratings pudding. While Lifetime has not yet announced an airdate for the telefilm, the success (or failure) of this remake will be determined by how many people actually tune in to watch. The fact is, there are some gay men who will tune in to watch and enjoy the telefilm on its own merits while others have already decided to hate this remake because its biggest crime is the failure to be the 1989 theatrical version.

Ten (or more) media industry stories you might have missed recently:

1. Google has introduced a new social media service called Buzz. The biggest news surrounding it has been negative, though. In particular, privacy concerns abound, and some users have found themselves difficult situations thanks to Buzz’s autonomy. Google has responded with some fixes and suggestions, but Jeff Jarvis thinks Google would have been best off designating this as a Beta version in the first place. At least Buzz is better off than the dying MySpace, whose CEO resigned this week after only nine months on the job. TechCrunch says MySpace’s only hope is to separate from parent News Corp.

2. Social media came up with a great idea for traditional media: a Betty White fan started a Facebook page called Betty White To Host SNL (please?)!. The page now has over 280,000 fans (more than SNL’s own page). And the campaign has gotten a lot of mainstream attention and support, though SNL’s Olympics hiatus might cool the furor.

3. Mostly bad news for video games, as sales are down (2009 had the lowest average sales figures since 2005) and layoffs are up. Some think online gaming can rescue the industry. Or how about Microsoft figuring out how to design game consoles for the military? Finally, I got a kick out of this article: 10 Literary Classics That Should Be Videogames. I would totally play The Metamorphosis.

4. With the death of Miramax signaling the end of an era for indie cinema, some are questioning the future of independent film in an Avatar world. It’s a different story in the music industry: there indie music is thriving through advantages indie film apparently doesn’t have, while it’s the big music labels that are floundering. But Scott Macauley calls for a more nuanced understanding of independent cinema’s place, and Ted Hope thinks indie filmmakers can steal Hollywood’s “event picture” ideas for future success.

5. New York Magazine has a great in-depth profile on the madness that is Oscar campaigning. The Academy plans to do some campaigning of its own this year via social media. And The Root offers a (rather depressing) history of African-Americans at the Oscars.

6. Usually contemporary remakes of classical Hollywood movies are a bad idea from start to finish (The Women anyone? That’s right, no one). But the rumored Mildred Pierce remake at least has a few good things going for it: Todd Haynes, Kate Winslet, HBO. My only question: five hours?

7. Air America has died out, and some analysis of why and what’s next for liberal radio can be found at AlterNet, Huffington Post, the New York Times, and the LA Times.

8.  This week I learned about the Bechdel Test for films — 1) there are at least two named female characters, who 2) talk to each other about 3) something other than a man — and was dismayed by how few recent films I could come up with that pass it. But The Wrap insists that female-driven blockbusters are all the rage. This is the position we’re put in: we’re supposed to be happy about Dear John hitting #1. Speaking of which, I’d like to take this opportunity to quote the great opening line from Roger Ebert’s review: “Lasse Hallstrom’s Dear John tells the heartbreaking story of two lovely young people who fail to find happiness together because they’re trapped in an adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel.”

9. The Super Bowl ads were largely deemed to be awful this year, and they were especially denounced for being overwhelmingly misogynistic, emasculating, and all-around gender-disturbed. One good thing to come out of that: this YouTube response to the Dodge Charger ad.

10.  I’ll close with links to my own bloglinks, my favorite stories out of those I’ve posted on News for TV Majors recently: the Chuck-pocalypse, Survivor’s survival and the upside of reality tv, MTV’s dropping “music television” from its logo while Comcast renames its services Xfinity, Bones showrunner Hart Hanson gave an awesome keynote address about making TV for the masses, can Apple conquer TV?, and six Super Bowls later, CBS and the FCC still aren’t done with Janet Jackson.

One last thing: if you’ve still got nothing for Valentine’s Day, send your loved one a Lost card.