by Uptin Saiidi
Can you imagine waking up to find you’ve switched bodies with someone? Of course you can -- we’ve seen it happen in "Freaky Friday," "Like Father Like Son," and now "The Change-Up." Even the film’s star Jason Bateman joked on Jon Stewart this week by saying, “it is a tired, some would say pleasantly familiar premise.”
Isn’t that everyone’s dream to take a walk in someone else’s shoes only to realize you totally misjudged their life and have a new appreciation for your own? Let’s hope Hollywood continues riding the Point-Of-View wave, but why limit them to human swaps? Can’t we learn even more from swapping with another being rather than our own kind?
Yesterday, MTV Movies Blog editor Josh Wigler came up with five fictional characters he’d like to most switch places with. [Editor's Note: Sorry about that. -JW] And now here are five movies that could have main characters switch lives with a non-human!
"Toy Story 3" // Woody + Andy
Poor, Woody. He’s traveled the world while Andy legit still thinks he’s barely left his front yard. If the two could switch places, maybe Woody would finally understand that real adult life leaves us little time to play with our childhood toys and while Andy is trapped in a toy cowboy’s body he’d be able to see how obsessed with him those guys are. Maybe Andy would enjoy his new life with Rex, Buzz, Jessi and Barbie, although one thing’s for sure about Andy’s dog, Slinky…no longer would he be a man’s best friend.
"Transformers: Dark of The Moon" // Sam Witwicky + Bumblebee
I’m pretty sure the only sensible thing for the next installment of the Transformers is for Sam Witwicky and Bumblebee to switch bodies. We know they’ve had their differences at times but a swap could allow Bumblebee to fully understand all the daily pressures Sam has to face. Oh, and it’d be so much easier during fights if Sam was an autobot.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" // Errol (Ron’s owl) + Ron Weasley
Rewind to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone." What if an unlucky turn of Ron’s bedroom doorknob caused him and Errol to switch bodies right before Ronald left for his first day at Hogwarts? He’d attack his brothers and parents hoping they’d believe him, while Errol adjusted to using human legs and went off to school. Would Errol living in Ron’s body still mean that he’d befriend Harry and Hermione or would their path be forever changed?
"Twilight" // Jacob, The Werewolf + Edward, The Vampire
There’s been a fair amount of fights in the "Twilight" saga and it’s all because of one thing: understanding. Or lack of it, we should say. How about a werewolf sees what it’s like to be a vampire for a change? In this swap, Jacob would turn into a werewolf but be stuck as Edward turning into a vampire while Edward would be stuck as a werewolf thinking he was turning into a vampire as Jacob had to learn to suck blood and enjoy doing it. That’s really confusing, but totally worth seeing.
"Rise of the Planet of Apes" // Will Rodman + An Ape
The apes are coming! But maybe they don’t have to. Instead of the apes attacking and trying to takeover humankind, what if the plot took a slight turn and the film’s main character Will Rodman, switched bodies with the head ape-in-charge. Will would just tell all the apes to chill and make them see how beautiful the human race really is. And as for the ape living in Will’s body, well, that’d just be comedic relief.
Tell us what you think in the comments section and on Twitter!
