It’s a new year! Time for new beginnings! A fresh start to a new life of trim waistlines, piano lessons and that long-deferred backpacking adventure through the Dolomites. Or at least cleaning that junk out the hall closet. The point is, a new year requires new experiences, new ideas, right?

Not so fast, Sparky.

The truth is, most of us have to be dragged into the future, and not just old coots like myself who stubbornly cling to the past. I have a 19 month old grandchild who doesn’t hesitate to reject new food items, usually by tossing them on the floor.

Chicken tenders? Down they go. Raspberries? Down they go. You get the idea. It’s all adorable.

Apparently, it’s less adorable when I toss The Wife’s asparagus casserole on the floor.

I admit I am a life-long shunner of all foods not approved by the 10 year old version of me. I did not become calcified in my ways as I race toward my 65th birthday. I’ve always recoiled from any new food, convinced a mouthful of pickled beets or whatever weird thing not made by Chef Boyardee is like eating cyanide.

“How do you know if you don’t try them?” The Wife asks in frustration. The same as my mother asked. As everyone who has ever cooked a meal for me asks.

“I just know,” I reply. Even though I don’t know.

Which brings me to Steve Spielberg’s “West Side Story”, the box office bust of the old year.

According to industry reports, the reboot of West Side Story took in only $2.8 million Christmas week for a total to date of only $36 million, a fraction of what it will take to recoup the $100 million production budget and likely double when you throw in marketing. Despite fantastic reviews and great word of mouth, analysts are grasping at straws to figure out what went wrong, rounding up the usual suspects: COVID fears, the failure of recent musical films, “Dear Evan Hansen,” “In the Heights” and 2019’s box office dog, “Cats,” plus monster competition from the latest superhero flick “Spider Man: No Way Home” which has already netted a billion-plus-dollars. Still, the 2021 “West Side Story” had one additional obstacle to clear, the 1961 “West Side Story.”

Many fans of the original version of “West Side Story” are reflexively refusing to see the Spielberg version the way I refuse to touch broccoli radish gorgonzola salad. My highly unscientific study of Facebook includes the following:

“I don’t understand the need for remakes.”

“I refuse to see it. I hate remakes.”

“Joining a long list of remakes that should never have been attempted when the originals are so extraordinary!”

“We’ll pass.”

All these folks seem to have forgotten the original “West Side Story” was a reboot of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Then there are the people who refuse to see it for political reasons, because “Hollyweird” is populated by Liberals and wokeness, even though the film is neither partisan or woke, but you’d have to actually see it to know this.

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The way I’d have to actually taste broccoli radish gorgonzola to know it’s not anthrax.

I get that most remakes are awful. Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is a rare exception, a modernization of the brilliant original that is true in every essential element while adding contemporary grit and stunning visuals to great storytelling.

The 2021 “West Side Story” was not made because Steven Spielberg was out of ideas, but rather because he had a life-long love of the material and a vision of how to present it freshly to the world.

Which is exactly what The Wife tells me when she makes riced cauliflower.

“What do we need that for?” I say. “Rice doesn’t need a makeover!”

Here’s wishing you an open mind for the New Year!

Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sundays. He can be reached at: [email protected].