Brave New World

Are better left alone. I don't understand why they don't make something new and give it its own name. This is so loosely based on the book, I feel the people behind it read the wiki plot summary and that's it. And even that summary was mostly ignored. Most of what made Brave New World so significant as a work of fiction was lost here.

As a sci fi show it isn't even half bad. If it would stand on its own, I would give it a 7 or 8. But as an adaptation of Brave New World, it's a 3 and that is generous.

I read the book 20+ years ago, so I didn't totally remember the plot and I can't speak to whether or not the show follows the book plot. I'm sure there's more drama and violence in this show to capture a modern audience's attention. So far it's pretty good! I think when you watch sci-fi, you have to disengage from reality a little bit, sit with the weirdness and discomfort of things different from our familiar world. This world is in the 2500s, a time we can't actually imagine any more than people 500 years ago could imagine 2020 (or covid, but I digress). Obviously people are going to complain, because everyone's a critic and people hate it when you mess with classics, but you can't please everyone. Right now some of the other available shows to watch are a reboot of Unsolved Mysteries or I don't know, Fuller House, just some real schlock. I chose well. This is good. I'm into it.

When I was a college film student I used to think about how I would film Brave New World, which is to say I have a vision for it. Part of that vision would involve actually following the structure, plot, and character development of the original, as opposed to what this miniseries does, which is to take the character names and a handful of loose concepts and turn them into an entirely different story that is more World World than Brave New World.

The story involves a futuristic caste society where a couple of high-caste citizens go slumming and wind up adopting an angry young man who proves incompatible with the society. There's lots shootings and stabbings and orgies and some mystery involving the society's origins.

So, not the book.

I read a review which complained that Brave New World was not a good entity for 2020. This may be true for the book, which was based on the idea that technology could be effectively used to make most people happy and that people in power would actually do that. But in an age where we're seeing the limits and dangers of technology, this adaptation smartly grabs the worries of today and plugs them into this story from yesterday.

Unfortunately the makers don't design their society with the same rigor as Aldous Huxley. The idea that this entire city could basically be run on drugs is unpersuasive. The concept of the Savage Lands makes no sense, in that the people there didn't choose to be there and there's no explanation of how society was bifurcated in that way.

Still, it's all really interesting and admittedly much more viscerally exciting than the book (although less intellectually exciting).

The cast is good and the story is compelling. The final episode is the least satisfying part, giving us a rather nonsensical ending and then a mysterious box that I feel if there is a season 2 to explain it will prove to be a disappointment. But in spite of its flaws, and my constant sense that wait, *that's* not how it happened in the book, I recommend this.

You'll notice a lot of the negative reviews come from people who didn't make it past the pilot episode. The pilot isn't reflective of the series as a whole and if you find your way to the end of the next episode, you'll be hooked. Having read the book, don't expect a like for like adaption but the series is still rewarding with some great acting talent, intriguing characters/plot and some lovely visuals. Well worth a watch.

Overall I liked this show. I like how it hit on a lot of political ideals and ideologies that we're seeing today without even trying. I honestly think a lot of people do not like this show because it directly points out hypocrisies that we see everyday in society, and points directly at them and their ideologies. We tell ourselves it will never be like that, it's too far out there. Example, This book was written in 1931 and while it's still not truly real life because our scientific technology isn't there....yet. But, you can bet if it was you'd see a society a lot like this one. It's scary / crazy to think that it is a possibility in the near future and it's even crazier to think that people can't see it coming like a freight train. Either way the show was pretty great. Good acting followed by some not so good directing and producing. Meaning it still felt like a TV show at times. cutting corners on certain things like character development, or simply just trying to hard to be edgy. I do appreciate the fact that they didn't go overboard with the sex and nudity. Not that I don't like those things but at a certain point I just want to watch a good show, not soft core. Hope they make a season 2!