Sometimes, deviation can lead to unexpected surprises!
Picture, if you will, a society where people are distracted by mindless garbage, hierarchy is extremely entrenched, relationships are superficial or non-existent, and a disturbing number of people are hopped up on drugs.
Have you ever seen something like that? I know I haven’t!
That is the premise of Brave New World, a television adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel. While it doesn’t exactly follow the book in its totality, I can say with utter certainty that the show is well-written, absurdly relevant, and absolutely worthy of study all on its own. However, I can’t exactly tell you why without getting into some minor spoilers. If you care about that, be sure to come back here after you binge the first season over on Peacock.
Okay? Good. Let’s go!
The Cast Is Great.
John and Madysun (Lara Peake) introduce some pointed satire that completely works in the modern day.
Brave New World is one of the most well thought-out dystopias of the past century, so it is easy to say that an adaptation would fall apart if the cast treated the show as just another job. Thankfully, the creative team did the right thing by centering the show around three principals who know what they’re doing!
Alden Ehrenreich takes the lead as John the Savage, a free-thinker who was shuffled off to a “savage reservation” in the west of what was once the United States. While I haven’t seen any of his work before, he’s great at communicating exactly what it is like to be a man who is torn between two worlds, and I am looking forward to taking a look at Solo and whatever he does next. He’s that good!
Jessica Brown Findlay is quite intriguing as Lenina Crowne. While she is far more of an unknown to American audiences, the writers do quite a lot to show off her emotional range as an actress. Lenina’s emotional awakening is funny, confusing, and heartbreaking all at the same time, and Jessica knows how to bring that across. More on that in the plot section!
Last but not least, Harry Lloyd is exceptional as Bernard Marx, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from a twenty-year veteran of the stage and screen. While this particular role is far more subdued than, say, his turn as Viserys Targaryen, he is very good at emphasizing the status quo of the World State, so his emotional arc is more about getting ripped out of one’s comfort zone than anything else.
I know that some people might disagree with that assessment, but it makes sense in context.
We Live In A Society.
Bernard and Lenina are a bit robotic before they start to open up, but that’s the point.
Brave New World is a bit of an odd one out in the dystopian genre because it strikes a balance between character and story in a way that other stories don’t.
The story takes a different course than usual by pointing out the negative consequences of utopia… or, at least, what people think might be a utopia. It begins with a look at the American wasteland through the eyes of John. In many ways, that land seems like a hellhole that anyone would want to leave, but John doesn’t quite know that New London is worse.
Sure, the “savages” might be violent and want their own land, but what does one do when faced with a state that seeks to enslave the mind?
Of course, Lenina and Bernard make it seem like New London is a humane community that anyone would want to be a part of, but John’s disregard for various social mores compels the two of them to look below the surface. Of course, Lenina doesn’t take the revelation too well. More than anyone else, she discovers in between Soma-fueled hazes that her home seems to be devoid of all of the things that make life worth living. Still, she has a hard time breaking free of the system that held sway over her mind for so long.
To say that the resulting turmoil is intense would be an understatement.
I’d like to give a lot more away, but you should discover the rest of the journey for yourself. It’s a part of the fun!
Would Purists Hate It?
Wilhelmina Watson (Hannah John-Kamen) is so interesting that it’s incredibly easy to put aside the gender swap.
If there’s one issue that people might have with this show, it’s the ending. While I know that the writers had to change Huxley’s finale in order to justify a second season, a lot of purists will probably take issue with it (if they haven’t already). After all, it doesn’t exactly portray the point that Huxley was trying to make in 1932, so why bother?
I grappled with the changes for quite a while, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that this ending is necessary.
In terms of character development, all of the characters wind up in fairly similar places, but the book’s ending would’ve completely destroyed any kind of sympathy that a viewer might have had for John. After all, he is the closest thing to a normal man in the story, so it makes sense that he’d be sort of on the level of the audience in terms of morality. All of that would’ve been thrown out the window if the writers actually went with Huxley, so that’s a relief and a half.
With that said, the show’s ending could be thought of as a bit more torturous than Huxley’s when one considers what actually happens in the story. You’ll understand my point of view a lot better when you see the final few episodes.
On the macro level, the significant changes to the ending actually got me excited to see what Season 2 has in store… if we could actually get this damned pandemic in check, that is!
Conclusion.
Is your feeling of contentment the result of your own actions, or did someone order you to be that way?
Brave New World is a startlingly good adaptation of a dystopian staple. It isn’t exactly what Aldous Huxley envisioned, but the changes are more than justified and the cast smooths everything over with some great performances. If you’re looking to get inspired or just want to get lost in another world, take the plunge and check it out!
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