HBO's MaddAddam: 5 Reasons It Could Be Awesome (And 5 Reasons It Could Suck)
3. MaddAddam's Alternate Universe Would Be Amazing On-Screen
Talking of visual art, how amazing will it to see the world of the MaddAddam trilogy designed onto a set? Over the past few years there has been a huge trend in the creation of post-human worlds. As a race were fascinated at how civilization will look when were gone, when there arent humans to maintain their own structures on a daily basis. Some of the most popular video games explore this (Fallout, The Last of Us), and post-apocalyptic films like Elysium, Oblivion, and even Wall-E show us the mess we could make of the world (if only wed take note). Humans are often mesmerised by idea of the world without us, and Atwoods vision is particularly inspired. Whilst the post-human world in MaddAddam is not unlike those found in visions like The Last of Us, her pre-post-human world (does that make sense?) is also chillingly captivating. Told in flashbacks, we learn about Snowmans childhood in a residential compound financed by a pharmaceutical company (hey, did you know that Tesco are building their own villages now?). She describes tremendous science facilities, down-market arts universities, and disturbing "painball" matches for prisoners, all of which will be wonderful to see in real life, as it were. In this world too, many animals have been genetically modified to enhance their commodification. For example, pigoons are pigs that have been bred with multiple human organs inside them for transplants, and chickens have been modified so that they are just a set of breasts or legs with a mouth. If done right, the depictions of these creatures is going to be grotesque but enthralling.
