HBO's MaddAddam: 5 Reasons It Could Be Awesome (And 5 Reasons It Could Suck)
4. Book Adaptations Rarely Live Up To The Source Material
This is less opinion, more science. Even if the series is a stand-alone triumph, film and TV adaptations so often come up short. 2007s film adaptation of the beloved Philip Pullman book Northern Lights epitomises this, in that it was a complete fiasco. First of all it was called The Golden Compass, despite not being about a compass, and all the allegoric and religious undertones that made it such a breathtaking read were carelessly omitted. Or, for another example, how about the film of Animal Farm that tacked on a happy ending and ruined the books original message? And lets not even get started on the smorgasbord of cr*p that was The Beach. Adaptations of books are risky at best, and even the ones that are arguably quite good have their staunch haters. Many people threw bile at Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings films, and not even Harry Potter has been safe from fan-wrath. If youre re-imagining something that a lot of people love, youd better make sure that you do it damn near perfect, and even then youre in a world of pain. Atwoods trilogy is a witty foray through a satirical speculative lens, and it seems unlikely that a TV show will be able to convey Atwoods smirking smarts effectively.
