The end of childhood, for TV
The end of childhood, for TV
A review of the SyFy miniseries based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke, which is well worth seeing, and reread.The science fiction channel, SyFy, produced this miniseries, based on Arthur Clarke's novel, in 2015, but only in 2018 it was broadcasted for Latin America.
Halfway through the year it was announced that the channel would broadcast the three episodes (one and a half hours each) in Argentina. These episodes are repeated every once in a while, but it is also possible to search them on the internet.
In the SyFy site the argument is synthesized in this way: "An alien invasion without bloodshed takes over the Earth, and alien leaders bring with them a golden era of peace, health and safety for all of humanity, but why do they continue to hide their appearance and their true intentions? The world enjoys this new Utopia, some suspect that there is a price to pay, when the true intentions of the leaders are revealed, Humanity discovers that their destiny might not be a dream, but a nightmare. "
I will try next to tell something about both the miniseries and the novel without revealing much, as I recommend not only watch the audiovisual production, but also read the literary text. Between both works, as is logical, the transposition leaves things in the way or modifies them, so I think it is worth reading the novel first, although the essential remains.
That is to say, at least, that a difference with respect to the novel is the temporal duration of the plot and therefore also the form that the ellipsis acquires, that is, to count a part for the whole. In the novel, the ET invasion lasts at least a century - as indicated in chapter 20 of the book "At last, after a century, I can tell you what it was" - while in the series lasts for decades. As a consequence of this, in the novel there are characters that at some point disappear, while in the audiovisual work that is less noticeable. In the miniseries there is an important character, Rikki Stormgren who always seems the same, as if time did not happen for him, despite the fact that according to the plot, from the arrival until they physically present themselves to humanity, the "Supermenors" should pass 50 years. This character will be the human interlocutor before the Gentlemen during certain time and in the novel he is the secretary of the United Nations, while in the series he is a farmer, curious and interesting modification.
The story is known, since the novel is famous: the aliens, proclaimed "Overlords" or "superseñores" show a great technology that prevents wars, they are even able to generate "eclipses" only in some country to intimidate the that do not adhere to their rules. In this way, peace (forced) reigns. In an analogous way, they will end hunger and disease. In the novel it is clearer than in the series that Humanity almost does not need to work anymore, by virtue of a great automation and has a lot of "free" time to educate. At the same time, interest in science is lost, since all the big questions (or almost) will be answered.
The story in the series begins in the back, with a black astrophysicist (Milo) contemplating the end of something. Then it goes back in time and there we will see a child of color who lives in his childhood the arrival of superseñores and throughout the story will grow with an appetite for science to be an astrophysicist. His goal, he says to the grandfather when he is small, is to be the first human to know the planet of the Lords. And he will achieve it, with a relativistic trip included.
The series has only three chapters: In the first, Los Amos, the arrival is narrated until they become known after many years. In the second, the impostors, it begins to notice that something strange happens with children and Milo, the child of color already become astrophysicist discovers the system to which the superseñores belong. Here I stop: In the novel this also happens, in a more "mystical" way (through an Ouija that also appears in the series), but in a more credible way, paradoxically. In Clarke's work, while several people are facing the Ouija board, Milo (who in the novel is called Jan) asks what system the Lords come from and gets an answer: NGS 549672. This information (although it came from a dubious source such as an Ouija board) is consistent with the star designation system we know.
In contrast, in the series, children draw a picture permanently and finally Milo deduces that it is a constellation -Carina- and that "it is the only system with planets", which is somewhat ridiculous, since a constellation is not a system.
The third part, Children, will show more clearly that the fate of children is different from that of adults.
The novel, on the other hand, has four parts: Prologue, The Earth and the Supermenors, The Golden Age, The last generation.
The end of the work bears some resemblance to 2001: Space Odyssey, by the same author, also brought to the cinema by Stanley Kubrick. Let us remember that in that literary as well as cinematographic work it is proposed that the human being evolved through the manipulation of objects, creating weapons and tools, up to the use of robots, computers and artificial intelligence (Hal 9000) on which he came to depend, to continue with his "evolution".In this case, the extraterrestrials interfere to "correct" the course of Humanity, whose consequence is a new "evolution", founded on children.
This explains the name of the work of double valence, since on the one hand it is the end of the childhood of humanity, towards a Golden Age or maturity, but it also implies that this maturity will end up germinating a new beginning, which is also the end of something. In this sense, the election of which in the miniseries begins by the end, turns out to be an attractive turn of the screw.
The literary work deserved a transposition to the cinema, so the choice of the SyFy channel was very good. However, if what is expected is an impressive audiovisual work, although it has its moments, it leaves something to be desired. The same with the performances, with a cast not very well known, except Charles Dance in the skin (red) of Karellen, the superignor who is interlocutor with humanity. Nor will we find a good use of music, as in the case of "2001".
Despite this, the miniseries is easy to see, since unlike the other current series, has only three episodes and is an excellent excuse to read or reread the literary work. It is interesting to compare the technologies in both works, for example.
Also interesting is the role of the "Freedom League", which in the adaptation for TV is done through a media mogul who intervenes in a press conference by blacking out the goals of such a league: "What [los superseñores] get out of our property. "
Throughout both works, literary and TV adaptation, there is a contrast and comparison between religions with the arrival of superseñores, reinforced by the appearance of these beings.
As will be noted, there are strong coincidences between the reality that we have to live with what the novel proposes and with philosophical reflections such as the sense of social and technical progress, creativity and search for answers, freedom. This is why the novel is part of hard science fiction.
It is curious a fragment of the novel that serves to describe the post-arrival human society of superseñores:
"Today we live in a placid, uniform and culturally dead world: nothing new has been created since the arrival of those beings, the reason is obvious, there is nothing to fight for and there are plenty of distractions and entertainments. Are there five hundred hours of radio and television on the air each day? If you did not sleep, and did not do anything else, you could not follow more than one twentieth of the programs It is not uncommon for human beings to have become passive sponges , absorbent, but not creative Do you know that the average time a man spends in front of a screen is already three hours a day? Soon people will not have a life of their own, they will live following the episodes of television! "
Sources and related links
Childhood's End arrives at SyFy
http://television.com.ar/childhoods-end-llega-a-syfy/81592SyFy: CHILDHOOD'S END. THE END OF THE CHILDHOOD
http://www.syfy.es/series/childhoods-end-el-fin-de-la-infanciaBook The end of childhood, by Arthur Clarke; Minotauro editions, 1956, Buenos Aires. Translation by Luis Domenech.
About the images
Initial image of SyFy and capture of tv.
https://www.syfy.com/childhoodsend/photos/episodic-gallery-the-overlords
SOURCE LINK THE BEST ONLINE UFO WEBSITES https://www.beviral.online
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