The American relationship with the difference between fact and fiction has thoroughly corroded. It’s become hard to take the truth on its own terms.
Held against current events it couldn’t possibly anticipate, the ironies stack up in a way that makes it difficult to take the show on its own terms.
#Utopia show series
The series explores the idea - fun until a few years ago - of what it might look like if the conspiracy theorists were right. Put in 2020 vernacular, it’s a bit like watching a show about QAnon believers. It’s a bit like watching a show about QAnon believers Unfortunately for them, they’re not the only ones after it, and some of their competition is a little on the murder-y side. Connecting over the internet, they learn something that compels them to finally meet in person for the first time: A sequel comic, Utopia, has been uncovered, and it’s for sale. It begins with a group of fans obsessed with a comic book called Dystopia - an obscure one-off that seems to have hidden in its pages the secrets of a vast conspiracy theory behind every major catastrophe in recent history. The contours of the new show are different, but its major beats are the same. Amazon’s remake, however? It’s just another streaming show, straightforward where the other is oblique, with a muted palette and plain eye in contrast to the UK show’s clever Technicolor. The British Utopia was stylish, unsettling, and arresting in a way that still holds up - were it to drop on a streaming platform today, it’d be one of the best shows you could watch right now. Utopia also bears the burden of being a remake of a bona fide cult hit that aired on Channel 4 in the UK. In time, you will discover that, among other things, Utopia is about a conspiracy unfolding across a viral pandemic, after which the disclaimer changes to warn you that Utopia is “not based on an actual pandemic or related events.” It is a show that has the terrible misfortune of being accidentally of this moment, and completely wrong about all of it. It informs you that the show is a work of fiction not based on “actual, related, or current events.” How strange, you might wonder. The first thing you see when you begin streaming Utopia on Amazon Prime is a disclaimer.
0 kommentar(er)
