12 votes

Netflix announces they are working on an adaptation of the Chinese science-fiction trilogy "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin

9 comments

  1. [5]
    nacho
    Link
    The books are amazing. The trilogy and story is complete. There's little room for messing this up if you just follow the books. I expect this will be great. Weiss and Benioff did good with Game of...

    The books are amazing. The trilogy and story is complete. There's little room for messing this up if you just follow the books.

    I expect this will be great. Weiss and Benioff did good with Game of Thrones when they had books to work off. They did very poorly when they didn't have books.

    I can't imagine the response in China if Netflix butcher one of the best series of Chinese books released recently that've also gained a large international following because it's so different.

    8 votes
    1. [3]
      Omnicrola
      Link Parent
      Agreed, I have a lot of criticism for them regarding GoT, but most all of it is after they ran out of source material. On another note, I really hope they don't westernize the shit out of this....

      Agreed, I have a lot of criticism for them regarding GoT, but most all of it is after they ran out of source material.

      On another note, I really hope they don't westernize the shit out of this. The pacing and storytelling are very much not western, and I hope they keep it that way. There is still plenty that any audience can relate to and be amazed by without "dumbing" it down. I also hope that they stack the cast with Chinese actors, or at the very least, Asian actors.

      I have a modicum of faith that they'll do this justice. Netflix has far less incentive to meddle in how a series or film gets made than any of the Hollywood studios or TV networks. They also did grab the streaming rights to The Wandering Earth awhile back, which was a blockbuster success in China.

      :edit: Forgot to mention, read all 3 books a few years ago, they're amazing, people should go read them.

      7 votes
      1. [2]
        NaraVara
        Link Parent
        The fact that the first few pages of the book are dedicated to explaining how all the characters are related to each other seemed like an extremely Chinese introduction lol

        The pacing and storytelling are very much not western

        The fact that the first few pages of the book are dedicated to explaining how all the characters are related to each other seemed like an extremely Chinese introduction lol

        1. imperialismus
          Link Parent
          I mean, the actual story begins with the protagonist witnessing her father’s murder at the hands of a mob during the cultural revolution, which I imagine will also be the opening scene of the...

          I mean, the actual story begins with the protagonist witnessing her father’s murder at the hands of a mob during the cultural revolution, which I imagine will also be the opening scene of the adaptation. My paperback has 1.5 pages at the front devoted to a dramatis personae which is considerably shorter than some Western scifi and fantasy novels I’ve read. That bit doesn’t strike me as particularly Chinese.

          5 votes
    2. pvik
      Link Parent
      The books were great! They were also well translated! (at least to English).

      The books were great! They were also well translated! (at least to English).

      2 votes
  2. [3]
    moonbathers
    Link
    I was interested until I saw Benioff and Weiss are in charge. I'm not even really mad about how they butchered the ending to Game of Thrones, I don't want to support them because of how they...

    I was interested until I saw Benioff and Weiss are in charge. I'm not even really mad about how they butchered the ending to Game of Thrones, I don't want to support them because of how they checked out after season six and that god-awful idea about a show where the Confederates won the Civil War.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      pvik
      Link Parent
      Did not know about this, googling led me to this. I do like alternate history stories and enjoyed PKD's Man in the High Castle, what was your issue with this? edit: sp

      and that god-awful idea about a show where the Confederates won the Civil War.

      Did not know about this, googling led me to this. I do like alternate history stories and enjoyed PKD's Man in the High Castle, what was your issue with this?

      edit: sp

      7 votes
      1. moonbathers
        Link Parent
        I think it probably would have come off tone-deaf even before this year, but it would have to be handled really really delicately in a year where the sitting president is encouraging people to...

        I think it probably would have come off tone-deaf even before this year, but it would have to be handled really really delicately in a year where the sitting president is encouraging people to kill their fellow United Statesans in his name. A Confederate States of America cannot be painted in anything but the worst light and anything that doesn't do that, even unintentionally, is going to legitimize the entire thing in some way. It's also a sensitive topic since slavery wasn't even entirely outlawed (the thirteenth amendment allows it for prisoners) and attempts to oppress black people have continued ever since, including segregation, redlining, voter suppression, lynching, etc., and putting up statues of slavers to try to remind black people of "their place".

        2 votes
  3. imperialismus
    Link
    They’ll probably have to flesh out quite a few characters. As far as I remember from reading the first book, there was very little in the way of characterization for the entire supporting cast....

    They’ll probably have to flesh out quite a few characters. As far as I remember from reading the first book, there was very little in the way of characterization for the entire supporting cast. Still, it’s interesting idea fiction.

    3 votes