Lately the Internet (well, a sector of the Internet, the same as always) has been scandalizing to see how the works of authors such as Roald Dahl or Ian Fleming are being updated in their language, eliminating offensive terms in racial terms or various outrages. Something that annoys, instead of being a shameless maneuver to avoid the entry into the public domain of the works (which is what it really is), for a alleged betrayal of original intentions.
Something that, of course, is a problem because it happens now, but it was not relevant when it happened before. There have been betrayals and some are even necessary. HP Lovecraft’s adaptations have tried to a greater or lesser extent to rethink her horrific myths to avoid the racist subtexts that her author came to promulgate. Then we have a case that directly subverts Lovecraftian mythology to mean the opposite, making a denunciation of endemic inequality based on race.
There are monsters around every corner
This is what ‘Lovecraft Territory’ proposed, and with the same intentions the adaptation that Misha Green made on HBO Max started with the approval of JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele with their respective producers (Bad Robot and Monkeypaw). A series that was abruptly canceled by the Warner chain after one season, but that it continues to have findings inside that make its viewing very validas its lead actor.
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In the series we follow the road trip of Atticus Black, played by Jonathan Majors. Together with his friend and his uncle, he wants to meet his missing father by following a mysterious map. The journey will take them through the most dangerous areas of the United States for a group of black citizens, those that the “green book” advises to avoid. But white supremacism is not just metaphorical monsters.
A metaphor as brushstroke as it is undeniably eloquent. Cosmic terrors and indefinable forms populate each episode of the series, which did not hesitate to leave the main trip for the most suggestive adventures. From the jump to science fiction to the grotesque body horror from episode 5, which is the one that has the most strength and where the intentions of the series best land.
‘Lovecraft Territory’: Ambitious racially themed horror
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The series was also one of Majors’ first major roles before he became Marvel’s Kang and the villain of ‘Creed III’. Being a leading role, it cannot come up with more bizarre touches that build character, but it can has the necessary physical presence and charisma to give us a hero to connect with on his journey into the horror of existence.
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‘Lovecraft Territory’ is by no means perfect. Many times she ended up dragged by certain guidelines of the HBO brand, such as the duration or the visual aspect, and her ideas were always achieved in each episode. She had her ability to fly, but perhaps not as free as she could. Still, I had everything to be one of the most striking series of new racially themed terrorincluding a solid cast.
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The news
It is a monstrous horror series with the villain of the moment in Marvel and ‘Creed III’: it caused a division of opinions and HBO canceled it in a sudden way
was originally posted on
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by Pedro Gallego.