Based on 1 season, 9 episodes · through July 15, 2020
Brave New World is a sci-fi drama series based on the famous book by Aldous Huxley. The story is about New London, a future society where everyone is kept happy with drugs and free sex. However, people are not allowed to have families, privacy, or long-term partners. Two citizens go to a place called the Savage Lands and bring back a man named John, who starts a revolution. The show has a lot of visible changes from the book to fit modern ideas. It has several main male characters changed into women. It also features a lot of diverse casting and fluid sexual relationships.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Brave New World.
Woke representation / casting
The series features highly visible representation casting. It changes key characters from the book to create a diverse cast. Two major roles that were originally men are played by Black actresses. Other prominent roles are filled by a diverse group of actors. The show's creators deliberately removed the book's original racial caste divisions to make the future society look perfectly equal and inclusive.
55%
Woke political dialogue
The dialogue does not feature heavy activist lecturing. However, it regularly critiques traditional marriage, monogamy, and the nuclear family. These critiques are presented as part of the dystopian society's rules, but they are framed using modern progressive terminology about sexual freedom and personal self-actualization.
30%
Identity-driven story themes
The show heavily emphasizes sexual liberation and gender politics. The female protagonist's arc is rewritten into a feminist story of rebellion and self-discovery. Additionally, the show depicts a world where sexuality is completely fluid. This adds a strong queer and pansexual element to the series. The massive orgy scenes feature normal, casual same-sex interactions throughout, which adds heavy weight under the scoring rules.
65%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The series goes beyond the book's critique of consumerism to target traditional values. The "Savage Lands" are depicted as a trashy, violent caricature of religious, patriotic, and conservative American life. Traditional male emotions, such as jealousy and possessiveness over a partner, are portrayed as primitive and toxic traits that lead to violence.
60%
Woke character or canon changes
The adaptation makes massive, ideologically driven changes to the source material. Helmholtz Watson is gender-swapped to Wilhelmina "Helm" Watson, a Black woman. The powerful leader Mustapha Mond is also gender-swapped to a Black female controller. John the Savage is changed from a highly religious, Shakespeare-quoting moralist into a standard modern angsty rebel who quickly joins in on the casual sex.
75%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
There was noticeable backlash from book purists and conservative viewers online. Critics complained about the forced diversity, the gender-swapping of iconic characters, and the dilution of the book's warnings to focus on modern sexual identity politics. This backlash was moderate because the show was canceled quickly and did not reach a massive mainstream audience.
35%
Creator track record context
The creative team is led by a mix of people. Showrunner David Wiener and creator Brian Taylor have very neutral, mainstream profiles. However, co-creator Grant Morrison is non-binary and has a long history of writing queer-centric themes. Producer Chloe Moss and writer Vivian Huang also have records of focusing on feminist and representation-driven works.
32%
Production
