Seriously enjoyed the first episode of "The Power" on Amazon Prime. The series is based on a 2017 novel about how the world radically changes when millions of teenage girls suddenly develop electrical superpowers. Notably, none of them put on costumes and start fighting crime.

Submitted by TJ_Fox t3_127p0db in television

I enjoyed the novel when it was first released and was looking forward to the series but had lost track of it until it suddenly popped up in my Prime feed. I'm a sucker for socially relevant science fiction and based on episode 1 I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series - it looks like they're pretty closely following the plot, characters and vibe of the novel, which is mostly about how power corrupts, regardless of gender.

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VitaLonga t1_jef34fq wrote

I always find it funny that the message about power corrupting regardless of gender needs to be spelled out at all.

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TJ_Fox OP t1_jef3gz0 wrote

I remember that being a criticism of the novel as well.

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meowskywalker t1_jef80ak wrote

It’s in impossible for me to believe that no one would be superheroes. Maybe a lot of people would be selfish shits. Maybe most. But we’ve got 80 plus years of media telling us that the correct thing to do when you get powers is put on a costume and fight crime. Some of us would do that. I wouldn’t even have time to put on a costume before I’d be trying to help people.

And if you think about it, for every Spider-Man or Luke Cage or Flash there’s like a dozen people who get superpowers and decide to use them for evil. Every superhero has their own rogues gallery, and most of them are superpowered. The idea that superpowers make most people shits is hardly a new or original idea, we just historically wrote the stories about the exceptions, because the exceptions are the people to idolize.

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TJ_Fox OP t1_jef9afr wrote

In the novel and what we've seen so far of the series, some of the newly-empowered characters do basically become criminals, others think of the powers as a curse, some use them for political gain, at least one major character effectively starts her own religion ... there's a wide variety of responses.

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ElectricPeterTork t1_jef2t45 wrote

Well obviously, some would. They're just not the focus of the story.

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TJ_Fox OP t1_jef39yq wrote

The novel does feature "girl gang" vigilantes who go around exacting street justice, but I don't think they go to the trouble of masking up.

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pm_me_reason_to_livx t1_jef75xt wrote

always love me a good ol superpowered series without the costumes. will definitely check this one out.

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BecoDasCavernas t1_jeg6tz4 wrote

I watched the first episode and thought it was interesting, plan on watching the other two today. But I have no idea where this is going if they're not supposed to be heroes. lol

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triniksubs t1_jegbd1l wrote

> it looks like they're pretty closely following the plot, characters and vibe of the novel

The novel is pretty dark and mature (amazing book btw), but the trailer looked too "silly-CW-teen-drama" tbh. Is the first episode really darker than the trailer made it out to be?

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AgainstDisingenuity t1_jefr5c6 wrote

Looked okay, but I try to avoid Scientologists. Will probably get around to it eventually.

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anasui1 t1_jegvmxi wrote

love how socially relevant discourse in these shows is manifactured by creating an absolutely idiotic sci fi premise that will never happen, kinda killing the believability of the discourse altogether

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Chathtiu t1_jegz6uz wrote

> love how socially relevant discourse in these shows is manifactured by creating an absolutely idiotic sci fi premise that will never happen, kinda killing the believability of the discourse altogether

Welcome to scifi. That’s the entire purpose of the genre: to re-contextualize social issues into fantastical and far flung societies. It, like the parent genre of speculative fiction, is a giant “what if?” testing chamber.

Come join us in r/PrintSF if you’d like to join the conversation on speculative fiction.

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