Haven't been able to find much on The Lottery, but from that I did find it sounds like Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, where only a small group of women in the population can have children and they become handmaidens or surrogates for powerful, rich and/or political figures. In this series, they pick and choose which women will carry viable embryos via a lottery. Dystopia future here we come.
shareThis was great story too!
shareVery similar to Atwood's book. There isn't much really original out there and so much of science fiction is just bits and pieces from other books and films. Then they remake that with explosions added. Too bad no one has discovered a box full of Philip K. Dick's unpublished work!
shareThis also reminds me of the 2x04 episode of Sliders called "Love Gods," but rather than a shortage of viable women, it was a shortage of viable men.
In a world where the vast majority of men were killed by a deadly virus due to biological warfare, those who have survived are rounded up by the authorities and kept confined in "breeding centers", where they are forced to produce children with "acceptable" women in order to rebuild the population.
Earlier stories, like A boy and his dog, had a precipitous drop in human fertility as a major plot element. Having seen episode one, as the trailer shows, so does this show.
Handmaid's Tale is set in a society that is a deceitful theocracy. A boy and his dog was set in a world destroyed by a 3rd World War.
Episode one showed us a 2025 that wasn't really very different than 2014 -- other than the MILF groupies who hung out outside the cute six-year-old's school.
Well massive infertility is the only common element so it's hardly "similar" to The Handmaid's Tale.
Infertility is just one many elements in THT, and it's there only as a premise to explore issues of self determination, the subjugation of women by a patriarchal government, the separation of church and state, social and gender classification.
I doubt "The Lottery" even comes close to brushing on any of these topics
For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco
It's only been one episode, give it time. Episode One already shows elements of a "patriarchal government" regime, dictating what's to occur with the embryos. The Director of the U.S. Fertility Commission, Darius Hayes, upon learning of the embryos, stripped the doctor who succeeded with the experiment of her position, and wanted the military to take over, from military hospitals, doctors, right down to female soldiers carrying the embryos. He even went so far as to begin killing off the original donors. The Chief of Staff convinced the President of an open forum. But from the glimpse into future episodes, the lottery appears rigged. Surprise.
Once the momentum gets going I wouldn't be surprised to see further government/fringe machinations, the separation of church and state (as we always have fundamentalists, especially considering the scenario) and a Police State. Not to mention separation of the classes, the further disparity between the Haves and the Have Nots. So, yes, I can see the similarity between it and Handmaid's Tale. Something can be similar w/o being exact.
It's dystopian all right, but I think that and infertility are about all this and The Handmaid's Tale have in common.
Interesting choice for comparison though. That was a great story, gripping and terrifying.
Spare the rod, spoil the child, incite a civil war.
A series based on The Handmaid's Tale would be superior to this.
Chthonic gods have set their sights on making me a slave to their ways.
Yes, I agree, The Lottery would have a lot to live up to if it were based on The Handmaid's Tale. My original response said elements of this series reminded me Atwood's novel (ie. infertility, government control, world in crisis). However, the series is based on the movie, Children of Men, in my opinion a poor adaption of the novel of the same name by P.D James. The series is actually written by the same screenwriter of Children of Men, Timothy J. Sexton. The Lottery has promise, but in order to make a tight story arc, I can't see this series going beyond one, maybe two, seasons.
shareHowever, the series is based on the movie, Children of Men, in my opinion a poor adaption of the novel of the same name by P.D James.
The Lottery has promise, but in order to make a tight story arc, I can't see this series going beyond one, maybe two, seasons.
What I meant was the movie, Children of Men, was a poor adaption of the novel. I stated in the next line, that "the series is actually written by the same screenwriter of Children of Men, Timothy J. Sexton." Apologies if that didn't come across clearly.
shareWhat I meant was the movie, Children of Men, was a poor adaption of the novel.
Yes, I know that, that's why I replied that it was the screenwriter who wrote Children of Men also created the Lottery. But I'm done beating a dead horse.
shareHowever, the series is based on the movie, Children of Men,...I do not think that it is.
Dragonflye wrote:
A series based on The Handmaid's Tale would be superior to this.What a terrific actor Natasha Richardson was.