I “walked away” from The Walking Dead
a long time ago, at the end of season 3, because the Governor was a complete,
utter fail. He didn’t look like some death metal bassist and was not at all the
atrocious monster / torturer he is in the books (the dude hacks off Rick’s
right arm, for God’s sake). The producers of the show decided to tone it down,
and the Gov simply became boring and fickle.
Four seasons later now, they seem to have
learned something from that trainwreck, because they’ve decided to do Negan
exactly like he is in the books – I saw a 10-minute clip on Twitter: the
infamous scene where he kills Glenn with Lucille. That’s exactly how it
happens in the books. So, The Walking Dead is getting better over time,
is that it? Truer to the source material? Maybe I should start watching again!
Jason Sansbury of Nerds on Earth walked away
because he didn’t like the storytelling anymore. Well, Jason, that is Robert
Kirkman’s storytelling right there. Season 1 was not Kirkman’s story – what
with that ludicrous sentient building and all that crap. And season 3 isn’t
Kirkman, either – it is loosely based on his story, but that’s all. If you
liked the show before and can’t stand it now, good for you... but
isn’t that like saying you love The Force Awakens but despise A New
Hope and Empire Strikes Back?
SPOILERS AHEAD! Skip the next
paragraph if you don’t want them.
In the books, Carl is now fifteen, but when
he was 8 or 9 he almost got raped on the highway by two rednecks reminiscent of
the ones in Deliverance. You wouldn’t see that on TV, no sir. And what
about Michonne torturing the Governor for six solid pages, nailing his dick to
the floor, taking a power drill to his shoulder joint, and ripping out all ten
fingernails with a pair of pliers? You want to adapt Kirkman, go ahead and
adapt Kirkman. If you prefer C.S. Lewis, stick to Narnia.
Some people have told me that the comic book
narrative isn’t at all like the TV show narrative, and that “screenwriters
should know better”. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is there a stupid
rulebook somewhere? Where do all the little “rules” come from? It’s killing
entertainment, plain and simple. If you want to make an adaptation, you
ought to play by the source material’s own set of rules. If you don’t want
to play by any book’s rules, do not adapt – invent something, man. Like
Lucas did. Like Roddenberry. Like Jarmusch, even. You can do it.
I know you can.