I've always been a fan of slow burn space operas that develop their characters over time: Firefly, Caprica and The Expanse come to mind.
And I'm not against changing the characters around for the screen:
For example, Gaal Dornick was an excellent choice of character to gender swap. The swap enhanced the sense of vulnerability we felt and made her someone who appeared oh so very out of her depth as she arrived on Trantor. She came across as having suffered emotionally and she portrayed that very well. She is a character that we can immediately relate too and have so much empathy with.
But Salvor fricking Hardin? Jesus Christ, his character is F-ed Up Beyond All Recognition. She is not just an adaptation, she is basically the antithesis of the Salvor Hardin from the novels.
Salvor Hardin in the novels was a charismatic, cunning, and morally somewhat vague man whose pragmatism and political brinksmanship saw him rise to the top. Able to adapt to new situations and ride the waves of populism, he was perfect man for the job and saved Terminus... twice.
Apple's Salvor Hardin is a physically powerful, emotionally stunted, verbally abrasive, charismaless introvert. She is plagued with (currently-popular on TV and in the movies) crushing emo self doubt despite her obvious advantages over others. Yet she is selfless and altruistic, morally whiter than white and oh yeah, has extra sensory powers and a direct connection to the vault which she somehow believes is a message from Hari Seldon.
Gender swap aside, she has almost superhuman advantages over others and I just don't find her growing Rey-like characteristics thought-provoking or even appealing at all. Not the Salvor Hardin from the book who had to do all the work the hard way without special powers and you couldn't help but like despite knowing how smug and insufferable he could be.
There is also so little chemistry between her and anyone else on screen (although, that could arguably be because she is portrayed as maybe being somewhere on the spectrum) and all she does is constantly scowl glumly, even when in bed with her lover/partner.
And I'm not against changing the characters around for the screen:
For example, Gaal Dornick was an excellent choice of character to gender swap. The swap enhanced the sense of vulnerability we felt and made her someone who appeared oh so very out of her depth as she arrived on Trantor. She came across as having suffered emotionally and she portrayed that very well. She is a character that we can immediately relate too and have so much empathy with.
But Salvor fricking Hardin? Jesus Christ, his character is F-ed Up Beyond All Recognition. She is not just an adaptation, she is basically the antithesis of the Salvor Hardin from the novels.
Salvor Hardin in the novels was a charismatic, cunning, and morally somewhat vague man whose pragmatism and political brinksmanship saw him rise to the top. Able to adapt to new situations and ride the waves of populism, he was perfect man for the job and saved Terminus... twice.
Apple's Salvor Hardin is a physically powerful, emotionally stunted, verbally abrasive, charismaless introvert. She is plagued with (currently-popular on TV and in the movies) crushing emo self doubt despite her obvious advantages over others. Yet she is selfless and altruistic, morally whiter than white and oh yeah, has extra sensory powers and a direct connection to the vault which she somehow believes is a message from Hari Seldon.
Gender swap aside, she has almost superhuman advantages over others and I just don't find her growing Rey-like characteristics thought-provoking or even appealing at all. Not the Salvor Hardin from the book who had to do all the work the hard way without special powers and you couldn't help but like despite knowing how smug and insufferable he could be.
There is also so little chemistry between her and anyone else on screen (although, that could arguably be because she is portrayed as maybe being somewhere on the spectrum) and all she does is constantly scowl glumly, even when in bed with her lover/partner.