Salman Rushdie‘s Midnight’s Children is, superficially, a story about the hundreds of Indian children born at precisely midnight, August 14th, 1947. Sharing their moment of birth with that of their nation gives them each a unique, well, superpower. Saleem, the main character, is gifted primarily with telepathy, allowing him to serve as a conduit for all the children to communicate though they are geographically separated. In most classic superhero stories, this would be where a new generation rises up to wipe out crime/do away with the old/punch people, etc. Rushdie’s expansive novel is instead a not-very-vague allegory for Indian history of the last half century, and a story much more about metaphysics than superhero physics.
It’s being brought to life by award director Deepa Mehta, no stranger to controversy in her native India, where the sets of her Elements trilogy were attacked and burned. Midnight’s Children, featuring still living Indian politicians in some very unflatteringly ways, isn’t exactly a stranger to controversy either.
(via Alyssa Rosenberg.)
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