I'm watching The Running Man again. That is, as of this writing, the credits have just rolled. I've also had a couple drinks, and this is the sort of post that happens when I drink and watch old favorites.
I'm not sure why I like The Running Man so much. It's not very well filmed. The script isn't good. The scenery is flat. It's fairly cheesy sci-fi all around. It plays like the most typical fare in the Schwarzenegger stable, with all of his usual punch lines.
Today, 25 years after release, The Running Man also seems surprisingly prescient.
I wish I could make the case that The Running Man served as the progenitor for Mega Man. While there are clear parallels, the close release dates of these two works makes it unlikely that Subzero, Buzzsaw, Dynamo, Fireball, and Captain Freedom would have had time to inspire Dr. Wily. Maybe Smash TV would be appropriate.
The Running Man does remind me of modern day in two areas: technology, and social climate. In the fictional 2017, Killian, the host of the Running Man game show, uses a phone with a clean, rounded, white plastic body that looks like it could have been designed by Apple...or Nintendo. Amber Mendez enters her apartment where every modern device responds to voice command; the tech in her home will most likely be made quaint very soon if Siri and Kinect are any indication.
Like many worthwhile science fiction, The Running Man uses its overblown future setting to make a statement about life in the current world, and to offer a few words of caution for the actual future. In the fictional 2017, the world economy is in collapse. Crucial resources are in short supply and competition for those resources is fierce. Enforcement has increased significantly, to the point where urban police in helicopters are ordered to fire on a civilian riot from the air. The media are controlled by the government, and dissent is not tolerated. Travel is tightly regulated, albeit by a regulatory body that is overwhelmed by its work load. There is an increased emphasis on traditional morality. In this environment, video is edited to represent the opposite of the truth, and the populace is enthralled by bloodsport.
Don't sound the crazy-paranoid alarm, I'm not going there. The film is an exaggeration of a post-Nixon-Vietnam-fuel crisis America, blended with elements of gladitorial Rome and Swarzenegger's own star power, which is not bashful in borrowing from 1984 and Blade Runner. But some things can't be ignored: the economic disparity of the early 21st century is only the second-biggest threat to the power establishment; the first is any form of media that they can't control. That is especially true of any media that criticizes the purpose, intent, and efficacy of those in power.
We obviously draw inspiration from science fiction stories. They inspire our best visions of the future of humanity. But I worry that they have been dismissed as cautionary tales. What seemed improbable in the science fiction of thirty years ago has deep echoes in the future-now. When will we start to listen to those echoes, and create the future for ourselves that we wanted so badly in the past?
What I'm Playing:
I'm not sure why I like The Running Man so much. It's not very well filmed. The script isn't good. The scenery is flat. It's fairly cheesy sci-fi all around. It plays like the most typical fare in the Schwarzenegger stable, with all of his usual punch lines.
Today, 25 years after release, The Running Man also seems surprisingly prescient.
I wish I could make the case that The Running Man served as the progenitor for Mega Man. While there are clear parallels, the close release dates of these two works makes it unlikely that Subzero, Buzzsaw, Dynamo, Fireball, and Captain Freedom would have had time to inspire Dr. Wily. Maybe Smash TV would be appropriate.
The Running Man does remind me of modern day in two areas: technology, and social climate. In the fictional 2017, Killian, the host of the Running Man game show, uses a phone with a clean, rounded, white plastic body that looks like it could have been designed by Apple...or Nintendo. Amber Mendez enters her apartment where every modern device responds to voice command; the tech in her home will most likely be made quaint very soon if Siri and Kinect are any indication.
Like many worthwhile science fiction, The Running Man uses its overblown future setting to make a statement about life in the current world, and to offer a few words of caution for the actual future. In the fictional 2017, the world economy is in collapse. Crucial resources are in short supply and competition for those resources is fierce. Enforcement has increased significantly, to the point where urban police in helicopters are ordered to fire on a civilian riot from the air. The media are controlled by the government, and dissent is not tolerated. Travel is tightly regulated, albeit by a regulatory body that is overwhelmed by its work load. There is an increased emphasis on traditional morality. In this environment, video is edited to represent the opposite of the truth, and the populace is enthralled by bloodsport.
Don't sound the crazy-paranoid alarm, I'm not going there. The film is an exaggeration of a post-Nixon-Vietnam-fuel crisis America, blended with elements of gladitorial Rome and Swarzenegger's own star power, which is not bashful in borrowing from 1984 and Blade Runner. But some things can't be ignored: the economic disparity of the early 21st century is only the second-biggest threat to the power establishment; the first is any form of media that they can't control. That is especially true of any media that criticizes the purpose, intent, and efficacy of those in power.
We obviously draw inspiration from science fiction stories. They inspire our best visions of the future of humanity. But I worry that they have been dismissed as cautionary tales. What seemed improbable in the science fiction of thirty years ago has deep echoes in the future-now. When will we start to listen to those echoes, and create the future for ourselves that we wanted so badly in the past?
What I'm Playing:
- Main Campaign: Portal 2
- Side Quest: King Of Fighters XIII
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