I love when you start breaking down the sci fi films. Imagine trying to write a show in the 80’s explaining the Jacob Blake situation. Cops use every non lethal method available to stop a rapist from kidnapping children. In the end they bring him in, injured but alive and the children are rescued. In response the citizens burn the city to the ground in outrage at the police for harming the kidnapper.
Thanks, great example. I had to keep this brief and felt I had already gone on way too long. Were I to keep writing, I woudlve written several more paragraphs on Demolition Man. It deserves its own essay and that Blake example is perfect
The problem with writing any sort of science fiction narrative that "predicts" the future is that, in the passage of time, the "predictions" involved may not be absolutely correct. And the author, rather than being seen as a prophet, is viewed instead as a foolish specimen of the politics of the era in which they were working.
Thank you for this feedback! I appreciate it. I wonder what a real dystopian film would like like today? I talk about it in my Blade Runner 2049 episode as not really being possible. I would’ve talked extensively about those films in this essay but it was already really long
No - I agree with eveyrthing you said. Very well written.
I'm smacking my face that we ended up here. To your point:
We got the sci fi dystopia. But the reaction from the political classes and the voters, at least on one side, has not at all been what the films predicted. Rather than clamoring for order, they spent their energy and resources on stymying anyone and anything that would curtail the disasters.
I was just on a call so couldn't elaborate any further..lol
Interesting sci-fi dystopia: Sorry to Bother You (2018). Less about policing, but the premise of the movie is that society is divided in two: one half is the world of crime both sanctioned and unsanctioned (everyone is lying to make money, telemarketing is depicted as sanctioned breaking into people's' homes, and the marketing company is ultimately selling weapons), and the other half sell their freedom to escape this crime and become slaves for the high-security, high-surveillance WorryFree corporation (ultimately literally getting turned into half-horse hybrids). The ethos of the anti-police leftist makes a small cameo: a lady throws a can at the main character's head when he crosses the picket line, injuring him but making her money when the video goes viral and she gets a sponsorship from the soda company.
I love when you start breaking down the sci fi films. Imagine trying to write a show in the 80’s explaining the Jacob Blake situation. Cops use every non lethal method available to stop a rapist from kidnapping children. In the end they bring him in, injured but alive and the children are rescued. In response the citizens burn the city to the ground in outrage at the police for harming the kidnapper.
Thanks, great example. I had to keep this brief and felt I had already gone on way too long. Were I to keep writing, I woudlve written several more paragraphs on Demolition Man. It deserves its own essay and that Blake example is perfect
😂. This synchronicity is crazy. I was washing the dishes this morning thinking, “we don’t live in 1984 or brave new world. We live in robocop.”
Great minds think alike
The problem with writing any sort of science fiction narrative that "predicts" the future is that, in the passage of time, the "predictions" involved may not be absolutely correct. And the author, rather than being seen as a prophet, is viewed instead as a foolish specimen of the politics of the era in which they were working.
I think the belief in democracy was a big factor in getting it wrong. Even if it’s not explicitly in the films
🤦🏽♂️
Thank you for this feedback! I appreciate it. I wonder what a real dystopian film would like like today? I talk about it in my Blade Runner 2049 episode as not really being possible. I would’ve talked extensively about those films in this essay but it was already really long
lol what does this mean you don’t like it?
No - I agree with eveyrthing you said. Very well written.
I'm smacking my face that we ended up here. To your point:
We got the sci fi dystopia. But the reaction from the political classes and the voters, at least on one side, has not at all been what the films predicted. Rather than clamoring for order, they spent their energy and resources on stymying anyone and anything that would curtail the disasters.
I was just on a call so couldn't elaborate any further..lol
Interesting sci-fi dystopia: Sorry to Bother You (2018). Less about policing, but the premise of the movie is that society is divided in two: one half is the world of crime both sanctioned and unsanctioned (everyone is lying to make money, telemarketing is depicted as sanctioned breaking into people's' homes, and the marketing company is ultimately selling weapons), and the other half sell their freedom to escape this crime and become slaves for the high-security, high-surveillance WorryFree corporation (ultimately literally getting turned into half-horse hybrids). The ethos of the anti-police leftist makes a small cameo: a lady throws a can at the main character's head when he crosses the picket line, injuring him but making her money when the video goes viral and she gets a sponsorship from the soda company.
That sounds perfect! I’ve never heard of it
Never heard of it!