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SSince the dawn of the 20th century and the generalization of existential thought, every generation has worried about being at the end of history, testifying to the hysterical collapse of the social and political order. From the era of post-war nuclear anxiety to the balmy summers of counterculture until the turn of the millennium, some factions still fear being forced to let go of the world they understand to make way for a scary and confusing new world. I would say the current generation of humans living on Earth – having been faced for the past year or so with a global pandemic, incompetent attempts at fascist takeover, the fracturing and breaking up of the global economy, and in some areas the skies are burning. a more legitimate claim to this feeling than anything that came before.
If the final days of the year and their promise of a vaccine rollout introduces an aftertaste of hope, 2020’s keynote has been a sour doomsday flavor. The desperation, boredom, frustration and surreal delirium that have defined the past 12 months have all been amply expressed in writing over the past year; today we are looking to the future. Even with real life taking on the destructive maximalism of a Roland Emmerich film, we can still look to the films set in 2021 for some perspective on what previous generations imagined might be in store for us. And from those visions, whether dystopian or utopian, perhaps we can begin to prepare for a year that cannot be worse than this. Read on for a cinematic diviner survey of the possible dangers that await in the days to come:
Carnage
Simon Amstell’s mock BBC documentary features a whole timeline from WWII to 2067, an ambitious tale that details how the UK of tomorrow will come to ditch meat and embrace an all-vegan lifestyle. The year 2021 figures prominently in this timeline, as the moment when a super swine flu hits Britain to claim massive numbers of bodies. Livestock numbers are plummeting, pork prices are skyrocketing and people are entering an “era of confusion” over what they are allowed to eat. At a time when the Daily Mail expects everyone to forgo pizza and eat toast instead, as a sign of nationalist solidarity, the food shortage emerges as a particularly troubling symptom of geopolitical turmoil and lack of food. viral preparation. Things are going well in Amstell’s screenings, as the British embrace veganism and learn to live in harmony with animals (who have been imbued with the power of speech, in the calming tones of Joanna Lumley). For many, however, life without the prospect of a dripping, gooey cheeseburger still represents a fate worse than death.
Johnny Mnemonic
In 1995, the bizarre cult Robert Longo predicted that the internet would become too vast and immersive for the good of mankind, eventually becoming so central to our daily activities that it would begin to eat away at our psychology. He also envisioned consolidating corporate influence into a handful of mega-conglomerates, with power centralized around Asian markets. The only thing this cyberpunk seer went wrong was that we would all look great while the world went to hell, outfitting Keanu Reeves’ USB drive and the pharmaceutical mercenaries chasing him with thin, immaculate costumes. Aesthetics aside – virtual styles would leave the awkward, primitive CGI of Longo’s electronic dimension behind – his notion of a consuming online existence replacing our own real-life experiences was just about the money. As the younger generations grapple with the blurring of the lines between their authentic selves and their outward-looking alter egos on social media, Johnny’s neural implants blurring his consciousness begin to seem redundant. A few years on Twitter can just as easily put holes in your brain.
Moon zero two
The August Hammer Film Productions reigned supreme throughout the 1950s with their vivid and bloody covers of classic ghouls such as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Mummy. But the next decade saw their relevance start to wane, and producers had to scramble to figure out what the next big thing might be. The studio attempted to switch to science fiction and met with little success, their 1969 lunar adventure dismissed by audiences and critics as laughable without being entirely funny. Never mind the peanut gallery at Mystery Science Theater 3000, however; There is substantial truth to director Roy Ward Baker’s treatment of space exploration as a gold rush that drives capitalist competitors to scramble to plant their flag. Rumors of a gigantic asteroid made of pure sapphire pit an arrogant millionaire against a daring astronaut in a race to claim it, a conflict not so far from the ongoing fray between Virgin Galactic, Northrop Grumman and half a dozen others business interests keen to commercialize the galaxy. Baker had the foresight to realize that cremation by aliens wouldn’t be the main danger to venturing into other worlds – just the wealthy megalomaniacs back home on Earth.
Grow old with you
The great Japanese animator Makoto Shinkai didn’t look too far ahead for this fantastic parable of environmentalism, which only jumped two years after its 2019 release. He suggests that the future is now, and that issues raised by the subtext of his script matter the present moment – namely, well-founded concern about global warming, rising waters and the inevitable planetary drowning. Tokyo teenager Hodaka can’t believe her eyes when she meets the ethereal Hina, a “sun girl” capable of controlling time at the expense of the integrity of her own body. She’s a finite natural resource, used throughout the film until she has no choice but to drift across the sky just to keep the rains at bay. Shinkai’s unexpected conclusion, in which Hina returns to Earth and allows the sea to engulf much of Japan, makes the invigorating proposition that maybe we’re better off this way. We have lived too recklessly for too long, and if our species is to get what it deserves, all we can do is accept our own destiny and try to find inner peace.
To recycle
A devastated land, motley bands of survivors, insectoid invaders, you know the drill. What sets this Filipino production apart from many similar entries in its genre is its artistic medium of garbage, the intrigue-guided production design in the universe that manufacturing ceased due to lack of materials and that the human race has become a scavenger. Using the trash they can get their hands on, the rebellion must mount a rigged offensive against the “locusts” and mutated homo sapiens in cahoots with them, while preserving the listed location of the recyclable sanctuary known as Paraiso. Their fight for freedom begins with everyone plunged into an issue many of which are still in denial today, as expanding plastic landmasses eerily float in the middle of the Pacific. Reality faces us with harsh physical limits everywhere – cloud servers for data storage, unsustainability of fossil fuels – and we will soon have to learn to cope with what we have. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time until we all get along on some crushed cockroach gelatin, although this one is from Snowpiercer.
Looking for a friend from the end of the world
All of these films present grim results, but Lorene Scafaria’s feature debut is the only one that finds an upbeat way to see all the devastation. Its offbeat comedy begins with the news that we all have three weeks before a huge flaming boulder erases our fragile blue-green marble and extinguishes all life on it. For suicidal middle-aged Dodge Petersen (Steve Carell), the certainty of annihilation brings him out of his numb stupor and teaches him to appreciate the time he has left, which he spends mostly with the lovely Penny. Lockhart (Keira Knightley) on a late-day road trip. They find solace in each other, an object lesson in how to maintain sanity during an emergency where everyone is running like Chicken Little. Whether our oblivion comes by artificial or organic means, we will have each other only for the light in these dark days. Some may choose to fight back, but some may concede to the great cataclysm that is befalling us, and they might have the right idea. Do you prefer to live 50 years in austere and dangerous conditions, or to have a brief but glorious time without regret or consequences?
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