THE FUTURE IN MOVIES
In the form of a screenplay.
In the form of a blog.
INT. A CLASSROOM.
Empty. Because the class hasn't started yet.
INT. A COMPUTER SCREEN.
Yes I know these should be on the left, and the dialogue indented, but there is more dialogue than directions.
ME (VO)
So it all started with a facebook post. Actually it started before the facebook post, but I thought it would be easier to copy and paste from facebook than to actually write about this from scratch. It also brings in some characters.
I've changed the names a bit, but you may know who you are. And some other people may know who you are. If you think I should have asked permission before taking what you wrote and putting it on the internet, have you been watching the news? At least I fixed some of your spelling mistakes.
Who knows. I may even win an election.
Anyway.
CUT TO
EXT: FACEBOOK HEADQUARTERS
Wherever that is. You can probably get a picture from Google streetview.
CUT TO
ME (Typing on screen)
"The future in movies" is the title of a course I'm teaching from April. I'm planning on picking a different near-future science fiction movie for each week, showing a couple of scenes and discussing the themes. I want to find movies that have a scientifically plausible view of the future, ideally picking some older movies that have made accurate predictions. The pedagogical idea is to look at where we're going, where we want to go, and where we DON'T want to go. The main idea is to watch some great movies. It's a tough job but someone has to do it!
So I need a plan by April, but I need to write a syllabus by next week, with a title for each week's lesson. I'm thinking of writing themes or topics in the syllabus, with an idea for each movie, but not actually mentioning the name of the movie in the syllabus. So here are a few of the ideas so far. Any more would be really appreciated!
Robots (I Robot)
Artificial Intelligence (Bladerunner)
Genetic engineering (Gattaca)
Space flight (2001 Space Odyssey)
Space colonies (The Martian)
Computer interfaces (Minority Report)
Virtual Reality (The Matrix)
State violence (Hunger Games)
Social engineering (Divergent)
Bureaucracy (Brazil)
Reality TV (Truman Show)
Aging Society (Children of Men)
PAT
Lawnmower man?
Equilibrium - censorship and tie-in to Fahrenheit 451
The Island - Organ donors
Running man - how state violence/reality tv were viewed in 80s compared to Hunger Games, Could even throw in Battle Royale for cross cultural comparison?
MIG
Artificial Intelligence - Her
Would be my pick.
Blade runner does touch on AI but the bigger overall theme is extistentialism and the contrast between the lack of humanity found in humans vs the empathy in robots
Also, not a movie but anything from the Netflix series Black Mirror season 3,4 would be great for this.
HAN
I second this! The episodes are almost movie length and definitely movie quality.
GRE
Back to the Future to see which prediction came true and which didn't.
DAR
BTTF 2 predicted Trump.
DAR
Primer (time travel)
ME
Time travel is not going to be scientifically possible any time soon, so it's not a suitable topic.
BIL
You'll say that again.
DAR
Moon (cloning)
CHR
Second that!
KUN
HAL in 2001 is surely worth mentioning as a forerunner of Blade Runner.
SNY
It might also be interesting to include some clips of the British (later American) tv show Life on Mars, about a cop who wakes up twenty years earlier in his life. Has great moments of awareness about what has changed in a short period that he (we) don't even notice so much. The future is unpredictable, inexorable, and largely incremental, thus hidden.
BOO
Logan's Run
Matrix
ME
I said that one
BOO
Children of Men
ME
And that one
BOO
Planet of the Apes
RIC
Never Let Me Go. Not future but alternative present. I've just finished teaching the book. Presenting about it at a conference in Tokyo on Feb 19
TAR
I`d like to hear more about your talk Richard. Do you mind if I send you a pm?
RIC
Sure. I sent you a friend request.
MAR
I'm reading it now.
BOO
1984
RIC
Ex Machina. Sexy robot dancing.
CAM
Brazil is interesting as an example how the future is presented as a form of the past (the aesthetics)
Boo has beat me to Logan's Run. Brave New World too.
Soylent Green
MIC
I would say space travel/ dying earth (interstellar)
And ex machina also a great movie
CAM
Black Mirror - TV show, but some of the episodes would be perfect. "Fifteen Million Merits", for example.
GER
Yes, I would second Black Mirror. Much more manageable format than full-length movies, too.
ME
I'm planning to stick to movies. I've been using movie scenes in class for a few years and it's within my comfort zone. I'm just going to show two or three scenes, introduce them to the reality in the movie, get them to engage with it, and hope that the students will go away and watch the whole thing.
MAR
i agree.. Black Mirror
CHIP
Yes, Black Mirror. If you haven't watched, you need to add it to your repertoire, especially episodes: Nosedive, San Junipero, Be Right Back, The Entire History of You, The National Anthem, and USS Callister. These are each the equivalent of feature films as they are standalone stories 60-90min. The premise of this collection is literally your brief: scientifically plausible view of the future, looking at where we're going, where we want to go, and where we DON'T want to go. In fact, ditch that list of movies and just do Black Mirror.
ME
Still planning to stick to movies. With it being in the title of the course.
Black mirror sounds great though!
CAM
It's on Netflix, and probably elsewhere. I seriously recommend watching "Fifteen Million Merits" before you walk away from using it just because it was on TV. It's about the near future, the impact of reality TV and the desire for fame, as well as the way that "free media" extracts revenue. Also because the song in the middle of it is beautiful.
(And watch the National Anthem because it's hilarious, but absolutely not appropriate for a class)
ME
I'll watch that if it's free!! Maybe set it for homework/extra viewing. Actually there is a space for "extra reading" in the syllabus where I can add Black Mirror seasons.
CAM
Black Mirror (Fifteen Million Merits)
GER
Black Mirror's Episodes are self-contained. They're effectively 50min movie shorts. All of them are pretty much about your class topic. Warmly recommended, especially the first two seasons, the British ones
KEV
Can I take the course too? Great list. Just wrote a post about Altered Carbon on my blog (too long for your class). For readings into this topic try Project Hieroglyph run by Neal Stephenson. Did you miss 2001? District 9? Children of Men? Arrival? Total Recall? War of the Worlds (radio better than the film version, but...) Yes, and Black Mirror of course! http://www.kevinryan.com/2018/02/altered-carbon-bad-good-scifi/
ME
Yes the class is open to the public! May be a bit of a commute from Tokyo!
MAC
Please post dates and times when you'll have it!
ME
Wednesday 1pm from around 2nd week April. Ideally register with the university!
CHR
sounds really fun!
RIC
You could go way back to The Shape of Things to Come
ELI
it's on youtube too so easy to find - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9miSJvuLJ9c
Things to Come (1936) - H.G. Wells
Watched it the other day, tries to predict the next 100 years from 1936-2036 with HG Wells involvement. Not bad going although luckily there wasn't a 20 year plague in the 50s and 60s
ME
It got the war far too long, and I think missed the technological progress that war brings. Along with the plague this put their moon shot seventy years late. Interesting to contrast with Fritz Lang's 1929 Frau im Mond, seven years earlier and technically so accurate that the Nazi's banned it.
RIC
Not a film, but Wells's The World Set Free is an interesting read. Wells actually predicted nuclear weapons, in 1913!
KEV
Oh, and Starman. One of my favorites.
Are you going to show these in class or get students to subscribe to Netflix?
What was the movie made after the 1970's novel about after nuclear holocaust, surviving in Australia? On the Beach.
TAR
The time machine by H G Wells. Where it all started!
RIC
The Road. Maybe better not?
KEV
Another AI: Her. A lot closer to reality.
GER
Idiocracy. Possibly the most scaringly accurate depiction of where excessive consumerism and media consumption might take us. Hilarious, too.
Elysium. Terrible movie, but interesting social theme.
ME
Prefer to limit to at least good movies!
GER
I figured that "good" was not a requirement after you listed Hunger Games and Divergent ;)
Do consider Idiocracy, though. If anything, it ties in beautifully with the current US administration madness.
ME
Idiocracy looks great! Lots of things to watch here. I thought Hunger Games was very good. Divergent not as good, but certainly not terrible.
CHR
oh yeaaaaah, Idiocracy is a great one for your movie theme!
GER
State violence (Hunger Games)
I would give them Battle Royale, which is much more seminal, and in Japanese.
ME
The class is under "British and American Culture" so Japanese movies probably off topic.
GER
Good point!
LAR
Clones (Moon)
LEE
The original Rollerball from 1975 for corporate-sponsored violence, especially as it was set in this year - 2018.
Side note: If you use RB and have the time, maybe bung in a sub-theme: Corporate interests versus the state as the seat of public policy-making.
JON
Animal Testing /Genetic Experiments - Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Tribalism - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Classism - Elysium
Artificial Intelligence - Chappie
Segregation - District 9
Terrorism, Security, & Freedom - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Historical Revisionism - Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Monsters All Out Attack
Toxic Masculinity - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Entrepreneurship - Ghostbusters
Natural Disasters - Submersion of Japan / Tidal Wave
Clones & Personhood - The Island OR The Sixth Day
CRU
The Island! Good pick. That movie is really underrated. Probably because Michael Bay made it. Also "The 6th Day" is a better movie on the the ethics of cloning than a Schwarzenegger vehicle really has any right to be.
CRU
Just noticed you said 6th Day too! Great minds... (should read to end of sentence before replying)
PAU
The Boys from Brazil (1978) about cloning
BAS
I've used the Matrix in class, and developed quite a lot of materials for it.
ME
Nice! Can I borrow that?
Maybe "The singularity" should be the topic for the Matrix.
STE
The film version of The Death of Grass
ME
No Blade of Grass.
STE
Yes, I think that was the American title. I can't remember if the film was set in England like the book or America
CRU
I like your list. Especially Gattaca! What a movie.
But Hunger Games is a stinker. Maybe replace with 1984, or V for Vendeta for an overbearing political dystopia.
Not an i-Robot fan either. Gotta be Terminator 2 for robots (also AI, they are tightly intertwined)
I think the newer Bladerunner (2047) was better than the original in terms of general 'future themes' and exploring their shared themes in more depth. Other good movies for AI / Robots are 2001 & Ex Machina.
I think 2001 is a better fit for AI than for the concepts of space travel. Interstellar would be a better fit for space travel. Or Danny Boyle's Sunshine, I really like that movie.
Children of Men is a great movie, but Logan's Run is more interesting in terms of a discussion of Aging Populations.
Perhaps you could add a unit of post apocalypse, just to shoe horn in the awesome Mad Max reboot. Also has general environmental themes (water crisis, fossil fuels, and same fertility crisis as Chilren of Men)
ME
Not sure why Hunger Games is getting so much flak. Interestingly that's one of only two on the list that has a female lead and female author.
I thought Ex Machina was really good but there are only two women in it, one of them doesn't speak, and I'd say more but don't want to spoil it for anyone.
I'm a bit wary of this class just being the future of men!
CRU
My inner misogyny exposed :o. The new Blade Runner got a lot of flak for that (basically sexbots etc), but I think it was kinda the point.
Sci-fi does seem to have a tendency towards male focus in general. It seems to be a key feature of just about any dystopia. Perhaps that it always seems to be men ruining everything could actually be seen as a feminist point though.
Check out "Sunshine" if you didn't already, lots of powerful smart females in that one. Redeemed!
ME
There is definitely a point to be made on gender. I think it's more a function of the patriarchy who have basically been controlling the future and who continue to control Hollywood. I've now got a more-or-less final list, and while there are some female leads and female writers, every single director is male with the possible exception of the Wachowskis.
CRU
Male when they made the Matrix :) (assuming that is the one you picked). Cloud Atlas (also theirs) is a very ambitious movie, with some inevitable flaws. I really enjoyed the book.
I quite liked the movie too though, especially the Sonmi section. As you are only showing bits and not the full movie, you could show just the Sonmi story, its a good sci-fi yarn in itself)
ANT
I'll see your 2001 and raise you 'dark star' for AI
ME
I was planning to use Dark Star for its special effects.
ANT
Anthony Ennis there's also 'chappie' for AI - which deals with other issues about the future of technology and how it's so closely tied with military applications.
CRU
Also Minority Report has come to be a regarded as rather a mis-step in terms of Computer Interfaces (perhaps that was your intent behind including it). VR developers quickly realized that nobody actually want's to be waving their arms around in front of them for hours. It's really tiring.
ME
That's exactly the kind of thing I want to show: future predictions that we can now see are wrong.
NEM
Solyent Green, rather prescient in terms of Greenhouse effect and overpopulation.
BIE
With I, Robot, you can also direct them to the Asimov book, which is far different. Another Asimov-inspired movie on robots (and other important themes) is Bicentennial Man.
TRA
I , Robot... terrible movie, great book!
JOS
I'd pick 'Total Recall' for virtual reality.
However, all your picks are go movies.
JOE
Logan's Run, The Running Man, Fukkatsu no hi (directed by Kinji Fukasaku, but in English with an international cast), some episodes of the Black Mirror, Johnny Mnemonic, Gravity.
ANT
For robots - black mirror s3e6 - it's pretty much movie length
In a fact black mirror pretty much covers everything you want to teach in yr course
LAW
Exactly what I was going to say Ant - the episode about having everything you see recorded and available for replay would be perfect for this. I think that was season 1
LEW
I love this theme!! I think we predicted our future already and its in films - Terminater 2 Judgement Day ... is where we don't wanna go!!
Artificial intelligence gone wrong and nuclear could war..
ANT
How we might deal with aliens (or how they might deal with us) - under the skin, district 9, Independence Day? , mars attacks?
ME
The topic of aliens is outside the brief because 1) it's very unlikely they'll turn up or are already here and it'll take most of the lesson to explain the maths of that and 2) if they do turn up, it's going to be a very big deal that everyone will be forced to deal with. Meanwhile I want this class to focus on things that are very likely to happen that people are not being forced to deal with.
ANT
But how else are that going to see jack Nicholson be president?
CRU
I was struggling to think which topic "Under the Skin" might fit possibly fit into :) Love that movie!
ANT
Futuristic interfaces? Black goo apparently - me too though - trying to shoehorn under the skin or district nine in somewhere - maybe Upstream Color fits somewhere - now that's a great movie
CRU
Upstream Color? That's a new one for me! Something for the weekend :)
ANT
it's by Shane Carruth who did 'primer' - if you found primer too confusing I would skip it - but if you enjoyed under the skin you might like it
Manage
CRU
You didn't find Primer confusing? 🤪
ANT
ah well - yeah - but that was kinda the point I thought.. I meant 'too' confusing as in '... that for a game of soldiers'
LEW
Fifth Element
TAY
Travel in the future! Yes a great idea to be put to sleep n wake up at your destination
ANT
Social engineering - elysium
Snow piercer
CRU
Both bad movies tho...
GAZ
That's a good list. Here are a few more. Some may be unsuitable for levels of violence (Robocop, Clockwork Orange, Alien) etc.
Walle-E
Alien (AI)
Robocop
Planet of the Apes (Original)
MadMax (Original)
Silent Running
Jurassic Park
Moon (Duncan Jones)
A Clockwork Orange
1984
District 9
The Iron Giant (Fantastic animation, a beautiful story)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Original)
Her (Very relevant today)
Soylent Green
Ex Machina (but 'Her' I think is better)
Sleeper
Frankenstein (Boris Korloff)
JOE
Silent running two thumbs up!!
LES
How about Clones? That seems especially relevant and possible, for the near future. Not sure about any good movies, though Orphan Black is a brill. TV series on it.
ME
Moon (2008) directed by Duncan Jones.
ANT
Futuristic interfaces - demolition man
That's actually a pretty tough topic though - seems to be one we always get wrong
SUS
Love this idea for a class! I teach a cross culture communication class comparing Japanese and their foreign counterparts. Here are my ideas:
CHE
with an environmental theme- The Day After Tomorrow.
SUS
Global Warming: The Day After tomorrow, Low birth rate for the educated: Idiocracy, If I think of some more I will add them later. I know there is a movie that predicted the World Trade Center attacks. I cant remember the name.
ALM
What happened to Monday? Is good for social policy, over population problem/solution/consequence. Not a movie, but The handmaid's tale covers the same territory in a much darker way. Sounds like a great course :)
REP
Zardoz a must see classic.
LES
Loved that film! Saw in the theatre when it first came out.
THO
Sleeper
KEL
i second back to the future... so much going on there...and very accessible and fun
SUS
Star Trek. Predicted so much technology we use today.
ANT
Social engineering - never let me go
JIN
I've just read your mail article without browsing the rest from the others because of the inferior network of our uni, so if it has some redundancy, please excuse me.
Gattaca
Ex machina
And why not 1984?
and Fahrenheit 451？
Ghost in the Shell (animated by Oshii Mamoru, if it's possible to show with either English subtitle or dub.)
HAN
So many good ideas in here! My list of must-watch movies has increased. How about The Lorax (original or new)...I also second Wall-E - covers environmental issues, space technology, AI and human health. The Handmaid's Tale for social manipulation with religion as the motivation/excuse.
Were there any movies that mis-predicted all the potential issues of Y2K / the millennium bug? Remember how worried we all were when 1999 ticked over to 2000 and we thought all the computers would crash?
And, while not a great movie, Waterworld covers post-apocolyptic climate change...
CHI
Has anyone mentioned, Arrival from 2016? Oh maybe no alien...great movie though.
ELL
Arrival , would be interesting to show from the point of view of working out language too,
ME
I think that was a good movie, but I fell asleep while watching it. Twice. So not really sure what would have been going to happen in it.
CHE
It MUST have been really good!
ME
Some movies are just so good that I forget to send enough oxygen to my brain!
GLE
ARU
A bit off topic, but George Monbiot: Revolt of the Robots
DAI
The Purge?
ALE
The suggestions as you've noted above, have had very few female leads.
How about Alien or Aliens -Sigourney Weaver or Gravity - Sandra Bullock. Both score over 95% on RottenTomatoes.
I agree with inclusion of Hunger Games.
If you were to be more flexible on your scope on movies/tv Startrek because it was socially groundbreaking in casting.
ME
Yes, that is a big concern! I guess the reality is that men have been controlling the future in movies, which I need to point out to the students.
Alien or Aliens was in my longer list and I should probably add it for the sake of the non-alien parts. It's also interesting to see how much they smoked back in that future. Also first use of helmet cameras, apparently. I'd love to add Star Trek, but I think that would be better in a course on TV, which it seems there is plenty of material for!
ALE
The power of the tobacco lobby is still around.
ME
Did you like Gravity?
ALE
Yes. I liked Gravity. Movies rarely "get to me" but I did find myself holding my breath in the space junk scenes. Space debris is an issue.
You can see a rocket body in this screen shot from the SkyView app. The little white dots in this screenshot are either satellites or rocket bodies. "Gravity" reminds us of the cost treating space as an endless junkyard.
The SpaceX Heavy Falcon Rockets coming back to earth is the future changing.
ME
Yes, the Kessler effect. Really important to think about because space could become impenetrable before we develop the technology to get off the planet. A useful lesson to not leave too much crap on the surface of the planet either, and a reminder that when we throw things "away" the "away" is still somewhere!
TIM
How about Idiocracy? I don't see much comedy on your list and sadly the political system Mike Judge intended as satire is already coming true in front of our eyes.
TAY
Our ability to predict the future. . . Back to the future series, use of mobile\wireless devices etc. . . On the other hand still receiving faxes. . . A thing of the past. . . Well except in Japan. What technology do you think we will adapt or lose in the future?
DAV
Artificial Intelligence, A.I. by Spielberg
SCH
How about The Congress or Ex Machina--strong female roles.
ME
Thanks everyone for adding ideas!
MIG
Just out of curiosity, what are the actual legal allowances with showing a movie in a university class?
ME
It's a grey area. I may have to stick to black and white!
MIG
Apparently most films made before 1964 are currently public domain. Recently the duration has been changed to 75 years since the movie release!
But you can still show such classics like:
DAZ
The Bedsitting Room?
(A little later)
NED
Have you watched any of the Black Mirror series?
ME
Black Mirror? Never heard of it.
NED
Have a look, future technology mixed with human frailties a terrible combination.
[CONTINUES]
No comments:
Post a Comment