Dopers-- here’s your chance to influence TV history! An extremely microscopic portion of it!
I will be on TechTV on April 26. TechTV is a channel about, duh, technology, mostly computers. I’ve been on a couple of times before (see my previous appearances here), talking about bad science in movies.
The theme for the next show is Fear of Tech. I am trying to think of movies that feature some sort of tech paranoia which I can talk about, mostly to point out the errors.
A few that come to mind are “The Matrix” (using people for power is a huge waste of energy), “Capricorn 1” (which I can use to make fun of the Moon hoax), and maybe “Colossus: The Forbin Project” (a great 60s flick in which a supercomputer takes over the world’s nuclear weapons).
I am looking for a list of movies I can use on the segment, and I figured Dopers would know some good ones. I need to have seen the movies already (which of course you can’t know, but I’ll winnow the list that way) and they need to be out on DVD so the producers of the show can edit them. I need to make sure the list gets sent to the folks there by April 17.
Aw, man, I immediately thought of Colossus: The Forbin Project when I saw the thread title. How about another one from the 70s, Demon Seed? This movie can be read as a typical screed against the dehumanizing effects of technology but there may also be an undertone of paranoia about reproductive technologies. Here’s a quote from the IMDB:
Along the same lines, there’s the more recent GATTACA which is paranoid about designer genetics. Again from the IMDB:
It seems that movies have always displayed a distrust of technology (mad scientists, atomic monsters, etc.). I’m sure you’ll have no shortage of movies to choose from.
How about War Games? Any kid and the contents of a Radio Shack warehouse can destroy the world. And how about that whole “pissing on a sparkplug” thing?
Also, The Manhattan Project. Any kid and the contents a nuclear reseach lab can destroy the world.
You can even throw in Star Wars, re: the Death Star bombing run:
Rebel leader: “Red five’s turned off his targeting computer!”
Leia: (speaking into radio) Luke, is something wrong?
Obi-Wan: (speaking into Luke’s brain directly) Trust your feelings, Luke.
Despite all its gosh-golly-gee tech, the movie hinges on the semi-mystical Force. Puh-leeze.
And you set up a harsh zing of Star Trek: The Motion Picture during the scene when the crew confronts V’Ger, a.k.a. Voyager VI, directly. When Stephen Collins says the line “V’Ger needs to merge with a human because of our ability to leap beyond logic,” you can pause the film and say “Yeah, like the writer of this stupid movie is doing right now!”
I’m suprised nobody has mentioned THX 1138. Not so much fear of technology on the part of the characters, but definitely meant to convey a sense of dread on the audience about how technology could be used to remove emotion all together from man’s experience.
Hell, I can’t think of any movie coming out nowadays that doesn’t have some kind of anti-technology message. That’s what you get when Hippies run Hollywood.
Hey, how about every single episode of the new Outer Limits series? I swear to God they could have the same out-tro to each show. Come to think of it, they do.
These are good suggestions! I had thought of Terminator, which is a great flick. One of the best, actually.
Remember, we’re talking about direct fear/paranoia of technology. Star Wars wouldn’t fit that category. ST:TMP doesn’t either since it isn’t about fear, it’s about transcending technology. Also, it’s the implications of tech that count. That’s why Colossus fits.
These are good suggestions! I had thought of Terminator, which is a great flick. One of the best, actually.
Remember, we’re talking about direct fear/paranoia of technology. Star Wars wouldn’t fit that category. ST:TMP doesn’t either since it isn’t about fear, it’s about transcending technology. Also, it’s the implications of tech that count. That’s why Colossus fits.
Brazil - in a bureaucratic future, a typographical error gets the wrong man arrested and killed. Event Horizon - faster-than-light travel transports you to hell. Godzilla - nuclear tests create killer überbeast. Jurassic Park - genetically-engineered dinosaurs run amok and reproduce, even though they’re all female. Mimic - scientists engineer an insect to kill roaches; it grows to six feet tall and starts preying on humans. Tomorrow Never Dies - James Bond movie. In the race to be the #1 world news agency, a megalomaniacal media mogul starts wars (almost) by manipulating the Global Positioning System, then being the first to report on the international tension.
And just about any science fiction movie from the 1950s.
Well, since Papermache Prince stole my suggestion for Westworld, what about War Games? Maybe not quite about tech paranoia, but surely an incentive towards it.
Haven’t seen it, but it’s all that came to mind after Mr. Brenner’s opus.
