[HN Gopher] Silent Running: The sci-fi that predicted modern crises
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Silent Running: The sci-fi that predicted modern crises
Author : bobkrusty
Score : 168 points
Date : 2021-02-21 12:25 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
| fossuser wrote:
| I've been thinking about The Machine Stops a lot since the start
| of covid, it's wild that it was published in 1909.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops
| tjr225 wrote:
| > The two main characters, Vashti and her son Kuno, live on
| opposite sides of the world. Vashti is content with her life,
| which, like most inhabitants of the world, she spends producing
| and endlessly discussing secondhand 'ideas'.
|
| Woah. I'm literally doing that right now...
|
| > Those who do not accept the deity of the Machine are viewed
| as 'unmechanical' and threatened with Homelessness.
|
| What!? This is insane. Thanks for sharing.
| emayljames wrote:
| How Unmechanical of you.
|
| Seriously though, wow that is unbelievable how it was written
| then.
| BruceEel wrote:
| Reminder that there's a fantastic analysis of the film over at
| Centauri Dreams : https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2019/02/01/in-
| wildness-is-th...
| dleslie wrote:
| Another overlooked gem from this era is "Dark Star".
|
| The dreary psychological effects of prolonged confinement in
| closed quarters seem particularly poignant today; and the dispute
| and argument with Bomb is a delightful foreshadowing of the
| frustrations of dealing with advanced, yet imperfect and inhuman,
| artificial intellegences.
|
| And yes, the beach ball alien was intendedt be humorous; and yes,
| the closed-quarter panic in narrow vent shafts was inspirational
| on later science fiction movies.
| radicalbyte wrote:
| Ty Franck (co-write of The Expanse) and Wes Chatham (Amos in
| The Expanse) talk about this in their new postcast, well worth
| a listen if you like sci-fi :)
|
| https://www.youtube.com/c/TYandThatGuy
| john-tells-all wrote:
| Dark Star is wonderful!
|
| Also:
|
| - it's the first movie by horror movie legend John Carpenter
|
| - it was co-written by Dan O'Bannon, who also wrote "Alien"
| rotexo wrote:
| I feel like the beach ball sub-plot in that movie is a
| practice-run for Alien. Not to mention the parallels between
| the conversations with bomb and Ash.
| [deleted]
| rcurry wrote:
| I love how the the origin of the terrifying duct scene in
| Alien was the guy chasing the beachball through the ducts in
| Dark Star. All those guys were waiting for was a proper FX
| budget.
| eggy wrote:
| My father took me and my brother to see it at the movies, and I
| remember me and my brother crying and my Dad consoling us. We
| were 8 and 7 at the time. I haven't seen it since!
| Procrastes wrote:
| Right there with you. At the time it was the saddest thing I'd
| ever seen. It's stuck with me all these years.
| Joeboy wrote:
| Love the film, but am bothered by how nonsensical the decision to
| nuke the domes was. The linked piece explains it as "cost
| cutting", which I don't remember from the film but anyway, how is
| nuking something more economic than leaving it unnuked?
| drcode wrote:
| The existence of the craft could arguably obligate the
| corporation to incur ongoing expenses for upkeep.
| lostlogin wrote:
| In retail you see stock intentionally damaged and thrown out.
| It's to prevent brand damage or some such crap.
|
| Stuff like this happens with excess food too. https://sixfoot
| journalism.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/kathmandu...
| adrianmonk wrote:
| When my city opened a new airport, they had plans to
| redevelop the old one for other uses. I remember hearing
| that, in order to stop people from fighting to keep the old
| airport around, the city quickly destroyed a section of the
| runways with dynamite. Supposedly this would make it cost-
| prohibitive to try to use it as an airport again.
| jonathankoren wrote:
| TBF it was meant to be nonsensical.
|
| If you need an analogy, think of unsold books. They get their
| covers torn off so they can be reported as "destroyed", and
| then be issued a refund. (You'll sometimes see a message
| warning you about purchasing paperbacks without front covers in
| books.)
|
| In the movie American Airlines made an insurance claim, or made
| some other claim of loss on the trees, and so they now have to
| destroy them.
| codewritinfool wrote:
| Well yeah, but it goes even deeper than that, IMO, since the
| domes could have just stayed on Earth. Why launch them into
| space and return them later? They're terrariums with all of the
| life support and lighting that they need.
| imglorp wrote:
| If you're making a backup ecosystem, you want it off planet
| in case the primary meets a nuke, asteroid, virus, etc. You
| could also park it in a stable solar orbit so it gets the
| right sun for its biostuff.
|
| It seems there's no point sending it to deep space unless
| you're going to transplant it all on a new planet.
| randcraw wrote:
| It makes perfect sense as a politically-motivated decision.
| Some excuse was devised to destroy the pods, thus ending the
| debate forever of whether the Earth might one day return to a
| green space.
|
| It also forced Dern's character into action, since he would
| have to return to Earth since his job of caring for the pods
| was about to end.
|
| The film reminds me somewhat of 'Interstellar' -- a once
| verdant world going dark and expelling the hero.
| pohl wrote:
| Our present situation is also pretty nonsensical, though.
| (There's no wealth on an uninhabitable planet.) Yet, here we
| are, stampeding towards the crisis. So, if you squint, Silent
| Running predicted that, too.
| xbryanx wrote:
| This movie does not hold up. This is the second time I've seen
| this touted as an unheralded classic. Watch it if you need a nap!
| Phenomenally boring and ham handed.
| ghaff wrote:
| I think it can be simultaneously a classic, especially in
| historical context, and very heavy-handed. It's a good film but
| it's also one I'm not in a big hurry to rewatch.
| usrusr wrote:
| Between the almost annoying seriousness of 2001 and the
| irresistible madness of Dark Star, Silent Running is in an
| very difficult spot where it's almost impossible to win
| anything beyond honorable mention for trying.
|
| But once you've sat through Tarkovsky's Tokio driving
| sequence in a cinema those three all seem kind of superficial
| (my opinion, and probably mine alone. And I'm not sure that
| it would survive a re-watch of Solaris, it's been a while)
| JohnJamesRambo wrote:
| My girlfriend and I discovered it and watched it and enjoyed
| it. But we were screaming at the tv at how nonsensical it was.
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| > "These robots, often treated by critics as little more than a
| cute addition, "
|
| That's really odd. When I saw the film all those years ago Huey,
| Dewy, and Louie seemed to me to be essential supporting
| characters.
| gjkood wrote:
| The two things that endeared me to this movie:
|
| 1. The theme song; Joan Baez's "Rejoice in the sun"
|
| 2. Huey, Dewey and Louie, the little Robots that assist Bruce
| Dern's character Lowell in maintaining the space ship.
|
| I always take the trouble to show my kids Joan Baez songs on
| YouTube so they don't feel that good music only started with
| their generation :). Oh what a beautiful voice!
| nightfly wrote:
| I watched Silent Running last year after learning the Steam
| Gardens area in Super Mario Odyssey was based on it.
| lovelyviking wrote:
| Douglas Trumbull | Silent Running (1972) | the making of
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xtsNdLj1F4
| boredpandas777 wrote:
| I watched this mesmerizing sci-fi in my childhood in the early
| 80s, nearly a decade after its original release. It left an
| indelible mark on my psyche and it might be the reason why I hate
| the "system" so much.
| tomcam wrote:
| Aren't you consuming this site, which is funded by one of their
| biggest venture capital companies in the world, on a machine
| created by "the system", and probably working for a company
| that is part of "the system"?
| mikestew wrote:
| If your point was something other than "complains about air
| pollution, but still breathes the air", it went right over my
| head.
| pineaux wrote:
| I bow to you, you say it in the most simple of words.
| pineaux wrote:
| So, let me get this right: the only way you are allowed to
| critique the system is to make yourself irrelevant by
| becoming a techno-luddite, turning your back to society,
| disconnecting and disappear into the woods to live of the
| grid and self sustaining? All the critics must shut up
| because they don't have an alternative (although if they give
| an imperfect alternative you probably wouldn't deem it
| feasible). This is bullshit and self serving.
|
| It's like saying you aren't allowed to hate petrol cars
| because you use a petrol car. The concept of technology being
| solely the domain of capitalist is ludicrous. The invention
| of technology is not bound to our economic system. This is a
| presumption that is not based on history nor empirical
| evidence.
|
| So critique of the system is something that can be done even
| if you like technology.
|
| I would think someone who identifies with hackers would
| understand this.
| hh3k0 wrote:
| I mean, yes but also: https://i.kym-
| cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/330/819/e47...
| TomSwirly wrote:
| The name of this very old idea is Mr Gotcha - "We should
| improve society." "And yet you participate in society.
| Gotcha!"
|
| https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/
|
| Needless to say, this "argument" is completely false.
| ttt0 wrote:
| Another cool one is "Event 201".
| m463 wrote:
| I loved silent running. (Except I always thought Bruce Dern
| wasn't the best casting choice. He always seemed to have too bold
| of a personality for a lower-key scifi movie)
|
| They're right about 2001 stealing the spotlight for that time
| period though.
| muterad_murilax wrote:
| Ugh, send this forgettable piece of crap to the trash compactor
| already!
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(page generated 2021-02-21 23:01 UTC)