‘California is America fast-forward,’ writes one scholar. Does that mean that the dystopian infernos that have consumed parts of the state are simply a picture of what awaits the rest of America?
A scene from Jonathan Glazer’s new short film, The Fall.
BBC Films
In this vision of the future, everything that we currently do in the real world – going to school, going to work, socialising, leisure – is done in a vast virtual environment.
In Altered Carbon, the streetscape reflects the sodden bitumen and garbled neon of Blade Runner’s Los Angeles.
Mythology Entertainment, Skydance Television
The use of big data at work could promote well-being – but only in very specific conditions.
Movies from the “neo-noir” genre offer a darker and bleaker vision of the city, in stark contrast to the world of the TV sit-com.
Tan Zi Han/Shutterstock
Movies often portray the city as a dystopia, particularly in the ‘neo-noir’ genre, which explores postmodern themes. TV shows and ads present an altogether sunnier picture of life in the city.
While the original Blade Runner provides some insight into artificial life, and the book explores power and human relationships, Blade Runner 2049 has none of that.
(Handout)
Blade Runner 2049 represents a failure of the imagination. The film is a series of events strung together and steeped in narcissism, excessive self-absorption, isolation and regressive politics.
The original ‘Blade Runner’ took place in a dreary, dystopian Los Angeles in 2019.
Warner Bros.
The relationship between corporations, machines and humans defines modern life in ways that Ridley Scott – even in his wildest dreams – couldn’t have imagined.
Are there other ways to get people to engage with climate change?
FloridaStock/Shutterstock.com
Adjunct Assistant Professor and a founder of the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles