"To distract from its greed and incompetence, the quasi-governmental entity has replaced the country's health care system, already strained by vast ecological devastation and income disparity, with a series of obscene game shows. Corporations have successfully poisoned all natural resources. Basic necessities are unaffordable. Everyone is broken and everything sucks. If you are suffering, the TV (always turned on) reminds you that this is the fault of immigrants, of progressives, of gay people, of women-and actually it's your fault too."
"Only an all-engulfing fire, cleansing the face of humanity, will exhaust such anger. The Running Man, the novel, was a pop culture call to rage unto oblivion. Today, as we swerve into the homestretch of the actual 2025, that anger feels prescient-rejuvenating, even. Tearing society apart at its sinew, screaming into the face of every rich monster who's made your life miserable, bathing in their pain: That's that me espresso."
The Running Man envisions 2025 as a dystopia dominated by a massive authoritarian media conglomerate that monopolizes American culture. The conglomerate replaces a broken health care system with obscene televised game shows to distract from corporate greed, ecological devastation, and extreme income inequality. Corporations poison natural resources, basic necessities become unaffordable, and pervasive media scapegoating blames immigrants and marginalized groups while blaming individuals. Protagonist Ben Richards channels righteous, violent anger against systemic injustice. Edgar Wright's cinematic version transforms that rage into playful CGI gore, upbeat satire, and Verhoeven-style homage, softening the novel's visceral fury.
Read at Portland Mercury
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