LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Student Future-Visions Presentation 2009

Sarah Ann Turner

LITR 4632

June 10, 2009

The Past Meets the Future in Demolition Man

1993

Marco Brambilla

“The future isn’t big enough for the both of them.”

Objective 1    

To identify, describe, and criticize  standard narratives or stories humans tell about

the future:

a.      Apocalyptic – An apocalypse leading into a utopian society bent on conformity.

b.     Evolutionary – The creation of a technologically advanced state of living.

Objective 2

To identify, describe, and criticize typical visions or scenarios of the future.

a.      high tech; virtual reality—A society fully dependent on technology combined with outsiders causing corruption, vulgarity, and violence lead to a technological warfare.

b.     low tech; actual reality—Technology is advanced, but the desire to have more continues to exist. 

c.    utopia / dystopia / ecotopia—A world without war, hate, or disagreements is based on the development of technology.

                                                            Synopsis:

The Murder/Death/Kill threat is activated and the police force is struggling to understand the complexity of its meaning. In a society that has not been exposed to this threat, alternate solutions to solve their problems become necessary.  The technology of 2032 is extremely advanced, revealing the complete separation between the two worlds, or time periods.

The “future” technology is helpful, but perhaps also harmful in the sense that it can be easily overridden.  The antagonist quickly decodes an active machine and although the task force is fully equipped (technologically) to overtake him, their overall strength is not enough. 

Questions for Discussion:

1.                  In what ways do you think that technology of the future can be both helpful and harmful?  What are some technological advances you would like to see in our lifetime?

2.                  The protagonist and antagonist of this movie were both cryogenically frozen for 36 years after an incident resulting in multiple deaths.  They are sent to “CryoPrison” where they are frozen in suspended animation. Do you think that the idea or method of cryogenically freezing someone will ever exist in order to punish prisoners?  How would this be better/worse than our current punishment for prisoners? 

3.                  In the short scene that you viewed today, which technological advancement did you find to be the most appealing?  Why did you find this advancement meaningful and do you believe that it will ever be present in our society?