November 20, 2019 -- the year the future became the past
November 20, 2019 7:22 PM Subscribe
Today is the day of the events in Blade Runner, according to this Blade Runner fan site. [Scroll down] But we've lost a lot of other futures to the past, too!. ‘Blade Runner’ and 11 Other Sci-Fi Films Set in a Future That’s Already in the Past (The Wrap) has a round-up.
But we've lost a lot of other futures to the past
Like tears in rain.
posted by zamboni at 7:44 PM on November 20, 2019 [15 favorites]
Like tears in rain.
posted by zamboni at 7:44 PM on November 20, 2019 [15 favorites]
We just started rewatching Evangelion, and literally the first thing you see onscreen after the intro sequence, in the first episode, is "THE YEAR IS 2015"
Twenty years into the future is now four years ago
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:51 PM on November 20, 2019 [13 favorites]
Twenty years into the future is now four years ago
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:51 PM on November 20, 2019 [13 favorites]
Soylent Oceanographic Survey Report Volume 1
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 7:53 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 7:53 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
This will disappoint my long lost industrial cyber rivethead friends very much but I'm glad I don't live on the mean streets of 2019 Blade Runner.
This one isn't great, either, but at least we don't have to go to a phone booth to make a call.
posted by loquacious at 7:59 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
This one isn't great, either, but at least we don't have to go to a phone booth to make a call.
posted by loquacious at 7:59 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
At least we're entirely on track for the Bell Riots. That future turned out reasonably well in the long term.
posted by eotvos at 8:29 PM on November 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by eotvos at 8:29 PM on November 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
Next stop, Children of Men's 2021.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:44 PM on November 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:44 PM on November 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
We blew past 2010: Odyssey Two without me even really thinking about it.
posted by hippybear at 8:48 PM on November 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:48 PM on November 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
This one isn't great, either, but at least we don't have to go to a phone booth to make a call.
On the other hand I want my off-world colonies.
posted by jjray at 8:58 PM on November 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
On the other hand I want my off-world colonies.
posted by jjray at 8:58 PM on November 20, 2019 [8 favorites]
We also never did get the hibernation chambers, animatronic bands activated by something that looks like my old T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. toy "computer", and Rick Springfield and his crew dancing around in space suits (not to mention the return of poofy hair) that this promised we'd have by 2016.
posted by gtrwolf at 9:08 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by gtrwolf at 9:08 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Car Wars is still pencilled in for 2035, yeah?
posted by pompomtom at 9:08 PM on November 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 9:08 PM on November 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
Imagine a VR driving game based on calculating the movements in the micro-units of time which Car Wars plays out in.
posted by hippybear at 9:25 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:25 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Wait, are we talking about the Steve Jackson Games game?
posted by hippybear at 9:31 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 9:31 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yep. Well, I was...
posted by pompomtom at 9:35 PM on November 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 9:35 PM on November 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
I played that a lot back in the mid-80s. So much fun, so many hours to play out so little time!
Yes, it's on track for 2035, only the cars will be self-driving.*
*maybe
posted by hippybear at 9:39 PM on November 20, 2019
Yes, it's on track for 2035, only the cars will be self-driving.*
*maybe
posted by hippybear at 9:39 PM on November 20, 2019
Ralph Fiennes from 1995 has turned into 2019’s Bradley Cooper
posted by Auden at 9:50 PM on November 20, 2019
posted by Auden at 9:50 PM on November 20, 2019
Interrogator: "Recite your baseline."
K: "This is just to say... I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox... and which you were probably saving for breakfast... Forgive me, they were delicious, so sweet and so cold."
Interrogator: "Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Have you ever wondered whether an old plum in an icebox is still good to eat? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Do you keep your plums in an icebox? Icebox."
K: "Icebox."
Interrogator: "When you're not posting on Metafilter, do you live in an icebox? Icebox."
K: "Icebox."
Interrogator: "Breakfast."
K: "Breakfast."
Interrogator: "What's it like to eat plums for breakfast? Breakfast."
K: "Breakfast."
Interrogator: "Do you long for the sweet, delicious taste of plums for breakfast? Breakfast."
K: "Breakfast."
Interrogator: "Do you dream about eating plums? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "What's it like to eat a cold, sweet plum? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Do you feel like you've betrayed someone after eating their plums? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Eaten the plums."
K: "Eaten the plums."
Interrogator: "Why don't you say that three times? Eaten the plums."
K: "Eaten the plums. Eaten the plums. Eaten the plums."
Interrogator: "We're done. 'Constant K'... you can pick up your bonus. It's $20, SAIT."
posted by dephlogisticated at 11:50 PM on November 20, 2019 [27 favorites]
K: "This is just to say... I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox... and which you were probably saving for breakfast... Forgive me, they were delicious, so sweet and so cold."
Interrogator: "Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Have you ever wondered whether an old plum in an icebox is still good to eat? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Do you keep your plums in an icebox? Icebox."
K: "Icebox."
Interrogator: "When you're not posting on Metafilter, do you live in an icebox? Icebox."
K: "Icebox."
Interrogator: "Breakfast."
K: "Breakfast."
Interrogator: "What's it like to eat plums for breakfast? Breakfast."
K: "Breakfast."
Interrogator: "Do you long for the sweet, delicious taste of plums for breakfast? Breakfast."
K: "Breakfast."
Interrogator: "Do you dream about eating plums? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "What's it like to eat a cold, sweet plum? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Do you feel like you've betrayed someone after eating their plums? Plums."
K: "Plums."
Interrogator: "Eaten the plums."
K: "Eaten the plums."
Interrogator: "Why don't you say that three times? Eaten the plums."
K: "Eaten the plums. Eaten the plums. Eaten the plums."
Interrogator: "We're done. 'Constant K'... you can pick up your bonus. It's $20, SAIT."
posted by dephlogisticated at 11:50 PM on November 20, 2019 [27 favorites]
Forgive me
They were replicants
So sweet
So Kowalski
posted by chavenet at 12:46 AM on November 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
They were replicants
So sweet
So Kowalski
posted by chavenet at 12:46 AM on November 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
We have no future because our present is too volatile. The only possibility that
remains is the management of risk. The spinning top of the scenarios of the
present moment.
–William Gibson
...the future is over. It is not a new idea, as you know: born with punk, the 1970s and ’80s witnessed the beginning of the slow cancellation of the future. Now those bizarre predictions have become true. The idea that the future has disappeared is of course rather whimsical, as while I write these lines the future is not stopping to unfold. But when I say “future” I am not referring to the direction of time. I am thinking, rather, of the psychological perception, which emerged in the cultural situation of progressive modernity, the cultural expectations that were fabricated during the long period of modern civilization, reaching a peak in the years after the Second World War
-Franco Berardi
It is not that nothing happened in the period when the slow cancellation of the future set in. On the contrary, those thirty years has been a time of massive, traumatic change... The shift into so-called Post-Fordism – with globalization, ubiquitous computerization and the casualisation of labour – resulted in a complete transformation in the way that work and leisure were organised. In the last ten to fifteen years, meanwhile, the internet and mobile telecommunications technology have altered the texture of everyday experience beyond all recognition. Yet, perhaps because of all this, there’s an increasing sense that culture has lost the ability to grasp and articulate the present. Or it could be that, in one very important sense, there is no present to grasp and articulate any more.
-Mark Fisher
Also, Mark Fisher's lecture on the slow cancellation of the future.
posted by Telf at 1:21 AM on November 21, 2019 [10 favorites]
remains is the management of risk. The spinning top of the scenarios of the
present moment.
–William Gibson
...the future is over. It is not a new idea, as you know: born with punk, the 1970s and ’80s witnessed the beginning of the slow cancellation of the future. Now those bizarre predictions have become true. The idea that the future has disappeared is of course rather whimsical, as while I write these lines the future is not stopping to unfold. But when I say “future” I am not referring to the direction of time. I am thinking, rather, of the psychological perception, which emerged in the cultural situation of progressive modernity, the cultural expectations that were fabricated during the long period of modern civilization, reaching a peak in the years after the Second World War
-Franco Berardi
It is not that nothing happened in the period when the slow cancellation of the future set in. On the contrary, those thirty years has been a time of massive, traumatic change... The shift into so-called Post-Fordism – with globalization, ubiquitous computerization and the casualisation of labour – resulted in a complete transformation in the way that work and leisure were organised. In the last ten to fifteen years, meanwhile, the internet and mobile telecommunications technology have altered the texture of everyday experience beyond all recognition. Yet, perhaps because of all this, there’s an increasing sense that culture has lost the ability to grasp and articulate the present. Or it could be that, in one very important sense, there is no present to grasp and articulate any more.
-Mark Fisher
Also, Mark Fisher's lecture on the slow cancellation of the future.
posted by Telf at 1:21 AM on November 21, 2019 [10 favorites]
Elon Musk has chosen to cash in on this date by revealing his Cyber Truck. The thing better have thrusters on it, or there'll be trouble.
posted by rongorongo at 2:03 AM on November 21, 2019
posted by rongorongo at 2:03 AM on November 21, 2019
Too bad we weren't able to avoid 1984.
posted by signal at 2:47 AM on November 21, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by signal at 2:47 AM on November 21, 2019 [8 favorites]
September 13, 1999.
posted by clavdivs at 4:08 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 4:08 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
Then theres [1980] the lost [SHADO] future of [1980] UFO.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:15 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:15 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
On a side note, thanks so much for posting this. I had forgotten this was the date, checked the calendar and sure enough my local repertory theater is showing this tonight as well!
Taking my son (he's 18) because it was one of those movies I insisted we only see in theater, and so we are!
posted by jeremias at 4:46 AM on November 21, 2019
Taking my son (he's 18) because it was one of those movies I insisted we only see in theater, and so we are!
posted by jeremias at 4:46 AM on November 21, 2019
hippybear: "We blew past 2010: Odyssey Two without me even really thinking about it."
I hate that movie with a passion but May 3, 2010 was the start of Stand on Zanzabar which did a pretty good job of predicting things.
posted by octothorpe at 5:03 AM on November 21, 2019 [10 favorites]
I hate that movie with a passion but May 3, 2010 was the start of Stand on Zanzabar which did a pretty good job of predicting things.
posted by octothorpe at 5:03 AM on November 21, 2019 [10 favorites]
The entire premise of Thundarr the Barbarian is that a comet passes between the Earth and the moon in 1994.
posted by LionIndex at 5:10 AM on November 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 5:10 AM on November 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
The Running Man posited a 2017 in which an egomaniacal game show host seized control of the criminal justice system and the military, extending his capricious whims and grudges to life and death stakes while Americans watch callously on cable TV.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:53 AM on November 21, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:53 AM on November 21, 2019 [12 favorites]
I hate that movie [2010] with a passion
Why? To be fair, I haven't seen the whole thing in a while, but I love so many things about it. Helen Mirren, the relationship between Dr. Chandra and John Lithgow's character, "Something wonderful", and the whole ending.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:11 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
Why? To be fair, I haven't seen the whole thing in a while, but I love so many things about it. Helen Mirren, the relationship between Dr. Chandra and John Lithgow's character, "Something wonderful", and the whole ending.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:11 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm only just getting over the fact that "The Year 2000" isn't The Future by a long way any more.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 7:26 AM on November 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 7:26 AM on November 21, 2019 [3 favorites]
In a restaurant the other day, my SO said something like "Oh wow, they've been around for 14 years!". And I said that means they opened in 2005. We were both a little stunned by that.
posted by Grither at 8:05 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Grither at 8:05 AM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
And then there's the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 1982's Akira, which appear to be intersecting deliberately.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:39 AM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:39 AM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
We've gotten past the 2012 start of the 15-year-long war (which included "every nuclear weapon known to man") that led to Adam Ant taking control of a World Gone Wild.
and Rick Springfield and his crew dancing around in space suits
I knew what this was before clicking on it. I *loved* that song and video. At that point, 2016 was 33 years in the future! WHO KNEW WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN?
posted by hanov3r at 3:24 PM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
and Rick Springfield and his crew dancing around in space suits
I knew what this was before clicking on it. I *loved* that song and video. At that point, 2016 was 33 years in the future! WHO KNEW WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN?
posted by hanov3r at 3:24 PM on November 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
The years start coming and they don't stop coming.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:51 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:51 AM on November 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
To my surprise, I’m going to give the Cybertruck a pass as a putative Bladerunner prop. The armoured glass shatters only for replicants, I guess.
posted by rongorongo at 3:19 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 3:19 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Running Man posited a 2017 in which an egomaniacal game show host seized control of the criminal justice system and the military, extending his capricious whims and grudges to life and death stakes while Americans watch callously on cable TV.
I watched that recently and was stunned that as stupid as that movie was, that's the future we got.
The thing that strikes me about these movies is that yeah, they never set them far enough out, but things used to change so much faster, and we assumed that would continue.
But someone said something about a bang and a whimper once.
posted by bongo_x at 2:05 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I watched that recently and was stunned that as stupid as that movie was, that's the future we got.
The thing that strikes me about these movies is that yeah, they never set them far enough out, but things used to change so much faster, and we assumed that would continue.
But someone said something about a bang and a whimper once.
posted by bongo_x at 2:05 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
the start of Stand on Zanzabar
It's kind of amazing how Brunner managed to write several different novels of how terrible things would become, focusing on very different problems (Sheep Look Up, Pollution, Zanzibar and overpopulation/media saturation, Jagged Orbit with the 2nd amendment taken too far, and Shockwave Rider, which is essentially the internet as we know it), yet somehow it seems like the world we live in is some terrible combination of all of the worst possible outcomes of each of those novels.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:10 PM on November 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's kind of amazing how Brunner managed to write several different novels of how terrible things would become, focusing on very different problems (Sheep Look Up, Pollution, Zanzibar and overpopulation/media saturation, Jagged Orbit with the 2nd amendment taken too far, and Shockwave Rider, which is essentially the internet as we know it), yet somehow it seems like the world we live in is some terrible combination of all of the worst possible outcomes of each of those novels.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:10 PM on November 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
I hate that movie [2010] with a passionI just had a very confusing conversation with a student who is writing a paper on the bad science in the film 2012. I'd never heard of 2012, and somehow didn't notice it wasn't the same thing as 2010. It took several minutes to figure out what the hell she was talking about. I have a neutral opinion of 2010, but it sure sounds a lot better than 2012.
I think the conclusion is that (1) I'm old and don't go the the movie theater often enough and (2) you really ought to pitch your films more than three years in the future if you don't want your junior-high-school audience to laugh at them. (But, I guess she paid to see it, so maybe that's not a loss for the director.)
posted by eotvos at 7:25 PM on November 25, 2019
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posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:42 PM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]