America and Britain: Two Different Kinds of Dystopia

But both dystopias.

I was watching Blade Runner the other night, for the first time.

(I know, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long either.)

The original. The theatrical release version with the Harrison Ford voiceover.

I’ve since been told this version is inferior to the non-voiceover version.

I was somewhat underwhelmed with the movie itself. Though the plot aimed high, the aesthetics were affecting and the soundtrack sublime, I felt it was lacking in something.

Perhaps I’m judging it with a post-modern eye: after all there was no Terminator, no Westworld, not even Robocop, when the film was released, and perhaps none of those would exist were it not for Blade Runner’s legacy.

I think what was lacking, most of all, was a sense that any of its most dystopian elements were of pressing concern in the here and now.

Again, it has no requirement for such. The idea a film could predict the geopolitical, economic and societal landscape of three decades advanced with any real accuracy is absurd.

But other dystopian classics, whether movies or novels, have either consistently managed to remain relevant, or have reentered the zeitgeist in these…