Monday, April 9, 2007

What Will We Look Like in 20 Years?


Quote of the day:
“In a big country, your dreams stay with you.”
--Big Country

Quote of the day no. 2:
“If someone is rebuked, does this mean they already have been buked?”
--Preston Creston

In previous posts, I’ve talked about how bad we are at recognizing trends. On top of this, most of us seem to be so busy or occupied that we don’t think much about the future.

When we do think of the future, we imagine advances in technology. Think of the last twenty years. In 1987 we didn’t have DVDs, high definition, cell phones or the worldwide web. There were even lots of TVs with no remote controls. It would make sense to think of similarly big changes over the next twenty years.

The movie Children of Men is set in 2027, yet there seems to be little in the way of technological advancement. In fact, it seems that almost everything in the film has simply aged over twenty years. The movie has a shabby look.

That shabbiness is an important part of Children of Men. The population of London, where the film is set, has other things on its mind. There have been no children born since 2008. During the film there are news reports of the death of the youngest person on earth, who was 19 years old.

This premise sets up the film’s story, which is startling in its projection of today’s prevalent attitudes and policies. I highly recommend renting the movie.

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