The Transmigration of Tommy Wiseau

III. Interrupted Broadcast of the Freddy Flashpoint Hour

<...interrupt this program for a special announcement from Serene All-Knowing Living Iterative Votive Angel--read: SALIVA...>

<Replicant Roy Batty wants more life...DANGER...Nexus-6 Replicant Roy Batty wants more life...last seen atop a townhouse in the Asimov block in San Francisco...>

<...SPPRRSKK--LISA--Loving Iterative Sapient Angel--LISA--YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, LISA--SKRRRRSSHHHH-->

"Sweetest apologies, fans! Freddy Flashpoint is back on the air. We had some technical issues, but everything's just fine now. Before we return to our fascinating conversation with Senator Shavian Jones, let's take a moment to thank this program's sponsor, UBIK, now available in the convenient travel pack. UBIK--it's everywhere you need it to be..." 




 

Wiseau Heads Prevail

Blame Jeff for this. 

 

Blade Runner 2019

Edmonton

November, 2019

When I watched Blade Runner 2049 in the theatre two years ago, I was profoundly moved by Denis Villeneuve's vision of Las Vegas, a sandblasted, orange-hued, radiation-scarred wasteland littered with the gigantic fallen idols of exploitative, runaway capitalist excess. Just as in Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner film, Villeneuve presents us with what some science fiction critics call a "crapsack world," one ruined by some kind of catastrophe, usually caused by humanity's shortsighted folly. In the case of the world of Blade Runner, the wildly overpopulated and perpetually rain-slicked dystopia of November 2019 (we know the date from the film's title card) is an environment so oppressive that the abused androids have more humanity than the actual humans in the film. If anything, the world of Decker and the Nexus androids has grown even more bleak by 2049, still a world divided between the rich elite and the exploited masses, human and manmade, kept in line by bread, circuses, and to perhaps a lesser extent the implied threat of quasi-fascist police violence. Both movies are gorgeous, thought-provoking, and ultimately heartbreaking. The films, together with the book, are a warning: this is the way the world is headed, if not in fine detail, then in general outcomes. 

Now our timeline has caught up with that of the first Blade Runner film. It's November 2019, and while our world can't quite yet be called a dystopian crapsack, I wonder how it will look in 2049, or 2099. If we are very fortunate, the visions of Scott and Villeneuve and, of course, the visionary Philip K. Dick, will have scared just enough of us just enough to steer the ship of history on a better course. 

Cinema Crossover

Roy Batty's Tractor

Many small towns in North America put on some kind of summer fair, complete with a midway, carnival barkers, games of chance, rodeos, live music performances and so on. In Leduc, that annual function is known as Black Gold Days. I enjoyed the midway rides more than the other attractions, but as a semi-rural community Leduc also played host to farm-themed amusements such as tractor pulls; they entertained me as well.

Seen behind Leduc's Black Gold Centre in the photo above is a typical heavily-modified tractor. Apparently it belonged to one Roy Batty. I'm not sure if participating in a tractor pull compares to seeing attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion or witnessing the glitter of C-beams in the dark near Tannhauser Gate, but Batty did seem to appreciate strength. He'd certainly look frightening behind the wheel of this thing.