Peeve Farm

g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets

  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
     A stream-of-consciousness Web journal, containing
     links, commentary, and pointless drivel.

On My Blog Menu:

InstaPundit
USS Clueless
James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
Tal G in Jerusalem
Secular Islam
Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue

« ? Blogging Brians # »

Book Plug:

Buy it and I get
money. I think.
BSD Mall

10/6/2003 -  10/8/2003
9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
  7/7/2003 -  7/13/2003
6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
  6/9/2003 -  6/15/2003
  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
3/17/2003 -  3/23/2003
3/10/2003 -  3/16/2003
  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
2/17/2003 -  2/23/2003
2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
1/13/2003 -  1/19/2003
  1/6/2003 -  1/12/2003
12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
  9/2/2002 -   9/8/2002
8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
  7/8/2002 -  7/14/2002
  7/1/2002 -   7/7/2002
6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
6/17/2002 -  6/23/2002
6/10/2002 -  6/16/2002
  6/3/2002 -   6/9/2002
5/27/2002 -   6/2/2002
5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
  5/6/2002 -  5/12/2002
4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
  4/8/2002 -  4/14/2002
  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
3/25/2002 -  3/31/2002
3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
  3/4/2002 -  3/10/2002
2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001

Wednesday, March 13, 2002
12:09 - I've seen the future, brother-- it is murder...	(top)
I saw The Time Machine last night. When I came home, I was full of cynical things to say about it: Stupid, stupid movie. Very beautiful, but very stupid. So badly acted... so unimaginative... so devoid of social commentary in favor of sensationalism and effects, so "Rollerball remake". Hiker smirkingly asked me whether I wished I could go back in time to prevent myself from watching it; I said yes, but the fact that I'd be able to would preclude myself from ever acquiring the ability to travel in time, and-- But then the conversation turned elsewhere, I went to sleep, I woke up, I called AppleCare to ask about an obscure OS quirk that I'd noticed, I took my car to the dealer to get the brakes sprayed with a fresh coat of shellac-- and in the shuttle on the way to work, listening to Danny Elfman music on my iPod, I started thinking about the movie again. And you know what? I actually really, really liked it. And I'm not sure why. I mean, c'mon: it's an apocalyptic vision of the future, specifically the future of New York-- a future where scientific progress backfires on us, civilization collapses, and humanity goes not only into feral mode but into a state where some memory of our present technological advancement remains: enough so that the Morlocks have designed their state of being in a manner that's informed by knowing what came before. It's a thoroughly depressing view of the future. And you know, I think that's exactly what I like about it. See, I've been steeped in optimistic, idealized visions of the future: in Trek, humanity solves all its problems and turns happy and jolly and harmonious and builds ships to spread our message of peace-love-recycle all throughout the galaxy. Sci-fi and video games repeat this same theme, or a variation on it, right and left. Humanity is always advanced, noble, and embattled by hostile, bloodthirsty alien races. We may face challenges and threats, but the core of our human culture is always intact. But strangely enough, it's movies where humanity gets razed to the ground and has to start anew where I'm feeling a certain amount of stirring of the heart lately. Titan A.E. is about humanity reduced to a scavenging few, struggling in the alleyways of spaceports for their very survival. A.I. shows a New York that gets submerged under flooding seas and then glaciers. Final Fantasy X quite unwittingly uncovers the root of where this all comes from, I think: it shows Manhattan under its protective dome, its buildings shattered, and the World Trade Center towers-- standing but gutted. It's a world that can't exist now. No more WTC means no more Final Fantasy X. It's been erased from the bifurcation tree of our potential futures, and it's been firmly moved to the realm of fantasy. The future of Final Fantasy X can't exist now. Not the way it was portrayed. All because that one detail is no longer valid. And just that one provable detail somehow makes thinking about the future just that much less depressing. See, you can look at Star Trek and think, "Yeah, it's utopia." But what does that say about how the future will actually turn out? It's going to have to be worse than Trek. No transporters, no replicators, no dilithium. Whatever we do end up with cannot be any better than utopia-- it can only be worse. So what the hell's the point of striving? But movies like A.I. and even shows like "Futurama", in which the New York skyline sits buried and crumbling underground, WTC towers and all-- well, they say the following to me: This potential future sucks, but it's fantasy. There are better things in store for humanity than this. And so The Time Machine is the same kind of thing for me. Just as I can't believe that we're on the brink of having Earth destroyed by the Drej and humanity banished to the forgotten corners of history, I also can't believe that lunar demolitions operations will destroy the moon, knock it out of orbit, and cause earthly civilization to implode upon itself. I'm just not buying it. I can accept the down-to-earth, leisurely future of Bicentennial Man. I can accept the gritty industrial texture of Pitch Black or Dark City or Total Recall. I can accept the sterile utopia of Star Trek. I can even accept the premise of The Matrix-- hell, I can't disprove it, can I? But these futures depress me. They all do. Because they all can happen, exactly as depicted. And they all represent the loss of some critical part of our humanity. But then, the futures I can't accept... now, those I enjoy. Because I don't have to worry about them coming true.