Science fiction has always examined current society by envisioning the future. All too often to science fiction visions of the future delve into the idea that the future is a ruined post apocalyptic waist land. Granted this was very timely during the cold war, when intercontinental thermo-nuclear warfare loomed over everyone. There have to be other ways the world could end up other than a char-boiled cinder heap. What do these visions say about the world we live in today?
The year is 2032, the world is living a pacifist Utopia. The worst crimes that exist are foul language, and occasional graffiti. People are polite and friendly. Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego, have been merged into a shinning megalopolis called San Angeles. Everything seems blissfully boring, until the twentieth century’s worst criminal Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes) escapes from cryogenic storage. The pacifists of San Angeles have no idea how to deal with a sociopath, so they release from cryogenic jail the police officer who took him down, John “Demoltion Man” Spartan (Sylvester Stallone). Spartan was convicted of manslaughter, a crime he didn’t commit. Partnered with Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), they set out to stop Phoenix before he destroys the Utopia.
Demolition Man is great, bad movie. There are enough ‘splotions to satisfy a Michael Bay fan. Snipes plays Simon Phoenix, with so much over the top evil glee, he makes Jack Nicholson’s Joker, seem like Cesar Romero’s Joker. This movies’ gun fights, violence, and goofy fun are enough to keep me entertained. It’s an outlandish action movie but still there’s something more about the view of the future. Taco Bell (or in the European release Pizza Hut) is now the dominant restaurant in the world having won the fast food wars. The Taco Bell, the characters visit is a 5 star restaurant. Demolition Man forecasts Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political career 10 years before he became involved in politics by referencing a Schwarzenegger Presidential Library. It is explained a constitutional amendment to allowed him to run for president, even though he was foreign born. Toilet paper has fallen out of use and instead three seashells are used to clean yourself. It’s left to the viewers imagination how these seashells work. The police code for homicide is a 187 “MurderDeathKill”. Any one of those terms are sufficient to describe the crime.
Despite this silliness, San Angeles is a distopia. Although there is no violence or crim,e people live in a fascist police state. If you swear aloud you’re issued a 1 credit citation. Popular music consists of non offensive commercial jingles. Everyone has a GPS chip implanted in their arms. Criminals are frozen in suspended animation while they are re-educated via neural implants. Though people feel this is more more humane, Spartan describes his incarceration as a 40 year long nightmare able to think but unable to move. At one point Spartan asks for a cigarette, Huxley tells him it’s not good for him. This society believes anything not good for you is bad; hence, illegal. Some of the products and activities prohibited are alcohol, caffeine, contact sports, meat, bad language, chocolate, gasoline, noneducational toys and anything spicy. People no longer have sex physically. Instead thought helmets are used to express intimacy and in vitro-fertilization for reproduction. Huxley is skeeved out when Spartan suggest they have ‘fluid exchange’. What’s the most frightening about this is people cheerfully accept this like lobotomized zombies.
This type of future has often been imagined in many works of science fiction. Demotion Man even alludes to this by naming Sandra Bullock’s character Lenina Huxley. (Lenina Crowne was a character, in A Brave New World by Auldous Huxley) The thing that I thought made this movie stand out then any other action shoot-‘em-up is some odd and scary parallels with current society. In New York smoking is illegal in bars and restaurants. There have been proposed taxes on sugary drinks. Public pressure has been placed on fast food companies to make their products healthier. In some areas food service places are required to list the calories of the different meals. Some menus even require a disclaimer on the dangers of rare steak. There are groups who believe violence and foul language in movies video, games, and songs should be strongly regulated because of their offensive content. Although this is short of the comically exaggerated world of San Angeles, the concept is the same. The government has passed laws for our own good whether we like it or not. Seeing as this movie has been oddly prophetic predicting a political career for the Governator, I really hope I’m not forced to have sex via a neural helmet without actually touching the woman. In Demolition Man the world became white-bread police state because, consistent and continued violence terrified people into submission. Essentially the world traded freedom for security. It may not be a char-broiled cinder heap but the future of Demolition Man is a frightening possibility.