20 Minutes into the Future (Something is wrong, I can feel it....)
I found this video on the history and interpretations of Max Headroom really interesting, even if I don't agree with many points it makes. (Note: It's 38 minutes long.)
The main point I don't agree with? The creator's thesis that Max Headroom is a villain, a view that informs some other points the creator makes in the video. It especially mystifies me since the video includes a few clips of The Colbert Report, which informs my view. Max Headroom, like the signs he got his name from, is a warning, telling you to pay attention to what's being said, offering occasional looks behind the curtain of media and celebrity. He's charismatic and funny and entertaining, and that's what makes him dangerous because he also has quite a dark side. Even if he's not obviously selling you something, he's probably selling you something....
Is he counterculture criticizing corporations and The Man, or "counterculture" co-opted by corporations (New Coke)? Or is he counterculture co-opted by corporations but actually taking them down from within (also New Coke)? Or some combination of these. Depends on who's using him and why.
I do agree that a revival of the character would make a lot of sense in our contemporary times, and he could be a lot scarier now that he can use the internet to move to any screen anywhere instantaneously, including the ones a lot of us now carry in our pockets or bags everywhere we go. Plus, “80s nostalgia. You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost.
comments at Dreamwidth.
Click to viewThe main point I don't agree with? The creator's thesis that Max Headroom is a villain, a view that informs some other points the creator makes in the video. It especially mystifies me since the video includes a few clips of The Colbert Report, which informs my view. Max Headroom, like the signs he got his name from, is a warning, telling you to pay attention to what's being said, offering occasional looks behind the curtain of media and celebrity. He's charismatic and funny and entertaining, and that's what makes him dangerous because he also has quite a dark side. Even if he's not obviously selling you something, he's probably selling you something....
Is he counterculture criticizing corporations and The Man, or "counterculture" co-opted by corporations (New Coke)? Or is he counterculture co-opted by corporations but actually taking them down from within (also New Coke)? Or some combination of these. Depends on who's using him and why.
I do agree that a revival of the character would make a lot of sense in our contemporary times, and he could be a lot scarier now that he can use the internet to move to any screen anywhere instantaneously, including the ones a lot of us now carry in our pockets or bags everywhere we go. Plus, “80s nostalgia. You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost.
comments at Dreamwidth.