It's a cross between roller derby, football, baseball, hockey, and even nascar as far as the pit stop aspects and an ancient aztec sport much like basketball, except much more violent and sometimes death was involved for the loser. So in that sense you can draw the sacrificial comparison of corporations and Aztec sacrifices to please the gods/elite.
I like that movie and I like your analysis. However there is one thing I disagree on. Jonathan had no choice. He had no option of throwing the ball in Bartholomew's (oligarch's) face because there was a plastic wall between them, and for safety reasons it's reasonable to assume that the ball even thrown at the high speed would not penetrate through that wall. It's the wall that separates the spectators from the playing field. It's also reasonable to assume that the part of the wall in front of the oligarch is particularly reinforced.
The reason they can't just kill or force Jonathan is probably because it would upset the public, why take that risk when they can take other options. I think because of it's absurdness people tend to take it as a corny movie but I really think that's a misunderstanding. It's meant to be absurd and yeah like u said almost a meta joke or tragedy/comedy. Plus as someone who grew up playing american football for 8 years of my life before breaking an arm and my fingers, stopping me from playing music at 17, this movie and experience resonated more with me. And I felt the adrenaline of being on the field in front of a crowd
This is excellent, Morgoth, much appreciated. Your final analysis reminds me of what I said about Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes. He was celebrated by seemingly everyone for his ‘biting critique’ of the awards platform, he ‘called them out’ for their behaviors and apparently exposed their evil ways. However, what he actually done was what he was hired for; to draw attention to the Golden Globes, to sell the awards, which is what he done. Standing up there, on stage, going out live, he had the opportunity of doing something actually damaging, to plant the silver ball into the corporations head, so to speak. Alas he did not, he just played the game while everyone continued cheering.
As I said on BC, he understood where his power lies to create maximum leverage. If he'd killed the bloke his influence would've been negligible. Like the Che shirts; Yes, capitalism capitalizes on the image, but the image, and possibly the message, lives on.
The fact you prioritized the 'chute' before YT makes me kinda like this vid even more. I mean - not only do you have a (very) good head on your shoulders, but even the heart is in the right place. Here's to hoping your day feels like it's worth everything and more.
Mr Olonzo bitchute has had its donation funding broken its main platform for payments. PayPal has banned Bitchute. Seems they don’t want free speech in Silicon Valley 🤔
Predictive programming is what Hollywood is all about. It's like these films are a magicians trick. I've never seen rollerballl, but this review makes it a must see
“The druids were tree worshippers, especially the oak. The holly was their most sacred symbol because it was sacred to mother Holle or Hel, the [Norse] goddess of the underworld… Hel Hel by Johannes Gehrts (1889) …thus we have Holle, or Holly-wood (Hel-wood, the “place of magic”) and home of the Illuminati’s mass propaganda and conditioning machine in California. The holly wood was a favourite source of magic wands.” -Children of the Matrix by David Icke
@@newadam573 I've heard Alan Moore argue that "the Great Art", ie magic is actually Great Art. Creating something from nothing, reaching out to contact and influence hearts and minds that go on to change the world.
interesting that comfort makes us lazy, We need to experience real hardship for the masses to want change! Maybe now with people losing their jobs and migration into the country- the indigenous trying to get jobs and a stranger (who are here 5 minutes) applying for the exact same position! Maybe then people will realise how unfair this system is to the native people of Europe!
@Jan Shankenstein I don't know. A lot of people don't really get what is happening, yet. People aren't responsible for their personal survival yet. Men don't have to be capable of physically defending their family, yet. We don't have to produce our own food yet. All this is coming for us in the coming years, that is if they don't just kill us all swiftly.
@Jan Shankenstein Sadly I think that is probably correct. I fear that the response will just be more drug taking and drunkenness . On a more sour note I tend to think that the sort of nationalism which pins its hopes on the idea that somehow other people will wake up and effect the change we desire are in the end pushing away responsibility from themselves.
The end of "Rollerball" underlines the fact that, in modern societies, individualism can only be permitted and expressed within a consumerist framework, where people literally form their identity by buying into it. The obvious culmination of this is geek culture, where everything has been created by huge corporations in order to make members of that sub-culture feel "quirky" and somehow "unique".
@@moisturisedgnome1181 Agree. I think there might be elements of both (particularly Orwell's idea of psychological pressure being applied to Man in order to befuddle and bemuse, and history being rewritten in order to suit the Present), but Huxley's idea of "killing" us via comfort and apathy is what we're seeing with the modern obsession with technological trinkets.
@@raminybhatti5740 yeah the consequences of state control are the loss of freedoms, rights and morals. And of course the self separated societies who don't live by the rules, or who want to remain traditional are portrayed as being savages, akin to the morloks or the proles. Basically if you don't want to be a part of this new world, you need to get out of the city now, go somewhere remote and be self sufficient.
Watched this at the flicks as a youth, wicked good. Was wondering when the national league would commence. Chuffed that you brought up the missing 13th century library courtesy of digitization, Gooolagio stylee. The books are being burned and/or beyond our reach now for research. Particularly during this plandemic lockdown, admin at colleges and/or uni's are not allowing access to much of it's material, unless you have some form of permit. They first came for the librarians and I said nothing, then they came for the ... and I said nuffink
As 15 year olds on a school trip to London in 1975, we were given a lot of free time to do or go, anywhere we liked. However, we were not allowed to go and see Rollerball. I haven't seen it yet.
Excellent analysis. I have a few quibbles, but agree wholeheartedly with the emasculation portion of your essay. And what you describe actually had been playing out for real since the end of WWII in Japan. The transformation of that society was stunningly complete from warrior nation to a nation obsessed with anime school girls. You gotta hand it to MacArthur and his minions.
In the autumn mood for some tasty dystopian storytelling, I see. Gotta say, it is a perfect part of the year for that, for sure. But I think i'm going to read a good one like that in a paper book form ;) Nothing better than that in the end.
So it's like if in the film "They Live" the main character would have just got shot and died before he could have destroyed the main source of their transmission. I think many on the left like to mix up corporatism with free market capitalism, and therefor use that to justify more Socialism/Marxism/Communism. Its like a false dichotomy because I see Corporatism as very similar to Communism as it leads to monopolies albeit duopolies, but neither is a natural organic thing so a false choice. Small family run business I think represent freedom for the people and a true free market as it's not top down authoritarian control.
Where does all the money that our governments print go? Right to the monopoly mens bank accounts. Yeah no real difference from commies and cooperatists.
Or perhaps better yet, put the choice to join the insiders with the cunstruction foreman at the end instead of destroying the relay. An so have him choose to be a part of thr system or strengthening it by his form of rebellion, ending the underground network by taking overt action.
That is not what corporatism means. Corporatism is basically syndicalism, people of a common profession coming together to form a guild of sorts to work towards better wages and working conditions and for their common good. You are thinking of corporatocracy. Corporatism is essentially the economic aspect of Italian Fascism. It has nothing to do at all with corporations. Unfortunate name maybe but the difference is enormous.
Studio 54. The mass media enemy in that movie. In the opening scenes there is a graffiti wall mural where children are running away from a giant syringe...
Has anyone else seen "Blood of Juggers"? (Slightly different title in the USA) Rutger Hauer... similar in theme to Rollerball, but set in the wasteland. A very good film. Wish I still had it
I saw that movie when I was a kid. My dad's girlfriend had the soundtrack, and whenever he took me there (how very 1970s) I asked to hear Bach's tocatta and fugue in d minor, which I'd never heard before seeing Rollerball.
Your videos never fail to impress. You talk about things that I always felt, but never had the words for. I really need to watch this film. Thank you for this.
I never thought Jonathan E contemplated killing Bartholemew, safe behind a protective screen. He does kill a player right in front of him, perhaps as a kind of "this what you wanted when you changed the rules?" fuck you statement. He makes the choice between killing the last motorbike player and scoring the point. Between their rules and his. When the crowd starts chanting his name, then Bartholemew looks really worried. Rollerball as a game can't function as before and now Jonathan E has more power and insight than before.
I don't think humanity needs blood Lust, more that humans need something to struggle against and a responsibility. To struggle against something is to learn, it's to exercise your brain, this is why just repeating knowledge you already know is boring, it's why the new and novel is enjoyable but often comes with risk and fear. People who have nothing productive to do will often create something to do they is less than productive. To have a meaningful life you need to have a responsibility for something or someone.
People do enjoy a bit of vicarious bloodshed, though. Whether it's the millennial getting their fix through violent fictional scenarios, or the boomer imperialist who loves a bit of war in the Middle East, or the blue check marks egging on the BLM riots. The masses today aren't so different from the Romans with their sick games or the Victorians enjoying dog fights and public hangings. It's a depressing part of the human condition and one that we'd all rather not admit to, but people do enjoy violence, especially when they're only spectators and can be part of the excitement without taking risks or taking on the actual moral responsibility for it.
. Life, existence is an aberration/mistake..... The universe is cold inanimate indifferent.... Life is as meaningless, as it is temporary..... We are programmed bits of auto-reproductive ,biomatter... .enjoy the utter inconsequentiality and our worthlessness...
Your review was beautiful. The joke is on us. Without God, without living for something more than just ourselves, this is how the movie will always end.
Have you ever heard of the "mouse Utopia" experiments carried out in the 1960's ? That'd be a good one for you to get your teeth into on the subject of "comfort makes you lazy"
I actually think the ending for _The Running Man_ is actually kind of similar to this too. At the end after Killian is killed and the so-called revolution has overthrown the network, we see all the crowd celebrating via television and its uninterrupted broadcast, with the real controllers and its system still seemingly intact. It's like the show must go on but like everything else it's all one trick and nothing has actually changed.
Thank you, sir for this absolutely fascinating review on a movie that I've loved since I saw it as a kid. You've given me a new perspective on how to view it as well as much food for thought. As soon as I am able, I will buy you that pint!
Love 1970s dystopian films. There’s so many to choose from. The spinball wars in the British comic Action or Battle Action covers similar ground crossed with mad max. I think Jewsion also did the original The Thomas Crowne Affair. A very late 60s style.
Same - one of my favourites is No Blade of Grass from 1970. Great little dystopian film set in Britain as a viral outbreak has devastated grass, rice, wheat etc with famine and chaos engulfing the nation. Nigel Davenport is tremendous in the lead role. Directed by Cornell Wilde as well - he starred in The Naked Prey - what a hell of good movie that is.
I think the end suggests he realises his degree of his impotence and the futility of sacrificing himself by killing the oligarch. He has dedicated his life to reaching the pinnacle of the sport. Strained every sinew and beaten everyone and everything thrown at him in the arena, this is as much as he can ever achieve. Kill the oligarch and another will replace him. The oligarch has sat there in that vulnerable position for that purpose to let him know that he has been played by the system. He has been successfully provoked into taking part in and surviving the most brutal game ever, offered the opportunity to back away and he has helped make the sport more popular than ever but great as he is he has no hope of ever making the slightest dent in the system. Carry on and accept the comfort.
I looked at it from the opposite perspective: By enduring and even winning, Jonathan E reasserted the value of the individual over the collective (Pretty sure Houseman even explained that aspect of the game at one point). I don't think killing Houseman's oligarch was ever in the cards because he was behind a plexiglas barrier. Enduring the game was the only victory available to him.
This is one of my top 5 favorite movies. Saw it as a kid in the 70's at the drive through triple feature with Planet Of The Apes and Logans Run ( A life changing event! ). I have studied it and thought about it my whole life. You just added a layer I never even considered. Brilliant analysis thank you so much for helping me understand and love this amazing movie even more! The meta perspective is simply incredible filmmaking!
A superb analysis of this amazing film, one of my personal favourites. The original music by Andre Previn is also fantastic. As each year passes, we get closer to this dystopian reality.
Interesting take as usual (love your videos btw). I have to say, I'm not entirely convinced but do think it's a very interesting interpretation. My main problem is that Klaus Schwab whats-his-name is safely ensconced behind a sturdy screen which would have made it difficult for Jonathan to get to him. That said, i guess, there could have been ways around that, had the writers wanted, so your main point is still realistic. Anyway, keep up the good work sir :-)
This very thoughtful analysis of one of my all-time favourite movies was very interesting to hear. I understand what you are saying and I can agree with the idealogy of it and the sentiment. To be honest, I have never looked quite so deeply into what the movie is about, but thank you for your very in-depth views. The one comment that I would like to consider is that Jonathon E (whilst being a tool of the system) may also not be the man who wishes to take anyone on in a political way but still be willing to make a point for himself. What I am suggesting is, here we have a man who has everything materialistically speaking, and yet nothing (no family, future or ways of making his own choices )and maybe he just considers that he has purely lived to fight(or play) another day. He knows it will end one day and so he will just fight on until it does, as playing Rollerball is everything to him. If he dies or ends up like Moonpie his best friend, then so be it! This is just another thought to throw into the ring of ideas which you have so eloquently provided to us. Awesome work Morgoth! 👍
Have you ever heard of a computer game called Metal Gear 2, made in the early 90s? It's about a rogue military leader trying to start wars for the sake of creating psychological stimulation in an era of peace. The peace though is just artificially created through a globalised government, controlled by a cold, soulless AI. The protagonist kills the leader and becomes a recognised hero, but in doing so just contributes to the system of increased government control and tyranny and inadvertently damns the world to an AI oligarchy.
A lot of people saying that these movies were "predictive programming". Well yeah that could be true but I think if you look at the 1970's in the USA. The USA was in a bit of a rut after the Vietnam war and a lot of Americans did not feel good about their nation or the future for the first time since the country was founded. So I don't think it's that surprising that a lot of movies made in the 70's looked on the future as being bleak. If you contrast that to films made in the 80's (when America had regained its brash self confidence) then it makes more sense. How did a movie like 'Back to the Future' for example, view the year 2015 & beyond? Flying cars, hover boards etc... In that movie the year 2015 looked better than the year 1985.
Accept they tell us what they're doing or planning to do in a very duplicitous way because they still don't have the balls to reveal their intent out-and-out. Something supernatural for this penchant brand of evil.
Thanks for making the film even more depressing 😂 Some great points in this video. Looking at the film at just the surface-level is definitely missing the point. Then there's another layer beyond the societal commentary, and yes I believe it was intended as you said it was.
Its a good, dystopian film, with some semblance of Corporate driven complacency. In this world, there are no super intelligent apes, with mutant backwards humans, or over po[pulation or pollution causing the trees to die (Silent Running) or Xenomorphs (Aliens). Its a solid script by William Harrison adapted his own short story "Roller Ball Murder" *in Esquire. it is NOT as deep as people think. it basically is one man being the difference and individual achievement to inspire others as opposed to the "futility" of competitive individual endeavour. it was just ok, with a nice soundtrack that added to the opulence of the Corporate ethos. I'd rank it below Soylent Green as the 70s dystopian film series Planet of the Apes/Omega Man/Silent Running/Alien and ill throw in Outland , although it came out in `1980. Too much is made about "people didnt get Rollerball" - it Wass just an average film, with a great performance by James Caan.
Its just mind boggling that our media has conditioned us to the point we quietly allow those who hijack an oil tanker and hold hostage the crew..... and just let em in.
You do realize the oligarch was sitting behind a transparent barrier, probably bulletproof. There is no way the player can throw the ball fast enough to get through the barrier, much less reach the oligarch. The players attempt would be a wasted effort and result in his own death.
Spot on. The big message of the story is that nothing actually changed in the final analysis. In terms of altering the system itself, E. changed nowt whatsoever.
The ending is very similar. You see all the smiles and laughter but everyone is still watching it through the television. The heroes and the revolution that overthrew the network never won anything, they were all part of the show. Interesting.
E is #6 while Moonpie is #9. Opposites yet complimentary. E becomes aware while Moonpie is not so bright. E gains empathy when Moonpie's ability to support him is disabled.
1) Jonathan E was Aware of the possibility of Corporate assassination attempts. 2) He Survived the most brutal game with no rules whatsoever. 3) Jonathan E continues to Learn and will no doubt pass on his knowledge. 4) There's no point in killing Barthlomew as Jonathan E probably after his moment of pondering realized he was just another easily replaceable executive, (especially after the embarrassment of his retirement special plan fuck up) so in effect there's no point in killing this toothless, blustery, old executive. I think that Jonathan E in whatever guise will become a source of inspiration, in what form he will become an inspiration it's left quite open at the end. Maybe he's assassinated afterwards and becomes memory holed but even if that's the case, he's already made an impact and the corporations know it. The entire situation is a disaster of the corporations own doing, there were many ways in which they could've gone about the situation with Jonathan E but they're so restricted in their corporate way of thinking that no executives actually wanted to speak up on how to deal with the situation, it was easier (and more comfortable) to vote for the proposed idea.
This film rejoices in the power of the individual over uniformity. In the film - all the proletariat have is the game. The corporations 'rigged the rules' to show that no one is above the game and no single individual can survive within it. You cannot resist the strict order of the corporations. Jonathan E. defies those corporations and shows the masses... that the individual is more powerful than any kind of corporate conformity. The point isn't that Jonathan E. can start a revolution himself... he's just a 'ballplayer' But it 'sows the seed of doubt' in the corporations hegemony to the masses. The power of a single individual to instigate change. It's a deeply American form of idealism. Like 'Mr.Smith Goes to Washington' ('39). It's an American liberal fairy tale about the overcoming, or at least... holding back the excesses of capitalism. Leaving a little room for the little people. But that's also why there's no actual revolution in the film... Americans don't want real change, just a little bit more of the wealth that surrounds them.
Fascinating review! Rollerball's depiction of sport as a means of pacification as well as the mutability of digitized information remain as hard-hitting as ever. In other ways, though, the movie isn't quite as accurate as one might expect. It may be a stretch, but not much of one, to describe Rollerball as a utopia, but many dystopias are not far from utopia (their reaching out to just what's just beyond their grasp makes their fall much more poignant). There are no wars, no shortages, and best of all, no democracy. The masculine ideal is preserved as is the warrior ideal, in some form, in the bloodsport. It's a far more attractive society than ours, as in our world masculinity is derided to the extent that sports themselves are made softer. Celebrities exist but they are even more corrupt and immoral than the oligarchs they work for. Corporations are powerful, sure, but they are only one part of the "new chain of being" and not even at the top; international bodies, sophist professors, and demagogues are far more threatening as they ride anti-capitalist sentiment rather than withstand it. There is no golden age of comfort but a steadily declining society is driving the population to revolution, not against their enslavement but in support of it. It's funny how the dystopias of 50 years ago look so much better than what we have now. Also it's worth pointing out that the Frankfurt School was always criticizing the "old Marxists." The argument you made about capitalism "absorbing" communist sentiment was to advocate the corruption of capitalism from within, and it has been wildly successful. No longer do corporations seek power as a natural urge, but they do so to further the cause of "social progress," even if it hurts them. Ironically, just as the original interpretation of the final scene was of the individual freely choosing to commit to a meaningless game rather than rebel against the corporation, today the individual becomes the corporation and the corporation is the "Cathedral"!
More importantly, what is Battle Star Galactica about? Surely it's about the you know whose? I've googled this so many times and even asked on Twitter. But I can't be the only one to have noticed this. The Cylons are the invisible enemy looking to take control from within.
Interesting points. Some parallels with the music scene of the late 70s too, perhaps? Punk being a rupture of the system which panicked the establishment to such an extent they refused to play the Sex Pistols on air. The movement became watered down and sold back to us like the Che T-shirt as new wave, would you say?
Thanks to everyone who supports my channel
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@Ramming Speed They're far leftists, that song is like an anti-fa battle cry. He has a line ''shooting fa5cits''
It's a cross between roller derby, football, baseball, hockey, and even nascar as far as the pit stop aspects and an ancient aztec sport much like basketball, except much more violent and sometimes death was involved for the loser. So in that sense you can draw the sacrificial comparison of corporations and Aztec sacrifices to please the gods/elite.
I like that movie and I like your analysis. However there is one thing I disagree on. Jonathan had no choice. He had no option of throwing the ball in Bartholomew's (oligarch's) face because there was a plastic wall between them, and for safety reasons it's reasonable to assume that the ball even thrown at the high speed would not penetrate through that wall.
It's the wall that separates the spectators from the playing field. It's also reasonable to assume that the part of the wall in front of the oligarch is particularly reinforced.
The reason they can't just kill or force Jonathan is probably because it would upset the public, why take that risk when they can take other options
The reason they can't just kill or force Jonathan is probably because it would upset the public, why take that risk when they can take other options. I think because of it's absurdness people tend to take it as a corny movie but I really think that's a misunderstanding. It's meant to be absurd and yeah like u said almost a meta joke or tragedy/comedy. Plus as someone who grew up playing american football for 8 years of my life before breaking an arm and my fingers, stopping me from playing music at 17, this movie and experience resonated more with me. And I felt the adrenaline of being on the field in front of a crowd
This is excellent, Morgoth, much appreciated. Your final analysis reminds me of what I said about Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes. He was celebrated by seemingly everyone for his ‘biting critique’ of the awards platform, he ‘called them out’ for their behaviors and apparently exposed their evil ways. However, what he actually done was what he was hired for; to draw attention to the Golden Globes, to sell the awards, which is what he done. Standing up there, on stage, going out live, he had the opportunity of doing something actually damaging, to plant the silver ball into the corporations head, so to speak. Alas he did not, he just played the game while everyone continued cheering.
Good analysis there
Thanks Dangerfield, and yes that's an interesting take, there's more to be said on this.
As I said on BC, he understood where his power lies to create maximum leverage. If he'd killed the bloke his influence would've been negligible.
Like the Che shirts; Yes, capitalism capitalizes on the image, but the image, and possibly the message, lives on.
Now marry a Black girl Mr Bowie
Dangerfield - agree about Gervais. Something about that man.
The fact you prioritized the 'chute' before YT makes me kinda like this vid even more. I mean - not only do you have a (very) good head on your shoulders, but even the heart is in the right place.
Here's to hoping your day feels like it's worth everything and more.
Thanks mate
@Geoff Wode Bitchute needs to sort out its comment feature. It does not allow discussion at this point.
Mr Olonzo bitchute has had its donation funding broken its main platform for payments. PayPal has banned Bitchute. Seems they don’t want free speech in Silicon Valley 🤔
@@mark-yj5sg It's based in the UK, it's not like it has much of it in the first place.
@Mr Olonzo There's other alternatives gathering steam like Rumble and Odysee. Bitchute has the right mindset but the dev skills there are pitiful.
Of all the dystopias presented in film, Rollerball's has the most plausible premise.
Soylent Green as well.
Predictive programming is what Hollywood is all about. It's like these films are a magicians trick.
I've never seen rollerballl, but this review makes it a must see
Running man is similar
They have to show you beforehand for some sort of cosmic licence.
“The druids were tree worshippers, especially the oak. The holly was their most sacred symbol because it was sacred to mother Holle or Hel, the [Norse] goddess of the underworld…
Hel
Hel by Johannes Gehrts (1889)
…thus we have Holle, or Holly-wood (Hel-wood, the “place of magic”) and home of the Illuminati’s mass propaganda and conditioning machine in California. The holly wood was a favourite source of magic wands.” -Children of the Matrix by David Icke
Watch THX 1138 too.
@@newadam573 I've heard Alan Moore argue that "the Great Art", ie magic is actually Great Art. Creating something from nothing, reaching out to contact and influence hearts and minds that go on to change the world.
Rollerball is about the power of friendship and how it can transcend even the worlds most ruthless grandpa.
interesting that comfort makes us lazy, We need to experience real hardship for the masses to want change!
Maybe now with people losing their jobs and migration into the country- the indigenous trying to get jobs and a stranger (who are here 5 minutes) applying for the exact same position! Maybe then people will realise how unfair this system is to the native people of Europe!
@Jan Shankenstein I don't know. A lot of people don't really get what is happening, yet. People aren't responsible for their personal survival yet. Men don't have to be capable of physically defending their family, yet. We don't have to produce our own food yet. All this is coming for us in the coming years, that is if they don't just kill us all swiftly.
Tony Blairs Labour did exactly that. Make the masses comfortable and lazy.
@Jan Shankenstein Sadly I think that is probably correct. I fear that the response will just be more drug taking and drunkenness . On a more sour note I tend to think that the sort of nationalism which pins its hopes on the idea that somehow other people will wake up and effect the change we desire are in the end pushing away responsibility from themselves.
@Marko Fahrenheit correct and whites are the minority!
@Marko Fahrenheit This may be true Marko, but it does not mean that all minorities succeed. Some are crushed out of existence.
Morgoth hitting another home run. Greetings from America.
I'll have to watch this, reminds me of The Running Man, in which they used technology to alter people's faces in footage, which is now possible....
Killian "Go to hell!"
Arnie "I don't do requests" 😄
Killian is lying to you
The worst thing is our circuses aren't even on the level of rollerball. Instead we get X-factor and candycrush...
Whenever I see someone playing ‘candy crush’ type games I want to scream “read a book you idiot”
We have UFC
LOL...very eloquently put, Sir!
@@TwistyThreeFifty not as fun as seeing guys ram into each other with motorbikes and smack each other with spiked gloves
@@johndoe-eh3tv look up Russian team fighting, still not as good but we’re gonna get back to the point where we have truly great entertainment
It's Morgoth so it must be good.
Love the cultural analysis, Morgoth.
I don't think I've ever watched Rollerball. I'll definitely check it out after this.
The end of "Rollerball" underlines the fact that, in modern societies, individualism can only be permitted and expressed within a consumerist framework, where people literally form their identity by buying into it. The obvious culmination of this is geek culture, where everything has been created by huge corporations in order to make members of that sub-culture feel "quirky" and somehow "unique".
Science fiction writers are either visionaries or insiders; either way some of them depict our future world, take notes.
Huxley knew , no doubt
Maybe... Or just able to extrapolate
@Helmholtz it's definitely going to be more of a Brave New World-order than a 1984 dystopia
@@moisturisedgnome1181 Agree. I think there might be elements of both (particularly Orwell's idea of psychological pressure being applied to Man in order to befuddle and bemuse, and history being rewritten in order to suit the Present), but Huxley's idea of "killing" us via comfort and apathy is what we're seeing with the modern obsession with technological trinkets.
@@raminybhatti5740 yeah the consequences of state control are the loss of freedoms, rights and morals. And of course the self separated societies who don't live by the rules, or who want to remain traditional are portrayed as being savages, akin to the morloks or the proles. Basically if you don't want to be a part of this new world, you need to get out of the city now, go somewhere remote and be self sufficient.
West World was another one. The Android knight who screams - Varlet!!! 😂
Yes! Been bingeing oId vids waiting for a new one and this popped up!
Haha I'm glad I have that type of channel, cheers
Liked before the video started
In spite of my rage I am still just a rat in a cage. Halloween indeed.
Brilliant and a pleasure to listen to.
Watched this at the flicks as a youth, wicked good. Was wondering when the national league would commence. Chuffed that you brought up the missing 13th century library courtesy of digitization, Gooolagio stylee. The books are being burned and/or beyond our reach now for research. Particularly during this plandemic lockdown, admin at colleges and/or uni's are not allowing access to much of it's material, unless you have some form of permit. They first came for the librarians and I said nothing, then they came for the ... and I said nuffink
As 15 year olds on a school trip to London in 1975, we were given a lot of free time to do or go, anywhere we liked. However, we were not allowed to go and see Rollerball. I haven't seen it yet.
70s slowly coming back I see.. This is both exciting and unnerving. Well anyways, thanks for another great one Morgoth. Cheers and God Bless!
Algorithm comment. I don't need to watch before knowing I'll agree.
Dissident NPCs of the world unite!
Excellent analysis. I have a few quibbles, but agree wholeheartedly with the emasculation portion of your essay. And what you describe actually had been playing out for real since the end of WWII in Japan. The transformation of that society was stunningly complete from warrior nation to a nation obsessed with anime school girls. You gotta hand it to MacArthur and his minions.
In the autumn mood for some tasty dystopian storytelling, I see. Gotta say, it is a perfect part of the year for that, for sure. But I think i'm going to read a good one like that in a paper book form ;) Nothing better than that in the end.
So it's like if in the film "They Live" the main character would have just got shot and died before he could have destroyed the main source of their transmission. I think many on the left like to mix up corporatism with free market capitalism, and therefor use that to justify more Socialism/Marxism/Communism. Its like a false dichotomy because I see Corporatism as very similar to Communism as it leads to monopolies albeit duopolies, but neither is a natural organic thing so a false choice. Small family run business I think represent freedom for the people and a true free market as it's not top down authoritarian control.
Where does all the money that our governments print go? Right to the monopoly mens bank accounts. Yeah no real difference from commies and cooperatists.
Or perhaps better yet, put the choice to join the insiders with the cunstruction foreman at the end instead of destroying the relay. An so have him choose to be a part of thr system or strengthening it by his form of rebellion, ending the underground network by taking overt action.
That is not what corporatism means. Corporatism is basically syndicalism, people of a common profession coming together to form a guild of sorts to work towards better wages and working conditions and for their common good. You are thinking of corporatocracy. Corporatism is essentially the economic aspect of Italian Fascism. It has nothing to do at all with corporations. Unfortunate name maybe but the difference is enormous.
Studio 54. The mass media enemy in that movie. In the opening scenes there is a graffiti wall mural where children are running away from a giant syringe...
When I was a kid I thought all Sci-Fi was like this, I still get flashbacks from Silent Running.
Has anyone else seen "Blood of Juggers"? (Slightly different title in the USA) Rutger Hauer... similar in theme to Rollerball, but set in the wasteland. A very good film. Wish I still had it
I saw that movie when I was a kid. My dad's girlfriend had the soundtrack, and whenever he took me there (how very 1970s) I asked to hear Bach's tocatta and fugue in d minor, which I'd never heard before seeing Rollerball.
Wow. You have won me over with your insight on this film! Thank you. Subscribed.
Your videos never fail to impress. You talk about things that I always felt, but never had the words for. I really need to watch this film. Thank you for this.
I'd love to hear your take on The Running Man.
Agreed, that would be would be a good one to to get Morgoth's take on.
Thanks for these interesting commentaries Morgoth.
Always original and fun to watch.
great review of a great fillum. similar themes were played out in paul newmans slap shot.
I never thought Jonathan E contemplated killing Bartholemew, safe behind a protective screen. He does kill a player right in front of him, perhaps as a kind of "this what you wanted when you changed the rules?" fuck you statement. He makes the choice between killing the last motorbike player and scoring the point. Between their rules and his. When the crowd starts chanting his name, then Bartholemew looks really worried. Rollerball as a game can't function as before and now Jonathan E has more power and insight than before.
I don't think humanity needs blood Lust, more that humans need something to struggle against and a responsibility.
To struggle against something is to learn, it's to exercise your brain, this is why just repeating knowledge you already know is boring, it's why the new and novel is enjoyable but often comes with risk and fear.
People who have nothing productive to do will often create something to do they is less than productive.
To have a meaningful life you need to have a responsibility for something or someone.
People do enjoy a bit of vicarious bloodshed, though. Whether it's the millennial getting their fix through violent fictional scenarios, or the boomer imperialist who loves a bit of war in the Middle East, or the blue check marks egging on the BLM riots. The masses today aren't so different from the Romans with their sick games or the Victorians enjoying dog fights and public hangings. It's a depressing part of the human condition and one that we'd all rather not admit to, but people do enjoy violence, especially when they're only spectators and can be part of the excitement without taking risks or taking on the actual moral responsibility for it.
.
Life, existence is an aberration/mistake.....
The universe is cold inanimate indifferent....
Life is as meaningless, as it is temporary.....
We are programmed bits of auto-reproductive ,biomatter...
.enjoy the utter inconsequentiality and our worthlessness...
Your review was beautiful. The joke is on us. Without God, without living for something more than just ourselves, this is how the movie will always end.
I could listen to you say "Super computer" all day Morgoth.
John. E and his companions chose to partake in a killing game. They are portrayed too kindly. Of course he spared the patron.
Have you ever heard of the "mouse Utopia" experiments carried out in the 1960's ?
That'd be a good one for you to get your teeth into on the subject of "comfort makes you lazy"
@Goomba Oomba No they were placed in what was thought to be ideal living conditions.
So there was no scarcity of resources.
Excellent suggestion for analysis from a right perspective
Great work as usual
I actually think the ending for _The Running Man_ is actually kind of similar to this too. At the end after Killian is killed and the so-called revolution has overthrown the network, we see all the crowd celebrating via television and its uninterrupted broadcast, with the real controllers and its system still seemingly intact. It's like the show must go on but like everything else it's all one trick and nothing has actually changed.
Thank you, sir for this absolutely fascinating review on a movie that I've loved since I saw it as a kid. You've given me a new perspective on how to view it as well as much food for thought. As soon as I am able, I will buy you that pint!
Love 1970s dystopian films. There’s so many to choose from. The spinball wars in the British comic Action or Battle Action covers similar ground crossed with mad max. I think Jewsion also did the original The Thomas Crowne Affair. A very late 60s style.
Same - one of my favourites is No Blade of Grass from 1970. Great little dystopian film set in Britain as a viral outbreak has devastated grass, rice, wheat etc with famine and chaos engulfing the nation. Nigel Davenport is tremendous in the lead role. Directed by Cornell Wilde as well - he starred in The Naked Prey - what a hell of good movie that is.
It was supposed to be set in 2018
Super video. Bread and circus. The time when Tommy Robinson was jailed, as an example, maybe?
Spartacus
I think the end suggests he realises his degree of his impotence and the futility of sacrificing himself by killing the oligarch. He has dedicated his life to reaching the pinnacle of the sport. Strained every sinew and beaten everyone and everything thrown at him in the arena, this is as much as he can ever achieve. Kill the oligarch and another will replace him. The oligarch has sat there in that vulnerable position for that purpose to let him know that he has been played by the system. He has been successfully provoked into taking part in and surviving the most brutal game ever, offered the opportunity to back away and he has helped make the sport more popular than ever but great as he is he has no hope of ever making the slightest dent in the system. Carry on and accept the comfort.
I looked at it from the opposite perspective: By enduring and even winning, Jonathan E reasserted the value of the individual over the collective (Pretty sure Houseman even explained that aspect of the game at one point).
I don't think killing Houseman's oligarch was ever in the cards because he was behind a plexiglas barrier. Enduring the game was the only victory available to him.
Excellent analysis. very insightful. well done.
This is one of my top 5 favorite movies. Saw it as a kid in the 70's at the drive through triple feature with Planet Of The Apes and Logans Run ( A life changing event! ). I have studied it and thought about it my whole life. You just added a layer I never even considered. Brilliant analysis thank you so much for helping me understand and love this amazing movie even more! The meta perspective is simply incredible filmmaking!
A superb analysis of this amazing film, one of my personal favourites. The original music by Andre Previn is also fantastic. As each year passes, we get closer to this dystopian reality.
Interesting take as usual (love your videos btw). I have to say, I'm not entirely convinced but do think it's a very interesting interpretation. My main problem is that Klaus Schwab whats-his-name is safely ensconced behind a sturdy screen which would have made it difficult for Jonathan to get to him. That said, i guess, there could have been ways around that, had the writers wanted, so your main point is still realistic. Anyway, keep up the good work sir :-)
Great review man, love the music. Sad times we find ourselves in...
The people made Rollerball their own. The elites tried to change it, but they could not break the spirit of the people.
This is exactly the version that jibes best, I think. Well done!!
Normally i don't really like movie dissection videos. But this one really cut to the heart of the matter. Great job.
You had me at 'the corporations have taken over...'
Actually, you had me months ago...
its really is beautifully articulated content, in a way that only the north east accent can deliver
Fantastic analysis! And, most certainly, the joke is on us. Maranatha!
This very thoughtful analysis of one of my all-time favourite movies was very interesting to hear. I understand what you are saying and I can agree with the idealogy of it and the sentiment. To be honest, I have never looked quite so deeply into what the movie is about, but thank you for your very in-depth views.
The one comment that I would like to consider is that Jonathon E (whilst being a tool of the system) may also not be the man who wishes to take anyone on in a political way but still be willing to make a point for himself.
What I am suggesting is, here we have a man who has everything materialistically speaking, and yet nothing (no family, future or ways of making his own choices )and maybe he just considers that he has purely lived to fight(or play) another day. He knows it will end one day and so he will just fight on until it does, as playing Rollerball is everything to him. If he dies or ends up like Moonpie his best friend, then so be it!
This is just another thought to throw into the ring of ideas which you have so eloquently provided to us.
Awesome work Morgoth! 👍
Have you ever heard of a computer game called Metal Gear 2, made in the early 90s? It's about a rogue military leader trying to start wars for the sake of creating psychological stimulation in an era of peace. The peace though is just artificially created through a globalised government, controlled by a cold, soulless AI. The protagonist kills the leader and becomes a recognised hero, but in doing so just contributes to the system of increased government control and tyranny and inadvertently damns the world to an AI oligarchy.
@Fallout: Europe Gaming culture is pretty degenerate anyway. Its all just a Rollerball-tier distraction to keep us docile.
A meditation on how to quell the Viking spirit of the European.
Faustian spirit*
So in the end its like the saying in casinos... The house always wins
Rollerball is also another MSM predictive programming production.
A lot of people saying that these movies were "predictive programming". Well yeah that could be true but I think if you look at the 1970's in the USA.
The USA was in a bit of a rut after the Vietnam war and a lot of Americans did not feel good about their nation or the future for the first time since the country was founded.
So I don't think it's that surprising that a lot of movies made in the 70's looked on the future as being bleak.
If you contrast that to films made in the 80's (when America had regained its brash self confidence) then it makes more sense.
How did a movie like 'Back to the Future' for example, view the year 2015 & beyond? Flying cars, hover boards etc... In that movie the year 2015 looked better than the year 1985.
Driving through the town I grew up in recently I was reminded of the Biff Tannen timeline which led to degeneracy
Maybe the circular arena and the final scene represent the greatest weight. It all goes on and on regardless.
Or not.
It's not giving the game away, it's revelation of method. They justify all they do because they tell us what they're doing to us, and we accept it.
Accept they tell us what they're doing or planning to do in a very duplicitous way because they still don't have the balls to reveal their intent out-and-out. Something supernatural for this penchant brand of evil.
1:26 "Sixty-nine, dude!" (Air guitar)
Rollerball is about a roller skater with only one testicle.
Perhaps Jonathan E ascended to be an oligarch too, by complying to the system.
Comment to support channel only.
Great video. I've never even heard of this film but must check it out.
Thanks for making the film even more depressing 😂
Some great points in this video. Looking at the film at just the surface-level is definitely missing the point. Then there's another layer beyond the societal commentary, and yes I believe it was intended as you said it was.
This was a gem when i stumbled upon it over 20 years ago.
Oh sorry no my bad, i mixed this with "The Blood of Heroes" (1989).
Why, this is revolutionary.
Logan's run was another one
Its a good, dystopian film, with some semblance of Corporate driven complacency. In this world, there are no super intelligent apes, with mutant backwards humans, or over po[pulation or pollution causing the trees to die (Silent Running) or Xenomorphs (Aliens). Its a solid script by William Harrison adapted his own short story "Roller Ball Murder" *in Esquire. it is NOT as deep as people think. it basically is one man being the difference and individual achievement to inspire others as opposed to the "futility" of competitive individual endeavour.
it was just ok, with a nice soundtrack that added to the opulence of the Corporate ethos. I'd rank it below Soylent Green as the 70s dystopian film series Planet of the Apes/Omega Man/Silent Running/Alien and ill throw in Outland , although it came out in `1980. Too much is made about "people didnt get Rollerball" - it Wass just an average film, with a great performance by James Caan.
Its just mind boggling that our media has conditioned us to the point we quietly allow those who hijack an oil tanker and hold hostage the crew..... and just let em in.
So basically, we have no other option, but to keep 'Living the lie'..
Thats what they want you to think. Ideas are the most powerful weapons. Unite and overcome.
No. We throw the ball into the Oligarch's face.
@@Stormvermin-bx1lh you squabble over interpretations ,of a north african god....
You do realize the oligarch was sitting behind a transparent barrier, probably bulletproof. There is no way the player can throw the ball fast enough to get through the barrier, much less reach the oligarch. The players attempt would be a wasted effort and result in his own death.
running man
Spot on. The big message of the story is that nothing actually changed in the final analysis. In terms of altering the system itself, E. changed nowt whatsoever.
I'd really like to hear a discussion between yourself and The Reset Sniper.
Must of been where The Running Man took a lot of its ideas
The ending is very similar. You see all the smiles and laughter but everyone is still watching it through the television. The heroes and the revolution that overthrew the network never won anything, they were all part of the show. Interesting.
E is #6 while Moonpie is #9. Opposites yet complimentary. E becomes aware while Moonpie is not so bright. E gains empathy when Moonpie's ability to support him is disabled.
Superb vid.
It’s about how a perfect utopia is destroyed and violence and war and destruction return.
1) Jonathan E was Aware of the possibility of Corporate assassination attempts.
2) He Survived the most brutal game with no rules whatsoever.
3) Jonathan E continues to Learn and will no doubt pass on his knowledge.
4) There's no point in killing Barthlomew as Jonathan E probably after his moment of pondering realized he was just another easily replaceable executive, (especially after the embarrassment of his retirement special plan fuck up) so in effect there's no point in killing this toothless, blustery, old executive.
I think that Jonathan E in whatever guise will become a source of inspiration, in what form he will become an inspiration it's left quite open at the end. Maybe he's assassinated afterwards and becomes memory holed but even if that's the case, he's already made an impact and the corporations know it.
The entire situation is a disaster of the corporations own doing, there were many ways in which they could've gone about the situation with Jonathan E but they're so restricted in their corporate way of thinking that no executives actually wanted to speak up on how to deal with the situation, it was easier (and more comfortable) to vote for the proposed idea.
I saw that in the cinema in 1975. It's still a really good film.
This film rejoices in the power of the individual over uniformity. In the film - all the proletariat have is the game. The corporations 'rigged the rules' to show that no one is above the game and no single individual can survive within it. You cannot resist the strict order of the corporations. Jonathan E. defies those corporations and shows the masses... that the individual is more powerful than any kind of corporate conformity. The point isn't that Jonathan E. can start a revolution himself... he's just a 'ballplayer' But it 'sows the seed of doubt' in the corporations hegemony to the masses. The power of a single individual to instigate change. It's a deeply American form of idealism. Like 'Mr.Smith Goes to Washington' ('39). It's an American liberal fairy tale about the overcoming, or at least... holding back the excesses of capitalism. Leaving a little room for the little people. But that's also why there's no actual revolution in the film... Americans don't want real change, just a little bit more of the wealth that surrounds them.
You are genius and thank you.
Fascinating review! Rollerball's depiction of sport as a means of pacification as well as the mutability of digitized information remain as hard-hitting as ever.
In other ways, though, the movie isn't quite as accurate as one might expect. It may be a stretch, but not much of one, to describe Rollerball as a utopia, but many dystopias are not far from utopia (their reaching out to just what's just beyond their grasp makes their fall much more poignant). There are no wars, no shortages, and best of all, no democracy. The masculine ideal is preserved as is the warrior ideal, in some form, in the bloodsport. It's a far more attractive society than ours, as in our world masculinity is derided to the extent that sports themselves are made softer. Celebrities exist but they are even more corrupt and immoral than the oligarchs they work for. Corporations are powerful, sure, but they are only one part of the "new chain of being" and not even at the top; international bodies, sophist professors, and demagogues are far more threatening as they ride anti-capitalist sentiment rather than withstand it. There is no golden age of comfort but a steadily declining society is driving the population to revolution, not against their enslavement but in support of it. It's funny how the dystopias of 50 years ago look so much better than what we have now.
Also it's worth pointing out that the Frankfurt School was always criticizing the "old Marxists." The argument you made about capitalism "absorbing" communist sentiment was to advocate the corruption of capitalism from within, and it has been wildly successful. No longer do corporations seek power as a natural urge, but they do so to further the cause of "social progress," even if it hurts them. Ironically, just as the original interpretation of the final scene was of the individual freely choosing to commit to a meaningless game rather than rebel against the corporation, today the individual becomes the corporation and the corporation is the "Cathedral"!
More importantly, what is Battle Star Galactica about? Surely it's about the you know whose? I've googled this so many times and even asked on Twitter. But I can't be the only one to have noticed this. The Cylons are the invisible enemy looking to take control from within.
Bread and circuses ...nothing to see here folks...!
*Jon - A - Than*
*Jon - A - Than*
*Jon - A - Than*
I wonder how Demolition Man would fit in here? That's an interesting movie too. As is They Live.
The firing of Tucker Carlson reminds me of the reason the powers that be tried to eliminate Jonathan E (James Caan) from the game of RollerBall
Excellent !!!
Interesting points. Some parallels with the music scene of the late 70s too, perhaps? Punk being a rupture of the system which panicked the establishment to such an extent they refused to play the Sex Pistols on air. The movement became watered down and sold back to us like the Che T-shirt as new wave, would you say?
Silent Running is a negative 70s movie of the predicted future, also I think The Andromeda Strain and Phase IV (about ants taking over)