Elon has been cosplaying for a long time as someone interested in sci-fi as a way to sell his horrible vision of the future — but now he's being extremely transparent about his ignorance. Sadly, I don't think this will harm his image, but I will remember.
I think there's a bit of flattening in the statement that Blade Runner is "self-evidently" not aspirational. As a depiction of the future, it may be indeed be very straightforwardly an undesirable one, but as a piece of noir cinema (which it also is), it does what noir always does, which is to make the seedy underbelly of society look sexy AF.
To provide two counter examples: the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max seduces you as a brutal setting for an individual hero to thrive against the odds, but nobody really wants to live in it, to the extent that most of those who romanticize such a scenario, do so mostly by prepping against it.
On the other end of the spectrum, the infamous Metaverse as portrayed both in Snowcrash and in Ready Player One, and the reason it was such an obviously bad sell, is portrayed as being the only saving grace of a world that does ostensibly suck. People don't want to be in that reality, which is why they escape to the metaverse, which is cool. But nobody fantasizes about living in a franchised gated community or a stack of trailers.
But Blade Runner, as much as you can make the case that yes it is depicting miserable humans in a misreable world, is a gorgeous piece of film noir that constantly shows you spaces you kinda want to be in, and that never really depicts a level of misery that's out of place with modern society. Much like the femme fatale trope, it is obviously bad for you but also obviously desirable. Also, I am increasingly haunted by the realization that every day our world comes closer to a sanitized version of Cyberpunk that has all of the downsides yet none of the cool, which I think only heightens the seduction of the idea of living in a Blade Runner world.
None of this is to defend Musk nor his awful truck that has zero Blade Runner charm. Just to point out that when it comes to Cyberpunk, the aesthetic seduction should not be discounted.
This is great as always. I do have some concerns tho, I guess, about the general trend of treating Elon as solely ridiculous.
People love to dunk on assholes like Elon for "mistakenly referencing dystopian scifi as cool future to aspire to" these days. But I think the truth is they actually view these stories as aspirational. Like Elon wants to be the guy in the tower ruling over a dystopia genuinely.
I guess what I'm saying isn't really that people should be more mad, but that we should be seeing the shit they do for what it is, not just as weirdo rich ppl bullshit. Cuz a lot of it is actually self fulfilling prophecies I think.
Like the Koch brothers just want to rewind time, and everyone can understand that, cuz they have the frame of reference. These guys want to win the future that they have a massively outsized hand in creating, which is much more terrifying and also much more obscured.
I guess I worry there is something dangerous about treating all this as just Elon is a dummy that doesn't understand his own references. Which obviously is true but maybe not the whole most useful truth for people to understand.
We all grapple with the existential quandaries of neofeudalism in our own ways. There's a fine line to toe of publicly shaming them while continuing to grant them the common humanity they fail to grant others. I'd personally prefer labeling them as the monsters that they are (in Elon's case, pretty classic psychopathy)
Oh I completely agree they're monsters. They've made themselves monsters at the very least. I just think we should understand the goals of the monsters so we can try to stop them from what they're actually doing. But also agree we all gotta get through the fuckin day man. Anything to keep from staring blankly at a wall and weeping continually, right? Right? Nobody?
Quibble: Psychopaths don't have goals, unless Dr. Strangelove's ending counts as a goal.
The most realistic take I've found on this question is that there is a single distinction worth making between the Elons/orange turd and the Kochs, which is the Kochs have a very small inner circle that they have respect for and are family/'family' (see: the Murdochs). This is why the Kochs can seem to have superpowers if you spend too much time dealing with the ones who a society labels evil if they don't accrue social capital.
In terms of getting through the day, I think it's really as simple as 'chosen family'. Those two words define the LGBTQ community such as it is, and it is the singular revolutionary concept that I think is also at the heart of the American dream of human equality. It is in opposition to FedSoc's goal to define all of human relations through the lens of the household (this really is their only goal).
If it's really that bleak in your heart, it's as simple as finding somewhere to be a good Samaritan, Jerry. Reach out and touch the life of somebody less fortunate. Or phone bank in response to what is certainly looking like the high tide of fascism in the USA in our lifetimes.
Seems pedantic. I don't think Musk meant this was specifically designed for Bladerunner. More that it is built to handle a dystopian future. Like a Hummer but for sci-fi nerds.
No, Elon Musk’s whole deal is a nesting doll of ignorances and superficial (mis)understandings presented like it’s actually polymathic sophistication. This newsletter is just exploring the different layers of self-satisfied wrongness Musk managed to embed inside one smug tweet.
I don't mean to embarrass you, but you're actually thinking of Blade Runner's Monster. Common mistake.
This is a hall-of-fame level comment. I laughed so hard.
And the guy in the Tardis isn’t actually called Dr. Who.
“Did Braveheart run away? Did Payback run away?” https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/05cbd36c-4ad2-4e61-b9e3-af64dd73a7bd
"The gun the Matrix would have shot"
If the universe was fair, read Max would have the same valuation as Tesla
Elon has been cosplaying for a long time as someone interested in sci-fi as a way to sell his horrible vision of the future — but now he's being extremely transparent about his ignorance. Sadly, I don't think this will harm his image, but I will remember.
He pretends to read sci-fi - he makes so many references to Ian Banks The Culture novels. But has such a terrible understanding of them.
Is it worse to have read them and took almost nothing away except the names? Or have it be just another thing he’s lying about?
Hard to say
In Jello Biafra's immortal lyrics of "Yuppie Cadillac":
But I need my armored luxury tank
To drive to work and drive home
Keep my children safe
As I run down yours
While I talk on my cell phone
Better you than me,
Got important places to be
School, soccer, psychiatrist,
And then the wine boutique!
"you don’t live in the world of Blade Runner, which is self-evidently not an aspirational future"
You see, that's the thing. Between this and the a16z manifesto, these types seem to look at sci-fi dystopias as aspirational.
I think there's a bit of flattening in the statement that Blade Runner is "self-evidently" not aspirational. As a depiction of the future, it may be indeed be very straightforwardly an undesirable one, but as a piece of noir cinema (which it also is), it does what noir always does, which is to make the seedy underbelly of society look sexy AF.
To provide two counter examples: the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max seduces you as a brutal setting for an individual hero to thrive against the odds, but nobody really wants to live in it, to the extent that most of those who romanticize such a scenario, do so mostly by prepping against it.
On the other end of the spectrum, the infamous Metaverse as portrayed both in Snowcrash and in Ready Player One, and the reason it was such an obviously bad sell, is portrayed as being the only saving grace of a world that does ostensibly suck. People don't want to be in that reality, which is why they escape to the metaverse, which is cool. But nobody fantasizes about living in a franchised gated community or a stack of trailers.
But Blade Runner, as much as you can make the case that yes it is depicting miserable humans in a misreable world, is a gorgeous piece of film noir that constantly shows you spaces you kinda want to be in, and that never really depicts a level of misery that's out of place with modern society. Much like the femme fatale trope, it is obviously bad for you but also obviously desirable. Also, I am increasingly haunted by the realization that every day our world comes closer to a sanitized version of Cyberpunk that has all of the downsides yet none of the cool, which I think only heightens the seduction of the idea of living in a Blade Runner world.
None of this is to defend Musk nor his awful truck that has zero Blade Runner charm. Just to point out that when it comes to Cyberpunk, the aesthetic seduction should not be discounted.
This is great as always. I do have some concerns tho, I guess, about the general trend of treating Elon as solely ridiculous.
People love to dunk on assholes like Elon for "mistakenly referencing dystopian scifi as cool future to aspire to" these days. But I think the truth is they actually view these stories as aspirational. Like Elon wants to be the guy in the tower ruling over a dystopia genuinely.
I guess what I'm saying isn't really that people should be more mad, but that we should be seeing the shit they do for what it is, not just as weirdo rich ppl bullshit. Cuz a lot of it is actually self fulfilling prophecies I think.
Like the Koch brothers just want to rewind time, and everyone can understand that, cuz they have the frame of reference. These guys want to win the future that they have a massively outsized hand in creating, which is much more terrifying and also much more obscured.
I guess I worry there is something dangerous about treating all this as just Elon is a dummy that doesn't understand his own references. Which obviously is true but maybe not the whole most useful truth for people to understand.
We all grapple with the existential quandaries of neofeudalism in our own ways. There's a fine line to toe of publicly shaming them while continuing to grant them the common humanity they fail to grant others. I'd personally prefer labeling them as the monsters that they are (in Elon's case, pretty classic psychopathy)
Oh I completely agree they're monsters. They've made themselves monsters at the very least. I just think we should understand the goals of the monsters so we can try to stop them from what they're actually doing. But also agree we all gotta get through the fuckin day man. Anything to keep from staring blankly at a wall and weeping continually, right? Right? Nobody?
Quibble: Psychopaths don't have goals, unless Dr. Strangelove's ending counts as a goal.
The most realistic take I've found on this question is that there is a single distinction worth making between the Elons/orange turd and the Kochs, which is the Kochs have a very small inner circle that they have respect for and are family/'family' (see: the Murdochs). This is why the Kochs can seem to have superpowers if you spend too much time dealing with the ones who a society labels evil if they don't accrue social capital.
In terms of getting through the day, I think it's really as simple as 'chosen family'. Those two words define the LGBTQ community such as it is, and it is the singular revolutionary concept that I think is also at the heart of the American dream of human equality. It is in opposition to FedSoc's goal to define all of human relations through the lens of the household (this really is their only goal).
If it's really that bleak in your heart, it's as simple as finding somewhere to be a good Samaritan, Jerry. Reach out and touch the life of somebody less fortunate. Or phone bank in response to what is certainly looking like the high tide of fascism in the USA in our lifetimes.
Just a joke man. I definitely do those things. Not as much as I'd like but life is life. Always appreciate a reminder tho! Thank you!
Look how caremad you are
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3935981
Oh so a densely populated Los Angeles where the vast majority of the population doesn't drive is a *dystopia*? Go off Joel Kotkin
"The future depicted in Blade Runner sucks"
You've confused BR2019 with BR2049. The latter is dystopian, the former, for the most part, isn't.
Really? The LA in the future with flaming towers where it’s also always raining and everything is Asian wasn’t intended to be viewed as dystopian?
Solid points.
As a massive fan of Blade Runner and as someone who really really dislikes Elon (and his dumb cybertruck) this was great. Thank you so much 🩷
"It’s an armored personnel carrier from the future – what John Halo would have driven."
Just a joke. I for sure do those things. But thank you for the reminder!
And the AI in ‘Blade Runner’ is more evolved than Musk too... https://brightvoid.substack.com/p/zen-and-robots
Seems pedantic. I don't think Musk meant this was specifically designed for Bladerunner. More that it is built to handle a dystopian future. Like a Hummer but for sci-fi nerds.
No, Elon Musk’s whole deal is a nesting doll of ignorances and superficial (mis)understandings presented like it’s actually polymathic sophistication. This newsletter is just exploring the different layers of self-satisfied wrongness Musk managed to embed inside one smug tweet.
It's just marketing.
No different than his flamethrower.
Musk has developed a fanatical customer base and he keeps them fed with stunts like this.
The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the marketers.