12/2/09

Magic Highway U.S.A.

2 comments:

Lance Ehlers said...

Stuff like this literally makes me nauseous with disappointment. Everything in the film makes perfect sense until you inject religion, xenophobia, and unchecked greed. Then you wind up with what we have today.

"In the wonderful world of the future, you'll still be stuck inside a petroleum-powered rolling cart, crawling in rush hour traffic to your next round of cancer therapy, which may or may not be covered by your health insurance, provided you actually have health insurance."

stexe said...

Ironically, things were better off before this film was even made; there used to be a time when you could get on a streetcar in downtown LA and ride all the way to Venice Beach. But since the petroleum companies bought LA's rail lines in the 40's and summarily shut it all down, now you'd have to drive the I-10 for 15 miles to do the same thing. During worktime commute it takes upwards of 3 hours.

And now many residents of beverly hills, santa monica, and venice are against a new plan for a train line, linking their communities with the city. They don't want the wrong people having easy access to their neighborhoods, citing your xenophobia claim.

I guess we also have to remember this movie as a product of the Atomic Age, when it was believed that nuclear fission would provide limitless, free, clean power and resources for everyone, and technological progress means that things could only get better. In theory it's almost true, but the things you mentioned got in the way.