The Running Man, The Long Walk, and a possible Dystopian future of entertainment

[Safe-Keeper]

The Running Man (http://www.amazon.com/Running-Man-Stephen-King/dp/0451197968/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227654601&sr=8-2). It's about a poverty-stricken man who finds himself forced to join a reality show in which he will be hunted like a criminal by ruthless hit men for a specific length of time - if he survives for a month, or whatever it was, he wins a large sum of money. The TV show is broadcast regularly with updates on the hunt and the option of viewers to call the TV station with tips - whichever provide helpful tips, especially tips which lead to the killing of the contestant, win themselves sums of money (I believe 10 000 or 100 000 or something).

The book, as well as The Long Walk (http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Stephen-King/dp/0451196716/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227655290&sr=8-1), a Dystopian scenario in which a hundred kids are force-marched until they're exhausted and gunned down by automatic rifles of their mechanized infantry escort, and the last child to survive wins a prize, has gotten me thinking. We already have heartless TV shows today, with followings. We have Idol, in which they have contestants sing in precasts for then to pick out the really bad singers and throw them on stage and humiliate them in front of TV cameras and huge audiences. We had, for a limited time, Bumfight, in which homeless people were taken advantage of by people who found it a good idea to broadcast 'bum fights'. We've got, in general, certain TV show producers and news channels that have displayed a general tendency of revolting coldheartedness towards their fellow human beings. I could list many, many examples, but I'm sure I don't need to.

My worry for the thread, either way, is this: that there is a possibility that we, in some near future, will get reality shows in which contestants literally put their lives on the line. Shows like The running man and The Long Walk. And why not? We already had this Dutch TV station announcing a hoax show in which the contestants had to compete for a kidney, and only one of them would receive a transplant while the rest died. This show had support from people, and while it wouldn't have condemned healthy people to death like The Running Man if real, I feel that it points to a disturbing future.

Is it possible that in the near future (Stephen King's novel took place as early as 2025), we could have a show in which it was a given part of every episode of the show that contestants died? Recent trends in news broadcasting prove that people enjoy watching suffering and death. Recent trends in entertainment shows indicate pretty clearly that what we're continuously lowering the bar for what we consider acceptable behaviour towards our fellow human beings. There wouldn't be a shortage of contestants - there's enough people out there desperate enough for money and/or tired enough of life to sign up for such shows. What about condemned people on death row - would a citizen awaiting death sentence sign up for a show like The Running Man if it meant a pardon if he won?

How long until we flock to the TV every night to watch our fellow citizens suffer and die, the way the Romans of old massed to Colosseum to see the gladiators be bested by lions? Not that we don't all already do this, news programs and documentaries being what they are, but how long until we start turning killing into entertainment programs?

[tomwaits]

Reading a little too much Richard Bachman?

I'll be honest, I read The Regulators and I vowed that would be the last Bachman book I would attempt. Perhaps that was unfair.

[Safe-Keeper]

I've stopped reading Bachman, yes. I only read Stephen King now.

Oh, wait...
:p

[billw]

To give credit where credit is due, it should be noted that this particular future dystopian entertainment form was (AFAIK) first conceived and written about in the 1950's by science fiction author Robert Sheckley. Per Wikipedia:

His 1958 short story "The Prize of Peril" was adapted in 1970 as the German TV movie Das Millionenspiel, and again in 1983 as the French movie Le Prix du Danger. Written about a man who goes on a TV show in which he must evade people out to kill him for a week in order to win a large cash prize, it is perhaps the first-ever published work predicting the advent of reality television.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheckley5/sheckley51.html

[Safe-Keeper]

Oh, but did the '58 story predict a hijacker passenger liner with nearly full fuel tanks slamming into a tall tower about three-fourths of the way up?
;)

[quarky]

We already watch people get killed all the time in the movies and tv shows.

If it was real, and live, the viewers would be dissapointed in the lack of blood geysers and thrashing about. But i suppose the deaths could be dressed up a bit for prime-time.

[billw]

Oh, but did the '58 story predict {...spoiler}?

No, but it did predict television networks engaging in fakery in order to boost ratings :eek:

[gumboot]

There's some other good films on this theme:

Battle Royale
Series 7: The Contenders

I could believe it, except the only question I have is society is simultaneously putting more and more value on human life, questioning the plausibility of allowing lives to be taken for entertainment.

Also to whine about a pet peeve of mine; Romans didn't flock to the Colosseum to watch blood sports, they flocked there for the free bread that was given out. The idea that blood sports were hugely popular in Ancient Rome is a myth - by far the more popular entertainments were theatre and chariot racing - simply compare the seating capacity of the Circus Maximus or the several large theatres in Rome with the capacity of the Colosseum (and the most popular events in the Colosseum were extravagant theatrical recreations of historic battles in which (contrary to belief) no one actually died).

[shadron]

I read the first paragraph of the OP, and thought for a second, and the words "Most Dangerous Game" popped into my mind. I googled it, and, sure enough, it came up: Most Dangerous Game. It was written in 1924 by one Richard Connell for Colliers Magazine. I must have read it sometime during high school, because I can remember some of the plot twists. Yes, now I remember, it was serialized in the Scholastic "Weekly Reader" that we got by class subscription in grade school, by golly.

Just goes to show there are never any new stories, just refurbs. This one has a big game hunter who washes up on an island, and runs into the dictator, a General Zaroff, who has him to tea tto explain that castaways on the island are give a knife, some food and moccasins, and a day to himself. If he can avoid Zaroff for three days, he is free to go, but no one had made it that far yet.

It was made twice into movies, The Most Dangerous Game, filmed at night on the same set that was used during the day for King Kong, and indeed had Faye Ray and Martin Towbridge in it, who were also in King Kong. It must have been a hell of a season. It was also filmed as A Game of Death in 1945 with Zaroff changed into a Nazi, and in 1956 with Richard Widmark. predictably, other versions include Bloodlust! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodlust%21) (1961), The Woman Hunt (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Woman_Hunt&action=edit&redlink=1) (1973), Turkey Shoot (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Turkey_Shoot&action=edit&redlink=1) (1982) and Surviving the Game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_the_Game) (1994).


Films:


Surviving the Game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_the_Game)
Hard Target (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Target_%28movie%29)
Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Girls_from_Beyond_Infinity)
Gymkata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymkata),
The Beast Must Die (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_Must_Die_%28film%29). A deadly game to reveal and destroy a Werewolf hidden amongst trapped mansion guests
The Pest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pest_%281997_film%29). a comical story that has the a similar concept but strays from any half-realism
Predator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator) and Predator 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_2), which featured alien hunters hunting down humans, most specifically Arnold Schwarzeneger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzeneger) and Danny Glover (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Glover); these aliens make a reappearance in the films Alien vs. Predator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_vs._Predator) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_vs._Predator:_Requiem).
The 1983 James Bond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond) 007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/007) film Octopussy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopussy), where villain Kamal Khan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamal_Khan) 'hunts' Roger Moore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Moore)'s Bond.

Television:


the Star Trek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series) episode "The Squire of Gothos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Squire_of_Gothos)"
the Star Trek: Voyager (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Voyager) enemies Hirogen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirogen), particularly the episode The Killing Game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Game)
the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine) episode "Captive Pursuit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_Pursuit)"
the The Outer Limits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Limits) episode "The Hunt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt)", which had humans hunting androids that looked indistinguishable from humans.
the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_%28TV_series%29) episode "Homecoming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homecoming_%28Buffy_episode%29)"
the The Simpsons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons_%28TV_series%29) episode "Treehouse of Horror XVI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treehouse_of_Horror_XVI)"
the American Dad! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dad%21) episode "The Vacation Goo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vacation_Goo)".
the Gilligan's Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan%27s_Island) episode "The Hunter"
the Fantasy Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_Island) original pilot episode
the Johnny Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Quest) episode "Shadow of the Condor"
the Get Smart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Smart) episode "Island of the Darned"
the Johnny Bravo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Bravo) episode "Hunted!"
the Dexter's Laboratory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter%27s_Laboratory) episode "Dial M for Monkey: Huntor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dexter%27s_Laboratory_episodes)"
the Kids Next Door (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_Next_Door) episode "S.A.F.A.R.I (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_Of_Codename:_Kids_Next_Door_E pisodes&action=edit&redlink=1)"
the Incredible Hulk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Hulk_%28TV_series%29) 3rd season episode "The Snare"
the Criminal Minds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Minds) episode "Open Season"
the Supernatural (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_%28TV_Series%29) episode "The Benders"
the Relic Hunter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic_Hunter) episode "Run Sydney Run"
the Lost in Space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space) episode "Hunter's Moon"
the Dark Angel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Angel_%28TV_series%29) episode "Pollo Loco"
the Forever Knight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_Knight) episode "Hunted"
Bet Your Life (TV movie) (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bet_Your_Life_%28TV_movie%29&action=edit&redlink=1)

Video Games


The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Scrolls_IV:_Oblivion) quest "Caught in the Hunt"

Comics:


The Spider-Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man) villain Kraven the Hunter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraven_the_Hunter) (Sergi Kravenoff) was inspired by Zaroff.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)]
The tagline of DC Comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Comics)' Manhunter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter_%28comics%29) title was "He hunts the world's most dangerous game".




It seems nothing is the final word.

[TragicMonkey]

I think the ultimate in horror/scifi dystopian futures was shown in that bloodcurdling television series, The Facts of Life. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have a bleak vision of things to come. We should all pray for death before that vision comes to pass.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

To give credit where credit is due, it should be noted that this particular future dystopian entertainment form was (AFAIK) first conceived and written about in the 1950's by science fiction author Robert Sheckley. Per Wikipedia:
His 1958 short story "The Prize of Peril" was adapted in 1970 as the German TV movie Das Millionenspiel, and again in 1983 as the French movie Le Prix du Danger. Written about a man who goes on a TV show in which he must evade people out to kill him for a week in order to win a large cash prize, it is perhaps the first-ever published work predicting the advent of reality television.http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheckley5/sheckley51.html

Curiously enough I also thought immediately of Robert Sheckley but I thought of his 1953 Galaxy short story "Seventh Victim". This was the basis for the film The 10th Victim, that starred Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress in 1965.

So he seems to have anticipated himself!

[Beerina]

Taking a different take, not in the US it won't. There's too many lawyers and politicians waiting for a corporation to get profits accidently hurting people, to say nothing of deliberately hurting people.

Also, in the US you cannot waive your right to life as it's inalienable. You can risk it voluntarily, but not deliberately have yourself killed. Nor can you kill someone just because they said you could.

[Madalch]

I remember reading The Running Man (the movie was so much more fun), and particularly the scene where the various shows are described. One of them is a contest where a man with a heart condition is running on a treadmill- the higher he gets his heart rate, the more money he wins, but if he has a heart attack, he loses it all.

Kinda reminds me of Fear Factor.

[Madalch]

I think the ultimate in horror/scifi dystopian futures was shown in that bloodcurdling television series, The Facts of Life. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have a bleak vision of things to come. We should all pray for death before that vision comes to pass.

It was horrifying, but only because The Facts of Life was all about you.....

[Careyp74]

I just fear what Animal Planet will come up with to copy off of a show like that on television. They already have Groomer has it (top chef/top model/project runway wanabee) Animal Cops & K9 Cops (Cops knockoff) and It's Me or the Dog (pseudo SuperNanny) along with Pet Star (the Idol ripoff) and Growing up... (looks like Little People, Big World) Not to mention the other channels that copy hit shows, like Discovery Channel, and TLC.

[Madalch]

I just fear what Animal Planet will come up with to copy off of a show like that on television.

In this large tank, we have a polar bear and a great white shark, both of them rabid. Who will come out alive? Find out on next week's Animal Survivor!

[GreNME]

I just wanted to express my having giggled at the reference to Gymkata in this thread.

Gymkata!

[Safe-Keeper]

I remember reading The Running Man (the movie was so much more fun), and particularly the scene where the various shows are described. One of them is a contest where a man with a heart condition is running on a treadmill- the higher he gets his heart rate, the more money he wins, but if he has a heart attack, he loses it all.

Kinda reminds me of Fear Factor.Run for your bucks, I believe it was called. It stuck with me, too, and I considered mentioning it in the OP.

[TragicMonkey]

In this large tank, we have a polar bear and a great white shark, both of them rabid. Who will come out alive? Find out on next week's Animal Survivor!

What kind of weapons do they have? I hear sharks are vicious when they have knives, but if the polar bear had a spear or something with enough reach to keep the shark out of range, I'd have to bet on the bear. Unless, and this is food for thought, has the shark any skill at throwing knives? It's much harder than it looks in the movies. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the person throwing the knive only succeeds in disarming themselves. So if the shark has seen a lot of movies, the bear's chances increase.

[luchog]

What kind of weapons do they have? I hear sharks are vicious when they have knives, but if the polar bear had a spear or something with enough reach to keep the shark out of range, I'd have to bet on the bear. Unless, and this is food for thought, has the shark any skill at throwing knives? It's much harder than it looks in the movies. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the person throwing the knive only succeeds in disarming themselves. So if the shark has seen a lot of movies, the bear's chances increase.
Eh, i don't think it would be worth watching unless the polar bear gets a flamethrower, and the shark gets a frickin' laser beam attached to it's head.

[EGarrett]

We already have heartless TV shows today, with followings. We have Idol, in which they have contestants sing in precasts for then to pick out the really bad singers and throw them on stage and humiliate them in front of TV cameras and huge audiences.I always have to disagree with people when they say this. If American Idol was about humiliation, then the show would lose ratings after the first auditions with the worst singers were over. The appeal of the show is the honesty, the plot and emotional involvement of watching someone rise from obscurity, and, early on, the humor of seeing deluded people who have bad or funny singing voices, followed by the moral satisfaction of seeing them get a dose of reality. Honesty, vicarious involvement and moral satisfaction are classic parts of entertainment. Humiliation is not.

My worry for the thread, either way, is this: that there is a possibility that we, in some near future, will get reality shows in which contestants literally put their lives on the line. Shows like The running man and The Long Walk. And why not? We already had this Dutch TV station announcing a hoax show in which the contestants had to compete for a kidney, and only one of them would receive a transplant while the rest died. This show had support from people, and while it wouldn't have condemned healthy people to death like The Running Man if real, I feel that it points to a disturbing future.It's certainly possible, but I don't think it's likely. After all, killing and hurting innocent people is illegal, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

[Madalch]

It's certainly possible, but I don't think it's likely. After all, killing and hurting innocent people is illegal, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
Killing and hurting other people are illegal, but playing a game in which you're likely to get hurt isn't, once the appropriate waivers have been signed.

[Safe-Keeper]

I always have to disagree with people when they say this. If American Idol was about humiliation, then the show would lose ratings after the first auditions with the worst singers were over. The appeal of the show is the honesty, the plot and emotional involvement of watching someone rise from obscurity, and, early on, the humor of seeing deluded people who have bad or funny singing voices, followed by the moral satisfaction of seeing them get a dose of reality. Honesty, vicarious involvement and moral satisfaction are classic parts of entertainment. Humiliation is not.One word: naive. Have a good day:).

[applecorped]

Rosie's new show died, does that count?


How about this for a new show?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lottery

This might go over well.

[Ausmerican]

How about a reality TV version of 'The Game', the Michael Douglas/Sean Penn movie? Without the person knowing it is a TV show and all fake, completely destroy their life financially, emotionally, etc. Sucks but I bet it would have an audience.

[luchog]

Honesty, vicarious involvement and moral satisfaction are classic parts of entertainment. Humiliation is not.
A huge number of the people I grew up with would strongly disagree with that.

The term "shadenfreude" was not coined out of a vacuum.

[Kittyclaws]

How long until we flock to the TV every night to watch our fellow citizens suffer and die, the way the Romans of old massed to Colosseum to see the gladiators be bested by lions? Not that we don't all already do this, news programs and documentaries being what they are, but how long until we start turning killing into entertainment programs?

Coming on Pay-Per-View: Death Row Executions

[EGarrett]

Killing and hurting other people are illegal, but playing a game in which you're likely to get hurt isn't, once the appropriate waivers have been signed.There's a difference between having a chance to get hurt and purposefully attempting to kill someone.

One word: naive. Have a good day:).That's not a response. It's clear from your answer though that your understanding of entertainment is quite weak and is easily broken down, like many people who make claims about the "stupidity of the masses" and other such things.

A simple question: If the show was about humiliation, then why are the most famous people from the show good singers who received basically no bad reviews at all? Why don't the show's ratings drop as the season goes on and there are less and less bad singers?

A huge number of the people I grew up with would strongly disagree with that.

The term "shadenfreude" was not coined out of a vacuum.Neither was coprophilia, but do you see extremely popular shows based upon eating feces?

Just because a term exists to describe a type of pleasure doesn't mean it works as mass entertainment.

[TragicMonkey]

I think there should be a different kind of show, a show that combines all the best parts of other shows. A reality talk game show where the contestants talk about their problems to celebrities and psychologists, then win prizes for it. And there should be an obstacle course, and word-guessing, and everywhere there are drag queens screaming at the audience to terrify them. At random intervals new guests descend from the ceiling on trapezes or rise from trapdoors, and people on roller skates zoom by throwing gifts to the audience. There should be dancing, and animals, and skits, and risque jokes, but also plenty of wholesome stuff for the children. And at the end, everyone gathers around, rollerskaters and contestants and celebrities and animals and drag queens and audience, and they have a group hug and just for one moment feel alive, alive, as they have never done before. And then they all sing theme song together as the credits roll. They could call it The Harmony Chaos Monkey Extravaganza Festival of Awesome. It would change the world forever.

[GreyICE]

This discussion is incomplete without Battle Royale. Definitive edition is the manga, though novel is obviously acceptable (movie = do not apply).

Running Man was interesting because the scenario it predicted was very odd and useful. Longest walk I found less good (Stephen King has a limited number of motifs, he ran out).