Years before The Hunger Games, Rollerball introduced its own form of televised combat.
Ryan compares their dystopian futures…
In another time, Jonathan probably would have been a cowboy or a rodeo rider.
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But theres a problem with Jonathans celebrity.
Hes a star in a sport that is supposed to celebrate the power of the team over the individual.
When he flatly refuses, Mr Bartholomew starts to tinker with the rules to make thegamemore deadly than ever.
If Jonathans killed on live television, Bartholomew reasons, his role as individualist hero will die with him.
LikeThe Hunger Games,Rollerballpresents future America as akin to ancient Rome, with a corporation as its Caesar.
With hardly anyone noticing, books have been withdrawn from public consumption.
Dare to rise up against us, and this could happen to you, too.
In the case ofRollerball, that warning comes with all the subtlety of a fist to the jaw.
Like Jonathan E, Katniss comes to realise how public perception can play a part in her survival.
Both Katniss and Jonathan also manage to fight the system from within the game itself.
The crowd, once wild with excitement, grow silent at the bloodbath in front of them.
Rollerball ended with Jonathan victorious and the stability of the state left in the balance.
In the movies, well have to wait until next year to see how Katnisss revolution pans out.
Thats an obscene idea that goes back to Circus Maximus, that goes back to Rome.
Surely weve become more civilized.
And so I madeRollerball…
In many ways,Rollerballwas ahead of its time.
When the film came out in 1975, one or two critics dismissed its future vision as implausible.
Its not funny at all and, not being funny, it becomes, instead, frivolous.
There are big wall-mounted televisions and digital recorders that can erase footage at the press of a button.
Books no longer come on paper.
The intrusion of corporations into politics is something commonly mulled over in newspaper columns today.
Although its almost 40 years old,Rollerballs dystopia still packs a powerful, satisfying punch.
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