Jonathon E Part III
I realized that I was not quite done with Rollerball yet. I remembered another point that I observed for the first time on Sunday. I have not seen the movie for several years but after watching it this time, I realized that it was terribly demeaning to women. All of the main characters were men and the women in the film were nothing more than ornaments and bed partners. All of the women were beautiful and hanging all over the men. In one scene, Moon Pie has two women wrapped around him and shortly afterward, he is dragging one upstairs to show them something. He comes down the stairs shortly afterward straightening his clothes. She is no where in sight.
Jonathon E, Rollerball champion, is provided a female companion by the corporation. They are given assignments and are all “good” at what they are assigned to do. All of them look vaguely like his wife, who was reassigned to an executive by the corporation. The women actually act more like spies for the corporation than bed partners as they always seem to be giving veiled threats about what to do or not to do. Jonathon being a driven individual either ignores them or sends them packing.
For the liberated era of the 70’s when this was filmed, it paints a dark picture of the future of the equal rights fight. Women end up as little more than property to the men running the world. You don’t see any female executives but you do see them standing behind the men as kind of trophies of their status. Seeing how things have progressed since then, it is hard to understand the mindset that painted that picture. Sure there is still a gap between men and women in business, but it is a much smaller gap than 30 years ago and there is no reason to believe that there is a reversal anywhere in the immediate future, at least not here in Colonies.
Of course, that is the fun of science fiction. The future is a blank canvas and any reality can be painted on it. Those who want to predict the future are stuck in the paradigms of the present and rarely get it right. Those who are just out for adventure and a trip to the unknown are fun to read and usually well past where I will ever see. I really prefer to live the future and have fun anticipating what tomorrow will bring.
Icool
Cobb
Jonathon E, Rollerball champion, is provided a female companion by the corporation. They are given assignments and are all “good” at what they are assigned to do. All of them look vaguely like his wife, who was reassigned to an executive by the corporation. The women actually act more like spies for the corporation than bed partners as they always seem to be giving veiled threats about what to do or not to do. Jonathon being a driven individual either ignores them or sends them packing.
For the liberated era of the 70’s when this was filmed, it paints a dark picture of the future of the equal rights fight. Women end up as little more than property to the men running the world. You don’t see any female executives but you do see them standing behind the men as kind of trophies of their status. Seeing how things have progressed since then, it is hard to understand the mindset that painted that picture. Sure there is still a gap between men and women in business, but it is a much smaller gap than 30 years ago and there is no reason to believe that there is a reversal anywhere in the immediate future, at least not here in Colonies.
Of course, that is the fun of science fiction. The future is a blank canvas and any reality can be painted on it. Those who want to predict the future are stuck in the paradigms of the present and rarely get it right. Those who are just out for adventure and a trip to the unknown are fun to read and usually well past where I will ever see. I really prefer to live the future and have fun anticipating what tomorrow will bring.
Icool
Cobb
posted by Cobb at
7:54 AM
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