Jonathon E
I watched one of my favorite films last Sunday, Rollerball. It is a 70’s Sci-Fi action film that starred James Caan as the hero Jonathon E, Rollerball champion and John Houseman, as the mean, heartless, corporate executive at Energy Corporation. Rollerball is the sport of the future, the only sport. Governments are gone and the world is run by a select group of corporations who have eliminated poverty, hunger and sickness but have assumed the decision making for everyone. (Like any good boss)
Jonathon E is the team captain for the Houston team, which is owned by Energy Corp. He is also the name on everyone’s lips when they think about the game. Rollerball is a sport that combines several sports into one. It is played on roller skates, on a roller derby track. It involves a metal ball slightly bigger than a softball that is shot from a cannon around the edge of the track. The objective is to scoop up the ball and toss/jam/force it into a conical opening before the opposing team can get you to drop it. The teams wear football helmets, shoulder and knee pads, and some team members ride around on motorcycles towing their team mates. It is violent, bloody and a sport that was conceived so that no one person could become good at it, until now.
Jonathon E has played for 10 years and his name is chanted at all the games. He is the best Rollerball player in the world and the corporate executives have become afraid of his power. He symbolizes the person they all wish to be, strong, idolized and invincible. The executives have created a utopian society where everyone is safe (except the Rollerball players) and wants for nothing but emotional fulfillment. Jonathon fills that void and thus becomes a threat to their way of life. They need to get rid of him without making it look like they are at fault.
The first thing they try is a retirement party televised around the world. It is a high light show of his works, blood and all. He refuses to retire because he loves the game and what else would he do. There is also a deep seated hatred of the executives who took his wife several years before because they wanted her. He has movies that he constantly watches as a reminder of her. They supply him with substitutes but he wants her back.
The second thing they do is change the rules of the game so his team members start getting hurt. His best friend, (dig this name) Moon Pie, is put into a coma in Houston’s next match against Tokyo. He seeks revenge and does the same to one of their players. Houston wins of course.
The last and final match is against New York for the championship. It is no penalties, no substitutions, and no time limit. You can see where this is going. It is a blood bath on the court. The last man standing is Jonathon, who defiantly jams the ball into the goal as John Houseman looks angrily on. The crowd is chanting Jonathon at the top of their lungs and a Rollerball god is born.
My daughter thought it was a lame film. She didn’t understand the context behind it nor is she into science fiction per se. It is not very exciting between the matches but does provide a good insight into the mind set of the mid 70 concept of the future. Communism would eventually win in some shape or form. It just happened to migrate to the extreme of having it become corporate communism. A for profit utopia, you’ve got to love that.
Icool
Cobb
Jonathon E is the team captain for the Houston team, which is owned by Energy Corp. He is also the name on everyone’s lips when they think about the game. Rollerball is a sport that combines several sports into one. It is played on roller skates, on a roller derby track. It involves a metal ball slightly bigger than a softball that is shot from a cannon around the edge of the track. The objective is to scoop up the ball and toss/jam/force it into a conical opening before the opposing team can get you to drop it. The teams wear football helmets, shoulder and knee pads, and some team members ride around on motorcycles towing their team mates. It is violent, bloody and a sport that was conceived so that no one person could become good at it, until now.
Jonathon E has played for 10 years and his name is chanted at all the games. He is the best Rollerball player in the world and the corporate executives have become afraid of his power. He symbolizes the person they all wish to be, strong, idolized and invincible. The executives have created a utopian society where everyone is safe (except the Rollerball players) and wants for nothing but emotional fulfillment. Jonathon fills that void and thus becomes a threat to their way of life. They need to get rid of him without making it look like they are at fault.
The first thing they try is a retirement party televised around the world. It is a high light show of his works, blood and all. He refuses to retire because he loves the game and what else would he do. There is also a deep seated hatred of the executives who took his wife several years before because they wanted her. He has movies that he constantly watches as a reminder of her. They supply him with substitutes but he wants her back.
The second thing they do is change the rules of the game so his team members start getting hurt. His best friend, (dig this name) Moon Pie, is put into a coma in Houston’s next match against Tokyo. He seeks revenge and does the same to one of their players. Houston wins of course.
The last and final match is against New York for the championship. It is no penalties, no substitutions, and no time limit. You can see where this is going. It is a blood bath on the court. The last man standing is Jonathon, who defiantly jams the ball into the goal as John Houseman looks angrily on. The crowd is chanting Jonathon at the top of their lungs and a Rollerball god is born.
My daughter thought it was a lame film. She didn’t understand the context behind it nor is she into science fiction per se. It is not very exciting between the matches but does provide a good insight into the mind set of the mid 70 concept of the future. Communism would eventually win in some shape or form. It just happened to migrate to the extreme of having it become corporate communism. A for profit utopia, you’ve got to love that.
Icool
Cobb
posted by Cobb at
7:22 AM
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