Looper vs. the Jetsons

I saw LOOPER recently (rollicking good fun until you go home and realize none of it makes sense… but Bruce Willis is great, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is solid once you get past his goofy make-up, Emily Blunt gamely tries to do a down-home accent, Piper Perabo is topless, and Jeff Daniels steals the movie) and a thought occurred to me.

Now first of all, I’m not a Sci-Fi fanboy. I like Sci-Fi (one of my all-time favorite books is SIRENS OF THE TITANS by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) but I’m not geeked up on the genre. Still, give me a good Sci-Fi movie (THE TERMINATOR 1 & 2, ROAD WARRIOR, BLADE RUNNER, THE MATRIX, DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24 1/2 CENTURY) and I’m there.

But here’s the thing: When I was a kid growing up, my idea of the future was THE JETSONS. That’s what I projected. Everything would be ultra-modern. Homes looked like those glass and dome JFK terminals from the ‘60s, our transportation would be a cross between a whirlybird and a Toyota Camry. Velour jumpsuits would be the rage. I LOVE LUCY would still be playing of course, but on Channel 2357. Still, you get the idea – the world as if Hanna-Barbera or Steve Jobs designed it.

However, that’s not how most Sci-Fi filmmakers seem to picture the future. To them, here’s what the world will be like:

Burned out Detroit with everyone driving rusted out 1976 Chevys that haven’t been washed since 2037. The population is jammed into urban ghettos and no one has showered since FRIENDS went off the air. Add a CGI space cruiser flying through, a hologram billboard and you’ve got the world of tomorrow.

Everyone imagines an apocalyptic existence even if there’s been no nuclear war. I know Democrats envision this is what will happen if Romney is elected, but why do most Sci-Fi writers predict such a bleak view? Why will everyone dress like Steven Tyler? Will anyone in the future wear shorts? Once Bill Cosby dies will that be the last time any human being ever wears a sweater? How come food and shelter will be at such a premium but heavy dark eyeliner is so readily available that every future girl looks like a raccoon?

Will there be no more suburbs?   Has even San Diego gone bad?

Also, these post-apocalyptic landscapes are all controlled by evil mobsters, robots, the Government, computers and are all a metaphor for Nazi Germany.  We get it already.  Streets are patrolled by vicious goons always in black with howitzers or ray guns and sporting Robocop helmets. In some cases the hapless citizens try to rise up against them, but their tattered rags and battered 1965 hubcaps are no match against rocket launchers and vapor gamma rays.

There are always high concept conceits – time travel, time as currency, robot masters angry because WD-40 is running low – and that’s great. That’s what Sci-Fi is all about. I’m fine as long as they set up very clear rules and live by them, whatever they are. But what if – just once, just as a wacky experiment – our green efforts have helped reduce global warming, there’s still trash pick-up, and okay, maybe JETSONS fantasies die hard, but we drive/fly cars that fold up into briefcases?

I am sure this is the blog post that will get me banned from Comic-Con.