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The year is 2025. The United States has devolved into an authoritarian, dystopian society where violence is used as a form of social control. In a stunning act of defiance, three brave podcasters–Pete Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matt Wrather–fight back by analyzing the 1987 version of The Running Man, just in time for the Edgar Wright re-adaptation of the original Steven King novel to hit the big screens. We haven’t seen it yet, but it’s safe to say it will be very different from the quip-and-kill Schwarzenegger version that doesn’t really have anything coherent to say about the use of violence in entertainment, except, perhaps, “this is awesome.” But it does come down super hard against floral print button down shirts.

The panelists compare the movie to other notable examples where violence as spectacle is front and center: Gladiator, Robocop, and The Hunger Games. They also try to rationalize the role of the show in-universe as a method of social control, but mainly find that the world-building just doesn’t hold up as well as its higher quality contemporaries. But what the movie lacks in coherence and cohesion it makes up for with physicality and spectacle.

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Episode 903: How Can You Run a Dystopian Government If You Don’t Know What Gilligan’s Island Is? originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]