The Year of the Sex Olympics

An interesting TV movie from the late sixties, Year of the Sex Olympics was in many ways a precursor to reality TV and its effects on television audiences. It is most notable for featuring Nigel Kneale, of Quatermass fame. Kneale was a confirmed antique, seeing society as being controlled by the "masses" who had no respect for art and culture, but instead were manipulated by media corporations and government officials. The movie's not nearly as risque as it sounds, but the idea in and of itself is hilarious and sustains the first third of the movie (which is about how far I've gotten). Definitely not for those who like the "Real Housewives of Orange County". It is noteable that Kneale was not the only person who expressed a prescience concerning reality TV. Peter Watkins's Privilege in many ways also predicted elements of reality TV that would later become standardized.

Privilege : The Ultimate Dystopia

One of my favorite science fiction movies, though its only loosely science fiction, is the film Privilege. Privilege tells the story of rock star Steven Shorter, living in a near-future England. The British state wants to use Shorter as a tool for manipulating the masses, so they force him to change his persona from "rebel" to state and church supporting conformist. Privilege's attack on the mass media is truly awe inspiring. Shorter's trip from pop singer to gospel rocker mirrors that of the contemporary Christian music (CCM) movement. The end rally in the film, which portrays a Britain slipping into fascism, frightens, because it mirrors so closely the rise of conservative youth radical movements like Battlecry and Teen Mania.

Paul Jones, the star of the movie, was a real rocker and does an excellent job of portraying the manipulated, angsty Shorter. But the real star of the movie is the director, Peter Watkins. Watkins is an amazing director, whose films, such as Punishment Park and War Games were unofficially suppressed in the 60's and 70's because of their explosive political messages. It's time that Hollywood filmmakers from libertarians to conservatives, and socialists to progressives, were as openly politically rebellious as Watkins proved himself to be in the sixties and seventies. Perhaps then, science fiction film wouldn't be stuck with works like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.