MovieChat Forums > Max Headroom (1987) Discussion > Max Headroom Predictions

Max Headroom Predictions

posted 15 years ago by lennon62
18 replies | jump to latest

This show was remarkably ahead of its own time. I am certain that if a show like this was pitched today. It would have become a smash hit. However, it was way too far ahead of its time to have aired in the 80's I am sort of surprised it even made 2 seasons.

Wikipedia has a list of predictions that are either similar to that future. Or, have already happend. Here is the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series)

I would say. That, the Whacketts episode. Sorta predicted that TV's would be given to the needy. However, today it is computers. Not, tv's that are being given to the needy. Such, as laptops for children to do better in schools. And, in some states schools have a program set up to get desktop pc's to underprivledge families. Who can't afford a computer.

Also, and this is a bit of a far stretch. But, I think it will happen. In the episode Lessons. Where "Edison discovers that the automated censor system is sending metro cops to arrest 'blanks' who are pirating pay per view educational programs: the only source of education for ghetto children" Might very well happen. Especially with all of the methods geared to reduce piracy with music,movies, and anything copywritten. I think, that someday it will get so out of hand. That, the rich could very well be the ones to educate their children better. Because, they can purchase the copywritten material better then people who couldn't afford it. And, even if it doesn't get that bad. The fact that they predicted so well how piracy of this nature. Would someday be a threat to big industries. In itself is amazing.

Infact, Obama is trying right now. To pass a law. That would give law enforcement a green light. To, come in and search, through your computers, Ipods, and any portable electronic device that can store files. to see if people have any illegal copywritten material. Without a search warrent, and whenever they think that someone has copywritten material on their hard drive illegaly.

If anyone else has any good predictions. Post them. I think it would be interesting to hear how other people might view how others might find a few things that are either happening now, or what they think might happen later like the show. I hope this isn't a dumb thread. But, I had to start it.

[–] ObscureAuteur 15 years ago

The essence of the Max Headroom world is becoming more fully realized every day.

Comparing the exact form of change is interesting but mere quibbling. Like criticizing the crude form of information management technology Orwell describes in Nineteen Eight-Four. The important idea is the technology, along with brutal torture and terror, will be employed by an ever more oppressive state against the people not that Orwell failed to anticipate the exact forms of future technology.

CB

Good Times, Noodle Salad

(Actually he did rather well, since the TV screens in his world seem to be flat screen not bulky tubes. If Orwell missed something it was in his use of paper editing at the Ministry of Truth not anticipating information moving to a non-material mass storage and mass media format manipulated electronically.)

[–] yonderboy-2 14 years ago

Did someone just use Max Headroom to spread Obama-hate? Did they not hear of this thing called the Patriot Act? I love voluntary selectivism...
anywayz... yes, there are lots of predictions that are kinda eery... good times.

[–] ObscureAuteur 14 years ago

Not I. You better check out your own selectivism. Sorry that you stupidly confused me for a teabagger (or a truther or a birther for that matter).

I was mainly referring to:

A corporate state with a powerful corporate media easily manipulating an increasingly poorly educated mass with the attention span of a gnat and the perspective of a baby.

The middle class being chipped away by various forces, leaving a large gap between a subsistence-consumer class (at least at a material level anything like today's), an increasing truly disenfranchised class and the few how have the remaining well paid positions and even fewer in the truly powerful positions whose pay packages are "made whole" no matter what disasters the holders create for the rest. Top executives, especially in the financial sector, today expect to win big when losing, win very big for not screwing up, and win enormous should something they did actually (appear to ... e.g. Enron until the crash) succeed. There is no downside for this elect, no skin in the game but their egos.

America's willingness to give up the real American dream, a secular state with rights guaranteed for all, for the fake one of cheap gas, cheap stuff and lots of it, and no responsibility for anything but their own comfort.

The idea that the market takes care of it all making any notion of right or wrong, morality independent of profit, quaint and irrelevant.

That any notion of the common good is treason unless it enriches the right people.

What passes for reality is becoming so absurd that it defies parody.

CB

Good Times, Noodle Salad

[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

I agree with you that the predictions from this show is becoming a reality because if you look at where we are heading it might very well be the same fate.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

[–] fjaye 12 years ago

I'm n the middle of "Blanks" right now, in which a group of hackers threaten to destroy the city's entire digital infrastructure if its political demands aren't met.

Looks like Max predicted "Anonymous."

[–] RobBase086-1 12 years ago

That is great to hear for you. Sorry for your problems though. I think we are in trouble with how the heat has been because everything is going to go up in prices and the job market I am not so sure about at all to be honest with you about it.

Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com

[–] Gravity06 15 years ago

In many ways, we've surpassed the world of MH. I think we need to broaden our horizons.

Could MH have foreseen something like YouTube? (My mother is currently obsessed with a video about Riverdancing dogs -- proof positive that it's no longer network executives who are producing inane programming! )

Seriously, the world is far more complex than anything Hollywood could've conceived of back then (Who watches TV any more? Open a newspaper nowadays and you'll hear network executives moaning about their declining audiences!)

Today, people are more apt to be surfing the Internet and playing video games than watching TV.

This is to say nothing about books such as the Harry Potter and "Twilight" series that are all the rage nowadays. Who would have thought that in the future, kids would be into BOOKS?!

[–] ObscureAuteur 13 years ago

Max Headroom is not alone in showing limited imagination in the future development of technology except in specific story line elements. Is it intentional camp when Bryce whips out an 8" floppy disc, almost comical today? This is not an uncommon failing.

They were not far off You-Tube on programs when unauthorized content intruded into the mainstream media flow. With a longer run, the writers might well have invented something even more like You-Tube, even if it were covert and illegal. After all, the actual show did have rogue broadcasters such as Blank Reg operating outside the main corporate media. The failure here and in many well regarded SF works is a failure to imagine vastly better, smaller and more ubiquitous technology. Max Headroom was well on pace with the ubiquitous aspect.

CB

Good Times, Noodle Salad

[–] schon 14 years ago

Infact, Obama is trying right now. To pass a law. That would give law enforcement a green light. To, come in and search, through your computers, Ipods, and any portable electronic device that can store files. to see if people have any illegal copywritten material. Without a search warrent, and whenever they think that someone has copywritten material on their hard drive illegaly.

Where, did you. Learn to use? Punctuation. At the, William. Shatner! School of. Acting?

Seriously, ACTA started in 2007, long before the Obama administration was a Democrat dream. The KEI made a request for documentation about it, which the Bush administration blocked as a matter of "national security" .

This is the *US Government* (both Democrats and Republicans) doing this, not one party or the other.

[–] gynsusamatoshi 14 years ago

If you're going to post stuff like the obama thing, at least include LINKS to prove the comment.

It really pisses me off when people say crap about someone - ANYONE - while not providing links & info to back it up.

~~~~~~~~
FREEDOM IS THE RIGHT OF ALL SENTIENT BEINGS!
Will you fight for freedom, or against it?

[–] Wakener_One 13 years ago

Um, what do you call the government giveaway of digital converters, if not giving televisions to the needy?

[–] spambag 13 years ago

@jszigeti - Further to your comment about material on hard drives: Here we are a year and a bit later, and the big move is on to move storage and computing power to "the cloud". Smart phones push even more data online for mobility. Police don't need to see your hard drive, there are already automated systems within Google that were set up to service law enforcement requests. They handle millions of these per year already. This was discovered when the system was used by Chinese hackers recently, so rest assured such system exist elsewhere in the cloud. We are moving to be a heavily surveilled society globally.
So much of this series has an eerie feel to it when you watch it in 2010. It's also interesting to pick out tech that didn't exist then, but actually does exist now.

I watched in on TV in the 80's, and it's still good now. (Watching it now)

[–] ejcrandolph 13 years ago

Totally agreed on many of the points made here. This tv series was so ahead of it's time. We are only now catching up to some of the things discussed. I suspect that many of the other things predicted will be reality soon (if they aren't already).

[–] chelle_5399 13 years ago

The prevalence of reality shows was "predicted" in MH.

[–] lennon62 12 years ago

WOWY!!!! Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to so many Obama lovers. First off... I am not really against Obama. And, to the person I pissed off. Sorry, I do not know you, therefore you getting pissed off doesn't bother me in the least. As to where I got what I had seen. It was a link to a british news site if memory serves me correctly. Sorry, I didn't bookmark the link to please you. Because, at the time I didn't know I would have to defend what I had seen to you, or anyone else. As for me using bad grammar. My apologies. My grammar teacher was somewhat of a bitch, and I didn't do to well in her class in high school. The next time, I will watch my punctuation, and spelling to suit your needs. Not, like I really need to, because again. I do not know you. Therefore doing this for you really is not a priority in life. NOW.... Onto other more important things. I didn't expect somekind of Obama poltical discussion over this. Just simple what has come to past since Max Headroom. I usually watch the entire series every year just to see what it predicted. I will try once again to point a few things out. Oh, and to the Obama lovers, and moaners. Good news. He was opposed to Sopa, and Pipa. And, if you want me to give you a link. Then, my reply to you is screw off. It is called Google.

I have watched again this year, and found another good prediction (Not sure if this was already covered) The Academy predicted the use of Emails. Bryce sent a warning message to one of the students from his terminal at Nework 23 to their computer terminal at the Academy. Not sure why I didn't pick up on that. And, also in the episode "Lessons" the government shutting down so called pirating networks that pirate paid learning TV shows. Well, Sopa, and Pipa are on hold. But, Acta, and that STUPID HR 1981 bill is learking. Not to mention TPP. They claim to be against piracy, but restrict freedom of speech. Which is depicted in "Lessons" And, the people who were doing it were doing it ironically enough. By a computer called "Censor" Go figure. I will post again when I see something else that I find relivant to post in this catagory.

[–] Mattfinbell 11 years ago

dang if people are into books why is almost going to the book non existent now?

Some things have come true like computers and people getting fatter being on the computer.

well piracy is one thing but its ancient and I doubt it will go away especially if Network studios continue to try to raise the prices of cable when you can get it for FREE online