MovieChat Forums > The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) Discussion > boy, how prophetic was this

boy, how prophetic was this

posted 16 years ago by wbnimrod
12 replies | jump to latest

the scene when the industrialists talking about solar farms, thick windows, and electric cars was both prophetic and accurate. the line 'nobody is going to know about them' was certainly tried to be fulfilled with the crushing of the ev1s, honda ev van, and fords ev models. they definitelty don't want tesla and phoenix motors to succeed and become a force to deal with.

the tree hugger side is just as bad because like the governator stated on the tonight show a while back tree huggers/peta types are more worried about worthless disease carrying rodents and won't allow the 'GREEN' energy souces they say we need to be built. they fail to realize that their neighborhoods were squirrelless when they were being built and the squirrels returned and they will return after the solar fields and wind farms are finished also.

P.S.: don't take it hard, just shake your head and laugh

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[–] steelywulf 9 years ago

We now have solar farms, electric cars, and fluorescent light bulbs, just as this movie predicted.

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[–] JediJones (234) 3 years ago

The framing of the issue means everything. The script could easily be written to make fluorescent bulbs the enemy.

https://energyperformancelighting.com/disadvantages-of-fluorescent-lighting/

The mercury and phosphorus inside fluorescent bulbs is hazardous. If a fluorescent lamp is broken, a small amount of toxic mercury can be released as a gas, contaminating the surrounding environment. The rest is contained in the phosphor on the glass itself, which is often considered a greater hazard than the spilled mercury.

When a fluorescent bulb is lit, it scatters light in every direction, or 360 degrees around the bulb. This is grossly inefficient...

Researchers have suggested that the UV radiation emitted by this type of lighting had led to an increase in eye diseases, most notably cataracts. Other medical professionals have theorized that retinal damage, myopia or astigmatism can also be attributed side effects of fluorescent light.

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[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

I watched the Tucker film directed by Coppola just before watching this, it's about an innovative guy who wanted to mass produce a cheap yet fantastic car with extra safety features that the big 3 car companies like ford tried to destroy because they wouldn't be able to compete with him. He produces only 50 Tucker cars 70 years ago and 47 of them are still road worthy to this day. So I guess it's been prophetic for 70 years.

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[–] strntz (10779) 7 months ago

There was a lot of leeway taken with this script. It's hard to know how much was fact and how much was sour grapes.

In any case, Preston Tucker did a lot wrong and skirted on the edge of the law - the SEC was looking to protect investors.

The "Big 3" would have been in a lot better position both financially and resource-wise to make the car Tucker wanted to. This isn't like Tesla which is almost absurdly well funded. If the Tucker was successful, the big three would have considered him more of an annoyance.

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[–] EleazarHisSon (590) 7 months ago

Solar panels and electric cars 30 years ago. Dr. Meinheimer was kind of Elon Musk.

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[–] Beau_Buffet (324) 6 months ago

Only way smarter, and less evil.

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[–] stevewyzard (1241) 7 months ago

SQUIRRELS: unstoppable, irresistible...they always come back!!!

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[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7393) 6 months ago

Frankly I don't like solar. But in my state of Illinois I am a conservative republican and it's run by willfully ignorant democrats. Just like in California the future is driving through the country and there's hundreds of solar panels covering all the fields. Then when they all break down eventually, they won't be able to be recycled. Then they'll all just rust in some field somewhere forever and ever

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[–] strntz (10779) 6 months ago

I'm also a conservative Republican, and my advice is to not dismiss *everything* that the left is pushing. This is exactly the same mindset from the left that wants to allow open borders simply because the big orange Cheeto wants them closed.

Regarding solar panels, it's virtually impossible to get any unbiased info on them or the long term ramifications of solar or wind power. The right makes them seem like the devil's toys and the left makes them seem like unicorn farts.

For my money, I'd love to see the whole country run by fourth gen nuclear reactors.

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[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7393) 6 months ago

The governor of my state and some members of his party want to get rid of all coal power plants and use state money to only use solar for electricity. It worries me a bit.

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[–] strntz (10779) 6 months ago

It should worry you, it may be good or it may be bad.

To use all solar though seems like a problem with storage - the energy collected during the day needs to be converted to another form of energy to be stored. You could store it chemically in a huge battery bank, or maybe spin huge flywheels, or pump water to a tower to later turn a turbine... The problem is that every time you convert energy from one form to another, there is waste.

What happens on a dark windless night?

If each home could have a cheap, clean, non-toxic, long lasting, and easily recyclable battery storage bank that could back-feed the grid at night or overcast days, that might be different.

Plus, the solar cells we have right now aren't all that efficient, have a finite and relatively short life, and have low prospects for recycling.

I think for the technology we have right now and what we know about the near future, nuclear is by far the best option, but it, like solar and wind, is a political football.

I wish everybody would get on the same page and solve this in a bipartisan effort to fix something leaving politics out of it.

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[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7393) 6 months ago

Yeah. I agree they should resolve things. I realize for democracy to work, the democrats can't have everything they want but neither can the republicans. But both sides are insisting their way or the highway.

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