George Lucas' directorial debut THX1138(1970), presents a somber view of a dehumanized society totally controlled by a police state. The people are force-fed drugs to keep them passive, and they no longer have names, but instead are known only by letter/number combinations such as THX 1138. Any citizen who steps out of line is quickly brought into compliance by robotic police equipped with "pain prods"–electro-shock batons, or in modern terms, tasers.
Director Stanley Kubrick presents a future ruled by sadistic punk gangs and a chaotic government that sporadically cracks down on its citizens in A Clockwork Orange (1971). This film may accurately portray the future of Western society that grinds to a halt as oil supplies diminish, environmental crises increase, chaos rules, and the only thing left is brute force exercised by the police and other governmental agencies.
Soylent Green (1973) takes us to the year 2022, when the inhabitants of an overpopulated New York City depend on synthetic foods manufactured by the Soylent Corporation. A policeman investigating a murder discovers the grisly truth about what soylent green is really made of. The theme is chaos in a world ruled by ruthless corporations whose only goal is greed and profit.
Taking a Philip K. Dick novel as his guide, director Ridley Scott introduces us to a twenty-first century Los Angeles in Blade Runner (1982), where a world-weary cop tracks down a handful of renegade "replicants" (synthetically produced human slaves). Life is dominated by megacor-porations, and people sleepwalk along rain-drenched streets. This is a world where human life is cheap, and where anyone can be exterminated at will by the police (or blade runners). This film questions what it means to be human in an inhuman world.
John Carpenter's bizarre sci-fi social satire action film They Live (1988) assumes the future has already arrived. John Nada is a homeless person who stumbles across a resistance movement and finds a pair of sunglasses that enables him to see the real world around him. What he discovers is a monochrome reality in a world controlled by ominous beings who bombard the citizens with subliminal messages such as "obey" and "conform." Carpenter makes an effective political point about the underclass (everyone except those in power, that is): we, the prisoners of our devices, are too busy sucking up the entertainment trivia beamed into our brains and attacking each other to start an effective resistance movement.
The Matrix (1999) centers on computer programmer Thomas A. Anderson, secretly a hacker known by the alias "Neo," who begins a relentless quest to learn the meaning of "The Matrix"–cryptic references that appear on his computer. Neo's search leads him to Morpheus who reveals the truth that the present reality is not what it seems and that Anderson is actually living in the future–2199. Humanity is at war against technology, which has taken the form of intelligent beings, and Neo is actually living in The Matrix, an illusionary world that appears to be set in the present in order to keep the humans docile and under control. Neo soon joins Morpheus and his cohorts in a rebellion against the machines that use SWAT team tactics to keep things under control.
Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick and directed by Steven Spielberg, the setting for Minority Report (2002) is 2054 where PreCrime, a specialized police unit, apprehends criminals before they can commit a crime. Captain Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the chief of the Washington, D.C. PreCrime force which uses future visions generated by "pre-cogs" (mutated humans with precognitive abilities) to stop murders. Soon Anderton becomes the focus of an investigation when the precogs predict he will commit a murder. This film poses the danger of technology operating autonomously.
V for Vendetta (2006) depicts a society ruled by a corrupt and totalitarian government where everything is run by an abusive secret police. A vigilante named V dons a mask and leads a rebellion against the state. The subtext here is that authoritarian regimes through repression create their own enemies–that is, terrorists–forcing government agents and terrorists into a recurring cycle of violence. And who is caught in the middle? The citizens, of course. This film has a cult following among various underground political groups such as Anonymous, whose members wear the same Guy Fawkes mask as that worn by V
Children of Men (2006) transports us to 2027. The world is without hope since humankind has lost its ability to procreate. Civilization has descended into chaos and is held together by a military state and a government that attempts to keep its totalitarian stronghold on the population. Most governments have collapsed, leaving Great Britain as one of the few remaining intact societies. As a result, millions of refugees seek asylum only to be rounded up and detained by the police. suicide is aviable option as a suicide kit called Quietus is promoted on billboards and on television and newspapers. But hope for a new day comes when a woman becomes inexplicably pregnant.
A dark political satire, Land of the Blind (2006) is based on several historical incidents in which tyrannical rulers were overthrown by new leaders who proved just as evil as their predecessors. Maximilian II is a demented fascist ruler of a troubled land named Everycountry who has two main interests: tormenting his underlings and running his country's movie industry. Citizens who are perceived as questioning the state are sent to "re-education camps" where the state's concept of reality is drummed into their heads. Joe, a prison guard, is emotionally moved by the prisoner and renowned author Thorne and eventually joins a coup to remove the sadistic Maximilian, replacing him with Thorne. Soon, however, Joe becomes the target of the new government and comes to realize that the new boss is the same as the old boss.
Much like Land of the Blind, The Hunger Games (2012) presents us with a dystopian future. Each year twenty-four young people, representing twelve districts in the nation of Panem (North America), are forced by the government to fight to the death while the nation watches on television. In this way, the Hunger Games, as they are called, provide entertainment for the masses while reminding the people that the state will tolerate no challenge to its power in the form of populist uprisings or mutiny. That all changes with the 74th Hunger Games when 16-year-old Katniss attempts the unthinkable–not only volunteering to take her younger sister's place in the Games but defying those in power at every turn. This film, and the best-selling book on which it was based, stands as a clear indictment of present-day America's fascination with reality TV and mindless entertainment, making no bones about its similarity to the Romans' use of "bread and circuses" (satiating the public's carnal appetites and entertaining them with mindless distraction) to control the masses.
The Future and You
These films and/or their themes portray a bleak, claustrophobic future where there is little or no freedom. However, as you wend your way through the following pages, keep in mind that although fiction is fast becoming reality, it can be altered by an active and alert citizenry. The future, so to speak, is up to you.
CHAPTER 5
Reality Check
"If, as it seems, we are in the process of becoming a totalitarian society ... the ethics most important for survival of the true, human individual would be: cheat, lie, evade, fake it, be elsewhere, forge documents, build improved electronic gadgets in your garage that'll outwit the gadgets used by the authorities."71
-PHILIP K. DICK, author of Minority Report
Seemingly taking its cue from science fiction, technology has moved so fast in the short time since Minority Report premiered in 2002 that what once seemed futuristic is now reality–no longer fiction. The question, of course, is how these technologies will be used by the powers-that-be. Will they be used benevolently or, as Philip K. Dick prophesied, to establish a totalitarian regime?
The following technological marvels from Minority Report were envisioned as light years away. As will be made clear, the future is now. For every sci-fi element portrayed in the film, there is now a corresponding gadget in our fast-evolving world that provides a reality check, of sorts.
Set in 2054, Steven Spielberg's futuristic film Minority Report (2002), based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, provides a roadmap into how various nascent technologies–
iris scanners, massive databases, behavior prediction software, and others–employed today by the U.S. government and corporations alike will in the near future become part of the complex, interwoven cyber network aimed at tracking our movements, predicting our thoughts, and controlling our behavior (complete with dark-clad police SWAT teams for those who dare to step out of line).
The film is set against the backdrop of a city in which there has been no murder committed in six years. This is due in large part to the efforts of John Anderton, Chief of the Department of Pre-Crime in Washington, D.C., which combines widespread surveillance with behavior prediction technologies to capture would-be criminals before they can do any damage–that is, to prevent crimes before they happen. Unfortunately for Anderton, the technology, which proves to be fallible, identifies him as the next would-be criminal and he flees. In the ensuing chase Anderton finds himself attempting to prove his innocence. He is also forced to take drastic measures in order to avoid capture in a surveillance state that uses biometrie data and sophisticated computer networks to track its citizens.
Smart Cars
FICTION: In Minority Report, Anderton escapes from the police in a car whose movements are tracked through the use of onboard computers. The autonomous vehicles zip through the city, moving people to their destinations based upon simple voice commands.
REALITY CHECK: In 2009 the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) introduced a prototype "smart" police car, which will be made available to law enforcement agencies across the country. This smart cruiser is the most advanced of its kind, equipped with license plate cameras, computers, a GPS projectile launcher, and even a heat detector in the front grill to differentiate between people and animals. The license plate reader can scan and download as many as 8,000 license plates per shift. It saves the information it collects and can access the information instantaneously through the computer system installed in the car. If a stolen or wanted vehicle comes up in the scan, the license plate reader will automatically label the vehicle as a threat and a camera will take a colored picture of the vehicle and send the GPS coordinates of the vehicle to the police station.72
In addition to the high-tech license plate readers and cameras, the smart car is equipped with GPS-enabled projectiles, similar to a dart launcher and located near the front bumper of the vehicle. With the aid of a military-grade laser, a law enforcement agent can aim the GPS projectile at the target vehicle with tremendous precision. Once attached, the projectiles can track the target in real time for days.
Aiding the effort to track motorists, Congress is now requiring that all new cars come equipped with event data recorders which can record and transmit data from onboard computers. Similarly, insurance companies are offering discounts to drivers who agree to have tracking bugs installed.73 As for autonomous vehicles, Google has created self-driving cars which have already surpassed 300,000 miles of road testing.74 While manufacturers and consumers are still resistant to the technology, self-driving cars should be on American roads within the next twenty years, if not sooner.
Tracking You
FICTION: In Minority Report, police use holographic data screens, city-wide surveillance cameras, dimensional maps, and database feeds to monitor the movements of its citizens.
REALITY CHECK: Microsoft, in a partnership with New York City, has developed a crime-fighting system that "will allow police to quickly collate and visualise vast amounts of data from cameras, licence plate readers, 911 calls, police databases, and other sources. It will then display the information in real time, both visually and chronologically, allowing investigators to centralise information about crimes as they happen or are reported."75
FICTION: No matter where people go in the world of Minority Report, their biometrie data precedes them, allowing corporations to tap into their government profiles and target them for advertising based on their highly individual characteristics. So fine-tuned is the process that it goes way beyond gender and lifestyle to mood detection, so that while Anderton flees through a subway station and then later a mall, the stores and billboards call out to him with advertising tuned to his desire to escape and high level of stress. Eventually, in an effort to outwit the identification scanners, Anderton opts for surgery to have his eyeballs replaced.
REALITY CHECK: Google is presently working on context-based advertising that will use environmental sensors in your cell phone, laptop, etc. to deliver "targeted ads tailored to fit with what you're seeing and hearing in the real world."76 However, long before Google set their sights on context advertising, facial, and iris recognition machines were being employed, ostensibly to detect criminals, streamline security checkpoint processes, and facilitate everyday activities. For example, in preparing to introduce such technology into the United States, the American biometrics firm Global Rainmakers, Inc. (GRI) turned the city of Leon, Mexico into a virtual police state by installing iris scanners, which can scan the irises of thirty to fifty people per minute, throughout the city. As the business and technology magazine Fast Company reports:
When these residents catch a train or bus, or take out money from an ATM, they will scan their irises, rather than swiping a metro or bank card. Police officers will monitor these scans and track the movements of watch-listed individuals. "Fraud, which is a $50 billion problem, will be completely eradicated," says [Jeff] Carter. Not even the "dead eyeballs" seen in Minority Report could trick the system, he says. "If you've been convicted of a crime, in essence, this will act as a digital scarlet letter. If you're a known shoplifter, for example, you won't be able to go into a store without being flagged. For others, boarding a plane will be impossible."77
The technology is already becoming more commonplace in the U.S. For example, police departments across the country have begun using the Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System, or MORIS, a physical iPhone add-on which allows police officers patrolling the streets to scan the irises and faces of suspected criminals and match them against government databases.78 By 2014 the FBI plans to launch a nationwide database of iris scans for use by law enforcement agencies in their efforts to track criminals.79
Corporations, as well, are beginning to implement eye-tracking technology in their tablets, smartphones, and computers. The technology will allow companies to track which words and phrases users tend to re-read, hover on, or avoid, which can give insight into what they are thinking based upon their eye movements. Some police agencies are already working on developing predictive analysis of "blink rates, pupil dilation, and deception."80
Once you add facial recognition software to the mix, it won't be long before we have billboards capable of identifying passersby81 IBM has already started developing real-world advertisements that react to people based upon RFID chips embedded in their drivers' licenses and credit cards.82
Pre-Cogs
FICTION: In Minority Report, John Anderton's Pre-Crime division utilizes psychic mutant humans to predict when a crime will take place.
REALITY CHECK: The Department of Homeland Security is working on its Future Attribute Screening Technology or FAST, which will utilize a number of personal factors such as "ethnicity, gender, breathing, and heart rate to 'detect cues indicative of mal-intent.""83 At least one field test of this program has occurred, somewhere in the northeast United States.
FICTION: In the film, a hacker accesses visions from the "precog" Agatha's mind and plays them back for John Anderton.
REALITY CHECK: While still in its infancy, technology that seeks to translate human thoughts into computer actions is slowly becoming a reality. Jack Gallant, a neuroscientist at UC Berkeley, has created software capable of translating viewers' thoughts into reconstructed visual images.84 The Emotiv corporation is developing technology which will be capable of reading a person's thoughts and using them as inputs to operate machinery, like voice recognition but with brain signals.85 Similar devices are being developed to translate thoughts into speech.86
Compliance Weapons
FICTION:
In Minority Report, government agents use less-lethal methods–such as "sick sticks"–to subdue criminal suspects.
REALITY CHECK: A variety of less-lethal weapons have been developed and deployed in the years since Minority Report hit theaters. In 2007 the Department of Homeland Security granted a contract to Intelligent Optical Systems for an "LED Inca-pacitator," a flashlight-like device that emits a dazzling array of pulsating lights, incapacitating its target by causing nausea and vomiting.87 A heat ray device from the Raytheon corporation, the "Assault Intervention Device" causes an unbearable burning sensation on its target's skin.88 The Long Range Acoustic Device, which emits painful noises in order to disperse crowds, has been seen at the London Olympics89 and G20 protests in Pittsburgh.
FICTION: In Minority Report, tiny robots shaped like spiders and equipped with lasers and scanners attempt to locate John Anderton using his stored biometrie data.
REALITY CHECK: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a division of the U.S. Department of Defense, is also working on turning insects into "cybugs" by utilizing and expanding upon the insects' natural abilities (e.g., using bees' olfactory abilities for bomb detection). Researchers hope to outfit June beetles with tiny backpacks complete with various detection devices, microphones, and cameras. These devices could be powered by the very energy produced by the bugs beating their wings, or the heat they give off while in flight.90
A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State Page 5