Death Race 2050
Death Race 2050 is a low budget B movie with science fiction elements created by Roger Corman.
Plot
Set in 2050 in the UCA (United Corporations of America), a "Death Race" is held every year in order to keep the population in check.
Transhumanist Elements
Being titled "Death Race" the movie is obviously deathist in its premise. It also uses Overpopulation as it's main story plot point. But, with that being said, there are still some transhumanism elements in the film including:
- It is stated that the population has been radiated against cancer. (not sure how THAT works, but there you go).
- A woman who appears to be in her 60's or 70's says she is 115 years old, so perhaps there is some Longevity element at play too. (There are still people who look what we would currently consider "old" too, so not sure HOW old those old people actually are).
- VR which is used as part of the viewing experience.
- One of the cars is made self-driving using an AI called ABE which knows the rules of the Death Race.
- There is also talk of AI taking over jobs, the commentator/host of the Death Race states (paraphrasing) that; "It's technology like this that has relieved 99% of Americans from the burden of employment.
Some of the characters are also the by-product of transhumanist technologies such as:
- Frankenstein, A man who is essentially a Cyborg and is described as such.
- Jed Perfectus, who is said to be genetically engineered.
Criticism
Aside from being deathist, the movie is pretty poor in both plot and quality. IMDB scores the movie at a measly 3.2 out of 10.[1]
"There may be further transhumanist, futurist and/or longevity elements in the movie, but 10 minutes is enough viewing of this film." - Transhuman Tees.
External Links
- Death Race IMDB
Death Race 2050 on Wikipedia