Wouldn’t it be great to live a life without worry? A life only dedicated only to pleasure?
Before you sign up there’s one non-negotiable rule… and it’s probably a dealbreaker. You would have to live your wonderful life in mall.
That wasn’t quite the ethical conundrum that MGM and the producers were shooting for back in the mid-70s when they were developing Logan’s Run. The film’s actual premise was that you could live a hedonistic life, but when you turned 30, the gig was up. In this movie, you would give up your life in a ritualistic sacrifice that “probably” led to reincarnation – they called it Renewal – but hey, you never knew for sure. There was no proof, and you had to take it on faith.
In the mid 1970s, someone at MGM had the brilliant, albeit misguided, idea that they could represent the future year of 2274 by shooting on location in the new Dallas Market Center mall.
And what a future it was. Everyone was dressed as if the hippy movement collided with ancient Roman toga makers. The world – which was really that mall – was clean, bright and vapidly optimistic. There were no parenting duties there either. Babies were born and raised in the system. In Logan’s world, the futuristic version of Tinder even comes with a delivery service. Continue reading “With Further Ado #274: The Utopian Paradise… in a Mall – Logan’s Run”
