Christmas is a time of good cheer and goodwill to all, while cyberpunk presents a world of grimness and the brutality of institutions towards the individual. So, clearly, there's no such thing as a cyberpunk Christmas story, right? Enter Brazil, the terrifyingly funny film by Terry Gilliam that takes 1984 and places it squarely in the middle of British fascist Christmas. Gilliam milks humor from the absurd degradations of an oppressive society, all while highlighting the techno-fetishism and enforced consumption that substitute for human connection in the world of the film and often our own.
In this episode, we discuss the origins of Brazil as a film, the story's parallels with other Christmas tales, the enforced consumption of a cyberpunk society, the influence of Brave New World and 1984 on the film, the radical act of giving away labor, Tom Cruise?, fascism's banal ideologies, commoditizing art, and becoming immune to satire. We also talk about being charged for your own interrogation, being iffy on Gilliam, weird baby people, medium ball questions, dumb frogs, Robert de Niro fixing your pipes, the implication of corn, getting distracted by the hamster, and skeeting in the right way!
Consumers for Christ!
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