For a sci-fi author known for his dense and trippy short stories, Philip K Dick has had a surprising amount of breezy action movies made from his work. Chief among those adaptations is Total Recall, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring, Paul Verhoven-directed film that injects visceral thrills into the ontological puzzle box of Dick's original short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". Total Recall presents a ebullient but deadly world of spies in space, but under the fun lie deep questions about the the nature of reailty and whether we can choose who we really are. And yes, it's got a lady with three breasts in it.
In this episode, we discuss interfacing with Dick through his adaptations, the way his work conflates memory and identity, entry-level mindfuckery, Verhoven's mastery of American satire, the film's exploration of colonialism in space, the persistence of the male narrative in cyberpunk, Barsoom and Red Mars, trusting your educated audience, and why Schwarzenegger is the perfect everyspaceman. We also talk about the science of Marvel fatigue, the Thin Graphite Line, gritty undertones and raw emotional subtext, asking if the kids know Arnold, a Dick deep dive, Regarding Henry, smartly dumb films, Mars as a projection screen, "pantsing", a Italo Calvino nightmare, the World Wide Coffee Klatsch, and vampires are so hot right now (and later).
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