(La Vie ╔lectrique, 1892)
History of the future
Science fiction about the future, according to literature standards, is a recent subject: only 200 years old. In its first century of existence, however, only a few authors dedicated themselves to it. Nevertheless, they showed optimism in their works. In their perspectives, the increasing industrialization would bring well-being and happiness. They agreed with Andrew Ure when he wrote in "Philosophy of Manufactures", in 1835, that "The act of manufacturing involves the idea of a large automaton formed by several intellectual and mechanical parts which act in continuous harmony to produce a common goal... This way, the skilled worker will soon be outdone and replaced by machine watchers". Ure's words, which are perfectly represented by a film like "Metropolis", were not the omen of a nightmare, but of heaven on Earth. Edward Bellamy was the last optimistic writer. In his "Looking Backward" (1888) he pictures Boston in the year 2000. A perfect technological utopia.
The future will be wonderful with or without machines. Those who believed the first idea joined Bellamy and those who believed the latter joined William Morris. However, by that time, a third alternative emerged: machines are inevitable. Man can not get rid of them and with them the future will become increasingly worse. H.G.Wells's book "The Time Machine" published in book form in 1895 (it was published with a slight different plot in a magazine series), started the period of pessimism and fear of the future. His following books held the same idea which has dominated the 20th century. Not a single utopia was written over the last 90 years. This genre of books has simply disappeared. The cinema has also followed Wells's ideas and could never disengage from them. All the films produced depict a gloomy future. In the future cities will be large factories. The end of the 19th century saw the last futuristic fiction works in which the future is fundamentally similar to the present, the only difference being technology.
Before the event of cinema, the future could only be visually represented in books and magazines' illustrations. In late 19th century, these illustrations showed the same kind of life lived in the present: smartly dressed ladies going shopping, busy bars and sport courts, etc. Again, the only difference is that all of it is backed up by the technological paraphernalia.
Wells brings us to the 20th century. The time when people believed in progress is over. Every futuristic literary work produced over the last 100 years, is saturated with the idea that the future is a very terrifying place. This is frightening in double, first because what awaits present man are extremely efficient and oppressive dictatorships, and second because as this is the future on Earth, and not events of a distant planet, the whole thing is unavoidable. However, the future will not only be oppression and lethargy, there also is the possibility of an almost total destruction of the planet. In the book "The War in the Air", written in 1908, Wells depicts New York a ravaged by dirigibles. It is in this context that futuristic fiction movies emerge.
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⌐ NEO Magazine 1995